Wi-Fi is about to get a lot better. Many of this year’s new phones, laptops, TVs, routers and more will come with support for Wi-Fi 6E, a new update for Wi-Fi that is essentially like expanding your wireless connection from a two-lane to an eight-lane. highway roads. It is the biggest Wi-Fi upgrade in 20 years, and connections should be faster and more reliable because of that.
The Wi-Fi Alliance, the industry-wide group that oversees Wi-Fi, is now beginning to certify the first wave of products with support for Wi-Fi 6E. Supported phones, PCs and laptops are expected to start hitting the market in the early months of 2021, according to the IDC research group, and supported TVs and VR devices are expected to arrive by mid-year.
Some of the first devices are expected to be announced next week. During CES, which starts on January 11, router companies will preview what lies ahead for the year. Samsung also plans to announce its next flagship phones, the Galaxy S21 series, and some, if not all, are likely to have support for Wi-Fi 6E thanks to the Snapdragon 888 processor. As the chip includes support for it, Wi-Fi 6E is expected to be present on many of this year’s top Android phones.
Wi-Fi 6E is a major upgrade because it depends on a large expansion of the wireless radio waves available for consumer devices. In April 2020, the Federal Communications Commission opened up this broad new spectrum range in the United States, but new hardware was needed to make use of it. Almost a year later, we are finally starting to see devices with these features.
Existing Wi-Fi devices operate in two spectrum bands, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Wi-Fi 6E adds a third – 6 GHz – and there’s a lot more to it, quadrupling the total amount of waves used for Wi- Typical Fi. This means that you can have larger, high-speed connections and that radio waves are less likely to become congested. In an apartment building, for example, your neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks can interfere with yours. But with Wi-Fi 6E, there’s a lot more bandwidth available, so there’s less chance that you’re fighting for the same radio waves.
However, it will take some time before most new devices are released with Wi-Fi 6E. Not all new gadgets are being shipped with the standard Wi-Fi 6, and that version of Wi-Fi started to be launched about two years ago. In early 2022, IDC expects that only 20 percent of Wi-Fi 6 shipping products will also support Wi-Fi 6E.
Another obstacle is the support of regulators worldwide. Although the United States has approved the use of 6 GHz waves, communications regulators in other countries also need to approve the spectrum for the use of wi-fi. The Wi-Fi Alliance says the UK, EU, South Korea, Chile and the United Arab Emirates have given the green light by allowing the use of 6 GHz for Wi-Fi, while regulators in Brazil, Canada, Mexico and Japan are among others where progress is being made.
“There is an absolute momentum, and it is built around [6GHz] available for Wi-Fi, ”said Kevin Robinson, marketing leader for the Wi-Fi Alliance The Verge.