1- Introduction

1.1 – What problems does WiFi 6 solve?

Traditional full channel and bandwidth is authorized to a device that buffers in densely populated areas. If you suffer from buffering, make sure your router is not the cause! WiFi 6 (802.11ax) is the latest generation of WiFi technology. It will give you 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 simultaneous 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 APs can communicate with a bunch of devices at once by dividing the channel into subchannels according to bandwidth requirements. 802.11ax radios 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 multiplexing is used. 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.

 

1.3Adds 802.11ax support for the 2.4 Ghz 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 2.4 Ghz is more susceptible to interference, it provides better reception. That is, it can “receive” at greater distances.

Thanks to new improvements in WiFi 6, such as BSS color technology, even “2.4Ghz only” devices will benefit. IEEE 802.11 ax technology is the 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.

 

1.4Advantages or benefits of WiFi 6

• It has been developed to deliver 40% higher peak data rates using a single client device. Average data throughput per user is improved by at least 4 times in dense environments.
• It offers a four-fold increase in network efficiency compared to 802.11ac.
• It is backward compatible with 802.11n and 802.11ac devices.
• The battery life of 802.11 ax client devices has been improved due to the introduction of a new feature called TWT (Target Wake Time). The TWT feature allows client devices to sleep and wake up at scheduled times.
• Co-channel interference mitigation is possible using BSS color codes. These codes help 11ax stations identify transmissions from another network.
• It offers robust high-efficiency signaling for better operation at significantly lower RSSI.
• It performs well in both 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 on the same. OFDMA based scheduling helps in reducing overhead and latency both.