What Is Wi-Fi 6? Everything You Need To Know

You lot've likely heard a lot about "Wi-Fi 6" in the past year or two. Just what exactly is Wi-Fi vi? Information technology'due south the adjacent-generation of Wi-Fi and information technology's set to make your wireless cyberspace fifty-fifty faster than ever before.

Nonetheless, information technology is non as simple as a one-time speed increase for your Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi 6 is pretty similar to the 5G upgrade on mobile networks. It'due south a future-facing upgrade that is designed to brand certain that your speeds don't deadening downwards in a few years.

Wi-Fi half dozen is already hither, and your smartphone and/or laptop probable supports it. Now allow'due south talk more nigh it so you can see whether it is every bit big of a deal as the tech world wants it to be.

What is Wi-Fi 6?

To put it only, Wi-Fi 6 is the next-generation of Wi-Fi. It'll be better than Wi-Fi v, which is what the bulk of usa have right at present. It'll notwithstanding mostly work the same every bit Wi-Fi does not, but with some improvements.

Speed-wise, it'll be a pretty big upgrade over Wi-Fi 5. Coming in at theoretical height speeds of ix.6Gbps versus the 3.5Gbps that Wi-Fi 5 would max out at. Of course that'southward all theoretical and you'd never really see those speeds.

Wi-Fi'southward naming scheme

The naming scheme for new versions of Wi-Fi were pretty confusing until recently. It basically required you to know whether 802.11n was faster than 802.11ac or whether those were just fabricated up letters and numbers for the most part. Recently, the Wi-Fi Alliance decided to change that, and rename generations with simple version numbers. Similar to mobile networks (1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc). So what nosotros employ now, which is 802.11ac, was turned into Wi-Fi v. And now the next generation which was going to exist chosen 802.11ax, is now simply Wi-Fi six.

This will make information technology a whole lot easier to understand different generations of Wi-Fi, which is indeed, very important.

How can I become Wi-Fi 6?

To go Wi-Fi 6, you'll need to start with the router. Make sure y'all choice up a Wi-Fi 6-compatible router. Though well-nigh routers released in the last couple of years are going to be Wi-Fi 6-compatible, so that shouldn't exist a huge issue. In fact, AT&T's routers for its fiber network are compatible with Wi-Fi 6 (and Wi-Fi 6E, just that's another version of Wi-Fi we'll explain at some other time).

Once you accept that new router that works with Wi-Fi half-dozen, at present you'll need new devices to connect to it that likewise support it. That includes laptops, desktops, smartphones, etc. Over again, almost smartphones, tablets and laptops released in the last couple of years will back up Wi-Fi 6. Some, like the OnePlus ix, will also show yous in the status bar when you lot are continued to a Wi-Fi 6 network.

Then the elementary answer for how you can get it, is to buy new hardware. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi six is non a software upgrade.

What devices back up Wi-Fi vi?

As mentioned already, Wi-Fi six is actually not that new, and then a lot of products on the marketplace today already support it. Even though information technology's not a feature that gets marketed as much. Here is a list of what devices are supported. This is not a comprehensive list, only volition give you lot an idea of the ones that are supported.

Wi-Fi 6 enabled smartphones

• Huawei P40 Pro
• iPhone 11,11 Pro and11 Pro Max
• iPhone SE
• iPhone 12,12 Pro,12 Pro Max and12 Mini
• Motorola Border Plus
• OnePlus 8 and8 Pro
• OnePlus ix and 9 Pro
• Samsung Milky way Note 20
• Samsung Galaxy S20
• Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+ and S21 Ultra
• Samsung Galaxy Fold
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2

Wi-Fi six enabled laptops

• Apple MacBook Pro 13 (m1)
• Apple tree MacBook Air (m1)
• Asus Chromebook Flip c436
• ASUS ROG Zephyrus
• Dell XPS thirteen (2020)
• HP Envy 17.3
• HP Spectre x360
• Lenovo Yoga c940
• Lenovo Yoga 6 13
• LG Gram 17
• Microsoft Surface Laptop Become

Wi-Fi enabled routers

• Asus RT-AX86U AX5700 Router
• eero vi Mesh Router
• eero Pro 6 Mesh Router
• Netgear Nighthawk Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6E Router (RAXE500)
• TP-Link Archer AX50 (AX3000) Dual Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Router
• TP-Link Archer AX11000 Side by side-Gen Tri-Band Gaming Router

How fast is Wi-Fi 6?

The theoretical fastest speeds for Wi-Fi 6 is virtually 9.6Gbps. While Wi-Fi 5's fastest was around iii.5Gbps.

However, y'all'll never see these speeds on either Wi-Fi five or half dozen. That is because these speeds are just capable in the perfect environment, and there are only likewise many variables that tin impact the speed of your network. Not to mention that about areas are non even capable of pulling down a single Gigabit, nevermind multiple gigabits. The average download speed in the US is merely 72Mbps, which is less than one percent of the theoretical maximum speed.

But don't forget, that Wi-Fi networks these days have multiple devices connected to information technology. And they each draw quite a bit of power. So that full 9.6Gbps could go to a few laptops, smartphones and other devices on the network. Which means potentially faster speeds for each device, and less slowdowns when there are more than devices on your network.

Information technology's not only well-nigh faster speeds

Sure, the faster speeds are nice, simply that's not all that Wi-Fi 6 has to offer. The biggest feature for Wi-Fi half-dozen is improving the network when at that place are bunch of devices connected to said network.

That's of import, and it comes at a great fourth dimension. When Wi-Fi 5 came out several years agone, the average US household had about v devices on their network. Now that number has risen to nine. And virtually of you reading this article likely has much more. Many inquiry firms have predicted that information technology will be closer to fifty in just a few years.

Of course, those devices to take a cost on your network and can really slow it down. Not to mention the fact that your router can only communicate with so many devices at in one case. Which means the more than devices connected, the slower the network volition be.

With WiFi six, in that location are some new technologies included that volition aid mitigate those issues. Information technology will allow routers to communicate with more devices at one time, letting routers send data to multiple devices in the same broadcast, and lets WiFi devices schedule check-ins with the router. When y'all packet these features together, it'southward going to help go on connections potent, fifty-fifty as you beginning to add more than and more devices to your network, and they demand more than information.

What makes information technology faster?

Now it'due south time to get a bit technical about Wi-Fi 6. In this generation of WiFi, there are two key technologies that are speeding it upwardly. That's MU-MIMO and OFDMA. And don't worry, nosotros'll explain these in a infinitesimal.

MU-MIMO is ane you've likely heard before, especially on the mobile networks side of things. Information technology stands for "multi-user, multiple input, multiple output". This technology is not new, equally it is within most modern routers and devices already. Only with WiFi vi, information technology gets an upgrade. MU-MIMO basically allows the router to communicate with multiple devices at the aforementioned time, rather than broadcasting to one device, and then to the next device. Currently, MU-MIMO allows routers to communicate with upward to four devices at one time. However, with WiFi 6 that number doubles to eight.

Information technology'southward kinda like calculation additional lanes to a highway to help with traffic congestion. So instead of sending traffic through 4 lanes, in that location is now eight lanes.

Now, the other one is OFDMA, which stands for "orthogonal frequency sectionalisation multiple access" and this will allow one transmission to deliver information to multiple devices at once. So it allows WiFi vi to become more out of every transmission from the router to your device.

It'll also better battery life and provide ameliorate security

Two other benefits of WiFi 6 are going to be improved battery life and of grade meliorate security.

With WiFi 6, information technology'south going to allow devices to programme out communications with a router. This is going to reduce the amount of time they need to go on their antennas powered on to transmit and search for signals. And thus apply upwardly less of your battery life.

And all of this is cheers to a new feature called Target Wake Time. This feature will allow routers to schedule check-in times with devices on the network. At present, this won't be helpful on every device on the network. Equally things like your laptop, need constant internet admission. So yous won't see a big change in bombardment life there, except in standby-style when it is non constantly continued. This feature will assistance smaller and low-power WiFi devices get meliorate bombardment life. Similar smart home products, perhaps your Ring doorbell, etc.

Then there's security. Information technology's actually not adding any new features here, but making it mandatory. In 2018, WiFi started to get a pretty big security update in a new protocol called WPA3. This makes it harder for hackers to get your passwords by constantly guessing them. And it too makes another information less useful, even if hackers practice somehow get it.

But, WPA3 is optional on WiFi 5. With Wi-Fi vi, it is going to exist required for devices to receive certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Wi-Fi 6 is already pretty widely available, but Wi-Fi 6E is already on the fashion

As cool as Wi-Fi 6 sounds, it's already somewhat outdated. Yous've likely heard of WiFi 6E already, which is similar a mid-generation upgrade for Wi-Fi six. There's non a huge update with 6E, but information technology is besides available at present.

Wi-Fi vi is pretty widely bachelor already. With most modern smartphones, tablets, laptops and routers having back up for information technology. And the support is only going to grow over the next couple of years.

Source: https://www.androidheadlines.com/wi-fi-6-explained

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