Wi-Fi 6: Everything you need to know

Count how many devices need to connect Source: Windows Central

A new Wi-Fi designation has landed, and information technology'south bringing some important changes. Wi-Fi 802.11ax, now named Wi-Fi half-dozen to lessen confusion, is gear up to improve speed and performance and better prepare for a wireless future with thousands of devices all vying for data. Hither's everything yous need to know.

What exactly is Wi-Fi 6?

Wi-Fi 6 is a new Wi-Fi standard, named so to avoid defoliation with older standards, which are now designated every bit follows:

802.11b is now Wi-Fi 1
802.11a is now Wi-Fi ii
802.11g is now Wi-Fi 3
802.11n is now Wi-Fi 4
802.11ac is at present Wi-Fi 5
802.11ax is now Wi-Fi half dozen

Wi-Fi 6 is based on the new IEEE 802.11ax standard, and then you might come across the 2 terms interchanged. It's nonetheless going to act like the Wi-Fi you know and dearest at present, except with some added benefits. The Wi-Fi Alliance (the standards body that oversees Wi-Fi engineering science) lists these four primal benefits of Wi-Fi 6:

Faster overall transfer speeds to and from devices
More chapters for continued devices
Better performance with many continued devices
Less device battery bleed when continued

To summarize, Wi-Fi 6 expands on Wi-Fi v (802.11ac) to be better suited to handle large crowds vying for data at the same time (including expansive public events), and information technology is capable of handling theoretical speeds upward to virtually nine.6Gbps, which is near 3 times the current maximum theoretical speed limit of Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). As nosotros move to college-resolution video streaming, demanding gaming performance, and more connected devices, Wi-Fi half-dozen will be better suited to handle our needs.

What is Wi-Fi 6E?

Wi-Fi 6 popularity has exploded since I offset wrote this article in 2022, and there'due south now a newer version called Wi-Fi 6E popping upwardly in plenty of devices. Whereas standard Wi-Fi 6 operates on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, Wi-Fi 6E has been extended — that's where the "Eastward" comes from — into the 6GHz band.

To extrapolate, the two bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz) that standard Wi-Fi 6 operates on are very crowded. Wi-Fi 6E'southward ability to operate on the 6GHz ring solves a lot of congestion, at least for compatible routers and devices. Wi-Fi 6E has vii additional 160MHz channels, which is roughly an extra 1,200MHz of spectrum to work with. The 6GHz band doesn't overlap, also reducing congestion.

Wi-Fi 6E should further aid accommodate the needs of people with heavy streaming demands, whether for high-resolution video content or game and VR streaming.

How is Wi-Fi 6 different from previous Wi-Fi standards?

11AX Source: Intel

Wi-Fi 6 devices connected to Wi-Fi half-dozen routers will come across potential performance gains up to about 40% compared to Wi-Fi five devices and routers. This is accomplished due to Wi-Fi 6 being able to pack more data into each packet, and it will work on both the 2.4Gz and 5GHz bands (and the 6GHz band with Wi-Fi 6E).

A larger do good, all the same, is revealed when there are multiple devices connected to the same network. If you lot've e'er stayed in a hotel or have connected to Wi-Fi at a coffee shop, yous know how ho-hum throughput tin can be due to the main admission betoken attempting to handle all simultaneous connections.

In a writeup on Intel'southward Information technology Peer Network, information technology'southward claimed that Wi-Fi 6 will ameliorate the efficiency of a single network past about four times, which will, in turn, improve average throughput for those connected to Wi-Fi 6 in heavily congested areas by most four times. Wi-Fi 6 continues and expands on the MU-MIMO trend released with Wi-Fi 5, which allows a Wi-Fi radio to deliver data simultaneously to multiple devices instead of in a rotating manner. Instead of handling four simultaneous streams, Wi-Fi vi ups the number to eight.

Thanks to the addition of Target wake time (TWT) in Wi-Fi half dozen, all connected devices should see significantly less battery bleed. Compatible devices and routers will communicate primal wake and sleep times, which means less up time for an adapter and less pull on a bombardment. Non only is this of import for everyday devices similar laptops and modern phones, it will also brand a divergence as we meet more Internet of Things (IoT) products enter our homes and businesses.

What does official Wi-Fi 6 certification mean?

Wi Fi 6e Certified Phone Source: Nick Sutrich / Windows Central

While hardware manufacturers have been pumping out Wi-Fi 6 products for a while already, official certification via the Wi-Fi Alliance, which assures devices see certain guidelines, only began mid-September 2022. The Samsung Milky way Note 10 was the first phone to receive official certification, with the Ruckus R750 coming in equally the first certified access point. Devices released earlier certification began are classed as "draft certified," which means they might not necessarily come across the official standards now gear up by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Products that adhere to the Wi-Fi Certified 6 certification program evangelize an optimal wireless experience. Whereas Wi-Fi 5 delivers 256-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation mode), Wi-Fi half-dozen steps information technology up to 1024-QAM. This offers far more throughput for data-hungry devices, and together with 160MHz channels, MU-MIMO, and transmit beamforming, you're going to see phenomenal performance even with many users vying for bandwidth. Orthogonal frequency division multiple admission (OFDMA) for channel sharing is also a must for certification, which will improve performance across the board when at that place is a high demand for information.

How can you lot tell Wi-Fi standards apart?

Wi-Fi Standards Source: Wi-Fi Brotherhood

Other than knowing your ain hardware, beingness able to tell which Wi-Fi standard you're connected to while in public can be fabricated easier with new interface icons. This will depend on the device that's being connected to Wi-Fi, but you tin expect virtually modern phones, laptops, and tablets to jump on board before long.

When connecting, it's expected that you'll come across a standard Wi-Fi icon with a number included, which will announce which standard is being used.

Are wireless 5G and Wi-Fi half dozen the same thing?

Samsung Galaxy Source: Windows Primal

No, these two technologies are not the same. Wireless 5G is a cellular applied science designed for mobile devices and Always-Continued laptops, while Wi-Fi half-dozen is a wireless LAN (WLAN) engineering science that expands on (and is uniform with) older standards. You'll detect that wireless 5G is almost commonly associated with cellular data, while Wi-Fi 6 is most commonly associated with your habitation or part network.

Exercise you need to buy a new router for Wi-Fi 6?

If you're currently using a Wi-Fi 4 or Wi-Fi 5 router with your devices and you'd similar to arrive on the Wi-Fi vi hype, you volition need to purchase a new router (and yous'll need compatible devices). There are now quite a few good Wi-Fi half dozen router options on the market, and we recommend the Netgear Nighthawk RAX50. It brings all the benefits of Wi-Fi six, and remainder assured it remains compatible with whatsoever older devices that were using previous Wi-Fi standards. If you're looking for the all-time Wi-Fi 6E routers, something like the ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 might do the flim-flam.

Netgear Nighthawk RAX50

Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 : Netgear Nighthawk RAX50

The Nighthawk RAX50 has more than enough speed for most users with the capacity for gaming and streaming without dropping speed.

Rog Rapture Gtaxe11000 6e Reco

Wi-Fi 6E capabilities : ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000

The ASUS ROG Rapture has a mouthful of a name, but you'll probably be speechless with its incredibly fast speeds, six Ethernet ports, RGB lighting, and low latency for gaming.

$550 at Amazon

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Xbox Insiders Update

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