By Powered By SmileMbb | 07 April 2023 | 2 Comments

What is the Wi-Fi6(802.11ax)? How fast it is？

Part I. What Is WiFi 6?

WiFi 6 is short for the next-generation 802.11ax standard.

With the evolution of the WiFi standard, WFA chose to rename Wi-Fi with a numeric serial number to facilitate Wi-Fi users and device manufacturers to easily understand the Wi-Fi models that their devices are connected to or supported. On the other hand, the next-generation naming method is also chosen to better highlight the major advances in Wi-Fi technology. It provides a large number of new features, including increased throughput and faster speeds, and support for more concurrent connections. According to the WFA announcement, the current Wi-Fi names correspond to the following 802.11 technical standards:

Year published	802.11 Standards	Frequency bands	Renaming
2009	802.11n	2.4 GHz or 5 GHz	Wi-Fi 4
2013	802.11ac wave1	5 GHz	Wi-Fi 5
2015	802.11ac wave2	5 GHz	Wi-Fi 5
2019	802.11ax	2.4 GHz or 5 GHz	Wi-Fi 6

Table 1 802.11 standards and new names

Like every 802.11 standard released in the past, 802.11ax will also be compatible with the previous 802.11ac/n/g/a/b standard. Old terminals can also seamlessly access the 802.11ax network.

Part II. What Is WiFi 5?

WiFi 5 was released by the Wi-Fi Alliance in 2009. It was designed to replace the previous generation of wireless networking technology called 802.11b/g/n. WiFi 5 offers faster data rates and longer ranges than its predecessor. However, it does not support the higher frequency bands used by 802.11ac.

Part III. WiFi 5 VS WiFi 6

WiFi 5 VS WiFi 6 the difference is the last offer quicker rates, lower latency, boosted network performance, even more bandwidth to fit even more devices, better performance in heavily-congested areas, and enhanced power effectiveness for your devices.

It is anticipated that by 2023, every person in the United States will have almost 14 connected gadgets. To manage this increase of new devices, the new WiFi criterion was developed with technologies that enable it to attach to even more gadgets without reducing you down.

Among the greatest differences between WiFi 5 and also WiFi 6 is that the new standard has a technology called "multi-user, several input, several results" (MU-MIMO). This enables WiFi 6 routers to attach to multiple gadgets at once, instead of connecting to one device, and afterward one more, and after that one more.

While this modern technology already exists in some premium routers, it has been updated with WiFi 6. An existing MU-MIMO router can connect to 4 tools at once, and a WiFi 6 router can link to eight gadgets at once.

An additional innovation in Wi-fi 6 is Target Wake Time (TWT), which permits your router to set up check-in times with your connected devices. Primarily, your router will only wake your devices when they require to send or receive information. This can increase the battery life of your devices, which is especially helpful if you have smart home devices.

Part IV. How fast is WiFi 6?

4G is synonymous with the high speed of mobile networks. Similarly, Wi-Fi 6 is a Synonym for high-speed wireless LAN. How high speed comes from is determined by the following factors.

Calculation formula:

Machine rate = number of spatial streams*1/(Symbol+GI)*coding method*code rate*number of effective sub-carriers

(1) The number of spatial streams

The spatial flow is the antenna of the AP. The more the number of antennas, the greater the throughput of the whole machine. Just like the lanes of a highway, 8-lane will carry more traffic than four lanes.

	802.11a/g	802.11n	802.11ac	802.11ax
Single radio Maximum spatial flow	1	4	8	8

Table 2 The number of spatial streams corresponding to different 802.11 standards

(2)Symbol and GI

The symbol is the transmission signal in the time domain, and a certain gap (GI) between adjacent symbols is required to avoid interference between symbols. Just like China's high-speed rail, each train is equivalent to a symbol, and there must be a time gap between two trains from the same station, otherwise, the two trains may collide. The gaps under different Wi-Fi standards are also different. Generally speaking, when the transmission speed is faster, the GI needs to be increased appropriately, just like the departure time gap between two 350KM/h high-speed trains on the same lane is larger than the 250KM/h high-speed train.

	Before 802.11ac	802.11ax
Symbol	3.2 us	12.8 us
Short GI	0.4 us	/
GI	0.8 us	0.8 us
2*GI	/	1.6 us
4*GI	/	3.2 us

Table 3 Symbol and GI data corresponding to 802.11 standard

(3) Coding method

The coding method is the modulation technology, that is, the number of bits that can be carried in a symbol. From Wi-Fi 1 to Wi-Fi 6, every time the modulation technology is improved, the rate of each spatial stream can be increased by at least 20%.

	802.11a/g	802.11n	802.11ac	802.11ax
Highest order modulation	64 QAM	64 QAM	256 QAM	1024 QAM
Number of bit /Symbol	6	6	8	10

Table 4 QAM corresponding to 802.11 standard

(4) Bit rate

Theoretically, it should be transmitted losslessly according to the encoding method, but the reality is not so rosy. Some information codes for error correction need to be added during transmission, and redundancy is exchanged for high reliability. The code rate is the ratio of the actual data code to the theoretical value after the error correction code is excluded.

Scheme	Modulation	802.11a/g	802.11n	802.11ac	802.11ax
MCS0	BPSK	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2
MCS1	QPSK	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2
MCS2	QPSK	3/4	3/4	3/4	3/4
MCS3	16-QAM	1/2	1/2	1/2	1/2
MCS4	16-QAM	3/4	3/4	3/4	3/4
MCS5	64-QAM	2/3	2/3	2/3	2/3
MCS6	64-QAM	3/4	3/4	3/4	3/4
MCS7	64-QAM	5/6	5/6	5/6	5/6
VMCS8	256-QAM	-	-	3/4	3/4
VMCS9	256-QAM	-	-	5/6	5/6
VMCS10	1024-QAM	-	-	-	3/4
VMC11	1024-QAM	-	-	-	5/6

Table 5 Code rate corresponding to 802.11 standard

(5) Number of effective sub-carriers

The carrier is similar to the symbol in the frequency domain. One sub-carrier carries one symbol, and the number of sub-carriers under different modulation methods and bandwidths is various.

	Bandwidth	802.11n	802.11ac	802.11ax
Minimum Carrier Bandwidth	-	312.5 kHz	312.5 kHz	78.125KHz
Number of valid sub-carriers	HT20	52	52	234
	HT40	108	108	468
	HT80	-	234	980
	HT160	-	2 x 234	2 x 980

Table 6 Number of sub-carriers corresponding to 802.11 standard

At this point, we can calculate the maximum rate of a single spatial stream of 802.11ac and 802.11ax under the HT80 bandwidth:

PHY	1/(Symbol+GI)	Number of bit /Symbol	Code rate	Effective subcarrier	Rate
802.11ac	1/(3.2us+0.4us)	8	5/6	234	433 Mbit/s
802.11ax	1/(12.8us+0.8us)	10	5/6	980	600 Mbit/s

Part V. Is WiFi 6 Worth It?

WiFi 6 is just worth it if you utilize numerous devices on your wireless network at the same time. It can also deserve it if you wish to future-proof your Wi-fi network. Nevertheless, because the technology is brand-new, it has not been developed yet, and also it can be expensive.

If you truly wish to future-proof your Wi-fi network, it might be worth it to await even more WiFi 6 devices to start presenting. And Also, WiFi 6E modern technology will certainly come out quickly that will certainly open up a brand-new "fast lane of the internet."

Part VI. WiFi 6 device recommendations

Type 1: 5G Indoor CPE

SmileMbb, a subsidiary of V-SOL, has rapidly launched 5G WiFi 6 Router products, the device adopts Qualcomm QCA6391 Wifi chipset， this chipset supports Wifi6 Technology, According to the above calculation method, in 2.4Ghz, we can calculate the maximum rate of two spatial streams of 802.11ax under HT40 bandwidth is 573.5Mbit/s. in 5Ghz, we can calculate the maximum rate of two spatial streams of 802.11ax under HT80 bandwidth is 1201Mbit/s.

5g wifi6 router

Type 2: 5G NR CPE Router

XHC5151 Indoor 5G NR CPE Router aims to enable users to have the most advanced 5G experience. With this product, consumers will enjoy a higher data rate of wireless broadband than the fiber optic internet without the fetter of the cable or fiber.

Type 3: WiFi 6 Mesh Router

WiFi 6 Mesh Router HG5000-5G4AX adopts WiFi6 technology which has redefined home WiFi. Experience up to 3x faster speeds, higher capacity, and reduced congestion overall compared to the previous AC WiFi5 standard.

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