UL launches Wi-Fi 6E testing service in Europe

UL announced this month that it has begun offering Wi-Fi 6E testing capabilities at multiple European sites to meet regulatory requirements in the United States and Europe. UL said its laboratories in Basingstoke, UK, and Stuttgart, Germany, are the first and only Wi-Fi 6E testing facilities in Europe, meeting the urgent need for Wi-Fi 6E wireless testing and certification services.

UL (Underwriters Laboratories) is a leading global independent safety science company with over 117 years of history.

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These facilities provide startups, scale-ups and large companies with state-of-the-art technologies, as well as comprehensive service solutions including certification to meet global market regulatory requirements for the smooth introduction of Wi-Fi 6E-enabled products.

UL said its Wi-Fi 6E service, supported by the latest equipment and customized software with greater automation capabilities, significantly reduces turnaround time and helps ensure consistency in testing and reporting between labs around the world.

“Accelerating time to market with new Wi-Fi 6E technology innovations and product safety is critical to our customers’ success in bringing future-proof Wi-Fi upgrades to market,” said Maan Ghanma, director of Consumer Smart Solutions for UL’s Healthcare and Information Technology division. “That’s why we are proactively addressing the potential challenges facing wireless technology manufacturers and their suppliers and increasing our Wi-Fi 6E investments to test a wide range of devices.”

As UL summarizes:

• Wi-Fi 6E is the next-generation wireless standard capable of operating at speeds of 9.6 Gbps in the 6GHz band. The "E" in Wi-Fi 6E stands for Extended, which refers to the expansion of the available frequency range. Wi-Fi 5 uses frequencies in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Wi-Fi 6E extends to the 6 GHz band. While Wi-Fi 5 can achieve a maximum throughput of 3.5 Gbps, Wi-Fi 6E can reach speeds of 9.6 Gbps.
• Wi-Fi 6E not only delivers speed, but also better performance in crowded areas, from corporate offices to densely populated homes. With Wi-Fi 6E, routers will be able to send signals on the 6GHz band in addition to the 2.4 and 5GHz bands currently used by Wi-Fi 5. Wi-Fi 6E can provide wider bandwidth and overall network improvements for the latest Wi-Fi devices.

To harness the power of and show confidence in this new technology, telecom product makers including routers and phones with Wi-Fi 6E capabilities made high-profile announcements at CES earlier this year.

“Given the growth in demand for Wi-Fi 6E and UL’s global reach with labs strategically located in Asia, Europe and the Americas, we are well positioned to support our customers’ Wi-Fi 6E product launches in their target markets around the world with the advantage of our global market access services covering more than 190 countries around the world,” said UL’s Ghanma.

UL’s long-standing expertise in wireless communications continues, with its experts taking leading positions in standards committees and regulatory forums. In addition, UL’s Telecommunications Certification Body (TCB) is the first to issue a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) grant for Wi-Fi 6E products. TCBs are authorized organizations that have the authority to issue certificates to comply with FCC rules and regulations.

“Advances in healthcare through telehealth and mHealth, improved workplaces through digital collaboration through video conferencing and cloud applications, expanded education through digital learning, and the increasing use of robotics and automation in retail stores are driving the need for accelerated deployment of Wi-Fi 6E technology, which delivers a more robust, high-speed network infrastructure,” said Mark Briggs, director of wireless certification at UL and member of the TCB board of directors.

UL’s expansion of Wi-Fi 6E complements its range of related services, including Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and interoperability, offered at its laboratories in Silicon Valley, U.S., and Suwon, South Korea.