If you still don't hear this name, learn it, because it will soon be on everyone's lips: WiFi 6. This is the next evolution of WiFi technology, which will be the new standard for wireless connections. Since the last quarter of 2019, it began to be heard with more force, especially due to the worldwide launch of the new generation of devices that already include this technology.
This new standard will make your current WiFi seem slow, old, out of date, in fact, you will think that you have returned to the days of telephone line Internet connection. It is a fact that WiFi 6 routers will sport real gigabit speed, in order to manage in the best possible way, the latest streaming platforms, video games and virtual meeting applications that today saturate our traditional modem / router.
In conjunction with Mesh technology, WiFi 6 will provide your wireless network with greater capacity to manage many more simultaneously connected devices that make intensive use of available bandwidth.
To fully experience the benefits of this new technology, it must be taken into account that it is not enough to install a WiFi 6 Router, but that the devices connected to it should also have a wireless network card of this same generation. Multiple cell phones are already enabled for WiFi 6 such as: iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max; Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10E as well as Motorola Edge Plus. It is very important to clarify that this does not imply that it is necessary to change the modem / router of your current Internet provider.
One of the most confusing aspects when talking about WiFi 6 is precisely its name. After all, when something goes for version six, the previous versions are expected to exist. And they do exist, although they have been renamed later, retroactively.
In October 2018, the WiFi Alliance (the highest certification authority for WiFi connection) announced that it would change the nomenclature of WiFi connection. The next version, previously known as WiFi 802.11ax, would be renamed WiFi 6, and earlier versions would retroactively be WiFi 4 and WiFi 5.
The entity has not officially named WiFi 1, WiFi 2 and WiFi 3 - perhaps because they are already too old versions - although the WiFi standard has six main versions. It is therefore easy to deduce who is who, with the old and new nomenclature:
WiFi 1 (unofficial), it would be the 802.11a standard.
WiFi 2 (unofficial), it would be the 802.11b standard.
WiFi 3 (unofficial), it would be the 802.11g standard.
WiFi 4 is the previous 802.11n standard
WiFi 5 is the older 802.11ac standard
WiFi 6 was previously known as the 802.11ax standard.
We've already seen that WiFi 6 was previously known as 802.11ax WiFi, but what exactly is it? Like WiFi ac (now called WiFi 5), it is a wireless transmission standard developed by the IEEE Standards Association, which improves the speed, stability with many connected devices and the energy efficiency of previous versions.
WiFi 6 is a backward compatible standard, so that a device with WiFi 6 connectivity can connect to networks under a previous version, although in this case it would not take advantage of the new features of the latest version. For this, it is necessary that both the router and the device -for example, the mobile or the tablet- are compatible with WiFi 6.
The iPhone 11 are an example of devices with the ability to connect to WiFi 6 networks, as long as they do so to a router that supports it. They will have the capability, but not the official WiFi Alliance certification, as Apple has not certified the WiFi on its iPhones in the past. The first mobile to receive WiFi 6 certification will be the Samsung Galaxy Note 10. In the future, more and more devices - and routers - will include WiFi 6 connectivity.
As for the advantages of Wi-Fi 6 compared to previous versions, there are mainly three: higher speed, better operation when there are many devices connected to the same network and better energy efficiency.
A common change in each new version of the Wi-Fi standard is the improvement in the theoretical maximum data transmission speed. Wi-Fi 6 is no exception, rising from the theoretical 6.9 Gbps of Wi-Fi 5 to 9.6 Gbps of Wi-Fi 6. It is, therefore, around 40% faster than the version above, at least under ideal conditions. For its part, latency is reduced by around 75%.
This speed increase comes in part thanks to 1024-QAM modulation (versus 256-QAM on Wi-Fi 5). If we imagine that the Wi-Fi connection between the router and our PC or mobile is a tube through which the data travels, modulation would be the technique to compact the data in order to send more data through the same tube, without increasing the width. band (or tube diameter, in our example).
In addition, Wi-Fi 6 can operate on both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies, unlike Wi-Fi 5, which did so exclusively at 5 GHz. Previous versions could connect to both 2.4 and 5 Ghz Wi-Fi networks, but under the old 802.11n standard (now called Wi-Fi 4).
It is a fact that more and more devices are connected to the Internet (mobile phones, tablets, televisions, consoles ...) and Wi-Fi 6 has different improvements focused on improving performance and reducing interference in these types of situations.
To achieve better performance when a large number of Wi-Fi devices are connected to the same network, Wi-Fi 6 has three enhancements with first and last names: OFDMA, MU-MIMO enhancements and BSS coloration.
OFDMA
Orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA). It is an improvement of the OFDM system, present in previous versions of Wi-Fi, and that allows the channels to be subdivided to offer passage to different users and devices. In practice, this means lower latency and efficiency on a Wi-Fi network when multiple devices are connected.
If we imagine that the data channel is a highway and that the data is transported by trucks, OFDM of Wi-Fi 5 would use a long truck that would occupy the entire lane, while OFDMA would use small vans to carry less load, but more frequent . This allows data to be transmitted more efficiently, especially if the connection is poor and the truck does not reach its destination: less data is lost along the way.
This is especially important in Wi-Fi networks to which a large number of devices are connected, such as public networks in airports or coffee shops, which will not become as congested by having many users connected.
Many of the devices that connect to Wi-Fi networks, such as laptops or cell phones, have a battery, and Wi-Fi 6 promises better energy efficiency by including Target Wake Time, or TWT technology. Without TWT, devices connecting to a Wi-Fi access point would have to connect to the access point from time to time in search of new transmissions, but with TWT on Wi-Fi 6 expected uptime times are negotiated in advance.
In this way, a device can be put into power saving mode until it is time to connect to receive new data. This means that the Wi-Fi 6 device can reduce power consumption by going into power saving mode until the time specified in its TWT arrives.
Technicians say it has four times the capacity, no matter how many devices are used simultaneously at home, to stream content, play multiplayer online, listen to music from apps, or do any other online activity. No matter what it is, WiFi 6 is very capable of handling it all.
The change is significant, because now your router will be able to focus more on the devices on your network, even in the most remote places of your home, with which you can have coverage even in the most remote areas, the garden or the pool, from where cameras, video intercoms, doorbells or outdoor smart speakers can work without interruptions.
An important novelty is that WiFi 6 eliminates interference caused by other nearby WiFi networks, so that you always have the strongest, clearest and most stable signal on each and every one of your devices.
One more benefit of WiFi 6 is energy efficiency, since it makes your devices stay longer in standby mode, generating significant savings in battery consumption and giving your smart devices more useful life.
In summary, the most obvious benefits of WiFi 6 are:
While older laptops and smart TVs are capable of connecting to WiFi 6 networks, they won't benefit from WiFi 6 superior performance. To experience the tech's benefits your devices must be WiFi 6 compliant.
WiFi 6 is 3 gigabits per second faster than WiFi 5. While WiFi 6 tops at 10 gigabits per second, Wifi 5 tops at 7 gigabits per second.
If you have a WiFi 4 router or older, then you really should upgrade to WiFi 6, as your devices probably are capable of better technology than WiFi 4. Otherwise, if you have a WiFi 5 Router then an upgrade is not really necessary, as Fisco says: “If you still have a WiFi 4 router but your smartphone, TV, and laptop all support WiFi 5, get a WiFi 5 router instead. I would be very comfortable saying you’re good for five years—probably more.”
So if you don't live with way too many people (and devices), then you should save your money.
No, both reach a maximum theoretical speed of 10 Gbps.
Not really. You might have seen that routers nowadays have two types of connections: 5Ghz (faster and less range) and 2.4Ghz (slower and more range). WiFi 6 makes it so both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequencies have faster speed of connection. This means that the slower but farther reaching 2.4Ghz is faster than before.
Yes, WiFi 6 routers are completely backwards compatible with WiFi 5 routers and older devices. Nevertheless those devices won't benefit from WiFi 6 speeds, they will connect and have speeds depending on their generation.
Hopefully this article was useful for you. Either for the interest of knowing or to make an informed decision. As said before, WiFi 6 is really good, but if you have WiFi 5 you probably are good for at least 5 more years.