Wi-Fi 6 no longer needs to wait and see: the "four no's" that previously hindered its popularization

Although Wi-Fi 6 wireless technology has been around for more than two years, and it was still called 802.11ax, it seems that compared with the continued growth of Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), people are still cautious about Wi-Fi 6 devices. It was not until the middle of this month that the industry alliance launched the certification of the Wi-Fi 6 wireless standard, which made this new standard gain a lot of attention again. However, looking back at the time after Wi-Fi 6 was unveiled, the reason that hindered its popularity was "four no's".

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No certification to find, dare not buy

Yes, in the Wi-Fi community, new technologies are always introduced first, and standard certification comes later. When Wi-Fi 6 technology demonstrated innovative features such as orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), high-order modulation and coding scheme 1024QAM, full multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO), BSS COLOR coloring technology, and target wake-up time, it immediately ignited the excitement of many companies. Because they are facing an increasing number of wireless devices, they urgently need to manage wireless connections in a way that is efficient, automated, and low-cost.

However, despite their excitement, business owners were hesitant to purchase some of the early Wi-Fi 6 products because the IEEE 802.11ax wireless standard had not yet been finalized and the name Wi-Fi 6 had not yet appeared. Once they purchased a Wi-Fi 6 device, if it was not compatible with other wireless devices, wouldn’t it be a waste of money? So they didn’t dare to buy it.

Don't buy if you don't have the courage to try new things

It should be said that it is normal to have the above idea. When the 802.11n standard (now called Wi-Fi 4) first appeared, many wireless manufacturers followed up and launched a series of early 802.11n products based on the draft standard. However, after the final standard was finalized, major changes occurred, resulting in many compatibility issues in early products.

Therefore, business owners may be concerned about some early Wi-Fi 6 devices on the market, fearing that these products only support some of the features mentioned above, but not all. In that case, they may miss some key functions and become incompatible with new terminal devices purchased later. Therefore, they need courage to try out Wi-Fi 6 technology.

No terminal companions do not want to buy

In addition to the above compatibility issues, many companies did not want to choose Wi-Fi 6 wireless APs/wireless routers in the early stage. The lack of corresponding Wi-Fi 6 terminals to match them is also a key dominant factor. In their eyes, wireless terminals represented by smartphones, tablets, and laptops are still at Wi-Fi 5 or even Wi-Fi 4. If Wi-Fi 6 wireless APs/wireless routers are deployed too early, they will not be able to fully experience the powerful performance of Wi-Fi 6, so they are not willing to buy them yet.

However, times now are different from the past. New mobile phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Apple iPhone 11 that support the Wi-Fi 6 standard have been launched on the market. Intel's Wi-Fi 6 AX200 WLAN wireless network card for laptops and PC motherboards, as well as the 8th-generation Intel Core vPro mobile processor that supports Wi-Fi 6 have also been unveiled, which has invisibly resolved the problem of a lack of compatible terminals.

No low-priced products are not willing to buy

Of course, price factors will also affect the popularity of Wi-Fi 6 devices. Currently, the price of a Wi-Fi 6 wireless router on JD.com is still between 1,500 and 5,000 yuan, which is quite expensive. For ordinary netizens, the money spent on a Wi-Fi 6 wireless router can buy a new mobile phone, but it is a considerable expense, so naturally not many people are willing to buy it.

However, the certification work for the Wi-Fi 6 standard has now been fully launched, and solutions from chip manufacturers such as Broadcom, Qualcomm, Intel, and Marvell have also passed certification and been implemented, further accelerating the arrival of Wi-Fi 6 devices.

Conclusion

As the Wi-Fi industry enters its 20th anniversary, Wi-Fi 6 technology will also usher in an explosive period. In view of the dominant position of Wi-Fi technology in indoor areas, in the future, Wi-Fi 6 will be connected and complemented with 5G wide area networks to meet the needs of indoor wireless coverage and provide everyone with a smooth wireless experience. I believe that by then, there will be no need to wait and see about Wi-Fi 6, and you can be ready to start at any time.