François Vergès

Rowell Dionicio

The State of Wi-Fi 6

...in Practise
#WLPC EU - October 2019
François Vergès, CWNE #180
@VergesFrancois

Rowell Dionicio, CWNE #210

@rowelldionicio

@cleartosend
This presentation is available at cleartosend.net/wlpc
Define Wi-Fi 6
You have 4 hours
OUR PROCESS “In theory, there is no
difference between
theory and practise. In
practise, there is.”
Yogi Berra

First - Learn more about the theory

Second - Gather some actual equipment

Last - Perform some practical tests

Join the conversation on
Twitter
#WIFI6WLPC
WE ARE STILL EARLY AGE
 Wi-Fi 6 HYPE CYCLE
Expectations

Wi-Fi 6

802.11 ac

Peak of
Innovation Trough of Slope of Plateau of
Inflated
Trigger Disillusionment Enlightenment Productivity
Expectations
Time

Source: https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/feature/Gartner-Hype-Cycle-deems-software-defined-networking-obsolete
Q1 Do you own a Wi-Fi 6 device?

Have you ever deployed a Q1 Q2 Q3

Q2
Wi-Fi 6 network? 0% 0% 0%

Have you ever connected to a

Q3 Wi-Fi 6 network that wasn’t
yours?
THE THEORY
802.11ax - Wi-Fi 6
RESOURCES

Documents to learn about how 802.11ax works:

◦ IEEE 802.11ax DRAFT v4
◦ Vendor White Papers
▫ Aruba - “802.11ax”
▫ Cisco - “IEEE 802.11ax - The Sixth Generation of Wi-Fi”
▫ Aerohive - “802.11ax For Dummies” + Blog
▫ National Instruments - “Introduction to 802.11ax
High-Efficiency Wireless”
◦ Wireless Broadband Alliance White Papers on Wi-Fi 6
◦ CWNA Study Guide 5th Edition (Chapter 19)
What did we learn?
WHAT DID WE LEARN?

Objectives of 802.11ax
◦ Support the ever-growing number of Wi-Fi devices
◦ Support different type of mobile devices with different
requirements
▫ Low-power, low-data rates (IoT)
▫ Extreme throughput, low latency (AR VR)
▫ Reliable communications (Autonomous Vehicles)
Make the 802.11 protocol more efficient
High Efficiency - HE
WHAT DID WE LEARN?

Technical Solutions
Bring it back on 2.4GHz Bring it back from the dead

Optimize channel use Subcarrier size, Symbol Duration & GI

Enable multi-user communications MU-OFDMA, MU-MIMO

Push the physics limits even more 1024QAM

Optimize transmission scheduling TWT, OFDMA

Optimize transmission scheduling Preamble Punctoring

Optimize frame aggregations Multi-TID AMPDU

Wi-Fi is more complex than ever

IEEE 802.11ax Draft (746 Pages)

Tones MU-RTS Trigger

DL MU-MIMO UL MU-MIMO
UL MU-OFDMA TWT
DL MU-OFDM TDLS
inter-BSS BSS Coloring
intra-BSS HE Sounding
1024-QAM HE-MCS
RU OBSS-PD
UORA SRP

Download the Draft (US$400): https://www.techstreet.com/ieee/standards/ieee-p802-11ax?gateway_code=ieee&vendor_id=7180&product_id=2019792

 IEEE 802.11ax Timeline

March Jan. Nov. Jul. Feb. Dec

2014 2017 2017 2018 2019 2020
11ax

Draft Draft Draft Draft

Start Ratification
v1 v2 v3 v4

Source: http://www.ieee802.org/11/Reports/802.11_Timelines.htm
What about the Wi-Fi Alliance?
 “For nearly two decades,
Wi-Fi users have had to sort
Wi-Fi 6 IS BETTER THAN 5G
through technical naming
conventions to determine if
their devices support the
New Naming - Oct. 2018 latest Wi-Fi”
Edgar Figueroa
CEO WFA
IEEE Generation of
Logo
Amendment Wi-Fi

802.11 ax Wi-Fi 6

802.11 ac Wi-Fi 5

802.11 n Wi-Fi 4

Source: https://www.wi-fi.org/news-events/newsroom/wi-fi-alliance-introduces-wi-fi-6
CERTIFICATION TIME! Edgar Figueroa
CEO WFA

Wi-Fi 6 Certification - Sep. 2019

Source: https://www.wi-fi.org/news-events/newsroom/wi-fi-certified-6-delivers-new-wi-fi-era
 WI-FI 6 CERTIFICATION
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)
Uplink OFDMA
Downlink OFDMA

Downlink Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (DL MU-MIMO)

Transmit Beamforming
Channel Bandwidth up to 160 MHz wide

Mandatory Target Wake Time (TWT)

Per-Link Enhancement
1024 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (1024-QAM)
Increased Symbol Time, Various Symbol Size, Guard Interval Combinations

Operation Mode Indication (OMI)

Spatial Reuse
Support for WPA3

BSS Coloring
Optional
Uplink MU-MIMO
Did the Wi-Fi Alliance start certifying
devices?

21
YES! Edgar Figueroa
CEO WFA

42 devices are certified today (10/08/2019)

Samsung
Ruckus R750
Galaxy Note 10
 PRODUCT FINDER

Step 1

Search by
module
number

Product Finder: https://www.wi-fi.org/product-finder

 PRODUCT FINDER Edgar Figueroa
CEO WFA

Step 2

Download
device
certification

Product Finder: https://www.wi-fi.org/product-finder

 PRODUCT FINDER Edgar Figueroa
CEO WFA

Step 3

Open
Certification &
Study Wi-Fi 6
Capabilities

Product Finder: https://www.wi-fi.org/product-finder

THE EQUIPMENT

26
Evolution of Wi-Fi Equipment

Thank you: @haakon35015116

Access Points
ACCESS POINTS

Wi-Fi 6 Compatible Wi-Fi 6 Certifiable Wi-Fi 6 Certified

Access Point that Access Point that Access Point that
supports some supports all supports all
802.11ax features but mandatory 802.11ax mandatory 802.11ax
not all the features for the features and has
mandatory Wi-Fi 6 certification. passed all the tests
requirements by the However, it has not to obtain the Wi-Fi 6
Wi-Fi Alliance. been tested yet. certification.
 AP CHIPSETS

Broadcom Qualcomm Intel Marvel

BCM43684 BCM43694 BCM6750 QCN5024 QCN5054 QCN5154 WAV654 WAV624 WAV614 88W9068 88W9064

4x4:4 4x4:4 2x2:2 4x4:4 8x8:8 8x8:8 2x2:2 4x4:4 4x4:4 8x8:8 4x4:4

Aerohive
Aerohive
AP650,
AP630, Meraki Asus,
Extreme Ruckus R730,
Aruba 5xx, EnGenius MR45-55, Edimax,
AP510, TP-Link Arista,
Cisco C9115, 357/377 Asus, TP-Link,
Asus, Huawei
Mist AP43, Netgear Netgear
D-Link,
Extreme 505
Netgear

Source: https://wikidevi.com/wiki/List_of_802.11ax_Hardware
CERTIFIED AP CHIPSETS (ROUTERS)

Source: https://www.wi-fi.org/product-finder-results?sort_by=default&sort_order=desc&categories=6&capabilities=17
CERTIFIED AP CHIPSETS (OTHERS)

Source: https://www.wi-fi.org/product-finder-results?sort_by=default&sort_order=desc&categories=3&capabilities=17
Client Devices
Galaxy S10e Galaxy S10 Galaxy S10 plus Galaxy Note 10 Galaxy Note 10 plus Galaxy Fold

iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max

AX200
AX201

PCE-AX58BT
PHONES

Samsung Apple

Broadcom Broadcom
Chipset
2x2:2 2x2:2

Galaxy S10
Galaxy S10e
iPhone 11
Galaxy S10 Plus
Models iPhone 11 Pro
Galaxy Note 10
iPhone 11 Pro Max
Galaxy Note 10 Plus
Galaxy Fold

Galaxy Fold
Wi-Fi 6 Certified
Galaxy Note 10 Broadcom BCM94375
Models
Galaxy Note 10 Plus
COMPUTERS

Using the Intel AX200 2x2:2 chipset

◦ Laptops or computers with an M2 connector and support
for the Intel drivers

Allez les
bleus!!

Some Laptops
(Lenovo) Nvidia Jetson Nano
OTHER

Enclosure for the Intel AX200 2x2:2 chipset

Thunderbolt 3 PCIe Expansion Chassis PCIe board with an M.2 connector

From StarTech.COM

Source: https://www.tamos.com/blog/index.php/2018/10/09/all-you-wanted-to-know-about-testing-wi-fi-adapters-but-were-afraid-to-ask/
THE PRACTISE

39
OUR TESTING

Our process:
◦ Goal was to test the Wi-Fi 6 features
◦ Designed a few tests
◦ Performed simple tests with equipment on hand
◦ We couldn’t test every Wi-Fi 6 equipment and all Wi-Fi 6
features
◦ Planning on performing more testings
OUR EQUIPMENT
OUR EQUIPMENT
OUR EQUIPMENT
OUR EQUIPMENT
OUR EQUIPMENT
Wi-Fi 6 Operations
How will it affect our day-to-day job?
Wi-Fi 6 doesn’t mean OFDMA
ALL NEW DATA RATES

How to calculate OFDM data rate:

Source: https://www.semfionetworks.com/blog/mcs-table-updated-with-80211ax-data-rates
ALL NEW DATA RATES

What about OFDMA?

Source: https://www.semfionetworks.com/blog/mcs-table-updated-with-80211ax-data-rates
FIRMWARES

Challenges today
◦ Fast pace of new version rollouts
◦ Incompatibilities with older APs

It should become more stable

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

Interesting findings
◦ 1024-QAM does work (only observed on 5GHz)
◦ Range of 1024-QAM is not that great
▫ Better with 4x4:4 APs
◦ Generally higher data rates (mostly due to 1024-QAM)
▫ Might not reflect in real-world deployments
◦ More fluctuation in data rates
◦ Wi-Fi 6 doesn’t mean OFDMA
◦ Spectrum efficiency doesn’t seem to be at its best yet
◦ Might need more power than PoE+
Wi-Fi 6 Analysis
Which tools can we use today?
WI-FI SCANNERS

Most Wi-Fi Scanners detect Wi-Fi 6 Networks

◦ Look at beacon frames
◦ Parse the HE Information Elements

Mac OS Windows Other

Wi-Fi Explorer WinFi Lite
Net Ally AirCheck G2
Ekahau Pro (RTFM) Ekahau Pro (RTFM)
WI-FI EXPLORER
WINFI
SPECTRUM ANALYSIS

Same tools can be used (looking at L1)

◦ OFDM traffic will look similar
◦ OFDMA traffic might look different

OFDM OFDMA?
802.11ax PACKET CAPTURE

Requires 802.11ax NICs

◦ Able to decode the 802.11ax frames

Wi-Fi 6 AP in Jetson Nano, Intel AX200

Sniffer Mode running Ubuntu with airmon-ng
WHAT HAPPEN IF YOU DON’T
802.11ax PACKET CAPTURE WITH JETSOMN NANO & INTEL AX200

Process:
◦ Load the Nvidia image (Ubuntu)
◦ Install the Intel drivers for the AX200
◦ Install Wireshark development version
◦ Use airmon-ng to set the channel & channel width
◦ Open Wireshark to look at the packets
◦ Save the packet capture file
◦ Transfert the packet file to your laptop via scp
◦ Analyze the packet capture in Wireshark

Source: https://wifi.hypergeek.net/you-too-can-have-a-sub-200-11ax-client/ & https://wifilogic.wordpress.com/2019/09/21/how-to-setup-wifi6-sniffer-in-ubuntu/

AIRMON-NG
// Install aircrack-ng
sudo apt-get install aircrack-ng

// Start the capture on channel 100

sudo airmon-ng start wlan0 100
Capture on a 20MHz wide
// Stop the capture and put the wlan0 interface back in station mode channel
sudo airmon-ng stop wlan0mon

// Start the capture on channel 100

sudo airmon-ng start wlan0 100

// Set the channel width to 40MHz Capture on a 40MHz wide

sudo iw dev wlan0mon set freq 5500 HT40+
channel
// Stop the capture and put the wlan0 interface back in station mode
sudo airmon-ng stop wlan0mon

// Start the capture on channel 100

sudo airmon-ng start wlan0 100

// Set the channel width to 80MHz Capture on a 80MHz wide

sudo iw dev wlan0mon set freq 5500 80MHz
channel
// Stop the capture and put the wlan0 interface back in station mode
sudo airmon-ng stop wlan0mon

Additional Information: https://gjermundraaen.com/2019/09/25/capturing-802-11ax-with-jetson-nano/

RADIOTAP HEADER - HE ELEMENTS

Source: https://www.radiotap.org/fields/HE.html
REMOTE PACKET CAPTURES

airodump-ng ssh dump

● Packet capture over ssh

● Works but...
● Not tested
● No Radiotap header

// Monitor mode on channel 100

sudo airmon-ng start wlan0 100

// Start the capture on channel

100
sudo airmon-ng start wlan0 100

Source: https://twitter.com/adriangranados/status/1180680731611340802?s=20
Wi-Fi 6 Design
Does it change anything?
NOT REALLY

Design Considerations
◦ 20Mhz & 40 MHz wide channels
◦ How do we do a capacity planning?
◦ Do we plan for 1024-QAM data rates?
◦ CCI calculation will change with BSS coloring
◦ Support for legacy devices

Source: https://wballiance.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Wi-Fi-6-Deployment-Guidelines-and-Scenarios-V1.0.pdf
Should we upgrade our infrastructure
to support Wi-Fi 6?
UPGRADE CONSIDERATIONS

◦ Wi-Fi 6 Certified APs

◦ First generation Wi-Fi 6 APs
◦ Testing
◦ 6GHz equipment coming soon?

The clients are definitely coming to market

Demo
Wi-Fi 6 Lab
 SETUP

Jetson Nano
PoE SW (Intel AX200)
3 - Take a 802.11ax
packet capture

Wi-Fi 6 AP iPerf3 Servers

Ekahau with
Aerohive AP630 DHCP Server
Wi-Fi 6 Sidekick
WLAN Pi
Clients
2 - Look at the
1 - Run iPerf3 tests spectrum
LET’S HAVE SOME FUN!!

If you have a Wi-Fi 6 client with you

◦ Connect to the “Champions du Monde” SSID
▫ Password: “wifi6wlpc”
◦ Download an iPerf App (HE Network Tool)
◦ Get ready to launch an iPerf3 test to 192.168.99.15-25

-c IP_Address -t 120 -R
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Keith Parsons Kevin Franzen

Gjermund Raaen Consuelo Ortiz
Jerry Olla Bryan Slayman
David Coleman Troy Martin
Tiger Lee Lauren Friedman
John Kilpatrick Ferney Munoz
 Thank You!
THE END

cleartosend.net/wlpc
cleartosend.net/wifi6