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Wi-Fi 6: more than a speed boost

 

Your next smartphone or laptop may well be ready for IEEE Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) - the next generation of the 802.11 WLAN standard. This allows devices to send more data in one transmission, improving speeds by up to 20%. Higher order modulation (1024-QAM) boosts network efficiency and data transmission, improving speed by as much as 25%.

Wi-Fi 6’s theoretical maximum speed is 9.6 Gb/s – a considerable improvement over Wi-Fi 5’s 3.5 Gb/s peak. This 9.6 Gb/s can be split across a network of devices, ensuring greater speed for each individual device. An important benefit – in the US, for example, the average number of Wi-Fi devices per home went from 5 to 9 since Wi-Fi 5 appeared. Several predictions claim this number will reach 50 within a few years. This places considerable demands on networks.

A Wi-Fi 6 device connected to your network will be faster than a Wi-Fi 5 device – but the real benefits appear when a larger number of devices are connected, as Wi-Fi 6 routers can keep up with requests from larger numbers of devices.

Wi-Fi 6’s greater network speed and efficiency is partly the result of orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), already employed in both 4G and 5G, which lets APs split the radio channel into smaller frequency allocations called Resource units (UBs), allowing the simultaneous transmission of parallel frames to multiple stations. This improves latency for small packet transmissions and device battery life, along with the Target Wake Time feature which allows routers to schedule check-in times with devices.

 

CAPTION: OFDMA (Wi-Fi 6) versus OFDM (Wi-Fi 5)
CAPTION: OFDMA (Wi-Fi 6) versus OFDM (Wi-Fi 5)

Wi-Fi 6 also works with upgraded version multi-user, multiple input, multiple output (MU-MIMO) technology used by routers and connected devices. Instead of broadcasting to a single device, to which other devices are connected in series - a ‘daisy chain’ or ‘bucket brigade’ configuration - the router communicates with multiple devices in parallel. MU-MIMO currently allows routers to communicate with four devices at once, which will be doubled by Wi-Fi 6.

WPA3 - the largest Wi-Fi security update in ten years - makes it harder to crack passwords. WPA3 security is required for Wi-Fi 6 certification, but there’s no guarantee it will be incorporated into uncertified devices.

“Initially, the Wi-Fi 6 standard will gain popularity in the B2B field, where it will bring important innovations,” says Luigi Russo, Senior Product Manager, Prysmian Group. “Together with other technologies such as 4G and 5G, Wi-Fi 6 will penetrate significantly into manufacturing, logistics and other verticals, enabling applications such as AR/VR-based immersive training and automatic guided vehicles in warehouses. The technology is also be more effective in high-density venues like large lecture halls, stadiums and conference rooms, so we are likely to see significant penetration in these venues, too. With its extremely low latency, Wi-Fi 6 also promises to open up new opportunities in AR/VR, healthcare, and self-driving vehicles.”

Luigi Russo

Senior Product Manager, Prysmian Group

“Every leap in network speed has had a major impact on technological innovation: 4G has introduced the age of smartphones, while 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will transform the business world. According to Cisco experts, these two technologies – 5G and Wi-Fi 6 – will be widely adopted at the same time, seamlessly complementing each other.”