Why everyone is talking about Wi-Fi 6

You may have seen some recent buzz online regarding Wi-Fi 6 which is set to launch this year, but what is Wi-Fi 6?

What about the previous 5?

Don’t worry, you haven’t missed the previous 5 films in a strangely named film franchise. Wi-Fi 6 is merely the newest generation of Wi-Fi technology, and the name has just been simplified down so that it can be understood by those of us who aren’t like our engineers who live and breathe wireless networks.

What’s the difference?

Other than a simple name change, some industry experts suggest that it is roughly 30% faster than Wi-Fi 5 and potentially offers up to 10GBps (although the exact speeds are currently unknown).

What do I need for Wi-Fi 6?

In order to use Wi-Fi 6 properly, you would need a Wi-Fi 6 certified router, and Wi-Fi 6 certified device (Wi-Fi 6 certified iPhone, Samsung etc.)

Then why did I just pay for a Wi-Fi 5, if it’s about to become outdated?

Whilst talking about Wi-Fi 6 is fun and exciting, it still won’t be released until the end of the year, and even then, many routers and smart devices won’t support it. This means that even with a fancy new Wi-Fi 6 router, your phone, laptop, and smart home devices won’t get that speed boost as they don’t support it yet!