As Wi-Fi 6 slowly takes hold, a new standard is about to sweep through our devices.
Wi-Fi 6E is heading for the 6 GHz band and promises to be the most significant evolution of Wi-Fi in 20 years. We will explain everything to you.
The future of Wi-Fi began a year ago with the introduction of Wi-Fi 6E by the Wi-Fi Alliance. The organization in charge of promoting Wi-Fi technology then presented this extension of Wi-Fi 6 to distinguish devices capable of operating in the 6 GHz band. Wi-Fi 6E differs from its predecessors by its ability to use the 6 GHz spectrum, a revolution for this wireless technology that has accompanied us for more than two decades. Since its inception, Wi-Fi has used the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands, and Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is no exception. A turning point that requires some explanation.
Before getting to the important aspect, it is important to remember that the Wi-Fi Alliance has chosen to simplify the naming of the various wireless network standards. When Wi-Fi 6 arrived, the mixture of numbers and letters (802.11 (a / b / g / n / ac / ax…) gave way to Wi-Fi 4/5/6. More readable, this new system allowed Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) to succeed in 2019 the Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) standard, which appeared in 2014. Wi-Fi 6E being presented as an extension of Wi-Fi 6, it takes its name by adding a letter (E for Extended) Concerning Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), it is already in the pipeline and should see the light of day in a few years.
After Wi-Fi 6 in 2020, Wi-Fi 6E wants to take off
In the meantime, the world of new technologies has given way to Wi-Fi 6 in 2020. The offer has become more democratic with the arrival of compatible equipment last year (routers, boxes, smartphones, computers, etc.) and many improvements. This new standard offers higher speeds (up to 9.6 Gb / s compared to 3.5 Gb / s with the Wi-Fi 5 standard) and lower latency. These numbers are theoretical and you are unlikely to be able to reach them. However, the progress is notable and represents an important advance for this technology.
Unlike Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) which exclusively uses the “5 GHz band” (see below, Wi-Fi 6 is a dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz technology, an evolution compared to the 802.11 standard. ac and 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4 standardized in 2009 and which uses both bands). However, we note that this is only an evolution, as technology has offered regularly for more than 20 years.
Wi-Fi 6E marks a departure from previous standards: it benefits from improvements for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, while opening up a new frequency band. The particularity of Wi-Fi 6E is to use the 6 GHz band, a first for a Wi-Fi standard. For Kevin Robinson, marketing manager of the Wi-Fi Alliance and quoted by The Verge, it is a major decision that changes the course of technology. “In a twenty-year career, this is the most monumental decision in the history of the Wi-Fi spectrum,” he said.
A new band to unlock the potential of Wi-Fi 6
Simple evolution of Wi-Fi 4 and 5, Wi-Fi 6 is preparing for a revolution by gaining an additional frequency band. Concretely, the opening of the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi aims to relieve the current bands, which tend to saturate with the evolution of uses. As ANFR points out, the current health context has only reinforced the use of Wi-Fi, which “is one of the essential technologies to facilitate teleworking, distance education, medical consultations …” The National Frequency Agency also evokes “the arrival of optical fiber and the increase in data consumption” in French households, which “raise fears of saturation of domestic Wi-Fi networks”.
This also applies to the corporate world where “the consumption of spectral resources is even greater”. Finally, we observe that the connection needs between our personal objects, which are based on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, are set to explode with the proliferation of connected objects. These are all factors that plead in favor of the deployment of Wi-Fi 6E.
This major evolution of the wireless network standard will be able to use three frequencies in Europe, including the historic 2.4 GHz (from 2400 to 2483.5 MHz), the so-called 5 GHz band (from 5150 to 5350 MHz) and from 5470 to 5725 MHz) and those of 6 GHz (from 5945 to 6425 MHz).
A significant gain in frequencies which will make it possible to support ever more peripherals, while offering better performance (higher speeds) or even lower latency. Wi-Fi 6E is also looking to the future by offering, thanks to the 6 GHz band, better support for uses such as augmented reality, medicine and distance education, online gaming or streaming and video in 8K.
Wi-Fi 6E: Towards Spring Approval
In France, Wi-Fi 6E is being considered and could be approved in spring 2021, according to our colleagues at 01net. Indeed, the standard must be harmonized at European level to take off and several studies have been initiated in Europe. The ANFR points out that this band “hosts uplinks to communication satellites or point-to-point microwave links everywhere in Europe”. It was therefore important to demonstrate whether it was possible to share the spectrum over Wi-Fi 6E, satellites and microwave links.
Devices are already Wi-Fi 6E compatible
In the meantime, the first Wi-Fi 6E compatible devices are already showing up. CES 2021 allowed several manufacturers to present routers adapted to the new standard. The emerging technology is also of interest to smartphone manufacturers, and the announcement of the Snapdragon 888 opens up new possibilities. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and the Xiaomi MI 11 are already compatible and Apple should take the plunge in the fall with the iPhone 13. CES was also an opportunity to discover several Wi-Fi 6E compatible laptops at Razer notably. IDC estimates that more than 338 million devices will be compatible in 2021 and 20% of Wi-Fi 6 products will also support Wi-Fi 6E in 2022.
