Samsung's decision to restrict wifi 5Ghz and 6Ghz channels based on region

[Quazi Haque]

It basically applies to all Samsung devices.

Samsung has decided to region lock the wifi 5GHz and 6Ghz channels for all of their devices. The problem with that is if you bought your wifi router from a different region than the one you live in having different wifi channels, Samsung can't see the 5Ghz and 6Ghz SSIDs. They presumable use the mobile network to identify the region and then impose the restrictions on the wifi channels.

Phones from other manufacturers (Apple, OnePlus, Google, Huawei etc) don't have this restriction imposed. I'm really not sure why Samsung chose to do so. Its hardware supports all bands. The way to test this is if you put your Samsung phone/tablet in airplane mode, restart your phone and then turn only wifi on - you'll see the 5Ghz and 6Ghz SSIDs and can connect to them just fine. Then you can turn airplane mode off, the SSIDs will stay until you go out of range or turn on/off wifi and then they won't show.

I just bought TP-link Deco XE75 mesh routers with wifi 6e from the US - I live in Bangladesh. These routers don't allow for manually changing the channels. So none of the Samsung phones and tablets in my house (6 of them - S24 Ultra, S22 Ultra, S21 Ultra, Flip 5, A73, Tab S9 FE) can see the 5GHz and 6GHz SSIDs. I checked the method above to confirm my S24 Ultra can see and connect to 5GHz and 6GHz the SSIDs just fine when following the procedure, but they'll disappear if I turn off wifi and then turn it back on. 

Every other non-Samsung device in my house can see 5Ghz/6Ghz SSIDs just fine as per their specifications. It's just the Samsung devices that have the issue.

If no other big brands do it, why does Samsung have to do it? I really don't understand. Because of this, I can't enjoy wifi 6e or even 5 Ghz wifi on any of our Samsung devices although their hardware are capable to do so.

I really wish they would come to their senses and remove this unnecessary software limitation.

[Tourbillon De La Vie]

so, if you could change the channel, on the router, it would work?

[Quazi Haque]

Yes, it would. But TP-Link Deco routers (I have the XE75) don't have the option to change the channels.  Regardless, when no other big name brand is imposing this software limitation (Apple, Google, OnePlus, Huawei among others) why does Samsung need to do this? My other non-Samsung devices don't have this issue.

[-Robot-]

This is not true, I travel around the globe and have access to 5Ghz and 6Ghz wifi

I really hate when people make crazy statements without any on proof apart from their own perceived experience which doesnt make it true

You also said the wifi ssid "won't show when your out of range"

Errrr you think you can connect to WiFi when out of range or be detected? That's like saying I should be able to see the network for my US office when in London

[Obsydian]

I can access 5 and 6 in the UK and when I've been abroad.

[ShafS24U]

I also live in Bangladesh and I have a AX11000 from Asus, my S24U THL variant can only see Wifi 2ghz and Wifi 5ghz 2. I do get full wifi 6 bandwidth but always wondered why my iPhones can see Wifi 5ghz 1 but not the S24U.

[KASO2END]

He is right the only crazy statement here is yours if you have not experienced the problem then don't doubt him i have a s10 5g and been having this problem since, i only found this out because i was lurking on xda i live in algeria and bought my router from eu.

[-Robot-]

You have no idea what your talking about as the 5G/6G is available everywhere I have been around the world so therefore it's not possible to be region locked

I not saying it can't be a phone issue but region locking wifi isn't a thing, take it from someone who know something about it.

[source1]

Do you work for samsung, or are you a diehard fan boy, I'm facing the same issue on my a54, because lower 5ghz bands are region locked and I've seen so many community posts and other people discussing it on reddit, twitter and so on, how can you not face the issue and say we are lying without understanding even the tiniest bit that these people might actually be facing a serious issue and it's samsungs fault. If you've travelled the world alot I dare you to buy an a54 from UAE and come to Bangladesh, you're welcome. And this is not only these countries that are facing the problem, singapore handsets are also having the same issue in Bangladesh. Please do what I said and if you can prove me wrong you're allowed to disregard our lookout for help. I'm not gonna bother explaining all the technical stuff behind this but you'll look so stupid once you figure out that wifi bands can get region locked if 'the .anufacturer wants to'. As to why would they do it? That's why we are here to ask the same ***** questions, if you don't understand or don't know the answers please stay quiet instead of discarding off real people with real issues

[source1]

Did you try resetting the phone and denying all location options and not inserting a sim and also selecting the region as India? My Redmi note 13 pro bought from Singapore also has the same issue and redmi note 9 bought from Bangladesh has the same issue, but it's easily solvable if I just change the region to India. But in samsung phones you can't change the region like that. I'm gonna update you once I reset my phone to change region