Always remember that radio frequency (RF) is a half-duplex medium and that the 802.11 medium contention protocol of CSMA/CA consumes much of the available bandwidth. 802.11 data rates are not TCP throughput. Despite the higher data rates and 40/80/160 MHz channels used by 802.11n/ac radios, multiple factors contribute to the Wi-Fi traffic congestion, which does not provide efficient use of the medium. An often-used analogy is that faster cars and bigger highways have been built, but traffic jams still exist.
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Historically, previous 802.11 amendments defined technologies that gave us higher data rates and wider channels but did not address efficiency. Wi-Fi operates at both layer one and layer two of the OSI model, and the inefficiency exists at both layers. What good is a Ferrari that can travel 300 km per hour if the Ferrari is stuck in traffic gridlock? What problem does Wi-Fi 6 solve?Īlthough Wi-Fi is a resilient technology, it has not necessarily been efficient. However, there is a big misconception that data rates are the same as the actual throughput. 802.11ac also introduced a multi-user technology known as multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) however, the implementation has been sparse.Īs you can see, over the years, the main emphasis has been on faster speeds and higher data rates to meet the high-density demands in enterprise WLANs. Although data rates of up to 6.93 Gbps are theoretically possible with 802.11ac, data rates of up to 400 – 800 Mbps are more likely in the real world. Introduced in 2013, 802.11ac expanded and simplified many of the technologies of 802.11n: Even higher data rates prevailed however, 802.11ac only operates in the 5 GHz frequency band. By 2012, wireless mobile devices such as smartphones surpassed personal computer sales. We went from a time when an RF phenomenon known as multipath became constructive instead of destructive. 802.11n was the last significant paradigm shift in Wi-Fi technology when we switched from single-input single-output (SISO) radios to multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radios. The 802.11n standard also brought about faster theoretical data rates of up to 600 Mbps and supported both 2.4 and 5 GHz devices. The 802.11n standard followed in 2009, delivering 100 Mbps of usable throughput. In 2007, Apple introduced the first iPhone, and the smartphone became a modern reality. The 802.11g standard was subsequently ratified, delivering up to 54 Mbps speeds on the 2.4 GHz frequency band.
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By 2003, Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices were introduced in the market, and portable laptops became common for business and personal use. 802.11b, the most commonly used standard at the time, had very low speeds - only up to 11 Mbps (much lower than most Ethernet wired networks - but there were no Wi-Fi mobile devices and very few laptops, so 11 Mbps was fast enough.
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In 1999, wireless was commercially introduced as a “nice to have” feature with the 802.11a and 802.11b ratifications. Wi-Fi 6 also uses a new client power-saving mechanism that schedules wake-times to improve client battery life. Wi-Fi 6 handles client density more efficiently through a new channel-sharing capability that promises true multi-user communications on both the downlink and uplink.
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Wi-Fi 6 technology is all about better and more efficient use of the existing radio frequency medium.
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Wi-Fi 6 (also known as 802.11ax) is the new generation of Wi-Fi technology with a new focus on efficiency and performance. Previous generations of Wi-Fi (going back about 20 years) focused on increasing data rates and speed.