Volume 2

6️⃣Wi-Fi 6E Client

Time for some High Efficiency Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band

Objective

In this lab we will connect the WLAN Pi M4 using its in-built 6 GHz radio to a Catalyst Wi-Fi 6E AP.

Make sure you are in the "Classic" mode before proceeding.

Step 1: Modify wpa_supplicant.conf

When we want the WLAN Pi to join a Wi-Fi network we need to provide configuration details to wpa_supplicant, which is the software responsible for connecting the Pi as a client to Wi-Fi networks. The configuration file is located in /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf.

We will connect to the 6GHz SSID WPDD 6 GHz APx, where x represents the AP number. You now know how use your WLAN Pi M4 as a Remote Sensor to scan for available 6 GHz SSIDs. Enable column Stations, which shows the current number of connected clients. Choose the AP with least clients and connect to it.

Let's modify the file configuration file using nano text editor:

sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

Scroll down to the very end of the file, copy and paste the configuration below to the file. Choose the SSID with least clients (column Stations in the screenshot above).

sae_pwe=1

network={
  ssid="WPDD 6 GHz AP1"
  psk="wlanpi123"
  priority=10
  key_mgmt=SAE
  ieee80211w=2
}

Save changes by pressing CRTL+O (that's letter "o"), then press Enter to confirm.

Exit the text editor using CTRL+X.

To support the latest SAE configuration options (namely sae_pwe=1), we require wpa_supplicant 2.10 or newer. We have already preinstalled wpa_supplicant 2.10 for you.

Step 2: Wi-Fi connection attempt

Initiate a Wi-Fi client connection on interface wlan0:

sudo wpa_supplicant -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -i wlan0

It takes about 20 seconds to associate. Please be patient. If your association was successful, you should see output similar to the following:

wlanpi@wlanpi-88e:~ $ sudo wpa_supplicant -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -i wlan0
Successfully initialized wpa_supplicant
wlan0: SME: Trying to authenticate with ce:9c:1e:ec:26:b0 (SSID='WLAN Pi Deep Dive' freq=6295 MHz)
wlan0: SME: Trying to authenticate with ce:9c:1e:ec:26:b0 (SSID='WLAN Pi Deep Dive' freq=6295 MHz)
wlan0: PMKSA-CACHE-ADDED ce:9c:1e:ec:26:b0 0
wlan0: Trying to associate with ce:9c:1e:ec:26:b0 (SSID='WPDD 6 GHz AP1' freq=6295 MHz)
wlan0: Associated with ce:9c:1e:ec:26:b0
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-SUBNET-STATUS-UPDATE status=0
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-REGDOM-CHANGE init=COUNTRY_IE type=COUNTRY alpha2=GB
wlan0: WPA: Key negotiation completed with ce:9c:1e:ec:26:b0 [PTK=CCMP GTK=CCMP]
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to ce:9c:1e:ec:26:b0 completed [id=0 id_str=]

Step 3: Verify client connection

Open a fresh browser tab

Command + L, Command + Shift Enter

Confirm that you are indeed connected to a 6 GHz radio:

iw wlan0 info
wlanpi@wlanpi-88e:~ $ iw wlan0 info
Interface wlan0
	ifindex 4
	wdev 0x1
	addr a8:93:4a:e1:fb:77
	type managed
	wiphy 0
	channel 69 (6295 MHz), width: 80 MHz, center1: 6305 MHz
	txpower 3.00 dBm
	multicast TXQ:
		qsz-byt	qsz-pkt	flows	drops	marks	overlmt	hashcol	tx-bytes	tx-packets
		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0

Step 4: What is our Tx and Rx current data rate?

There is even a more aesthetically pleasing tool called wavemon:

Install wavemon using the apt package manager:

sudo apt install wavemon

Execute it by entering the following command:

wavemon

Some of the information is incorrect. Please take channel number and some other details with a pinch of salt. The tool needs to be updated. It still provides great value and shows live Wi-Fi details. And we have learned how to install a new package 😉

Step 5: 6 GHz channel math

How does channel number 69 relate to the lower 6 GHz (500 MHz) spectrum available in Czech Republic? Let's use one of our CLI Power Tools and list all lower 6 GHz channels.

wifichannel -6 | grep "Lower 6 GHz"

The first part wifichannel -6 lists all 6 GHz channels and we "pipe" this output to grep, which then filters only Lower 6 GHz channels. Should produce an output like this:

Band: 6 GHz   Channel:   1   Center freq: 5955 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:   5   Center freq: 5975 MHz   PSC: Yes   Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:   9   Center freq: 5995 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  13   Center freq: 6015 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  17   Center freq: 6035 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  21   Center freq: 6055 MHz   PSC: Yes   Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  25   Center freq: 6075 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  29   Center freq: 6095 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  33   Center freq: 6115 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  37   Center freq: 6135 MHz   PSC: Yes   Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  41   Center freq: 6155 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  45   Center freq: 6175 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  49   Center freq: 6195 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  53   Center freq: 6215 MHz   PSC: Yes   Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  57   Center freq: 6235 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  61   Center freq: 6255 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  65   Center freq: 6275 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  69   Center freq: 6295 MHz   PSC: Yes   Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  73   Center freq: 6315 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  77   Center freq: 6335 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  81   Center freq: 6355 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  85   Center freq: 6375 MHz   PSC: Yes   Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  89   Center freq: 6395 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz
Band: 6 GHz   Channel:  93   Center freq: 6415 MHz   PSC: No    Lower 6 GHz

How many channels are we talking? You could count them manually, or...

wifichannel -6 | grep "Lower 6 GHz" | wc -l

Word count wc command with argument -l is a useful filter commnand, which counts the number of lines in our output.

That's 24 x 20 MHz channels in total.

Bonus: 6 GHz PSC channels

Can you use the above wifichannel command example to count the total number of PSCs (Preferred Scanning Channels) in the full 6 GHz Wi-Fi spectrum?

See the correct answer by clicking the second tab.

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