What exactly is Wi-Fi 6?

Wi-Fi has been around for more than two decades, and in that time it has become as ubiquitous and essential as the internet itself. Since Apple took the first step in 1999 by adding Wi-Fi support to its then-state-of-the-art MacBook line, the technology has evolved and splintered into numerous standards, but has always had backward compatibility all the way back to early 1mb/sec connections.

Wi-Fi 6 is the latest upgrade to the standard — and the first to add additional spectrum in 15 years. Just over a year ago, the Wi-Fi Alliance finally approved Wi-Fi 6, which was billed as the biggest update to the wireless standard in more than a decade, but it brought more nuance and complexity than ever before.

So what exactly is it and how can it help you? We've gathered the answers to your biggest questions about Wi-Fi 6 here, so allow us to guide you through the wireless revolution.

What happened to Wi-Fi 1-5?

First of all, you didn't miss Wi-Fi 1 to 5. The Wi-Fi 6 name is part of a renaming exercise by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Until now, standards have been referred to by letter suffixes of their technical names. The latest are "Wireless G" (802.11g), "Wireless N" (802.11n), and "Wireless ac" (802.11ac). To make them easier to distinguish, they have now been retroactively given the acronyms Wi-Fi 3, 4, and 5, respectively. Wi-Fi 6, meanwhile, is more formally known as 802.11ax.

Another slight complication is that there are actually two versions of Wi-Fi 6 to watch out for. Standard Wi-Fi 6 uses the new technology but broadcasts on the existing 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. The second revision, Wi-Fi 6e, introduces a whole new band — 6GHz. We’ll explain what this does for you in a moment.

It’s always been the case that every new iteration of the Wi-Fi standard is compatible with the one that came before it, and Wi-Fi 6 is no exception. But that doesn’t mean you can just buy a new router, pick up your trusty old laptop and get a speed boost. To really feel the benefits, you’ll need a device that supports Wi-Fi 6, and currently that’s limited to a handful of high-end phones and laptops, but that number is increasing all the time, so if you’re eyeing new infrastructure, you’d be wise to consider putting Wi-Fi 6 on your list of requirements.

Advantages of Wi-Fi 6

So what are the benefits of Wi-Fi 6? The short answer is throughput. There is a speed benefit, but it's almost a byproduct; a single device connected via Wi-Fi 6 will see about 37% faster internet speeds, but the increase in throughput -- that is, the amount of data a router can process and send across the network -- could mean a real increase of up to 300% in terms of the entire network.

Part of the reason for the increased throughput is the increase in capacity. While most access points are theoretically capable of issuing 254 internal IP addresses, in practice most traditional wireless devices start to have trouble managing connections at around 70. Wi-Fi 6 devices are typically able to manage up to 200 — and sometimes more — node environments, such as mesh Wi-Fi networks.

The improved throughput has a number of notable side effects — first, the improved Wi-Fi throughput leaves more network capacity available for wired connections, which means they’ll be improved, too, albeit passively. We noticed a small but significant increase in transfer speeds from our laptop to our NAS in a Wi-Fi 6 environment. Likewise, Wi-Fi 6 devices connected to a Wi-Fi 6 router can actually see a small improvement in battery life, thanks to the way Wi-Fi 6 routers parse signals in a more efficient manner (called OFDMA). Think of it as a router implementing an orderly queuing system, rather than trying to handle every incoming signal at the same time.

Other technological advances include widespread use of MU-MIMO, a more advanced version of beamforming that "shapes" the signal waves around each target object, rather than traditional MIMO, which points the entire signal in the right general direction. Dynamic slicing means that packets can be made up of different sizes, so the system doesn't try to dynamically "fill" a standardized packet size. This reduces latency because the router doesn't wait to fill a half-full packet before transmitting. Also, in the case of Wi-Fi 6e, the signal can broadcast on any frequency between 1GHz and 6GHz, rather than being limited to the two standard bands of 2.4GHz and 5GHz, making the connection more reliable.

Do I need Wi-Fi 6?

So is it worth upgrading? There’s no real “one-size-fits-all” answer to this question, but when you’re ready to upgrade, Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6e should definitely be on your shopping list as more and more devices are released to take advantage of them. If you go with “6,” you’ll get the network benefits, but the data is carried over existing bands, so the difference you’ll see on existing devices may be limited.

If you're lucky enough to have a Wi-Fi 6-capable device, you'll notice a small difference (we measured a 4Mb/sec speed jump on a compatible smartphone). Overall, the combined improvements will add up to a smoother, more stable network even on networks with Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 4 devices.

Wi-Fi 6e with the additional 6GHz band is now almost fully available for network infrastructure (routers and access points) and offers buyers the opportunity to future-proof their networks for at least 10 to 15 years. Endpoint devices that support 6GHz are starting to appear, and these devices will gain the greatest individual benefits. Like all cutting-edge technologies, Wi-Fi 6e currently has an early adopter premium, but it may become more competitive in the future.

The overall message here is that Wi-Fi 6 is going to be the gift that keeps on giving. You may not notice a huge change today, but as the number of connected devices increases (IoT devices are a big part of this), you'll see gadgets that connect to Wi-Fi 5 with faster, more stable networks than the same group of devices. Over time, as more devices natively support Wi-Fi 6, you'll see further improvements. Additionally, once WPA3 becomes the standard for encrypted connections, you'll see it implemented in Wi-Fi 6, making for a more secure network.

It’s still early days for Wi-Fi 6. It has the potential to be a game-changer, especially as widespread adoption of devices ranging from IoT devices to laptops maximizes the benefits of the new features. You can still experience its value immediately today, but technology doesn’t stay stagnant for long. The Wi-Fi Alliance has already drafted Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) for certification in just a few years. For now, however, Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6e are the pinnacle of wireless networking.