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Wi-Fi 6 is here to stay
Given the massive and continually increasing traffic volumes, Wi-Fi is clearly the dominant indoor organizational (and residential) connectivity option. It also has a strong presence in commercial (such as retail) settings and in many high-population-density outdoor locales as well.
Over the years, our homes have filled up with more and more devices, small and large, simple and complex, IOTs, all connected to Wi-Fi. Each device demands some of your router’s time and bandwidth, and that’s increasingly becoming a problem — the more devices you have, the more your router’s capacity is spread thin. If this continues, speeds could slow to a drag.
WI-FI 6, the newest generation standard in WI-FI technology is here to stay and help with these challenges. It is faster than the previous generation – WI-FI 5 802.11 ac; more than speed, it also provides better performance. Emphasizing quality connectivity in locations with hundreds or thousands of connected devices such as stadiums and other public venues, as well as corporate networks utilizing time-sensitive, high bandwidth applications, Wi-Fi 6 networks ensure each connected device performs at an optimum level. Wi-Fi 6 devices meet the highest standards for security and interoperability, and enable lower battery consumption, making it a solid choice for any environment, including the Internet of Things (IoT).
Before going further, let’s look at the history of WI-FI.PHY StandardYearThroughputBandsImprovements Over Previous Generation802.11 (Wi-Fi 1)19971-2 Mbps900, 2.4, IRInitial Standard802.11b (Wi-Fi 2)199911 Mbps2.4More than 5X improvement in raw throughput802.11a199954 Mbps5Initial use of 5 GHz. band; not commercially successful802.11g (Wi-Fi 3)200354 Mbps2.45X improvement in throughput802.11n (Wi-Fi 4)2009300-600 Mbps2.4, 5MIMO/OFDM, 40 MHz. channels, 6X+ improvement in throughput802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5)2013433-1270 Mbps580-MHz. channels802.11ac (Wave 2)20152167 Mbps5160 MHz-channels, more than 3 MIMO streams, multi-user MIMO802.11ad20127 Gbps603+ Gbps effective throughput802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6)201910 Gbps2.4, 510 Gbps, bi-directional MU-MIMO; likely Wave 2802.11ay202020+ Gbps45+Potentially 100+ GbpsOpportunities and BenefitsAchieving optimal capacity is particularly important when the nature of demand seen in Wi-Fi installations today is examined. First, we’ve got a growing base of users, each often equipped with multiple BYOD handsets, tablets, and notebooks. These numbers keep growing daily and it is expected that by 2022, the number of mobile devices used in business will reach 12.3 billion. Each of these devices is often running multiple simultaneous applications, with many, like voice telephony and video streaming, representing time-bounded traffic that demands minimal network latency. Media capabilities are also a core driver of traffic volume – while streaming video might require as little as two Mbps, up to the order of 40-80 Mbps for full frame 4K traffic, any delay due to congestion, RF interference, or ineffective Wi-Fi deployments resulting from under-provisioning or configuration errors, will result in a poor QoE, and thus disappointed and less-than-optimally-productive users. And if any network isn’t assuring end-user productivity, then it’s clearly not delivering the value required.
And when we add in the growing demand from an as-yet underappreciated source, the Internet of Things (IoT) and the rapidly emerging, high-traffic-demand applications like augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), it’s easy to see how simply meeting application demands alone will drive the adoption of W-Fi 6 at a very significant pace.
WI-FI 6 has been developed to deliver 40% high peak data rates using a single client device. Average throughput per user is improved by at least 4 times in dense environments. It offers four times increase in network efficiency when compared to WI-FI 5 (802.11ac) and is backward compatible with 802.11n and 802.11ac devices.
With Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), multiple APs deployed in dense device environments can collectively deliver required quality-of-service (QoS) to more clients. This is made possible by a range of technologies, such as the Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) iteration of MU-MIMO, (Multi-User Multiple Inputs Multiple Output) which enables simultaneous data transmissions on the same frequency. The technology allows a router to communicate with multiple devices at the same time, rather than broadcasting to one device, and then the next, and the next. Right now, MU-MIMO allows routers to communicate with four devices at a time. Wi-Fi 6 allows devices to communicate with up to eight.
We can say Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is playing a critical role in helping Wi-Fi evolve into a collision-free, deterministic wireless technology that dramatically increases aggregate network throughput to address high-density venues and beyond. Last, but certainly not least, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) access points are also expected to enhance the overall Wi-Fi experience by providing tangible performance benefits for legacy wireless devices.
How fast is it?
The short but incomplete answer: 9.6 Gbps. That’s up from 3.5 Gbps on Wi-Fi 5.
The real answer: both of those speeds are theoretical maximums that you’re unlikely to ever reach in real-world Wi-Fi use. And even if you could reach those speeds, it’s not clear that you’d need them. The average download speed in most countries is around 80 Mbps, but the fact that Wi-Fi 6 has a much higher theoretical speed limit than its predecessor is still important. That 9.6 Gbps doesn’t have to go to a single computer. It can be split up across a whole network of devices. That means more potential speed for each device.WI-FI 6 isn’t just about top speeds. Instead of boosting the speed for individual devices, Wi-Fi 6 is all about improving the network when a bunch of devices are connected.
That’s an important goal, and it arrives at an important time: when Wi-Fi 5 came out, the average household had about five Wi-Fi devices in it. Now, homes have nine Wi-Fi devices on average, and various firms have predicted we’ll hit 50 on average within several years.
Those added devices take a toll on your network. Your router can only communicate with so many devices at once, so the more gadgets demanding Wi-Fi, the more the network overall is going to slow down.
Wi-Fi 6 introduces some new technologies to help mitigate the issues that come with putting dozens of Wi-Fi devices on a single network. It lets routers communicate with more devices at once, lets routers send data to multiple devices in the same broadcast, and lets Wi-Fi devices schedule check-ins with the router. Together, those features should keep connections strong even as more and more devices start demanding data.
At first, Wi-Fi 6 connections aren’t likely to be substantially faster. A single Wi-Fi 6 laptop connected to a Wi-Fi 6 router may only be slightly faster than a single Wi-Fi 5 laptop connected to a Wi-Fi 5 router.
Devices are now more likely to maintain fast speeds on busy networks. However, the story starts to change as more and more devices get added onto your network. Where current routers might start to get overwhelmed by requests from a multitude of devices, Wi-Fi 6 routers are designed to more effectively keep all those devices up to date with the data they need.
Each of those devices’ speeds won’t necessarily be faster than what they can reach today on a high-quality network, but they’re more likely to maintain those top speeds even in busier environments. You can imagine this being useful in a home where one person is streaming Netflix, another is playing a game, someone else is video chatting, and a whole bunch of smart gadgets — a door lock, temperature sensors, light switches, and so on — are all checking in at once.
The top speeds of those devices won’t necessarily be boosted, but the speeds you see in typical, daily use likely will get an upgrade.
Exactly how fast that upgrade is, though, will depend on how many devices are on your network, the size of your Internet bandwidth and just how demanding those devices are.
The NETGEAR Nighthawk AX8 Wi-Fi 6 router sports speeds up to 6Gbps, along with 160MHz channel support for Gigabit WiFi speeds. The Nighthawk also includes six different Gigabit ports which allow for you to hard-wire in for the fastest speeds. What makes Wi-Fi 6 faster?
There are two key technologies speeding up Wi-Fi 6 connections: MU-MIMO and OFDMA. MU-MIMO, which stands for “multi-user, multiple input, multiple output,” is already in use in modern routers and devices, but Wi-Fi 6 upgrades it.
The technology allows a router to communicate with multiple devices at the same time, rather than broadcasting to one device, and then the next, and the next. Right now, MU-MIMO allows routers to communicate with four devices at a time. Wi-Fi 6 will allow devices to communicate with up to eight.
You can think of adding MU-MIMO connections like adding delivery trucks to a fleet, says Kevin Robinson, marketing leader for the Wi-Fi Alliance, an internationally backed tech-industry group that oversees the implementation of Wi-Fi. “You can send each of those trucks in different directions to different customers,” Robinson says. “Before, you had four trucks to fill with goods and send to four customers. With Wi-Fi 6, you now have eight trucks.”
The other new technology, OFDMA, which stands for “orthogonal frequency division multiple access,” allows one transmission to deliver data to multiple devices at once. Extending the truck metaphor, Robinson says that OFDMA essentially allows one truck to carry goods to be delivered to multiple locations. “With OFDMA, the network can look at a truck, see ‘I’m only allocating 75 percent of that truck and this other customer is kind of on the way,’” and then fill up that remaining space with a delivery for the second customer, he says.
In practice, this is all used to get more out of every transmission that carries a Wi-Fi signal from a router to your device.
Wi-Fi 6 can also improve battery life
Another new technology in Wi-Fi 6 allows devices to plan out communications with a router, reducing the amount of time they need to keep their antennas powered on to transmit and search for signals. That means less drain on batteries and improved battery life in turn.
This is all possible because of a feature called Target Wake Time, which lets routers schedule check-in times with devices.
It isn’t going to be helpful across the board, though. Your laptop needs constant internet access, so it’s unlikely to make heavy use of this feature (except, perhaps, when it moves into a sleep state).
Instead, this feature is meant more for smaller, already low-power Wi-Fi devices that just need to update their status every now and then. (Think small sensors placed around a home to monitor things like leaks or smart home devices that sit unused most of the day.)
Wi-Fi 6 also means better security
Last year, Wi-Fi started getting its biggest security update in a decade, with a new security protocol called WPA3. WPA3 makes it harder for hackers to crack passwords by constantly guessing them, and it makes some data less useful even if hackers manage to obtain it.
Current devices and routers can support WPA3, but it’s optional. For a Wi-Fi 6 device to receive certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance, WPA3 is required, so most Wi-Fi 6 devices are likely to include the stronger security once the certification program launches.
And we are just getting started
Devices supporting Wi-Fi 6 are just starting to trickle out. You can already buy Wi-Fi 6 routers, but so far, they’re expensive high-end devices. A handful of laptops include the new generation of Wi-Fi, too, but it’s not widespread just yet.
Wi-Fi 6 will start arriving on high-end phones this year, though. Qualcomm’s latest flagship processor, the Snapdragon 855, includes support for Wi-Fi 6, and it’s destined for the next wave of top-of-the-line phones. The Snapdragon 855’s inclusion doesn’t guarantee that a phone will have Wi-Fi 6, but it’s a good sign: Samsung’s Galaxy S10 is one of the first phones with the new processor, and it supports the newest generation of Wi-Fi.
The inclusion of Wi-Fi 6 is likely to become even more common next year. The Wi-Fi Alliance will launch its Wi-Fi 6 certification program this fall, which guarantees compatibility across Wi-Fi devices. Devices don’t need to pass that certification, but its launch will signify that the industry is ready for Wi-Fi 6’s arrival.
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