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· Technology

Wi-Fi Alliance introduces Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 4

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The Wi-Fi naming convention used to be quite tech-heavy so far, which means it made some sense only to those who kept a close tab on wireless technologies and their evolution. Fortunately, things have changed for the better with Wi-Fi Alliance now adopting a simpler convention for designating each generation of Wi-Fi technology.

For those not in the knowing, Wi-Fi Alliance refers to a group of companies that develops the wireless networking standards. And the change would be evident with the release of the next-gen Wi-Fi standard named 802.11ax which has been named Wi-Fi 6. That’s not to say the preceding generation of Wi-Fi standards won’t be getting a name. Rather, 802.11ac will henceforth be referred to as Wi-Fi 5 while 802.11n will come to be referred to as Wi-Fi 4.

With the launch of the new naming convention, the technology end users, typically owners of various Wi-Fi enabled devices will be spared from having to grasp technical jargons to make sure their devices are equipped with the latest Wi-Fi standards. Instead, with the simplified naming scheme, things would be much easier for the average users.

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As for Wi-Fi 6 specifically, that is the newest standard set to be introduced and comes with a whole lot of improvements compared to the present standard. Among the advancements that Wi-Fi 6 would be known for include higher data rates and higher capacity. Wi-Fi 6 is also going to be frugal on the battery as well while still delivering better performance even in congested scenarios like in a sporting event and such.

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Tests of Wi-Fi 6 or the 802.11ax standard saw internet speeds reach 4.8 Gbit/s in the 5GHz band. In fact, speeds of up to 11 Gbits/sec have also been demoed during the CES event early this year, showing the potential of the wireless standard in ideal condition.

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However, while the above-mentioned speed might seem quite generous at the moment, it might soon get swamped out in the future when the Internet of Things becomes more prevalent as there would be multiple devices in the household all sharing the same connection. In any case, Wi-Fi 6 is also expected to boost businesses that sees the use of a large number of smart devices.

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TP-Link Dual-Band AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Gigabit Internet Router for Home | EasyMesh, VPN Clients & Server, HomeShield, OFDMA, MU-MIMO, USB 3.0, Secure by Design - Archer AX55
  • Next-Gen Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Speeds: 2402 Mbps on 5 GHz and 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz bands ensure smoother streaming and faster downloads; support VPN server and VPN client¹
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