I always thought it seemed pretty clear that you can push through wards without setting them off with Charisma by default.
For me, it sounded more like this option was there for dual-natured creature, without magical skills, being forced to pass through barrier. When I read it, it sounded more like something being added, after the fact, because somebody pointed out that a ghoul (for instance) should be able to pass (somehow) through a barrier, without having Astral Combat.
I can't be sure, but it really feels for me that rule as intended is that there is no way to go through an astral barrier quietly. (otherwise, I think they are pretty useless). Then the Astral Infiltrator quality came to offer an option to do it without being noticed.
To make my point, imagine, it would be so easy to go through astral barrier, they will be a lot of "astral spy", who would simply pushes throu, manifest (maybe cast invisibily), destroy the mcguffins and/or spy and go away without even leaving one's safehouse. It would be the equivalent of the stay at home decker from the 3ed and previous... If you can astrally reconnaissance so easily I think it will tip the balance of the game.
The way I see it, if a runner group are casing a facility, they may decide to have an astral reckon performed, but this will mean breaking barrier and letting the astral entity only a few instants to do a bit of reckon, before being chased away or even attacked by the security. (which will tip off a bit the security that the place is being cased, but exactly like going into its matrix hosts might also lead them to suspect they are being cased).
That's my 2 cents.
Sidenote: somebody mentioned something about the barrier caster being "annoyed" every time something passing nearby his barrier. That does not seems to be the case because the barrier owner is only notify when the barrier is breached, so one something actually go through it (not just bounce off).