Wi-Fi 6 Will Take Your Online Life To A Whole New Level

Sure, 5G is great. But you have to admit this, you are likely to use Wi-Fi networks more with your computer and phone. So let’s put 5G aside for a while and see what Wi-Fi 6 will bring to you.

According to Mike Feibus, an analyst at Feibustech:

Wi-Fi 6, actually codenamed 802.11ax will not only boost data speed but it will also have much wider coverage, reaching every corner in your house that’s farther from the network gear, handling the crowd better. Furthermore, it will help save your laptop and phone battery.

Qualcomm is looking forward to the Wi-Fi 6 too. On Tuesday, the company showed off four chips which will bring Wi-Fi 6 to various new network equipment as well as partnerships to show its power with this technology.

Wi-Fi is common and accepted widely as stated by Qualcomm’s Wi-Fi chip division leader Rahul Patel during an interview with CNET before the company’s Wi-Fi event. However, he also pointed out that the larger number of devices in a house, along with activities like video streaming and gaming, has caused a network traffic jam.

Upgrades, with a cost

One of the major advances of Wi-Fi 6 is orthogonal frequency division multiple access, OFDMA, which is a technology purloined from mobile networks to boost efficiency. Another advance is called multiple user, multiple input, multiple output, aka MU MIMO. Wi-Fi 6 will also come with 1024 QAM, short for quadrature amplitude modulation, which will raise data rates by 30 percent.

So, what do all these advances mean? In comparison with Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6 will:

Double the range: even though Qualcomm already has built-in mesh networking tech which will allow multiple wireless access points to bring Wi-Fi signals to every corner of your house.

Increase the speed by three times: which is great not only for watching 4K videos but also for uploads.

Offer greater reliability: which will save you from lagging video chats.

However, don’t be too excited too soon, the upgrade is awesome but it’s not free. You will have to get new network gear, otherwise, you can wait till your internet provider upgrade that for you.

And with the current Wi-Fi’s shortcomings, internet service providers will have to invest more into home network equipment when they get complaints from customers.

But that’s just one side of 802.11ax. Besides, you will have to buy new computers, video streamers, smart speakers, phones, and everything compatible with Wi-Fi 6.

Qualcomm ships 4 billion Wi-Fi chips

Qualcomm is not the only one eyeing on your wallet with its Wi-Fi chips, Intel is, too.

Nevertheless, Qualcomm holds much power, with 4 billion chips shipped in 2005, according to the company. And with its influence in smartphones, it can make sure the new tech works on both sides of the connection.

Among 225 phone models powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855, most of them also packs its Wi-Fi chips, as stated by the chipmaker. While Wi-Fi 6 hasn’t come to phones yet, Wi-Fi 5 will have the ability to save battery life with a Wi0Fi 6 technology known as TWT, short for target wake time which enables phones to wake up less often for network activity and snooze more.

Qualcomm’s processors reeled in Rivet Networks, a firm selling network modules to gaming PC buyers.

Michael Cubbage, Rivet’s Chief Executive, said:

such as the simultaneous dual-band access which allows it to send top-priority communication and gaming data over the 5GHz channel, keeping everything else away from the 2.4GHz band.

But Patel does not rush to upgrade access points despite all the advantages of Wi-Fi 6. He predicts that people will maintain their existing devices in the house, but they will still get to enjoy Wi-Fi 6 as it will come to public places like airports, offices, hotels, and universities where many people are using Wi-Fi.

Better Wi-Fi outside your house

The most excited firms are those providing for customers with hundreds of users. Qualcomm’s new top-end processor, the Networking Pro 1200, is able to handle 1,500 connections at the same times, including devices like PCs and phones.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Aruba subsidiary’s marketing manager Dave Chen says:

Each of the company’s Wi-Fi 6 products can handle thousands of devices using multiple radios. Also, Wi-Fi 6 is more predictable and responsive.

Aruba is excited about the Qualcomm’s new processors, but not too much to overlook rivals. The company has been selling network gear compatible with Wi-Fi 6 since late 2018. What you will benefit is a better online life both at home and on the go. Feibus said:

And Qualcomm’s President Cristiano Amon confidently raise expectations about Wi-Fi 6, saying that: