The Best of Wi-Fi 6

Wi-Fi 6 hardware is making it into the market and the hands of consumers. Big companies need to keep up with the demand and requests for this. But here question arises will all the new Wi-Fi 6 features provide significant gains? There is only one exciting feature worth keeping an eye on, and that is Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access.

In old Wi-Fi generation wireless communications were using a modulation scheme called Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing. A serialized way for devices to transmit and receive data wirelessly.

Supported Hardware

OFDMA can send multiple transmissions from multiple devices over the same frequency. It will provide efficiency over Wi-Fi, which would increase speed and improve latency.

With Wi-Fi 6 not yet ratified as a standard, what can we expect from the hardware vendors? Major vendors such as Cisco, Aruba, Aerohive, and Mist have been selling this supported access points.

But the details are in the chipset. Vendors purchase this chipsets from a few major manufacturers such as Broadcom and Qualcomm. The release of Wi-Fi 6 features, such as OFDMA, is dependent on the version of SDKs to the major vendors.

There’s a high probability that an access point supports this but may not have Wi-Fi 6 features implemented yet. Software updates will unlock these features for devices to use.

Brand

2x2

4x4

8x8

Aruba

AP-514AP-515

AP-530 SeriesAP-555

 

Cisco

 

C9115C9120

C9117C9130

Meraki

 

MR45

MR55

Mist (Juniper)

 

AP43

 

Ruckus

 

R650R750

R730

IoT will be the slowest to transition to Wi-Fi 6 infrequently upgraded, and limited in support.

This support from the laptops/ tablets/ and mobile devices. There are not many that support Wi-Fi 6 today. Laptops will require a chipset upgrade, available from Intel. Replacement of legacy hardware, such as tablets and IoT is needed.

Wi-Fi experts do not have many options to verify this. There are no tools available to check OFDMA.

Implementation

At which point will we start to see the benefits of this. There will be a long transition from Wi-Fi 5. A mix of legacy and next-gen this devices will be operating together.

Once the infrastructure is upgraded to this and more this capable devices join the network, we will be able to see a shift. Once OFDMA is operational, we will see the efficiencies not just for this devices but also for legacy ones.

A design required to identify the number of access points needed and their locations based on a set of network and user requirements. Begin testing Wi-Fi 6 access points. Acquire this devices and check them with your current devices. A well-planned test with a small subset of users is ideal before a mass rollout.
https://mobileinfoworld.com/the-best-wifi-6/