It’s fairly common, when talking about a device’s wireless capabilities, to mention its maximum standard. That has made us somewhat familiar with phrases like WiFi n or WiFi ac, yet they mean nothing to most users. The next generation of WiFi technology was going to be called 802.11ax, but the WiFi Alliance decided to steal a page from Bluetooth’s manual and start identifying generational jumps with numbers. That means that from now on, the 802.11ax standard will be called WiFi 6, and its predecessors will also be renamed.
The original 802.11 specification dates back to June 1997. In September 1999, 802.11a and 802.11b appeared, with the b variant being the most common among users and now acting as “legacy support”, with a mysterious channel included. In June 2003, 802.11g was confirmed, which today is one of the cornerstones of modern WiFi, operating at 2.4 GHz with a maximum bitrate of 54 Mbps. The two most recent versions are 802.11n (October 2009) and 802.11ac (December 2013), which, besides raising the speed limit (600 and 3466.8 Mbps respectively), also operate on the 5 GHz band to reduce congestion problems.
WiFi 6: Now It’s All About Numbers
From a technical standpoint, there are three other protocols (ad, ah, and aj), but the big candidate to land on our desks is 802.11ax, which returns to a dual 2.4/5 GHz configuration (802.11ac is only compatible with 5 GHz) and has the ability to use bands between 1 GHz and 7 GHz. 802.11ax is expected to be ready before the end of the year; however, the WiFi Alliance decided to make a last-minute adjustment: its name.
Starting with 802.11ax, the WiFi Alliance will use version numbers, making it easier for users to determine the maximum generation supported by a computer, mobile device, router, or any other WiFi-connected unit. In other words, 802.11ax becomes WiFi 6, 802.11ac becomes WiFi 5, and 802.11n stays WiFi 4. This new strategy isn't limited to hardware; there will also be software adjustments, with updated icons in user interfaces and in the networks themselves (whether private or public access).
The WiFi Alliance expects broad adoption of the new scheme, though not necessarily fast, but it’s not hard to see the benefits of the change, especially when considering the advertising factor.
