Hello, everyone!
As a supplement to the ONT basic knowledge, I begin to introduce a series of basic Wi-Fi knowledge.
Today, I will share knowledge about Wi-Fi 6.
What Are Wi-Fi 4, Wi-Fi 5, and Wi-Fi 6?
Buying an optical modem or router is a fairly straightforward task for technology-savvy consumers. For regular consumers, however, this can be very confusing. Regular consumers may not know that 802.11ac is better than 802.11n.
To make Wi-Fi easier to understand, the Wi-Fi Alliance specified new names for different Wi-Fi standards in October 2018. 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ax are named Wi-Fi 4, Wi-Fi 5, and Wi-Fi 6, respectively.
The following table lists the technical specifications of Wi-Fi 4, Wi-Fi 5, and Wi-Fi 6.
Wi-Fi Name | Supported Frequency Band | Channel Width | Theoretical Maximum Rate | Physical Layer Technology | Antenna Structure | Modulation Technology |
Wi-Fi 4 | 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz | 20/40 MHz | 600 Mbit/s | MIMO/ OFDM | 4x4 MIMO | 64-QAM |
Wi-Fi 5 | 5 GHz | 20/40/80/ 160 MHz | 6.933 Gbit/s | MU-MIMO/OFDM | 8x8 MIMO | 256-QAM |
Wi-Fi 6 | 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz | 20/40/80/ 160 MHz | 9.608 Gbit/s | UL MU-MIMO/OFADM | 8x8 MIMO | 1024-QAM |
If you are a regular consumer and need to buy an optical modem or router, remember that the larger the number following Wi-Fi, the more advanced and better.
Why Wi-Fi 6?
Wi-Fi 6 is initially designed for high-density and high-capacity wireless access scenarios, such as outdoor large-scale public places, high-density stadiums, indoor high-density wireless offices, and e-classrooms. In these scenarios, many terminals need to connect to the Wi-Fi network at the same time.
In addition, increasing voice and video traffic also poses challenges to Wi-Fi networks. 4K video streams (bandwidth: 30 Mbit/s per person), voice streams (latency < 30 ms), and VR streams (bandwidth: 50 Mbit/s per person; latency < 15 ms) are sensitive to bandwidth and latency. Latency caused by network congestion or retransmission can severely affect user experience.
A Wi-Fi 5 network can also provide high bandwidth. However, as more terminals access a Wi-Fi 5 network, the throughput meets with a bottleneck. Wi-Fi 6 uses technologies such as OFDMA, MU-MIMO, and 1024-QAM, making these services more reliable. In addition to supporting more terminals, Wi-Fi 6 can balance the bandwidth among users. For example, in e-classrooms, if more than 100 students attend a lecture, video transmission and upstream/downstream interaction can cause serious challenges to a Wi-Fi 5 network, but a Wi-Fi 6 network can easily meet transmission requirements in this scenario.
That's all for today's basic knowledge sharing.
Welcome to leave a message at the bottom of the forum.
Thank you!
For more information about ONT basics, click the homepage of the topic.
