Wi-Fi 6
Icon used by the Wi-Fi Alliance for Wi-Fi 6 | |
| Introduced | 1 September 2020 |
|---|---|
| Compatible hardware | Personal computers, gaming consoles, smart devices, televisions, printers, security cameras |
| Gen.[1] | IEEE standard |
Adopt. | Link rate (Mbit/s) |
2.4 GHz | 5 GHz | 6 GHz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 802.11 | 1997 | 1–2 | ||||
| 802.11b | 1999 | 1–11 | ||||
| 802.11a | 1999 | 6–54 | ||||
| 802.11g | 2003 | |||||
| Wi-Fi 4 | 802.11n | 2009 | 6.5–600 | |||
| Wi-Fi 5 | 802.11ac | 2013 | 6.5–6,933 | [a] | ||
| 802.11ax | 2021 | 0.4–9,608 | ||||
| Wi-Fi 6E[b] | ||||||
| Wi-Fi 7 | 802.11be | 2024 | 0.4–23,059 | |||
| Wi-Fi 8[2][3] | 802.11bn | 100,000[4] |
Wi-Fi 6, or IEEE 802.11ax, is an IEEE standard from the Wi-Fi Alliance, for wireless networks (WLANs). It operates in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands,[5] with an extended version, Wi-Fi 6E, that adds the 6 GHz band.[6] It is an upgrade from Wi-Fi 5 (IEEE 802.11ac), with improvements for better performance in crowded places. Wi-Fi 6 covers frequencies in license-exempt ISM bands, including the commonly used 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, as well as the broader 6 GHz band (for WiFi 6E).[7]
This standard aims to boost throughput[c] in crowded places like offices and malls. Though the nominal data rate is only 37%[8] higher than that of 802.11ac, the throughput increases by at least four times,[9] making it more efficient and reducing latency by 75%.[10] The quintupling of overall throughput is made possible by higher spectral efficiency.
802.11ax Wi-Fi has a main feature called OFDMA, similar to how cellular common-carrier networks work.[8] This brings better spectrum use, improved power control to avoid interference, and enhancements like 1024‑QAM, MIMO and MU-MIMO for faster speeds. There are also reliability improvements such as lower power consumption and security protocols like Target Wake Time and WPA3.
The 802.11ax standard was approved on September 1, 2020, with Draft 8 getting 95% approval. Subsequently, on February 1, 2021, the standard received official endorsement from the IEEE Standards Board.[11]
- ^ "The Evolution of Wi-Fi Technology and Standards". IEEE. 2023-05-16. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
- ^ Reshef, Ehud; Cordeiro, Carlos (2023). "Future Directions for Wi-Fi 8 and Beyond". IEEE Communications Magazine. 60 (10). IEEE: 50–55. doi:10.1109/MCOM.003.2200037.
- ^ Giordano, Lorenzo; Geraci, Giovanni; Carrascosa, Marc; Bellalta, Boris (November 21, 2023). "What Will Wi-Fi 8 Be? A Primer on IEEE 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability". IEEE Communications Magazine. 62 (8): 126. arXiv:2303.10442. Bibcode:2024IComM..62h.126G. doi:10.1109/MCOM.001.2300728.
- ^ Geraci, Giovanni; Meneghello, Francesca; Wilhelmi, Francesc; Lopez-Perez, David; Val, Iñaki; Lorenzo Galati Giordano; Cordeiro, Carlos; Ghosh, Monisha; Knightly, Edward; Bellalta, Boris (2025). "Wi-Fi: Twenty-Five Years and Counting". arXiv:2507.09613 [cs.NI].
- ^ "Generational Wi-Fi User Guide" (PDF). Wi-Fi Alliance. October 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Wi-Fi 6E expands Wi-Fi into 6 GHz" (PDF). Wi-Fi Alliance. January 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "FCC Opens 6 GHz Band to Wi-Fi and Other Unlicensed Uses". www.fcc.gov. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
- ^ a b c Khorov, Evgeny; Kiryanov, Anton; Lyakhov, Andrey; Bianchi, Giuseppe (2019). "A Tutorial on IEEE 802.11ax High Efficiency WLANs". IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials. 21 (1): 197–216. doi:10.1109/COMST.2018.2871099.
- ^ Aboul-Magd, Osama (17 March 2014). "802.11 HEW SG Proposed PAR" (DOCX). IEEE. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ Goodwins, Rupert (3 October 2018). "Next-generation 802.11ax wi-fi: Dense, fast, delayed". ZDNet. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
- ^ "IEEE 802.11, The Working Group Setting the Standards for Wireless LANs". www.ieee802.org. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).