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.
Wi-Fi 6 Explained
Why Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)?
The demand for wireless access is dramatically increasing, and the number and variety of devices and applications continues to grow. Wi-Fi 6 helps accommodate the growing number of mobile and IoT devices by increasing network efficiency and speed to better meet IT and business requirements. 15B+ IoT devices are expected to connect to enterprise infrastructure by 2029 (IDC, 2021).
Wi-Fi 6 Benefits
- Higher data rates with 1024 QAM
- Increased capacity
- Improved performance in environments with many connected devices
- Improved power efficiency
- Enhanced support for IoT devices
Wi-Fi 6 Features
- Orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)effectively shares channels to increase network efficiency.
- Multi-user multiple input, multiple output (multi-user MIMO)allows more downlink data to be transferred at one time, enabling access points (APs) to concurrently handle more devices.
- Target Wake Time (TWT)significantly improves network efficiency and device battery life, including IoT devices.
- IoT handling operating modefor low-power, low-bandwidth devices like sensors, automation, and medical devices.
- WPA3 and Enhanced Openstrengthen user privacy in open networks, simplify configuring security for headless IoT devices, and add higher levels of security to meet government, defense and industrial requirements.
Wi-Fi 6 APs
| Wi-Fi 6-Enabled Access Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor Access Points | |||
| 550 Series | 530 Series | 510 Series | 500 Series |
| Outdoor/Ruggedized Access Points | |||
| 518 Series | 560 Series | 560例系列 | 570 Series |
| 570EX Series | 580 Series | 580EX Series | |
| Remote Access Points | |||
| 500H Series | |||
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 MHz1 |
| 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 modulationto increase bits/symbol and decrease error margin | 256-QAM | 1024-QAM |
| Multi-user MIMOto increase efficiency by providing concurrent user uploads | downlink only | uplink and downlink |
| OFDMAto increase efficiency by combining short packets | No | Yes |
| IoT Target Wake Time为了节省电池寿命 | No | Yes |
| BSS Coloringto increase capacity and channel reuse | No | Yes |
| Enhanced Opennon-passw提供加密在开放ord protected networks | No | Yes |
| WPA3for more robust authentication | No | Yes |
1Although 80/160 MHz channels are supported, they are not typically used due to high channel utilization. Wi-Fi 6E and the 6 GHz channel addresses this by providing up to seven additional 80/160 MHz channels.
How do I choose a Wi-Fi 6 vendor?
Your Wi-Fi vendor should:
- Demonstrate industry leadership as recognized by leading analysts such as Gartner, Forrester, and IDC.
- Deliver built-in security with unified policy enforcement across wired and wireless networks.
- Simplify operations by using AI and machine learning to automate optimization and provide actionable recommendations to remediate issues.
- Offer secure, energy efficient IoT capabilities to enable you to leverage APs as an IoT connectivity platform using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee, or USB ports.
- Provide the flexibility to manage on-prem or in the cloud and to deploy with or without gateways.
Related Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) resources
