Wi-Fi
Last Updated: 2024-01-20
| Wi-Fi 4 | Wi-Fi 5 | Wi-Fi 6 / 6E | Wi-Fi 7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | 2007 | 2013 | 2019 / 2021 | 2024 |
| IEEE Standard | 802.11n | 802.11ac | 802.11ax | 802.11be |
| Max rate | 1.2 Gbps | 3.5 Gbps | 9.6 Gbps | 46 Gbps |
| Bands | 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz | 5GHz | 2.4 and 5 GHz / 6 GHz | 1-7.25 GHz |
| Security | WPA 2 | WPA 2 | WPA 3 | WPA 3 |
| Channel size (MHz) | 20, 40 | 20,40,80, 80+80, 160 | 20,40,80, 80+80, 160 | Up to 320 |
| Modulation | 64-QAM, OFDM | 256-QAM, OFDM | 1024-QAM, OFDMA | 4096-QAM, OFDMA |
| MIMO | 4x4 MIMO | 4x4 MIMO, DL MU-MIMO | 8x8 UL/DL MU-MIMO | 16x16 MU-MIMO |
Wi-Fi 6 vs Wi-Fi 5
- Wifi 7 released in 2024, operates on 320MHz channels
- Wifi 6E is basically wifi 6 with support for the 6GHz band, max speed around 9Gbps; 7 is capable of 46 Gbps, essential for live streaming at higher than 4k
- Wifi 6 is faster than Wifi 5, but may not be that obvious.
- The true difference is that Wifi 6 can support more devices
- MU-MIMO, or "multi-user, multiple input, multiple output", is upgraded from 4 devices to 8 devices
- OFDMA, or "Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access", allows one transmission to deliver data to multiple devices at once.
- Improve battery life, especially for low-power, IoT devices.
- Better security: WPA3
Wi-Fi 6 vs Wi-Fi 6E
- Wi-Fi 6: 2.4GHz and 5GHz
- Wi-Fi 6E: add 6GHz band, providing 5x more channels (14 80MHz channels and 7 160MHz channels)
Channels
160MHz is the highest bandwidth available on 5GHz routers. With double the throughput compared to 80MHz channels, it can achieve data rates up to 2.4Gbps on capable clients.
Usage
You would need BOTH Wifi 6 routers AND Wifi 6 devices to take full advantages of it.
- Routers: better to choose the Mesh WiFi routers, like eero (from Amazon) and Nest WiFi (from Google).
- Devices: some motherboards have Wifi chips built-in, otherwise you can buy a PCIe Wifi card or USB Wifi Adaptor.