Hi there! With snazzy new routers and devices hitting the market boasting support for something called "Wi-Fi 6E", you may be wondering what exactly that means and whether it‘s worth caring about. I‘ll walk you through what makes Wi-Fi 6E special compared to previous standards and other wireless connectivity alternatives you may be considering.
Whether it‘s buffering video streams even in high-speed networks or spotty connectivity as you move around your home, Wi-Fi headaches are all too common. Wi-Fi 6E presents game-changing upgrades that eliminate long-standing wireless bottlenecks. Read on to see what the fuss is all about!
What is Wi-Fi 6E Anyway?
You‘ve likely heard of Wi-Fi generations like 802.11ac or Wi-Fi 5 before. Wi-Fi 6E represents the newest cutting-edge standard (802.11ax) and enhances it by adding exclusive access to the fresh, uncongested 6 GHz band. This massive chunk of pristine spectrum allows jaw-dropping wireless speeds and capacity that weren‘t possible previously.
More specifically, by utilizing wider 160 MHz and 320 MHz channel bandwidths and advanced modulation in 6 GHz, Wi-Fi 6E achieves up to 20 Gbps theoretical throughput. That‘s over 2X faster than Wi-Fi 6! Latency is also reduced to an incredible 2-4 ms thanks to less interference and congestion.
And Wi-Fi 6E maintains key advantages of Wi-Fi 6 like Target Wake Time which saves mobile device battery and enhanced security. It‘s universal backwards compatibility means your new Wi-Fi 6E phone or laptop will work fine on older public Wi-Fi networks too.
Real-World Speed and Capacity Improvements
But enough specs – what do these upgrades mean in reality?
This expanded 6 GHz spectrum equates to a whopping 59 non-overlapping 80 MHz channels for Wi-Fi 6E networks. Compare that to Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 which offered just 25-30 channels in the legacy 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. This allows a vastly higher number of devices to connect simultaneously with less congestion and interference between them.
Early consumer testing showed Wi-Fi 6E capable of achieving actual speeds of over 2 Gbps, much faster than the max 600-900 Mbps typically seen from Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 networks. These performance tests were conducted without the interference of nearby public Wi-Fi networks too, showing untapped potential.
Higher throughput and capacity transforms use cases like 8K video streaming, VR gaming, video conferencing calls and more that can cripple older networks. I know I can‘t wait to finally say goodbye to that spinning buffering wheel!
Industry Momentum Behind Wi-Fi 6E
The Wi-Fi Alliance began certifying Wi-Fi 6E devices in January 2021, and adoption is rapidly accelerating…
