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Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6

Capacity, efficiency, and performance for advanced connectivity

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6™, the industry certification program based on the IEEE 802.11ax standard, provides the capacity, efficiency, coverage, and performance required by users today in the most demanding Wi-Fi® environments. Emphasizing quality connectivity in locations with hundreds or thousands of connected devices such as stadiums and other public venues, as well as corporate networks utilizing time sensitive, high bandwidth applications, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 networks ensure each connected device performs at an optimum level. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 devices meet the highest standards for security and interoperability, and enable lower battery consumption, making it a solid choice for any environment, including the Internet of Things (IoT).

Key benefits of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 technology include:

Higher data rates

Increased capacity

Performance in environments with many connected devices

Improved power efficiency

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 provides the foundation for a host of current and emerging uses from streaming ultra high-definition movies, to mission-critical business applications requiring high bandwidth and low latency, to staying connected and productive while traversing large, congested networks in airports and train stations.

Wi-Fi 6E extends Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 into 6 GHz

Wi-Fi operation in the 6 GHz frequency band enables Wi-Fi to continue delivering positive experiences for the most bandwidth intensive applications. Wi-Fi 6E certification as part of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 will offer the features and capabilities of Wi-Fi 6, extended to the 6 GHz band. The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made available all 1200 MHz of the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use, and Wi-Fi users will soon benefit from the quick action from Wi-Fi Alliance members to provide worldwide interoperability certification in early 2021.

Wi-Fi 6E can utilize up to 14 additional 80 MHz channels or 7 additional super-wide 160 MHz channels in 6 GHz for applications such as high-definition video streaming and virtual reality. Wi-Fi 6E devices leverage these wider channels and additional capacity to deliver greater network performance and support more Wi-Fi users at once, even in very dense and congested environments. Wi-Fi 6E will bring greater technology advancements in Wi-Fi that will introduce new use cases and accelerate the next generation connectivity with 5G networks.

Innovation and performance in challenging environments

The ubiquity of Wi-Fi and its ability to complement other wireless technologies helps bring the promise of connecting everyone and everything, everywhere, closer to reality. Wi-Fi popularity has also created very diverse and densely populated Wi-Fi conditions, requiring technological advances to meet the needs of users. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 delivers improvements and new features that enable Wi-Fi devices to operate efficiently in the most dense and dynamic connectivity settings.

Key capabilities:

Orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) effectively shares channels to increase network efficiency and lower latency for both uplink and downlink traffic in high demand environments

Multi-user multiple input, multiple output (multi-user MIMO) allows more downlink data to be transferred at one time, enabling access points (APs) to concurrently handle more devices

160 MHz channel utilization capability increases bandwidth to deliver greater performance with low latency

Target wake time (TWT) significantly improves network efficiency and device battery life, including IoT devices

1024 quadrature amplitude modulation mode (1024-QAM) increases throughput for emerging, bandwidth intensive uses by encoding more data in the same amount of spectrum

Transmit beamforming enables higher data rates at a given range to increase network capacity

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 devices bring enhanced performance to emerging applications such as virtual and augmented reality used in e-Learning, telepresence, and healthcare. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 also provides carriers and public Wi-Fi operators with more capabilities to support advanced connectivity in retail, stadiums, and transportation hubs, including a growing array of location-based applications and services.

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