New generation of WiFi is coming soon and yes now the generations have been given version number which is less confusing for normal users. WiFi 6 will also be known as IEEE 802.11ax.
Generations of WiFi:
- Wi-Fi 4 – 802.11n
- Wi-Fi 5 – 802.11ac
- Wi-Fi 6 – 802.11ax
What is WiFi?
Wi-Fi is a family of wireless networking technologies, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access. Wi‑Fi is a trademark of the non-profit Wi-Fi Alliance, which restricts the use of the term Wi-Fi Certified to products that successfully complete interoperability certification testing. WiFi stands for Wireless Fidelity.
WiFi 6 has low-latency
Latency is the time taken for a packet to reach it’s destination after first packet. For example, First packet reached it’s destination on 52th second and second packet reached on 56th second then latency is 4 second which is high but this is an example. Ping is somewhat similar to latency but in ping, the time a packet takes to reach it’s destination is calculated. The lower, the ping and latency, the better internet connection you have.
The new generation of WiFi brings technology that will result in low latency. Latency plays a huge role as, if a packet takes too much time to reach it’s destination then the connection might disconnect. Latency is decreased by 75% which is huge.
More Speed
As expected with change of generation, the speed will be improved. WiFi 6 works on 1- 6 GHz bands. So it supports older generations.
More Speed is achieved by putting more data in a single packet. Hence resulting in transferring less packets. Also the new generation splits the channel into large number of sub channel. This is achieved using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access(OFDMA) technology. This allows router to communicate with more devices. This is really helpful in crowded places like stadium, restaurants or even your home with many devices.
It also uses Multi user MIMO(Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology which enables routers to communicate with devices at same time. This is achieved using more access point. In WiFi 5 access point were able to communicate with multiple devices but devices weren’t able to respond at same time. This is changed in new generation.
Low Power Consumption
The new generation uses Target Wake Time(TWT) technology to use low power. In this Technology, device doesn’t remain on for all time, the device goes to sleep when not in use enabling low power consumption. This doesn’t mean that your whole device will go to sleep, only the parts which are not being used goes to sleep.
This is very helpful in IOT(Internet of Things) devices as they use low power.
Beamforming
You surely would have a spot where the WiFi signal is weak or not able to reach. The new generation uses Beamforming feature which increases range and can make dead zones less likely to occur.
Beamforming is a feature used by router to focus on a particular device especially if that device is having trouble with connection.
The new generation has made huge and also small improvements which results in better performance.
WiFi 6E
WiFi 6E is the extended version of 6 which works over 6 GHz band.
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made 1200 MHz of 6 GHz Band available for unlicensed uses.
WiFi 6E utilizes up to 14 additional 80 MHz channels or 7 additional super-wide 160 MHz channels in 6 GHz for applications such as high-definition video streaming and virtual reality. By using these bands WiFi 6E can take advantage of communication with many more devices in congested area and can also achieve high network performance.
Conclusion
The new generation promises greater speed, low latency and many new features. The new generation can increase your speed without even changing your internet speed. Due to low latency and increase in speed upto 60% or more.
The devices supporting the new generation are available in the market. You just have to check for WiFi 6 or IEEE 802.11ax label.
The information was gained from Wi-Fi Alliance.
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