Hello, everyone!
Today, I will continue to write about ONU service interfaces. In these articles about ONU service interfaces, I will talk about interfaces such as Ethernet ports, WiFi, POTS, and RF. Today's topic is WiFi.
WiFi is a wireless LAN defined by IEEE 802.11 standards. WiFi has evolved over the years, there are a number of standards. Today, the most important standards are: 802.11n - WiFi 4, 802.11ac - WiFi 5 and 802.11ax - WiFi 6. WiFi 7 is being developed. In the following table, we can see the evolution of WiFi standards with the most important features.
Table 1. WiFi standards
Today's ONU devices mainly support WiFi 4 and WiFi 5. But some time ago, Huawei launched new ONU devices that also support WiFi 6. There are many models of ONT, which support WiFi 6. In the next figure, we can see one of these models - OptiXstar K562e.
Figure 1. ONT OptiXstar K562e
WiFi has two frequency bands - 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Newer ONTs support both frequency bands. WiFi at 2.4 GHz allows you to connect devices at a greater distance, on the other hand, WiFi at 5 GHz can connect devices at shorter distances but at much higher speeds than at 2.4 GHz. Therefore, both frequency bands are often used.
The main problems with WiFi connections are the covering, internet speed, and security. Coverage and internet speed depends on several factors. These are the distance from the ONU device, the barriers between our device (PC, smartphone, etc.) and the ONU, and the existence in the vicinity of other wireless devices operating on the same frequency band. Obstacles introduce attenuation of the signal or may even reflect it or absorb it completely. Nearby wireless devices that operate mostly at 2.4 GHz lead to interference. As for security, it’s a special story. For the house, the basic settings on the ONU device are enough to prevent unauthorized use of WiFi. On the other hand, companies are much more serious about solving WiFi network security issues.
I will continue this theme about ONU service interfaces in the next article >> ONU service interfaces (3): Basic WLAN Configuration.
Thank you!
