5G or WiFi 6? Tips for choosing the best wireless network solution

Over the past five years, IT professionals who focus on enterprise networks have been inundated with claims and counterarguments regarding the debate between 5G cellular networks and WiFi 6. Much has been made of the theoretical advantages of 5G in terms of network management, performance, security, and propagation capabilities; but in my experience, it is always risky to make decisions about any technology in the abstract without considering the specifics of the situation.

The best environment to support an application should always be determined based on the specific needs of the business application; anything else is putting the cart before the horse. It’s hard to understand why enterprises need 5G to “accelerate business development” when many enterprise customers often use WiFi and cellular data services interchangeably, especially with the increasing adoption of SD-WAN technology, which promises to solve traditional network challenges and simplify access to the cloud.

From an enterprise/consumer perspective, it is estimated that there are over 18 billion WiFi-enabled devices in use worldwide, with cellular connectivity a close second at 12 billion. These numbers are remarkable considering that there are just over 8 billion people in the world, and about a third of them are either too young or live in areas where digital technology is not readily available.

Fortunately, both WiFi 6 and 5G cellular networks have made great progress over the past two decades, and although both technologies use radios to transmit data, the infrastructure and sophisticated management required to support a global 5G network is far more expensive and complex than WiFi, the low-cost, powerful wireless network that has already been adopted by many homes and businesses.

WiFi 6 or 5G? Depends on business needs

In some ways, the line between WiFi and 5G is clear. The traditional use case for WiFi is to support client systems where it is too expensive or simply impractical to wire directly to them due to location or nominal bandwidth requirements. WiFi has become ubiquitous, and the configuration and management process of building WiFi networks has become close to plug-and-play. Modern WiFi access points (APs) for consumers and enterprises offer simplified, intuitive network utilities that guide users through setting up authentication, security, and access policies, allowing them to have a secure, functional WiFi network up and running in minutes.

For mobile and outdoor applications, cellular networks, from 4G LTE to now 5G, have expanded beyond telecommunications, providing greater range and more reliable connectivity for a wide range of data-rich mobile applications. Public and private cellular networks have found their place in large-scale industries such as light and heavy manufacturing, utilities, oil and gas production, and transportation, where WiFi cannot meet the mobility, performance, and signal reliability requirements for specific mission-critical applications.

As with all IT projects, it is our technologists’ responsibility to fully define the business requirements and then make technology recommendations that can reliably meet or exceed those requirements. The choice between 5G and WiFi 6 is not an either/or choice – just like any other IT hybrid environment, the two approaches can and should coexist.

Top factors to consider before choosing 5G and/or WiFi 6

Of course, there are a lot of technical factors that need to be considered broadly when assigning business applications to 5G and/or WiFi 6. When I started doing research on current state-of-the-art wireless networks, even without a specific use case in mind, I could think of a dozen factors to consider. After intellectual consideration, the following factors were at the top of the list:

• Physical location and system mobility: Because both WiFi and 5G rely on radio technology, they share similar limitations in acquiring and maintaining a signal. While 5G’s combination of higher power output and frequency selection makes it better suited to penetrate buildings, landscapes, and vegetation, the coverage of both technologies will vary greatly depending on the surrounding environment. On average, a small cell access point provides coverage of approximately 10,000 square feet, while a comparable WiFi 6 access point provides coverage of approximately 2,500 square feet. In addition, cellular services have superior “handoff” capabilities in maintaining uninterrupted connections with mobile clients. Dropped calls are annoying, and for applications such as remote control systems, ensuring connectivity is critical.
• Network speed and latency: The volume, density, and dependency of business data have exploded over the past two decades, with no signs of abating. Perhaps the biggest influence on wireless network selection is the critical response window between a client system and whatever system it connects to at the edge, in the cloud, or even in the core of the data center. Unfortunately, the actual capabilities of both wireless networks can only be assessed in the field, taking into account the current state of the radio, network, environment, number of concurrent connections, and competing devices, all of which are subject to change at any time. On May 6, 2023, Michael Kosiol wrote in IEEE Spectrum magazine: "Even the most powerful 5G networks will barely reach 1 Gb/s, far short of the ideal download speed of 20 Gb/s proposed by the International Telecommunication Union." As always, your experience may vary.
• Security and Authentication: Regardless of the type of connection, network security is an important concern. Unfortunately, most security risks come from people, especially mobile devices that can inexplicably grow legs and disappear on their own. WiFi 6 and 5G both offer security options, but carriers and IT customers are not always on the same page. Device-based authentication, multi-factor, and biometric authentication can greatly reduce some of the most common ways to break in, but only if 5G providers and wireless customers are on the same page.

I firmly believe that any technology advice that doesn’t start with “Oh, it depends” should be viewed with great skepticism, and this is especially true in the realm of wireless networking. Honestly, I can’t think of another IT technology that is as susceptible to environmental variables as high-speed networking via radio. Even in the worst-case scenario, it’s remarkable that 5G/WiFi 6 has gotten as far as it has, and will no doubt continue to improve as 6G rolls out by the end of this decade.

The same is true for WiFi 6 and the upcoming WiFi 7 standards, but data and application demands will almost certainly continue to grow as well. However, the cost of upgrading to WiFi 7 will be negligible compared to the huge investment that will likely be required to switch to 6G technology by the end of the decade.

We have been very generous with the hype surrounding 5G. Given the amount of expensive underlying infrastructure and cutting-edge technology development required to run a global wireless communications network, it makes perfect sense for cellular network operators to explore new applications to recoup the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in 5G infrastructure and spectrum. However, operators may have to be content with only a small piece of the wireless pie when less complex, less expensive, and more easily understood alternatives like WiFi are more than capable of supporting most wireless use cases.

The best hope is that 5G and WiFi 6 companies can find a way to work together, but that won’t be easy as vendors and standards groups are more focused on advancing their own plans than meeting customer needs.

As a customer, you should avoid hype, take the time to truly understand your business needs, and use the most reasonable combination.