WiFi 6: Everything You Need to Know!

Even if you’re not a techie, chances are you’ve at least heard terms like IoT (Internet of Things), 5G (the 5^th generation wireless system), and WiFi 6. Many are not interested in those “advanced technologies” or think that they don’t have to understand them to reap the benefits. But, maybe they’re missing out on some of the important ways these technologies can improve their lives. Here we are going over WiFi 6 in a way that’s easier to understand. What exactly does it mean? Why should a normal person want WiFi 6? Read on, and maybe you’ll find an answer.

1. What is WiFi 6?

Have you ever been streaming your favorite show when all of a sudden it stops, turns gray, and the harrowing words “buffering” show up on the screen? Have you ever died in your favorite MMO because of lag? Chances are, issues like that were caused because too many devices were demanding data, so your router couldn’t keep up. The good news? WiFi 6 makes that problem a thing of the past.

MERCUSYS WiFi 6 Router — MR70X

WiFi 6 (also known as 802.11ax WiFi or AX WiFi) is the newest WiFi standard. Where the primary improvement of WiFi 5 was increased connection speed, WiFi 6 was conceived to deliver data to all of your connected devices simultaneously. The icing on the cake is that it’s also faster than WiFi 5. In other words, it improves virtually every aspect of your network: speed, efficiency, and support capacity.

2. Faster, Smarter, Unstoppable.

WiFi 6 is faster, more efficient, and better at transferring data than previous generations. It uses both 1024-QAM, to provide a signal packed with more data, and a 160 MHz Channel, to provide a wider channel to boost your WiFi. 8×8 uplink/downlink MU-MIMO and OFDMA combine to increase capacity by up to 4 times, so your router can handle more devices.

I know I just dropped a bunch of technical terms on you, and it probably seems like gibberish, so let’s break these technologies down a little. 

1024-QAM

1024-QAM technology allows each symbol (the amount of data in a burst of transmission) to carry 10 bits rather than 8 bits. This means raw speeds improve by up to 25% compared to 802.11ac 256-QAM. So if you want to watch Netflix at home or live stream Twitch Broadcasts from your computer—1024-QAM makes it that much smoother.

MU-MIMO

WiFi 5 routers (unless they have MU-MIMO) send out data in one stream. So if you have 8 devices connected, it spits out data to them one at a time. 8×8 MU-MIMO makes it so that more than 8 streams are available. Moreover, while 802.11ac MU-MIMO only works for downloads, 8×8 MU-MIMO works for both uploads and downloads, guaranteeing more simultaneous connections for your devices.

MERCUSYS WiFi 6 Router — MR70X

OFDMA

OFDMA technology significantly improves your router’s efficiency. Just imagine your WiFi connection as a series of trucks delivering packages of data to your devices. With 802.11ac WiFi, each delivery truck (“packet”) could only carry loads to one destination (“device”) at a time. With OFDMA, each packet can carry multiple loads and deliver them to several devices at once.

MERCUSYS WiFi 6 Router — MR70X

3. You Can’t Afford to Miss Out on WiFi 6 If You Want...

Ultra-Smooth Streaming For Videos

WiFi 6 expands the WiFi band from 80 MHz to 160 MHz, doubling the channel width and creating a faster connection from your router to the device. With WiFi 6, you can enjoy 8K movies, large file downloads and uploads, and responsive smart home devices—with no buffering.

To Dominate the Online Competition

Some companies have equipped their routers with this industry-leading technology. The more speed the router delivers, the less congestion for gaming rigs to deal with. Armed with WiFi 6, MERCUSYS MR80X becomes a next-level speed machine that offers ultra-fast WiFi speeds up to 3,000 Mbps to devices even farther away.

Multiple Devices Online at Once

Gaming, 4K/8K streaming, smart home devices, and AR/VR all compete for network resources, creating lag and crowding your network. To solve this problem, the highly efficient WiFi 6 standard—by assigning channels to more devices—simultaneously connects more devices and provides the optimum speed to each of them.

4. The Future is a World of WiFi 6

WiFi 6 devices are already starting to make waves—Apple, Samsung, Dell, and Razer have all included WiFi 6 support in their latest products. You can expect to be surrounded by WiFi 6 thanks to the proliferation of all these WiFi 6 devices. Regardless of your age and whether you like the latest tech or not, integrating this groundbreaking WiFi technology ASAP is absolutely a good idea.