What is WiFi 6 - 802.11AX – 6GHz? – Speed, Coverage, latency and Performance

Why Wireless Fidelity 6?

As new technologies like smart home speakers, online games and video streaming coming up with higher network and internet dependancy plus higher video quality resolutions there is also a need to have high-end networking devices to counter this growth. 2019 marks 20 years of WiFi connectivity age and also marks the metamorphosis of 802.11ac to 802.11ax. What does this mean? Let’s get on with it.

We all know the difference between 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless connectivity bands, if not then click and read about it on the related posts link. Have we moved to 6GHz with WiFi 6? What is WiFi 6?
Related Post: Difference between 2.5GHz and 5GHz | Top Networking Routers in the Market Today | #MadeByGoogle Event 2019

What is WiFi 6?

Wi-Fi 6 is the next generation standard in WiFi technology. Wi-Fi 6 also known as “AX WiFi" or "802.11ax WiFi” from its predecessor the 802.11ac which is now WiFi 5, WiFi 6 is set to build and improve on the current 802.11ac WiFi standard.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Certification on 802.11ax standard provides the capacity, efficiency, coverage, and performance required by users today in the most demanding WiFi® environments. Wi-Fi 6 was originally built in response to the growing number of devices in the world and providing an optimum level of performance simultaneously with the highest standards for security and interoperability and best of all, low battery consumption making it a solid choice for any environment, including the Internet of Things (IoT) environment/ecosystem.

802.11ax (WiFi 6) Performance

802.11ax (Wifi 6) technology creates an explosively fast WiFi of up to 9.6Gbps from the current 802.11ac (WiFi 5) of 6.9Gbps. Limits to up to 1024-QAM, 4 times faster OFDM symbol and 160MHz for ultra-smooth streaming and 8x8 DL/UL MU-MIMO, OFDM, and BSS Color for 4 times more capacity and performance for more device connectivity.

QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) is a method of combining two amplitude-modulated signals into a single channel, thereby doubling the effective bandwidth.

OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing) is a symbol that transmits data. It divides its data among smaller subcarriers for more stability and wider coverage.

MU-MIMO (Multi-User - Multiple Input Multiple Output) created to support environments where multiple users are trying to access a wireless network at the same time.

From its predecessor the SU-MIMO – Single-User environment, the 802.11ac used the MU-MIMO and now with the release of 802.11ax, MU-MIMO technology capabilities are expanding. The 802.11ac had limits of up to 256-QAM and only MU-MIMO support - but with the addition of 8x8 MU-MIMO, OFDM, and BSS Color technology to the 802.11ax slow speeds are a thing of the past able to provide up to 4x larger capacity and to handle more devices.

You know how you would check on your network speed and find download speeds being more and upload speeds being less? ..then WiFi 6 is here to sort that out. The 8 x 8 MU-MIMO works with both uploads and downloads. This means that whether you’re streaming, downloading, torrenting, playing VR/AR, MMO’s or RPG’s from different devices, there are more than 8 streams available for users to choose from seamlessly. Thus enough bandwidth for all users.

1024-QAM (25% faster than 256-QAM) provides a signal packed with more data for more efficiency and a 160 MHz Channel to provide a wider channel to make your WiFi faster. Experience stutter-free VR or enjoy stunningly vivid 4K and even 8K streaming.

For more speed and greater stability, OFDM of the 802.11ax WiFi 6 uses a 4x longer OFDM symbol to create 4x more sub carriers raising it to 11% faster than 802.11ac making latency a thing of the past. Meaning, if several connected devices are on Facebook at the same time, all the devices will get the same attention with no delays on loading content.

OFDM structure for only one antenna

Bandwidth

802.11ax expands the WiFi band from 80 MHz to 160 MHz, doubling the channel width from your router to the device, utilization capability increases bandwidth to deliver greater performance with low latency. Meaning with Wi-Fi 6, you can enjoy 8K movies, large file downloads, and uploads, and responsive smart home devices – all without buffering.

Lastly BSS Color (Base Service Station), I have mentioned above. 802.11ax technology comes with BSS Color. Did you know that in a building with multiple WiFi connections, those networks can affect your device's connection to your own WiFi network access? Internet and network are there but your device is loading… with BSS Color, your router marks frames from neighboring networks so that your router can ignore them.