Hello Community!
How's everyone been? It's been a while since we last talked about Wi-Fi 6 and a lot of you enquired about this specific topic throughout the course of last year.
Since there have been quite a few changes in the worldwide implementation of WiFi 6, it has been deemed as necessary to talk about the latest developments in Wi-Fi 6 in a brand new blog post. Check it out!
LEADING THE Wi-Fi 6 RACE
Throwback to last year's February 25th, when a graph containing the number of proposals and motion pass proposals for OFDMA and MU-MIMO per Wi-Fi member submitted by that date was released:
Source: https://www.juve-patent.com/sponsored/wi-fi-6-key-innovations-and-their-contributors-part-2/
As it can be observed, Huawei led the ranking, having submitted and approved the most proposals in both categories - OFDMA and MU-MIMO.
But that is last year's data. Let us see what's actually been happening in the real world as a result of the latest developments in Wi-Fi 6.
A GROWING MARKET
As it was expected, IT hardware manufacturers have already started releasing Wi-Fi 6-compatible devices such as
home gateways, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and gaming systems. The demand is forecasted to reach around 2 billion Wi-Fi 6-ready pieces to be sold by the end of this year according to the Wi-Fi Alliance website.
The Wi-Fi 6 adoption rate is currently being predicted in an extremely optimistic manner, with theoretical throughputs of up to 10Gbps to become the norm in terms of Wi-Fi speed by 2023 in both the enterprise and consumer markets. Two more years left then until the transition will be complete.
A BETTER USER EXPERIENCE
Another item in the list of the latest developments in Wi-Fi 6 is the noticeable difference users are seeing in terms of UX, as a result of their upgrade from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6. Being twice as fast and capable of withstanding twice as many connections than its 'older' sibling, Wi-Fi 6 proves that it can reach a close-to-nil connection latency of 2 miliseconds according to the Wireless Broadband Alliance.
With such numbers in place, no wonder more and more users are switching to Wi-Fi 6 as a replacement for Wi-Fi 5. Professionals who've been forced to work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic and gamers are among the largest segments who require the reliability provided by Wi-Fi 6 (especially in terms of its capacity to render 4K, high-quality video) and who've already made the transition towards it. The forecasts are also looking quite promising for this year and the next.
A REVOLUTION
Yes, I believe 'revolution' is a great word to describe what the latest developments in Wi-Fi 6 are announcing. Trends are showing that quite a few areas will be radically changed, such as:
the working space - meetings will never be the same anymore, as Wi-Fi 6 is capable of withstanding a much more intensified collaboration through video meetings instead of face-to-face ones;
manufacturing - Wi-Fi 6 is the driver of VR- and AR-based planning, also being capable of withstanding automated assembly lines, smart logistics, robotics and asset management;
construction - construction vehicles like cranes equipped with smart cameras actioned via Wi-Fi 6 will be the future of building;
healthcare - the digitalization of the hospital provides countless benefits to doctors based on real-time patient data through available via Wi-Fi 6.
THE BOTTOM LINE
As we live through the 4th Industrial Revolution, Wi-Fi 6 has its own dedicated place in the digitalization of services. As more and more users experience the benefits of Wi-Fi 6, the overall adoption rate will rise, making Wi-Fi 6 the predicted predominant Wi-Fi technology by 2023. Want more content on new technologies? Don't forget to subscribe to the Community blog!
