1      Introduction

1.1     What problems does WiFi 6 solve?

Traditional entire channel and bandwidth is authorized to one device which makes buffering in dense populated areas. If you’re suffering from buffering, make sure that your router is not the reason! WiFi 6 (802.11ax) is the latest generation of WiFi technology. It will empower you with faster WiFi speeds with reliable connections, so you can enjoy buffer-free streaming, faster downloads, and add more smart home devices without slowing down your internet experience.

Compared to WiFi 5, WiFi 6 network bandwidth is increased by 4 times, and the number of concurrent users is increased by 4 times. A wireless access point (AP) can handle up to 12 WiFi streams simultaneously.

 

In previous WiFi protocols, this wireless access point (AP) could only “session” with one device at a time. However, WiFi 6 gives wireless access points (APs) the ability to send and receive data from multiple devices simultaneously.

1.2     How to achieve backward compatibility

WiFi 6 is backward compatible. OFDMA AP can communicate with bunch of devices at one time by dividing the channel into sub-channels according to bandwidth requirements. 802.11 Radios with 802.11ax can communicate with other 802.11ax radios using OFDM or OFDMA. When only 802.11ax OFDMA sessions occur, RTS / CTS (Request to Send / Clear to Send) mechanisms will be used to delay traditional transmissions.

1.2.1    OFDMA

OFDMA: Orthogonal frequency division multiple access. It divides the wireless channel into multiple sub-channels (sub-carriers) to form frequency resource blocks. User data is carried on each resource block, instead of occupying the entire channel. Multiple users transmit simultaneously in parallel during the time period

1.3     Does 802.11ax add support for the 2.4Ghz spectrum

WiFi 6 is dual-band, and its predecessor was only 5Ghz spectrum. Some vendors tried to implement WiFi 5 on 2.4Ghz, but the standard only approved 5Ghz unlimited power.

We believe that 2.4Ghz is driven by economics. Whether it is old or updated, it supports the cheaper 2.4Ghz. Although 2.4Ghz is more susceptible to interference, it does provide better reception. That is, it can “receive” at greater distances.

Thanks to new enhancements to WiFi 6, such as BSS coloring technology, even “only 2.4Ghz” devices will benefit. IEEE 802.11 ax technology is 6th generation of WiFi and hence it is known as Wifi-6. Due to its high efficiency performance, it is also known as HEW (High Efficiency WLAN)

802.11 ax offers better efficiency, network capacity, performance and user experience at reduced latency.

 

 

1.4     Benefits or advantages of WiFi 6

• It has been developed to deliver 40% high peak data rates using single client device. Average throughput per user is improved by at least 4 times in dense environments.
• It offers four times increase in network efficiency compare to 802.11ac.
• It is backward compatible with 802.11n and 802.11ac devices.
• The battery life of 802.11 ax client devices have been enhanced due to introduction of new feature called TWT (Target Wake Time). TWT feature allows client devices to sleep and wake up at scheduled times.
• Mitigation of co-channel interference is possible using BSS color codes. This codes help 11ax stations to identify transmission from another network.
• It offers robust high efficiency signaling for better operation at significantly lower RSSI.
• It performs well both the the indoor and outdoor environments. To achieve the same, it uses longer symbol duration and cyclic prefix (CP) in outdoor environment where as it uses shorter CP in indoor environment.
• It uses OFDMA and hence multiple users can transmit at the same. The OFDMA based scheduling helps in reducing overhead and latency both.