On September 16, 2019, the Wi-Fi Alliance (a worldwide consortium of companies which promote wireless networking technologies and interoperability) launched the Wi-Fi 6 standard – the latest generation of wireless networking technology, designed to meets demands for faster speeds and higher efficiency in an evolving world of technology.
Today, the first Wi-Fi 6E routers and networking cards are being released, with promises to improve mesh networking capabilities while improving speed and security. As the number of consumer and commercial Wi-Fi-enabled devices grows, there is more demand than ever for connections that support high-bandwidth for data transfers, gaming and video streaming. However, meeting this demand can prove to be especially challenging in population-dense areas, or in areas with large numbers of devices competing for bandwidth.
The release of Wi-Fi 6E devices addresses these concerns. But how does the Wi-Fi 6 standard differ from the networking technology we’ve been using up to this point?
Faster Speeds, Better Performance
The Wi-Fi 6 standard is capable of offering faster internet connections thanks to two main technologies: multi-user, multiple input, multiple output (MU-MIMO) and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA).
MU-MIMO allows a Wi-Fi 6 enabled router to communicate with up to eight devices at the same time. On the other hand, OFDMA enables the delivery of data to multiple devices at once via a single transmission. What sets Wi-Fi 6 apart from previous releases is its OFDMA feature. While previous standards were capable of communicating with multiple devices simultaneously, they weren’t able to transfer data to multiple devices via a single transmission., but now allowing for a much more efficient delivery.
In addition, Wi-Fi 6 offers a feature called target wake time, allowing low-power Wi-Fi devices (such as smart home systems) to receive periodic updates from the router instead of remaining powered on constantly. This helps to avoid signal interference between devices while also conserving energy.
Better Security and Interoperability
Wi-Fi 6 utilizes the WPA3 security certification standard to protect data transmitted over the air. This updated standard offers more robust authentication and encryption features, in addition to a more secure and simplified connection.
To fully benefit from this new technology, both a Wi-Fi 6 certified router and device will be required. Wi-Fi 6 routers are backwards-compatible with previous generations of hardware, which means existing and legacy devices can benefit from some features of the new technology – for instance, the ability to have a stronger wireless connection even on a busy network. However, a Wi-Fi 6-enabled device gains no benefits from connecting to a last-generation router.
Wi-Fi 6E and the 6 GHz Band
Although Wi-Fi 6 was released in September 2019, this technology is still gaining market share. Early adopters including Apple, Samsung, LG, Netgear, Linksys and TP-Link are making the transition to Wi-Fi 6-enabled devices and routers.
Even so, as is often the case in the tech industry, there is always something new coming right around the corner. On April 23, 2020, the FCC approved Wi-Fi 6 access to the 6 GHz band. This advancement prompted the official introduction of Wi-Fi 6E – an extension of Wi-Fi 6 that will be made available for global interoperability certification in 2021.
By gaining access to the 6 GHz band, Wi-Fi connections will benefit from even faster speeds and lower latency over a short distance without having to worry about interference from previous Wi-Fi generations that operate on other bands. Although Wi-Fi 6E seems to be right around the corner, there is still quite a way to go in order to fully reap its benefits.
