Everything You Need to Know about Wi-Fi 6!
WiFi-6 Technology has come up as the latest generation of Wi-Fi with increased benefits and efficiency.
Coming a long way in terms of technology while stepping into the smart device era, one has to reminiscence the early days when Wi-Fi routers were considered a luxurious hi-tech technology.
In the last 20 years, Wi-Fi has transformed itself from a high-tech technology to a commodity that’s almost everywhere.
WiFi-6 Technology has come up as the latest generation of Wi-Fi with increased benefits and efficiency.
Considered not as a one-time speed increase from its previous generation, Wi-Fi 6 Technology, we see it as a future-facing upgrade that is specifically designed to make sure the Wi-Fi speeds doesn’t come to a halt a few years down the road.
Apart from a speed booster, this new technology works on providing better performance in congested areas like stadiums and is suitable for one’s own device-packed home.
Though introduced officially in late 2019, Wi-Fi 6 Technology and its hardware were released throughout 2020.
Starting with some basic information on Exploring Wi-Fi 6 Technology, let’s check out What is Wi-Fi 6 Technology and What are its Benefits in the Long Term?
Exploring Wi-Fi 6 Technology
Also known as 802.11ax according to its standard name, Wi-Fi 6 Technology is the new generation of Wi-Fi Technology having a new focus on efficiency and performance.
According to its specifications, while Exploring this technology, we can say that it can handle client density more efficiently through a new channel-sharing capability that allows true multi-user communications on both the downlink and uplink.
This technology also uses a new client power-saving mechanism to schedule wake times to improve client battery life.
As discussed above while Exploring Wi-Fi 6 Technology and its scope, this technology isn’t considered a new means of connecting to the internet like fiber but in fact, is an upgraded standard for compatible devices, particularly routers, that can take advantage of to transmit Wi-Fi signals more efficiently.
Why are Naming Wi-Fi Standards Needed?
Yes, you heard it right!
All Wi-Fi standards we used in our homes till now have been renamed and the new name for the most recent Wi-Fi standard (802.11ax), is called Wi-Fi 6.
Back in the early days of Wi-Fi Technology, all wireless standards were referred to by a technical name that was originally given by the IEEE, which is the standard organization that defines networking standards.
However, recently a new naming standard was set by the Wi-Fi Alliance, with previous generations now being renamed Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) and Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n).
The renaming was essentially done to make these standards easier to understand and remember.
What Problem does This Technology Solve?
Considered a resilient technology, Wi-Fi is not necessarily much efficient. Since Wi-Fi operates at both layer one and layer two of the OSI model, inefficiency exists is bound to exist at both layers.
Previously, all 802.11 amendments defined technologies that accelerated data rates and wider channels but were not able to address efficiency.
Despite possessing a higher data rate and 40/80/160 MHz channels used by 802.11n/ac radios, multiple factors contributed to increasing the Wi-Fi traffic congestion that failed to provide efficient use of the medium.
In turn, Wi-Fi 6 Technology is mainly focused on more efficient use of the existing radio frequency medium.
Its main goal is better and more efficient 802.11 traffic management and since most of the Wi-Fi 6 enhancements are at the PHY layer, the technology leverages a new multi-user version of OFDM technology instead of the single-user OFDM technology generally used by 802.11a/g/n/ac radios.
Perks of Wi-Fi 6 Technology
- Possess higher overall bandwidth per user for ultra-HD and virtual reality streaming
- Can work on a larger total spectrum (2.4GHz and 5GHz, eventually bands in 1GHz and 6GHz)
- Spectrum can split into more channels to enable more routes for communication
- Support for more simultaneous streams of data with increased throughput
- Packets include more data and networks that can handle different data streams at once
- Have better performance and robustness in outdoor and multi-path environments
- Can offload wireless traffic from cellular networks where reception is poor
- Improved performance at the maximum range of an access point
Future Scope
Having witnessed connectivity problems due to the overloading of the internet grid from overloaded usages in the times of Covid-19, this new technology has come up as a blessing for future contingencies.
With better traffic management properties and efficiently handling the performance speeds, Wi-Fi 6 Technology comes under the same category as what 5G is to telecommunication.