WiFi 6. Wireless, but Better.

As someone who’s built their career on technology, its usage and keeping abreast of its trends I can happily confirm one thing: wires suck. I’ll admit they’re great for reliability and speed and traveling great distances and all of that stuff, but the moment one isn’t quite long enough? Total pain in the rear. Making them neat, finding ones with the right connector; wires truly feel like an antiquated technology which should swiftly go the way of the dodo. Happily, a new and emerging wireless standard is upon us, and it promises better range and faster speeds for our connected networks! Are we one step closer to a wire-free nirvana?

Wireless networks are what’s known as transparent technology. You switch them on, you set them up, you simply reap the benefits of a network connection anywhere in your home or business. Thanks to the 1997 formation of the standard for wireless networking, called 802.11, we don’t have to wrestle with a VHS vs. Betamax situation. Anything claiming to be WiFi will work with anything else claiming to be WiFi, or at least has the correct prerequisites to. Good practice technically says that one would turn off the very old bands of WiFi from the early days, just for performance benefits with newer devices, but the 802.11 standard at least ensures you have the option to use your archaic laptop with your shiny new wireless router.

There have been over the years a number of different iterations of this standard for wireless networks, ranging from 2 megabits per second in the late 90s to today’s theoretical maximum of 9.6 gigabits per second on WiFi 6. What’s interesting to me is that number far outstripping the speed of the average home internet connection, so the benefit from the actual maximum throughput from a web browsing perspective would appear limited. It does inarguably though make copying files between devices on the same network faster, so makes tons of sense for business application.

The real benefit from WiFi 6 comes when you start adding more devices. Back when the previous flavor of WiFi came out, the average number of wireless devices a person would likely have in their home was five. It now stands at double that and is only set to increase. With WiFi 6 you get more overhead for more devices connecting at faster speeds, which results in better performance and greater utilization from that internet connection. Think of it like lanes on an interstate. More lanes doesn’t equal faster traffic, but it does allow for more traffic on any given stretch of road. With the more bandwidth intensive devices in your home, such as those streaming video, the greater allowance is a real win.

So how does a person obtain this wonderful new wireless wizardry? Well hold your horses. WiFi generation changes like this rely on supporting hardware. So however you get your wireless right now, be that a wireless router or dedicated access points; these will need an upgrade. Any devices you buy in the future which rely on a fast connection will likely come WiFi 6 compatible, so that’s a benefit you’re banking collaterally. This is one of those “evolution not revolution” changes in technology. The difference won’t be night and day, especially if you’ve only got a few devices to connect up.

As with any technology, in my mind knowledge is power. If you happen to fit into the category of a streaming-intensive household or device-dense business, it could be well worth an upgrade. Honestly if you’re anything like me, any opportunity to avoid having to neatly tuck just one extra cable: I’m paying the entry fee.