Wi-Fi 6 and Its Impact in Southern California

There is no doubt one of the most critical pieces of hardware in a modern office is the wireless router. Without one, businesses remain unconnected to their vendors, clients, and each other. The next generation of Wi-Fi 6 forms a critical foundation for myriads of communication and productivity networks. Experts reveal Wi-Fi 6 will introduce several changes to the wireless infrastructure utilized in many organizations. This blog focuses on the benefits of Wi-Fi 6 and how it can impact your organization.

What Is Wi-Fi 6 and How Is It Different from Wi-Fi 5?

Wi-Fi 6 is the next generation of Wi-Fi. IT comes as a better, faster generation of the ongoing 802.11ac technology. Wi-Fi 6 was first introduced to the market in 2018. However, it was not until September 2019 that the technology was certified in the devices. From then, Wi-Fi 6 gradually began appearing on devices, and it is now coming in the flagships of big corporations such as Apple and Samsung. It has also emerged in several routers and access points. When compared to its predecessor, the Wi-Fi 6 offers significant improvements. These include:

• Better performance: Not only does Wi-Fi 6 support dozens of devices, but it also works well in high-density environments.
• Better battery life: It also boosts the battery life of compatible devices while ensuring higher data transfer rates compared to previous generations.
• Speed: Wi-Fi 6 delivers maximum speed rates of 9.6Gbps across multiple channels. This is massive compared to Wi-Fi 5’s 3.5Gbps. Ideally, the higher speed of Wi-Fi 6 is attributed to a range of top-notch features, including Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access ( OFDMA)sub-channels, 024 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), Beamforming and MU-MIMO user multiplexed.

What Is the Impact of Wi-Fi 6 on Organizations?

There is no doubt Wi-Fi 6 offers faster and more reliable connections. It comes with several critical new features that enable Wi-Fi 6 networks and devices to handle more traffic efficiently. Let us look at some of the critical improvements in Wi-Fi 6 and how they impact your organization.

Improved Speeds

Wi-Fi 6 improves speeds by over 37% compared to Wi-Fi 5. This guarantees faster internet connectivity for all your connected devices. It is important to note that Wi-Fi 6 may not be faster than Wi-Fi 5 when connected to a single device such as your laptop. But when more and more devices are added to your Wi-Fi 6 networks, you will see the speed shoot up substantially. Some of the factors that improve speed in Wi-Fi 6 include:

• Increased bandwidth: Wi-Fi 6 offers more bandwidth for traffic. In simple terms, it expands the capabilities of networks to handle more traffic, just like the way a two-lane highway is expanded to six lanes to accommodate more vehicles to pass through.
• More data packets: It also comes with more data packets that deliver data faster. This can be compared to going for a bigger truck that carries more luggage in a single trip.

Enhanced Multi-Device Handling

In today’s digitized work environment, wireless routers are expected to provide a connection for more devices than ever before. Apart from the traditional computer workstations, networks now have to contend with smartphones, tablets, wearables, and a range of smart IoT devices all competing for a piece of your internet connection. Wi-Fi 6 has added features like the OFDMA and MU-MIMO that guarantee multiple device handling. It enables the division of streams, so each device gets its own data stream, thus allowing for data to be sent and received simultaneously across multiple devices. For organizations in Southern California, Wi-Fi 6 eliminates typical delays whenever multiple devices are connected to single Wi-Fi.

Better Security

Wi-Fi 6 boasts improved security thanks to the security update brought by WPA3 Enterprise. This is a significant benefit for organizations because it now makes it more difficult for hackers to run an offline cracking program and gain entry into a network. Additionally, Wi-Fi 6 requires robust authentication for each of your connections, making routers more resilient to a range of attacks. Besides, Wi-Fi 6 sessions are encrypted so all your users can connect more securely to free public Wi-Fi without the risks of exposing their data to spying hackers. For the organizations in Southern California handling sensitive data, WPA3-Enterprise provides an option of leveraging a minimum of 192-bit security protocols and other cryptographic tools that guarantee a better level of protection.

Increased Range

If you normally encounter weak signals in some parts of your office farther away from the router, upgrading to a Wi-Fi 6 can be an effective solution for you. Wi-Fi 6 increases the range by over 50%. The increased range definitely eliminates wireless dead zones providing your team with more freedom to work from any location in your office, including the lawns and balcony. This can also be great for achieving a better life-work balance.

Better Device Battery Life

Another benefit that comes with Wi-Fi 6 is the longer battery life for your connected devices, including laptops, mobile devices, and IoT devices. Usually, devices must check in with a router continuously, which often drains the battery quickly.WIFI6 introduces a new technology referred to as Target Wake Time (TWT) that enables devices to preschedule check-in times, thus greatly reducing battery drain.

Wi-Fi 6 Sleeping Feature

In the previous Wi-Fi versions, devices were either connected to a network or not. Wi-Fi 6 comes with protocols designed to put some devices’ Wi-Fi on sleep mode when not in use. This effectively frees up your bandwidth by resting all connections that you don’t utilize. This doesn’t only improve speeds, but it also leads to greater battery life on devices connected to Wi-Fi 6

Is Wi-Fi 6 Worth It?

At Technijian, our unequivocal answer to this question is YES, Wi-Fi 6 is worth your money. Wi-Fi 6 comes with several enhancements in its networks when compared to its predecessors. It offers more speeds, improved battery life, better security, and a more reliable connection. The new Wi-Fi standard is ideal for many organizations in Southern California looking for an unimpeded network that accommodates more devices.

Undoubtedly upgrading your business networks to Wi-Fi 6 today is one of the best business decisions you can make. If you have further questions or need help to get started with Wi-Fi 6, don’t hesitate to contact Technijian. Technijian is a top technology services company specializing in setting secure wireless technologies for organizations throughout California. Contact us today to learn more.

Thanks to James and Jon with 4BIS.COM for their help with this article. Read more about their services here.