Testing: Wi-Fi 6E (6GHz) Hotspot

[jolla]

If you'd like to test out Wi-Fi 6E (6GHz) here are the steps currently required to get 6 GHz working on the M4/R4 with the appropriate 6GHz capable hardware.

6 GHz Hotspot (Bleeding Edge...You Have Been Warned)

The WLAN Pi's Hotpot mode is based on an open source package called "hostapd". It can be used to turn a Linux device into a wireless access point, providing it has a suitable network adapter.

Like other open source packages, hostapd evolves over time, adding new features and fixes in each release. The releases are then picked up by a variety of Linux distributions and included as part of that distribution.

At this point in time, there is a new version of hostapd that supports 6 GHz. However, it has not been picked up for general use by many Linux distributions, including the WLAN Pi distribution. Although it will be added in the future, it is not available as a standard package that can easily be added to the WLAN Pi. (It is also a very early version of 6GHz implementation and its reliability has yet to be verified by the WLAN Pi team)

However, to demonstrate the 6 GHz capability, we have put together a lab that will allow you to download and evaluate the latest & greatest hostapd code and see the 6GHz support for yourself. However, please note that this will not permanently update hostapd (and hence Hotspot mode) to support 6GHz - it will provide you with a glimpse of what is in the pipeline in the not too distant future. All changes made will be temporary and will not permanently update the WLAN Pi to provide a 6 GHz Hotspot capability.

To list out all 6 GHz channels available, run the following command on the Terminal CLI:

wifichannel -6
All channels will be listed, including the designated PSC channels

If you'd like to try out hostapd with 6 GHz support, please follow the instructions below:

1. If not already in Hotspot mode, please switch your WLAN Pi into Hotspot mode
2. Access your WLAN Pi via the Terminal CLI
3. In the Terminal session, change into your home directory and download a "special" version of hostapd using the commands:

cd ~
wget http://bowdennetworks.co.uk/hostapd_6e.tar.gz

This will download the required file to your WLAN Pi

4. Extract the hostapd software and the required configuration file as follows:
   tar zxvf ./hostapd_6e.tar.gz
   Check that the two files "hostapd" and "6ghz.cfg" are present using the command "ls -l" to list all files:
   

5. Before running the new code, edit the "6ghz.cfg" file using the nano CLI editor (sudo nano 6ghz.cfg) and configure you're own unique SSID. This will avoid conflicts with other students in the class who fire up their WLAN Pi as a 6GHz AP:
   

6. To run the new instance of hostapd we need to stop the existing, pre-installed instance of hostapd that is used by Hotspot mode. We'll then run up the modified instance of hostapd that we just downloaded, to provide a 6GHz version of Hotspot mode. Please execute the following commands:

sudo systemctl stop hostapd
sudo ./hostapd 6ghz.cfg

The new 6GHz-enabled version of hostapd will now be running. Check for the new SSID with a scanner if available, and try to join with a Wi-Fi 6E client.

8. To stop the hostapd process, hit CTRL-C on the Terminal CLI. This will kill the hostapd process, and the 6 GHz SSID will no longer be available.
9. Once you have completed your testing, flip the WLAN Pi back into Classic mode (via FPMS). The WLAN Pi will return to normal operation. If you flip back into Hotspot mode, note that it will no longer operate in 6 GHz mode, as the standard hostapd binary will be used, rather than the special binary that we used in the lab above.