There are no signs of FILS, which is a good thing. iPad sees both the 5 GHz “Cisco 5” and 6 GHz “Cisco 6” SSIDsīy doing a packet capture on 6 GHz channel number 5, we verify that the AP only sends 6 GHz beacons every 100 ms or so. iPad sees both the 5 GHz “Cisco 5” and 6 GHz “Cisco 6” SSIDsĪirport Utility also reports both the 5 GHz only and 6 GHz only SSIDs. RNR in 5 GHz beacons allows the iPad discover the 6 GHz SSID. These beacons contain Reduced Neighbour Report Information Element, which announces to the client device “there is a 6 GHz AP on channel 5”. If we now do a packet capture on one of the active 5 GHz channels, we will see 5 GHz beacons. Let’s keep the 6 GHz only SSID Cisco 6 enabled, and also enable a 5 GHz only SSID called Cisco 5. The 6 GHz only “Cisco 6” SSID isn’t being discovered by the iPad iPad Pro only uses Reduced Neighbour Reports (RNR) for discovery The 6 GHz only “Cisco 6” SSID isn’t being discovered by the iPadĪirport Utility doesn’t show the 6 GHz only SSID either. That results in no visibility of the 6 GHz only SSIDs on the iPad, and we can’t connect.
Unfortunately, the iPad completely ignores the FILS frames, and it has no in-band (6 GHz) method of discovering 6 GHz networks.
They are nearly 4 times smaller than Beacons. Think of FILS frames as of condensed beacons. 6 GHz beacons every 100 ms and FILS frames every 20 ms At this point, we need FILS, because at that point FILS is the only method for 6 GHz capable clients to discover 6 GHz networks. These FILS frames are automatically enabled on Catalyst Wireless APs in DNA persona only when the only SSID enabled on the AP is a 6 GHz one (and there is no 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz SSID). Of course, there are Beacon frames sent by the APs every 100 ms or so, and there are FILS Discovery frames sent by my APs every 20 ms. I am using 6 GHz only SSID (which doesn’t broadcast on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and 80 MHz wide channels. iPad Pro ignores FILS Discovery frames on 6 GHz The access points in this test are Catalyst Wireless CW9162I-ROW APs running IOS-XE 17.9.2. SetupĪs of writing, iPadOS 16.1 is the latest version and that’s the one I am using for all tests here.
If you are an Android user, I’ve also tested Google Pixel 6 and its 6 GHz discovery here. With the significant amount of new 6 GHz spectrum, active scanning for 6 GHz SSIDs is not practical. IPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) is the first Apple device to feature Wi-Fi 6E.
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