An Introduction to Wi-Fi 6E
Wi-Fi 6E is the latest extension of the Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) standard, introduced by the Wi-Fi Alliance. In addition to the familiar 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands, Wi-Fi 6E enables device operation in the newly opened, unlicensed 6 GHz band.
This new 6 GHz band unlocks an impressive 1200 MHz of additional spectrum for Wi-Fi use. As a result, Wi-Fi 6E supports 14 extra 80 MHz channels and 7 new 160 MHz channels. These wider channels and greater capacity significantly reduce network congestion and simplify network design, while also substantially increasing throughput and efficiency.
By operating exclusively in the 6 GHz band, Wi-Fi 6E devices avoid compatibility requirements with older, legacy Wi-Fi devices. This leads to a cleaner wireless environment, less interference, and improved wifi speeds, making Wi-Fi 6E ideal for high-density environments and bandwidth-intensive applications.
Utilizing the expanded 6 GHz spectrum with Wi-Fi 6E brings a promising future for Wi-Fi users and connected devices. The increased capacity enables faster and more reliable wireless networks, elevating the overall experience for users of 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) technology.
Wi-Fi 6E is specifically designed to excel in environments with high user density and demanding bandwidth requirements. It supports applications such as high-definition video streaming, video conferencing, and voice calls with greater stability and performance. As a result, users benefit from smoother connections and reduced interference, even in crowded or device-heavy settings.
Improving the Experience of Users with Wi-Fi 6E
Wi-Fi 6E would allow businesses and service providers to support new and evolving applications and keep each connected device. The devices will be running at an optimal level with the rising demand to link more devices to the network.
By offering additional and contiguous channel bandwidth, the launch of Wi-Fi 6E addresses Wi-Fi spectrum scarcity issues. This service wifi addresses an ever-growing number of devices at unparalleled speeds. In the 6 GHz band, the added 1200 MHz will enable companies to offer faster, more efficient Wi-Fi networks for businesses. With simplified architectures, these networks would be highly scalable and robust, enhancing their ability to serve more users at multigigabit speeds. It will include many mobiles and IoT devices in very congested environments.
Wi-Fi 6E further improves network bandwidth and performance for challenging and mission-critical applications that need higher throughput, like enterprise video streaming. For vendors, the initial generation of Wi-Fi 6E chipsets is now available to begin developing access points and mobile devices.
In the next two years, Wi-Fi 6E products will be available. As client devices become more commonly available, migration initiatives are likely to be launched by organizations whose specifications go beyond the scope of 802.11ax.
How’s Wi-Fi 6E Operating?
Today, Wi-Fi uses two bands: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. Additionally, it also utilizes a third band, i.e., 6GHz. Wi-Fi 6E extends the same Wi-Fi 6 capabilities into the 6GHz band for improved efficiency, increased security, and higher throughput.
Wi-Fi 6E supports all 802.11ax features and capabilities, but it operates in the 6 GHz band. When connecting various devices running high-bandwidth, low-latency applications, 802.11ax goes beyond improving network speed and incorporates advanced technology to increase overall network performance.
By operating on the 6 GHz band with 14 additional 80 MHz channels and 7 different 160 MHz channels. Wi-Fi 6E networks can offer improved power, thus leveraging these current 802.11ax features:
- MU-MIMO, OFDMA, and BSS Color uplink/downlink 8×8 to provide up to four times more power to handle more devices.
- Target wake time (TWT) to increase the efficiency of the system’s network and battery life, including that of IoT devices.
- 1024 quadrature amplitude modulation mode (1024-QAM) to improve throughput by transferring more data in the same amount of spectrum for emerging, bandwidth-intensive uses.
Wi-Fi 6E provides these advantages:
- Increased network efficiency and capacity: 5925-7125MHz, including 7 160MHz channels, 14 80MHz channels, 29 40MHz channels, and 60 20MHz channels, 6GHz frequency band range. The capability is more extensive, and the performance is substantially enhanced.
- Recent Rate Breakthrough: The Wi-Fi 6E cell phone chip’s maximum theoretical speed is 3.6 Gbps, and the router chip’s maximum theoretical speed is 5.4 Gbps to 10.8 Gbps. Which is significantly improved compared to Wi-Fi 6.
- Lower Latency: The current solution also has less than 3 milliseconds of ultra-low latency. The latency in dense environments is decreased by more than 8 times compared to the previous generation. There is a lot of space for use in mobile games and wireless VR.
- Gigabit-Range Speeds: It provides gigabit-range speeds and supports a Wi-Fi spectrum of up to 1.2 GHz in the 6 GHz band. Mobile phones can reach speeds of up to 2 Gbps. Your phone data can perform swiftly with its connectivity.
- Larger Capacity: It provides greater capacity. Therefore, Wi-Fi 6E supports a more significant number of users compared to traditional Wi-Fi.
- Lesser Interference: As this frequency spectrum is not typical of any wireless home devices, it provides less interference.
- Supports Broader Bandwidth: It provides support for broader 80 MHz and 160 MHz bandwidth channels (Bandwidth).
- Availability of More Contiguous Spectrum: In the 6 GHz frequency band, the use of standard Wi-Fi is expanded. Therefore, there is a more contiguous spectrum available for use.
Disadvantages of Wi-Fi 6E
- Does Not Support 6GHz: It does not support the 6 GHz operation of any legacy device. But, in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, these legacy devices are supported.
- Shortest Range: 6 GHz bands endorse the shortest range compared to 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.
- Expensive Hardware Upgradation: Another biggest challenge of Wi-Fi 6E adoption is the need for new hardware to enjoy all the benefits of this Wi-Fi connectivity. Both the client devices and router must support the 6GHz frequency band, and this requires an expensive hardware upgrade.
- Higher Consumption of Power: As mentioned earlier, Wi-Fi 6E operates on the 6GHz frequency band, which allows less interference and additional channels compared to previous generations. However, operating on such a high frequency needs increased power consumption, affecting the battery life of devices
- Navigating Local Regulations: Wi-Fi 6E adoption requires regulatory approval. Because the 6GHz band is a new frequency, this is subject to regulatory restrictions in many countries.
The CEO Views, as a media platform, has been exploring topics spanning multiple industries such as network and connectivity, technology, innovation, finance, healthcare, and several more. The featured profiles, articles, and blogs are designed to shed light not only on industry trends but also on events, current news, and more.
