Since the introduction of Wi-Fi in 1997, Wi-Fi in the UK has been allocated 83 MHz of spectrum in the 2.4 GHz and 585 GHz at 5 GHz bands. Since this time the spectrum hasn’t changed or developed, and this has creating congestion for users with the amount of traffic it carries. Furthermore, Since the demand for Wi-Fi has only continued to grow, the demand for Wi-Fi is rising exponentially. By 2022, it is expected to carry 55 percent of all IP traffic. (Source: https://www.networkworld.com/article/3341099/wi-fi-6-5g-play-big-in-ciscos-mobile-forecast.html)

Wi-Fi 6E is not considered a new technology, the major difference between Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E is that it operates in the 6 GHz band instead of 2.4/5 GHz that Wi-Fi 6 currently occupies. With the increase of spectrum between 5925-6425 MHz this will allow more channels for access points, therefore, creating a more stable device-to-network connectivity resulting in faster speeds and lower latency.

Wi-Fi 6E Global Dominance

Wi-Fi 6E is becoming recognised across the world as the next step for better Wi-Fi for businesses and for end-users. In the UK, Ofcom had announced back in 2020 that to help meet the growing demand, that it will increase the amount of spectrum available for Wi-Fi and other related wireless technologies.

Practical Challenges That Wi-Fi 6E Will Solve

Next-generation technology is on the rise. With 5G, cloud adoption and IoT developments, the current capacity of bandwidth available at 600 MHz will become strained. This will be causing two main issues:

Problems with current Wi-Fi 6

1. The number of Wi-Fi connected devices: ‘As the number of connected devices grows by 22% each year,’ this is a cause of concern as congestion is increasing within the Wi-Fi channels. The more devices that connect to a Wi-Fi network, the more demand is placed to transmit or receive data. Now, imagine loads of devices connecting at the same time and demanding the same connectivity. In effect, it would cause congestion and poor end-user experience, even for the best of Wi-Fi networks.

Another issue that is interlinked with congestion is interference, especially in multi-dwelling units, stadiums, and universities. Traffic overloading causes access points to interfere with each other and altogether blocks connectivity.

Solution with Wi-Fi 6E:

Wi-Fi 6E helps alleviate network constraints by doubling down on the availability of spectrum and introducing wider channels that create lower latency.

Problems with current Wi-Fi 6

2. When new Wi-Fi upgrades occur, one of the biggest advantages is that all devices are backwards compatible. However, slower Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n devices compete and are prioritised equally as over the faster Wi-Fi 6 devices, causing bottlenecks. Even if Wi-Fi 6 devices are given priority ahead, a slower device delays the overall throughput.

Solution with Wi-Fi 6E:

• Wi-Fi 6E is not backwards compatible and will only support OFDMA, MU-MIMO, 1024 QAM and 6 GHz capable devices. All other Wi-Fi legacy devices will be limited to 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.

Tri-band Coverage – Future of APs

In the future of Wi-Fi 6 access points, we can expect many vendors to introduce new tri-band access points, 2.5/5/6 GHz, to support the development of the Wi-Fi 6E. New APs are expected to be backward compatible to support Wi-Fi 6. This will improve application performance and end-user experience.

This upgrade is highly significant to Wi-Fi and is seen as the biggest change in 20 years. The technology industry is excited about the Wi-Fi 6E and the changes it brings.

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