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Wi-Fi 6

The newest Wi-Fi standard

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Wi-Fi 6 information

What is Wi-Fi 6?

Wi-Fi 6 is the marketing name given to the 802.11ax technology from the IEEE. It’s the newest generation of Wi-Fi that is optimized for mobile devices, capacity, and IoT (internet of Things).

802.11ac brought immense speed increases to our Wi-Fi networks. For the first time, we were getting wired networking type speeds over Wi-Fi. It has served us extremely well. I can’t remember the last time I actually plugged into a wired ethernet connection. A well designed 802.11ac network blew away anything that 802.11n could offer.

However, 802.11ac was conceived before the rapid growth of mobile devices. While it worked very well with smartphones and tablets, there was a lot still to be done, and Wi-Fi 6 will address some key issues with the wireless technology.

Wi-Fi 6 addresses some key problems with Wi-Fi connections. One of the main ones is increasing capacity for dense environments. Setting up a Wi-Fi connection in your home is relatively easy. Unless you live in a multi-dwelling unit, it’s really one thing you can’t really screw up.

Designing Wi-Fi for the enterprise is entirely another process. You have to be concerned with co-channel interference, roaming, and other complicated issues. One of the biggest challenges at the moment is designing for capacity. As I write this article, I am at a hotel with my family. Between all five of us, we have eight Wi-Fi enabled devices. If you multiply this out by every guest in a hotel, you get a picture of capacity concerns. So how does Wi-Fi 6 address capacity?

OFDMA is one of the key pieces of technology in Wi-Fi 6. A 20 MHz channel can be partitioned into as many as nine smaller channels in Wi-Fi 6. Using OFDMA, an access point could simultaneously transmit small frames to nine 802.11ax enabled clients. One thing to remember as well is that Wi-Fi 6 brings back 2.4 GHz support. 802.11ac was 5 GHz only. While I do prefer the 5 GHz band (a minimum of 19 non-overlapping channels vs 3 for 2.4 GHz), 2.4 GHz is still popular due to its low cost and battery life.

What Apple products support Wi-Fi 6?

Currently, all iPhone 11 and new iPhones support it. The iPad Air and iPad Pro also do. The only Mac computers that support it are the Apple Silicon Macs.

What are the best Wi-Fi 6 routers for the home?

9to5Mac has reviewed a number of 802.11ax routers. While they all have their benefits and weaknesses, AmpliFi Alien and Linksys Velop are the best ones on the market at the moment. Routers from Eero and Google/Nest do not support it currently. Your Wi-Fi 6 devices will work with them perfectly fine, though.

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Kuo: Apple’s AR/VR headset to support Wi-Fi 6E for higher bandwidth and low latency

Reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is back with another claim about Apple’s upcoming AR/VR headset. After saying that the device is expected to face production delays due to its complex design, Kuo has now mentioned in an investor note seen by 9to5Mac that the product will feature Wi-Fi 6E support for higher bandwidth and low latency.

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Linksys launches $150 MAX-STREAM to bring WiFi 6 to new iPads and iPhones

Linksys Max Stream WiFi 6 mesh router

First announced back at CES in January, Linksys has expanded its WiFi 6 offerings today with the announcement of the MAX-STREAM AX1800 Mesh WiFi 6 Router. It offers up to 1,700 square feet of coverage, speeds up to 1.8Gbps, and compatibility with other Linksys Velop mesh routers. Importantly it shares WiFi 6 compatibility with Apple’s new iPhones and iPads.


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Apple @ Work: Why cloud networking is going to be essential for Apple enterprises

Apple Macbook

Apple @ Work is brought to you by Jamf, the standard for Apple in the enterprise. Learn more at Jamf.com/9to5mac.

Over the past few weeks, I have been looking at how forward-thinking Apple-focused organizations should be moving their overall operations to “the cloud” or software-as-a-service solutions. In previous weeks, we looked at email, web hosting, network security, and more. This week, I am going to look at how cloud networking has revolutionized how IT departments should be managing their core infrastructure. I will also discuss cloud networking, device management, and endpoint security.
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Making the Grade: How Wi-Fi 6 addresses key networking problems for the enterprise

Wi-Fi 6 information

Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) promises to bring a lot of changes to enterprise networking in 2019 and beyond. While none of Apple’s devices yet support it, it’s just a matter of time, and it’s important for IT administrators to begin planning for how the latest 802.11 standard from the IEEE will impact networks. While 802.11ac was focused on raw speed, Wi-Fi 6 and 802.11ax is focused on capacity and optimization. I’ll refer to the technology as Wi-Fi 6 for the remainder of the article, but it’s simply the marketing name the Wi-Fi Alliance has given 802.11ax.
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