Wi‑Fi 6
What is Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax)?

Wi‑Fi 6 is the name given to the IEEE 802.11ax standard by the Wi‑Fi Alliance, an industry organization that provides thought leadership, spectrum advocacy, and industry collaboration. The new numbering makes it easier to distinguish between the different Wi‑Fi generations. Wi‑Fi 6 is designed to improve efficiency with up to 4x faster speeds and more capacity than Wi‑Fi 5 (802.11ac). It also offers stronger guest and password security.

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  • Wi‑Fi 6 explained
  • Why Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax)?
  • Wi‑Fi 6 benefits
  • Wi‑Fi 6 features
  • Wi‑Fi 6 APs
  • How do I choose a Wi‑Fi 6 vendor?
Wi‑Fi 6 explained

Wi‑Fi 6 explained

Wi‑Fi 6, also known as 802.11ax, expands on the 802.11ac standard. Wi‑Fi 6 provides increased speed, flexibility, and scalability to support growth in the number of IoT and client devices, increased use of cloud, and digital transformation initiatives. It enables IT to keep pace with increased demand for Wi‑Fi leveraging the same 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands as Wi‑Fi 5.

Wi‑Fi 5 vs Wi‑Fi 6

 
Wi‑Fi 5 (802.11n/ac)
Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax)

Channels available

20/40/80/160 MHz1

20/40/80/160 MHz2

Bands used

2.4 and 5 GHz

2.4 and 5 GHz

Maximum # Spatial Streams (SS) to increase peak data rates

4×4

8×8

Highest order of modulation to increase bits/symbol and decrease error margin

256-QAM

1024-QAM

Multi-user MIMO to increase efficiency by providing concurrent user uploads

downlink only

uplink and downlink

OFDMA to increase efficiency by combining short packets

No

Yes

IoT Target Wake Time to conserve battery life

No

Yes

BSS Coloring to increase capacity and channel reuse

No

Yes

Enhanced Open to provide encryption on open, non-password protected networks

No

Yes

WPA3 for more robust authentication

No

Yes

Related topics

Wi‑Fi 7

Wi‑Fi 6E

Access point

Network switch