We collectively stream extra motion pictures and TV exhibits, play extra on-line video games, and make extra video calls than ever earlier than, and all this exercise places a severe pressure on our Wi-Fi networks. We know the most recent Wi-Fi 6 standard affords a spread of advantages, together with quicker and extra dependable entry, however how does Wi-Fi 6E slot in?
Wi-Fi 6E is the identify for gadgets that function within the 6-gigahertz (GHz) band, a brand new swath of unlicensed spectrum. Until now, our Wi-Fi operated on two bands: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The Wi-Fi 6 customary has numerous options to enhance the effectivity and information throughput of your wi-fi community and cut back latency for these two bands. Wi-Fi 6E brings these enhancements to the 6-GHz band. Let’s break that down even additional.
Updated October 2022: We’ve added our expertise with Wi-Fi 6E and information of extra reasonably priced Wi-Fi 6E routers, mesh methods, and gadgets.
Wi-Fi 6E Explained
Wi-Fi 6E extends the capability, effectivity, protection, and efficiency advantages of Wi-Fi 6 into the 6-GHz band. “With as much as seven extra super-wide 160-MHz channels out there, Wi-Fi 6E gadgets ship better community efficiency and help extra Wi-Fi customers without delay, even in very dense and congested environments,” says Kevin Robinson, senior vp of promoting for the Wi-Fi Alliance.
Each band is a chunk of frequency. The 2.4-GHz band comprises 11 channels that are each 20 megahertz (MHz) wide. The 5-GHz band has 45 channels, but they can be fused to create 40-MHz or 80-MHz channels, enabling them to transmit more data at once. The 6-GHz band supports 60 channels that can be up to 160 MHz wide.
That’s a huge chunk of extra capacity. Think of it as going from a single-track road (2.4 GHz) to a three-lane highway (5 GHz) to a six-lane superhighway (6 GHz). The analogy works for coverage too. Higher frequencies have a tougher time penetrating solid walls and floors, so the single-track 2.4-GHz roads reach further than the 5-GHz highways, which reach further than the 6-GHz superhighways.
Rebranding Standards
Wi-Fi requirements have historically been fairly complicated. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) establishes Wi-Fi requirements, and these requirements are licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance, which at the moment has 866 member corporations, together with Apple, Facebook, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony, and many extra.
The Wi-Fi Alliance realized (correctly) that a standard named IEEE 802.11ax might be easier to grasp if it was rebranded as Wi-Fi 6. This move retroactively makes the IEEE 802.11ac standard Wi-Fi 5, IEEE 802.11 becomes Wi-Fi 4, and so on. Each of these standards is an umbrella term for a range of new features and improvements.
To give one instance, Wi-Fi 4 launched MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) expertise to permit for a number of simultaneous transmissions to and from a tool. The second wave of Wi-Fi 5 merchandise launched MU-MIMO, (MU stands for multi-user), enabling a number of gadgets to attach concurrently to ship and obtain information. Wi-Fi 6 improves MU-MIMO and introduces OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division a number of entry), enabling a single transmission to ship information to a number of gadgets without delay.
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