The Future of Wi-Fi is Here: Wi-Fi 6 & How Fast It Really Is

In the era of global connectivity, higher Wi-Fi speeds always guarantee a better and more stable connection. Firstly, what is Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology that allows devices such as computers, tablets, mobile phones, smart watches and also equipment such as printers to connect to the internet. Faster internet is always on demand. Apps, games, and videos are just improving in quality, but as a consequence, take up more bandwidth. But contrary to the previous Wi-Fi generations, the Wi-Fi 6 is not a mere speed boost.

What exactly does the Wi-Fi 6 boost entail?

The Wi-Fi 6 is the next generation of Wi-Fi speed boost that features not just a one-time speed boost, but also upgrades that are ready for future developments in terms of adapting to evolving technological capacities and the connection speed these advancements require. The Wi-Fi 6 bandwidth is quite impressive – 9.6 Gbps vs. Wi-Fi 5’s 3.5 Gbps. This means that the Wi-Fi 6’s router speed can reach speeds up to 250% more than that of the Wi-Fi 5.

How does it work?

The Wi-Fi 6 bandwidth is 160 MHz, double the Wi-Fi 5’s 80 MHz. This doubles the channel width, allowing a faster connection from the Wi-Fi 6’s router to a compatible device. With the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technology, the increased efficiency is obviously better. To illustrate, Imagine your Wi-Fi connection as a food delivery rider. With the existing Wi-Fi 5 technology, this rider can only deliver one packet of food to one customer at a time. With OFDMA, the food delivery rider is now able to deliver multiple food packets to multiple customers simultaneously, as they are now provided with a carrier that enables them to carry more food. This analogy illustrates the OFDMA being able to deliver digital transmissions over different frequencies, ensuring that simultaneous users are able to access the internet at the same time. The Wi-Fi 6 router also integrates the Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output technology, where multiple users are able to access the network at the same time without throttling speed or interrupting connections. The access point of the Wi-Fi 6 modem is also able to handle more data to be transferred simultaneously, thus being able to handle more devices at one time. The interference from neighbouring routers that cause signal interruptions will also be a thing of the past as the Base Service Station Colour will differentiate your network from your neighbour’s.

How will it impact the general internet browsing patterns?

The global pandemic has shifted working and studying habits, where huge amounts of the population have transitioned to working and learning from home. With many people using the home internet at the same time, especially for high-capacity technologies such as virtual meetings, many have complained about slow or spotty internet. With Wi-Fi 6’s speed, this problem will be a thing of the past as everyone can have a smoother internet experience. This also means the integration of augmented reality in virtual classrooms for a more enriching learning experience, being able to have smoother, lag-less virtual meetings across the world, no more waiting for your videos to buffer and downloading large files in a blink. Furthermore, your device’s batteries will last longer with the application of Target Wait Time, where devices can signal when and how often to send and receive data, which allows increased sleep time for your devices.

Check out the article - What Is 5G and Should I Start Using 5G for Remote Working? For more latest news, tips, and trends on digital advancements, read our CARE blog articles today!