Since WiFi, the technology for wireless connection of electronic devices, appeared in our lives two decades ago, everything has evolved at a dizzying pace. Now we meet the 6 WiFi, whose transmission speed is more than 800 times higher than the initial version.
In this post we are going to analyze in detail what this great step forward consists of and what its impact will be on our lives. Because WiFi 6 brings with it many interesting new features.
It should be noted that WiFi technology is "forced" to grow and improve year after year. We must not forget that, in its early days, it was present in few homes and workplaces, sometimes with just one or two connected devices. Today the situation is quite different. It's no secret that the more devices use WiFi, the slower the Internet will go. always needed more bandwidth and more speed. WiFi 6 arrives to respond to these needs.
What is WiFi 6
In 2028, the WiFi Alliance (which is the trade organization that manages the 802.11 standards related to wireless local area networks) established a standard to determine what types of equipment were compatible with each of the WiFi versions. This is a brief summary:
- Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n).
- Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac).
- Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax).
The use of numbers (4, 5, 6) instead of the technical name, is intended to facilitate the identification and differentiation between WiFi networks by the general public.
And it is that not all Internet users know what the 802.11 standard is, despite the fact that it is essential for wireless connections. It can be defined as a set of rules created by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Although we all call it WiFi, the correct name we should use is 802.11, which in 2009 came to improve compared to previous versions, new and more advanced transmission and reception techniques, as well as a data speed of up to 600 Mbps.
IEEE 802.11ax is the next generation standard in WiFi technology. It is designed to respond to the increasing demand for devices with higher speed and more capacity.
Advantages of WiFi 6
The three great advantages of WiFi 6 can be summed up in three words: speed, performance and security. We analyze them one by one:
Speed
On paper, the theoretical maximum speed that WiFi 6 can achieve is 9,6 Gb / s, although in the real world that figure is highly unlikely. Even so, this technology is considerably faster than its predecessors. In addition, its coverage is much greater: up to 800 meters!
Also, unlike WiFi 5, this new standard can operate on both the 2,4 Ghz and 5 Ghz frequencies.
Performance
One of the most remarkable aspects of WiFi 6 is that it improves the overall performance of the network, not that of individual devices. And all thanks to the joint work of these four technologies:
- OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division multiple access), which is used to divide the available channel bandwidth into several resource units. This helps to avoid congestion and facilitate fluidity in the connection.
- MU-MIMO (multi-user, multi-input, multi-output), which allows routers to communicate with multiple devices simultaneously.
- BSS (Basic Service Set), which color-codes the shared frequencies with a number.
- TWT (Target Wait Time), which gives devices the flexibility to set when and how often to wake up to send or receive data.
Security
The new security protocol called WPA3 arrives to solve the problems that were generated in the WPA2 protocol. This translates into creating a more secure environment in which hackers will have a really difficult time trying to decipher using the "trial and error" method. Obviously, to have this advantage we must have compatible devices and routers.
How can I benefit from using WiFi 6?
This is the big question. Knowing that WiFi 6 brings so many benefits, it would be stupid to give up this technology. But for that, our devices must be compatible. Basically, what we are going to need it is this:
- Wi-Fi 6 Router.
- Wi-Fi 6 Compatible Devices: phones, laptops, etc., prepared to work with this type for wireless connectivity.
- 1 Gbps minimum bandwidth.
From this it can be inferred that, depending on our situation, it is not going to be a good idea in all cases to switch to WiFi 6. It would not make sense to spend a fortune renewing all the household equipment (computers, mobile phones, tablets...) and hire a faster and more expensive connection just to enjoy the advantages of this new connection technology.
And it is that to enjoy all the advantages of the new WiFi 6 it is necessary that both the sending device and the receiving device are compatible. This will come in the not too distant future, but it is still not the norm.