Will 802.11ax Supercharge Your Wi-Fi?
It may seem like it wasn’t that long ago that 802.11ac wave 2 with Multi-User MIMO was introduced. However, as technology cycles go, we are right on track for the next generation of Wi-Fi. So here we are, talking about the 6th generation of the 802.11 standard; IEEE 802.11ax. But why should you care?
If your Wi-Fi network needs to support a high density of users, with a variety of mobile devices, IoT, along with many types of applications that downstream and upstream, then 802.11ax may be in your future.
Prior Wi-Fi generations increased performance, with wider channels, adding more spatial streams and QAM. 802.11ac wave 2 proved wider channel and simultaneous, multi-user downstreams increase capacity and higher performance per user. However, the enhancements of 802.11ac did not address spectrum or RF efficiency, the ability to support simultaneous client upstreams, or the capability to deal with the narrow channel width of low packet-rate IoT devices, all which are addressed with 802.11ax.
The 802.11ax standard introduces 8 new technologies all of which combine to offer up to 4X the capacity of 802.11ac MU-MIMO, greater utilization of the spectrum and RF and increased overall coverage.
The standard adapts proven technology from 4G LTE networks that is expected to deliver unprecedented capacity and efficiency to Wi-Fi. The combination of all these technologies supports more devices simultaneously; extracting every megabit per second possible, for both upstream and downstream traffic. Of course, it’s early in this technology cycle, but this is a great time to learn more about what is coming.
I’ve only briefly touched on the benefits 802.11ax here, but be sure to watch our free on-demand webinar, Will 802.11ax Supercharge Your Mobile Network? to hear from Broadcom and Extreme experts, as they explore this topic and share more details about this exciting new Wi-Fi standard (and why you should care).
Watch Now: Will 802.11ax Supercharge Your Mobile Network?
This post was originally published by Product Marketing Manager Cal Calamari.