Tyler Lizenby/CNET So, I'll need (another) new router? The Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 is the first router we've seen that supports Wi-Fi 6E, and it's scheduled to hit stores this December. The only patrons ordering cocktails are Wi-Fi 6E patrons that are capable of being there, and all of them support Wi-Fi 6. Like I said, if Wi-Fi 6 makes your router into a better bartender that can effectively serve lots of patrons at once, then Wi-Fi 6E is the bar itself - and it's an exclusive, members-only kind of joint. Let's go back to that analogy I sketched out earlier. That means that Wi-Fi 6E networks won't have any older-generation devices acting as weak links in the chain. Wi-Fi 6 is really the key to that cleaner bandwidth, because there won't be any earlier-gen Wi-Fi devices that are capable of tapping into the 6GHz band. With Wi-Fi 6E, you not only get more bandwidth but cleaner bandwidth - meaning it is able to wirelessly provide the higher data rates required along with true mobility." ![]() "Many don't realize the high-end VR sets that require the most bandwidth are actually tethered with cables. "AR/VR and gaming is another great use case for the 6GHz band," Correll says. "It will be significantly easier to stream the event to friends, order concessions via app, or even to find out which bathroom has the shortest lines." Wi-Fi's VIP section "If you're sitting in a packed stadium with 70,000 other people, the arrival of Wi-Fi 6E means you're not going to be competing for bandwidth in the same way you used to," Correll says. It can pass more data at once - but it can't send it quite as far.Įxtreme Networks' Perry Correll, who sits on both the IEEE 11ax and Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi 6 task groups, suggests that the short range of the 6GHz band and its greater number of channels is actually "a tremendous advantage" in dense, challenging environments like transportation hubs, apartment units, sports arenas and business complexes. With 500MHz of bandwidth, the 5GHz band represents a bigger hole in the milk carton. Like the needle-poked hole shooting milk across your kitchen, it can send data at a reasonable distance, but with such a small opening, there's a limit to how much it can send. With a frequency range of just 70MHz, the 2.4GHz band is the narrower of the two. You can think of those two holes as the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. More milk shoots out this time because the hole is wider - but it doesn't go as far. ![]() Then, you take something a little thicker, like a nail, and poke another hole into the side of the container. A very thin stream of milk begins to jet out several feet. You take a needle, jab it into the side of the carton, and then pull it out. Let's say that you've got a gallon of milk sitting on your kitchen counter representing the entire spectrum of radio frequencies. So what's so great about 6GHz? All about bandwidth That new spectrum sits in the 6GHz band, a band that wasn't previously allocated for unlicensed Wi-Fi use like the 2.4 and 5GHz bands already were. If a Wi-Fi 6 router is a better bartender, then a Wi-Fi 6E router is a better bartender with a brand-new bar, one with an exclusive client list and lots of room to work. It isn't a new version of Wi-Fi like Wi-Fi 6, but rather a term that identifies Wi-Fi 6 devices that are equipped with the chips and radios needed to operate in that new mass of spectrum the FCC just opened up. A Wi-Fi 6 router is like a four-armed bartender capable of efficiently serving drinks to several patrons at once.Įnter Wi-Fi 6E. My convoluted metaphor for all of that was to imagine your router as a bartender, and the devices on your network as the people trying to order drinks. In a nutshell, it's a faster, more efficient version of Wi-Fi that allows wireless access points like routers to better manage networks crowded with lots of users and client devices. ![]() Last year, I wrote a post about Wi-Fi 6 that explains the new capabilities it brings to next-gen routers.
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