The new approach is designed to help manufacturers, operators and users more easily market and understand the presence of advanced WiFi capabilities in their devices, so companies have a more straightforward way to tout their products, and consumers know when their stuff is as up-to-date as possible.

The roll-out includes "WiFi 4" naming for 802.11n and "WiFi 5" for 802.11ac. While the terminology doesn't have to be used by relevant parties in any regulatory sense, the Wi-Fi Alliance does expect it to be widely adopted by the WiFi ecosystem -- it is considerably easier, after all.