Libra Colour Does Kobo Libra Colour actually support 5GHz networks or not?

[Razzy]

I just received my Kobo Libra Colour today and spent most of the day fiddling with it due to network connection problems. Well, it connects just fine to WiFi, but only on 2. 4GHz and mixed 2.4/5 GHz networks, and on mixed networks it uses the 2.4GHz band.

I tried going back to the previous firmware, connecting to various networks, adding guest networks, setting up a hotspot on my phone and adding network info manually, but nothing works.

Using iwconfig and iwlist commands via SSH showed that the WiFi card supposedly only supports 2.4GHz frequencies, and, when connecting to dual band networks, the libra still uses the 2.4 GHz band.

Yet the official Kobo sites state that it supports both bands, and some people here and on reddit managed to connect to 5GHz networks.

[DNSB]

I have separate SSIDs for my 5GHz and 2.4GHz WiFi network. Both show up on my KLC and I can connect to either.

[Cootey]

Interesting. I have separate SSIDs, too, but I’m only seeing the 2.4GHz band on my KLC. My iphone can see both, as can the Elipsa 1. I wonder what has changed. I won’t be able to get to it today, but if I figure it out, I’ll update this post.

[Razzy]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I have separate SSIDs for my 5GHz and 2.4GHz WiFi network. Both show up on my KLC and I can connect to either.

What firmware are you on?

Originally Posted by Cootey

Interesting. I have separate SSIDs, too, but I’m only seeing the 2.4GHz band on my KLC. My iphone can see both, as can the Elipsa 1. I wonder what has changed. I won’t be able to get to it today, but if I figure it out, I’ll update this post.

Your original topic was the first place I ended up at researching the issue, I take it the fix you stumbled upon didn't last? I tried power cycling, installing and removing nickel menu, downgrading the firmware and upgrading again, as well as full factory resets and nothing worked so far.

During the last Prime Days I ordered both the Kindle PW6 SE and KLC as an upgrade over my Kindle PW4, this issue is pretty much the only thing keeping me from deciding to keep the KLC and returning the PW6. It's not that I desperately need 5GHz networking, but I don't like when the devices I buy don't do everything that's advertised.

[Quoth]

There is more than one protocol setup that uses 5 GHz. Also range is about 1/4 or less. More blocked by walls, floors/ceilings and doors.

[salamanderjuice]

Yes it does. I use it with my 5GHz network. It should support 802.11ac (AKA WiFi 5). It should also be fine with 5GHz N. You might want to have a look at your router and what it supports and how it's configured.

[Razzy]

As mentioned in the original post, my KLC can't see any 5GHz networks, neither mine nor any surrounding ones.

I have one AX and one AC router, they have completely different setups, one with mixed 2,4/5GHz ax network and one with separate 2,4GHz n/g/b and 5GHz n/ac networks. The KLC connects to the mixed network @ 2,4 GHz, doesn't see the separate 5GHz network, even if I place the KLC half a metre away from the router, in detect sight of it. Same with my phone (Samsung Galaxy S10+) hotspot, if I set it to 2,4GHz, it works just fine, the moment I set it to 5GHz, the KLC disconnects and can no longer see it.

So the problem is either with several different network devices or with the KLC.

I will try changing router settings and I'll report back.

[DNSB]

For what it may be worth, I tried using my iPhone as a hot spot. My KLC connected to it with compatibility off which uses 5GHz and with compatibility on which uses 2.4GHz.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by Razzy

What firmware are you on?



Your original topic was the first place I ended up at researching the issue, I take it the fix you stumbled upon didn't last? I tried power cycling, installing and removing nickel menu, downgrading the firmware and upgrading again, as well as full factory resets and nothing worked so far.

I thought I had fixed this before, which is why I posted a surprised reply. As soon as I reenable FTP under the new firmware, I’ll be tackling this issue. I’ll update here with any results.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by DNSB

For what it may be worth, I tried using my iPhone as a hot spot. My KLC connected to it with compatibility off which uses 5GHz and with compatibility on which uses 2.4GHz.

I have experienced the same. Compatibility off is full 5GHz, and my KLC connected just fine. Not sure why it can’t see my 5GHz WiFi network anymore.

Upstairs we have a mixed 802.11AX network running off some Netgears. My KLC sees it and connects to it just fine. Is there any way to find out what speed the Kobo is connected at? I was poking around device info and didn’t see anything that stood out.

Edit: Using SSH, you can run iwconfig in the shell and see what gigahertz you’re connected at, but if somebody could provide a more user-friendly way of doing it, I sure would appreciate it.

[Cootey]

Razzy,
I’m back to square one on this. I’m seeing the same results as I originally did when I first got my KLC.

iwconfig


iwlist wlan0 freq


The problem then is that I didn’t actually solve the issue. It more or less fixed itself! (Kobo Libra Colour can't see 5GHz networks https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=360958).

Just like you, it only seems to support 2.4 GHz channels through the dropdown list, even though it’s currently connected to a 5 GHz channel. So the KLC can connect to mixed frequency channels at 5GHz, but it can’t even see dedicated 5GHz channels?

But now I’m irritated, so I’ll be picking away at this issue till I fix it. Anything you discover, please share here.

Is there anything like “nmcli dev wifi” on Linux Kobo? That would show the list of available WiFi channels. Might be instructive to compare with the results above.

[DNSB]

Though I find it rather funny with iwlist showing channels 12, 13 and 14 being available on my KLC despite not being supported in North America. Not to mention that channel 149 is not mentioned in your first image despite being connected at that frequency nor is channel 44 mentioned in your second image despite being connected at that frequency.

On my setup, where the 5GHz and 2.4GHz frequencies are on separate SSIDs, I show as connected to channel 44 (5.22GHz) but only channels 1 to 14 are shown in the listing. Very similar to your second image.
KLC:

[root@kobo ~]# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11abgn  ESSID:"FrogHollow"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.22 GHz  Access Point: AC:DB:48:5B:62:4B
          Bit Rate:390 Mb/s   Tx-Power=off
          RTS thr=0 B   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:<too big>
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=0/100  Signal level=-42 dBm  Noise level=0 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

[root@kobo ~]# iwlist wlan0 freq
wlan0     14 channels in total; available frequencies :
          Channel 01 : 2.412 GHz
          Channel 02 : 2.417 GHz
          Channel 03 : 2.422 GHz
          Channel 04 : 2.427 GHz
          Channel 05 : 2.432 GHz
          Channel 06 : 2.437 GHz
          Channel 07 : 2.442 GHz
          Channel 08 : 2.447 GHz
          Channel 09 : 2.452 GHz
          Channel 10 : 2.457 GHz
          Channel 11 : 2.462 GHz
          Channel 12 : 2.467 GHz
          Channel 13 : 2.472 GHz
          Channel 14 : 2.484 GHz
          Current Frequency:5.22 GHz

Sage:

[root@kobo ~]# iwlist wlan0 freq
wlan0     32 channels in total; available frequencies :
          Channel 01 : 2.412 GHz
          Channel 02 : 2.417 GHz
          Channel 03 : 2.422 GHz
          Channel 04 : 2.427 GHz
          Channel 05 : 2.432 GHz
          Channel 06 : 2.437 GHz
          Channel 07 : 2.442 GHz
          Channel 08 : 2.447 GHz
          Channel 09 : 2.452 GHz
          Channel 10 : 2.457 GHz
          Channel 11 : 2.462 GHz
          Channel 12 : 2.467 GHz
          Channel 13 : 2.472 GHz
          Channel 36 : 5.18 GHz
          Channel 40 : 5.2 GHz
          Channel 44 : 5.22 GHz
          Channel 48 : 5.24 GHz
          Channel 52 : 5.26 GHz
          Channel 56 : 5.28 GHz
          Channel 60 : 5.3 GHz
          Channel 64 : 5.32 GHz
          Channel 100 : 5.5 GHz
          Channel 104 : 5.52 GHz
          Channel 108 : 5.54 GHz
          Channel 112 : 5.56 GHz
          Channel 116 : 5.58 GHz
          Channel 132 : 5.66 GHz
          Channel 136 : 5.68 GHz
          Channel 140 : 5.7 GHz
          Channel 144 : 5.72 GHz
          Channel 149 : 5.745 GHz
          Channel 153 : 5.765 GHz
          Current Frequency:5.22 GHz (Channel 44)

[root@kobo ~]# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"FrogHollow"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.22 GHz  Access Point: AC:DB:48:5B:62:4B
          Bit Rate=434 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:on
          Link Quality=70/70  Signal level=-36 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

[root@kobo ~]#