There’s been discuss in some corners that Wi-Fi 6E is a “area of interest” era of Wi-Fi. Nothing may very well be farther from the reality. Wi-Fi 6E is probably the most vital improvement within the historical past of Wi-Fi and affords unimaginable worth to enterprises.
That stated, I perceive why there may very well be skepticism. Replace fatigue is an actual factor, and it doesn’t assist that the wi-fi business is drowning us with a bunch of numbers and letters which are arduous for most individuals to make sense of Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 7, 5G, 6G, and so on.!
However Wi-Fi 6E is just not “simply one other replace.”
The transformational energy of Wi-Fi 6E
Wi-Fi has been round for 22 years, and with every new era, now we have witnessed large positive aspects in wi-fi efficiency, connectivity, and person expertise. In comparison with different wi-fi applied sciences, the Wi-Fi innovation timeline has all the time been exceptionally quick.
Even with that stated, the introduction of Wi-Fi 6E in 2020 was a watershed second. Wi-Fi 6E is the foundational era of Wi-Fi that brings the expertise to the 6 GHz frequency band for the primary time. It’s not simply one other ho-hum expertise improve; it’s a spectrum improve.
Consider it like a freeway. With among the earliest generations of Wi-Fi, it was as if we had been on a one-lane street the place a couple of sluggish automobiles might destroy your community’s mixture throughput. The emergence of Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 turned that one-lane street right into a three-lane interstate freeway. With Wi-Fi 6, you’re within the left lane, benefiting from quicker vehicles and precedence lanes that provide a better degree of site visitors effectivity. It’s higher than earlier iterations, however nonetheless, your journey is definitely disrupted by a couple of sluggish vehicles.
Enter Wi-Fi 6E. It’s a brand-new freeway with a number of precedence lanes reserved solely for newer mannequin vehicles (Wi-Fi 6E and past).
What it means for enterprises
You don’t simply have to take my phrase for it. International locations throughout the globe proceed to undertake the brand new 6 GHz superhighway. And new knowledge was simply launched exhibiting that greater than 1,000 Wi-Fi 6E gadgets are commercially accessible as of the tip of Q3 2022. Simply this previous October, Apple – one of many few main Wi-Fi 6E hold-outs – introduced their first Wi-Fi 6E cellular gadget with the iPad Professional. It’s protected to say that we’ll see many extra Apple gadgets with 6 GHz Wi-Fi radios within the very close to future.
Wi-Fi 6E is clearly heating up on the consumer aspect; however what does that imply for companies?
My recommendation: if your organization is due for a Wi-Fi infrastructure improve, try to be pondering severely about 6 GHz Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi 6E brings us as much as 1,200 MHz of recent spectrum within the 6 GHz band. It affords extra bandwidth, better efficiency, and elimination of slower expertise gadgets, all combining to supply quicker and extra compelling person experiences. It’s going to be particularly useful with massive, crowded public venues, and can have the ability to higher assist immersive experiences like AR/VR and 8K video or low-latency companies like telemedicine.
However what about Wi-Fi 7?
The Wi-Fi 7 buzz has already commenced, and distributors like Broadcom have even launched their Wi-Fi 7 ecosystem. A number of Wi-Fi 7 options, like multi-link operation (MLO), maintain promise for the enterprise. Nevertheless, the expertise remains to be underneath improvement. We might see first-generation enterprise gear in early 2024. However what? There isn’t a Wi-Fi 7 with out the 6 GHz spectrum that Wi-Fi 6E at present affords. Typically we get too caught up with the brand new “bells and whistles” of assorted generations of Wi-Fi. It’s not all the time about options and updates, and probably the most vital factor taking place in Wi-Fi proper now’s that it’s all concerning the 6 GHz spectrum.
Once more, consider Wi-Fi 6E because the foundational era of Wi-Fi that provides 6 GHz connectivity. That signifies that Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 8, and different future generations of Wi-Fi might be constructed upon the 6 GHz spectrum basis that has debuted with Wi-Fi 6E.
Don’t understate or overlook Wi-Fi 6E
Based on the Wi-Fi Alliance, greater than 350 million Wi-Fi 6E merchandise had been anticipated to enter the market in 2022. Customers are adopting this expertise in droves, which is driving new demand within the enterprise. Its influence and significance within the historical past of Wi-Fi can’t be understated, and it will be a mistake to go it by.
