Wi-Fi 6 – the new, better generation of Wi-Fi

Can you imagine a world without Wi-Fi?

Most of us will answer this question with a negative. This wireless technology has become and still is a basic human need. Without it, it is hard to imagine daily work, school or communication with loved ones. This is confirmed by research: according to Statista, in April 2022, there were 5 billion registered Internet users, constituting 63% of the global population. As many as 4.65 billion of this number were social media users. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance®, nearly 18 billion Wi-Fi devices will be in use in 2022, with more than 4.4 billion devices shipping this year.

Wi-Fi from the beginning

In 2022, Wi-Fi technology celebrates its 23rd birthday. Given the revolution it introduced and its widespread use, we have seen its continuous development from the beginning. This is mainly due to the increasing number of mobile devices: smartphones and tablets. Each generation of Wi-Fi – from 801.11a introduced in 1999, through 802.11n introduced in 2009, i.e. two years after the launch of the first Apple smartphone, to 802.11ac in 2013 – focused on increasing data transfer efficiency. However, with the increasing number of wireless devices and the growth of IoT, including smart homes, perfecting these two factors is no longer enough. Today’s user, the enterprise, needs a stable, efficient and secure connection. This is why, from 2021, a new Wi-Fi standard is being developed: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11x).

Wi-Fi 6 is all about using the existing radio frequency medium more efficiently. It is a new generation of Wi-Fi focusing on providing better quality wireless connections with more client devices. This is made possible by improved modulation techniques. Wi-Fi 6 is designed for use with more client devices than Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) and is more optimised for IoT.

Why the need for next generation network – Wi-Fi 6?

Remote working and learning, the development of Industry 4.0, smart offices and homes, cyber attacks are some of the most critical determinants of the development of Wi-Fi networks. These, in turn, are based on reliability, performance and security. Since the pandemic has forced us to extend our office or lecture theatre to our homes, businesses, universities, and schools, not only in the building but wherever employees, students, and pupils will be working and learning remotely.

The same applies to the developing hotel industry. Stable connections are necessary not only for conferences and workshops but also for private trips. The owners, wishing to ensure high standards of their facilities, make sure that their guests can enjoy the wireless network without any interference. This, in turn, will affect the assessment of the facility and depend on whether a person returns to this place or recommends it to a friend.

So when to implement a new Wi-Fi standard? When the older generation, Wi-Fi can no longer support such a large number of users while maintaining a stable connection and high parameters. When we want to develop and at the same time maintain high security and performance standards.

How does Wi-Fi 6 work?

The most significant advantage of Wi-Fi 6 is that it provides the ability to communicate with more devices simultaneously, providing better connection performance with more clients connected.

We can talk about this by considering several factors of the operation of Wi-Fi 6. The most important factor that allows for higher connection speeds is 1024-QAM modulation. Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is used to transmit digital data over a radio channel. It converts a sequence of bits into a radio wave. Because Wi-Fi 6 supports 1024-QAM, its modulation capability has increased by 25% over Wi-Fi 5, which supports 256-QAM.

Another advantage of Wi-Fi 6 is the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing – OFDMA – scheme. The OFDMA technique divides channels so that transmissions to multiple end devices occur simultaneously on separate subcarriers. A Wi-Fi 6 access point can transmit different signals within the same transmission window. This allows a single transmission from the AP to communicate with multiple devices instead of having each device wait its turn.

An important feature of Wi-Fi 6 is BSS Coloring, which can deal with network congestion. With older versions of Wi-Fi, devices trying to make contact with the network use a process called ‘listen before you talk’. This means that the device has to “listen” to see if there is noise on the channel before it can transmit.

If there is noise on the channel, even if it comes from a distant network, the device must wait to transmit until the channel is free to avoid potential signal interference. BSS Coloring allows a “colour” to be used to identify the network uniquely. If other traffic is detected on the channel but is not the same colour as the local network, devices can ignore it and continue transmission. This increases reliability and eliminates delays.

OFDMA and BSS Coloring techniques allow for more efficient communication on congested networks. As more and more devices use Wi-Fi, this will help maintain the speed and stability of our connections.

Another technique that has been improved in Wi-Fi 6 that helps achieve faster speeds is beamforming. Instead of broadcasting data in all directions, the access point detects where the device sending the data request is located and sends a more localised stream of data in that direction.

Wi-Fi 6 also improves support for MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) technology, i.e. the possibility of communication on several channels simultaneously depending on the parameters of the devices. Access points equipped with only one Wi-Fi antenna have practically become obsolete today. New models can easily operate, e.g. on two 80 MHz channels, effectively doubling the throughput. Wi-Fi 5 was limited to 4 streams for downloading and 1 for uploading. In Wi-Fi 6, we already have theoretically even 8 simultaneous streams, both for downloading and sending data.

How does Wi-Fi 6 relate to going green?

Ecology is another trend to which companies are paying increasing attention. How can the new standard fit into the CSR policy?

The Wi-Fi 6 standard implements a mechanism known as Target Wake Time (TWT). In a nutshell, it is used to intelligently control the sleep time of smart home devices or IoT devices, such as all kinds of sensors or measuring devices. This behaviour significantly improves battery life. Considering that the development of IoT devices remains very high, the number of batteries saved is a significant relief for the environment.

Wi-Fi 6 and more network security options

When a password is required to log into a Wi-Fi network, the WPA protocol is behind it. WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) is a widely used Wi-Fi security protocol that uses passwords for encryption. WPA2 has been the standard for a long time, but this is changing with the introduction of Wi-Fi 6.

One of the most significant improvements in the new wireless standard is implementing greater password security using the Dragonfly key exchange algorithm, also known as SAE, or Simultaneous Authentication of Equals.

Wi-Fi 6 revolution or evolution

Is the new Wi-Fi 6 standard a revolution of sorts for wireless networking? The new generation of wireless networking is significantly impacting new applications, particularly those using IoT. Given that they are becoming increasingly indispensable in our daily lives, it is certainly a revolution.

WiFi 6 implementation with FCA

The FCA portfolio includes products tailored to the customer’s needs. Providing the optimal solution for our customer is possible thanks to cooperation with business partners, whose products contribute to our offer of solutions for wireless networks.

One of them is Ruijie Networks, for which we are the sole and exclusive distributor in Poland. Ruijie is a leading provider of WiFi6 solutions originating from Asia. It is rapidly expanding in the European market and is characterised by the high quality and availability of its equipment.

Extreme Networks is another wireless networking equipment provider in our portfolio. Its impressive track record includes a 2022 Product of the Year award from the Wireless LAN Professionals organisation for its first enterprise-class 6E Wi-Fi access point. It is also a four-time leader in Gartner’s 2021 Magic Quadrant™ for wired and wireless enterprise LAN infrastructure.

Another Wi-Fi solutions partner is Cambium. Cambium Networks is a leading provider of wireless solutions for broadband networks. Its solutions are very popular, especially in the ISP sector, and the quality of its products has been recognised in WiFi4EU deployments.

As a solution integrator, we provide our customers with the highest quality products but also with comprehensiveness. We select the right solution, implement it, and provide maintenance services. All this is to build a network based on the customer’s current and future needs.

Learn about the solutions for Wi-Fi network construction from FCA portfolio