Wi-Fi
Last Updated: 2022-12-05
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
The current generation is Wifi 5, or IEEE 802.11ac. The next generation is Wifi 6, or IEEE 802.11ax.
- 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)
Usage
You would need BOTH Wifi 6 routers AND Wifi 6 devices to take full advantages of it.
Devices: Some motherboards have Wifi chips built-in, otherwise you can buy a PCIe Wifi card or USB Wifi Adaptor.