Help me choose the best WiFi standard for my needs!

In the world of wireless technology, Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 stand out as the two most widely utilised Wi-Fi generations. With Wi-Fi 6E gaining traction and the almost unbelievable performance leaps of Wi-Fi 7 on the horizon, settling on the right standard for you can be a headache. Whether you’re looking to finally kit out your smart home, or you need to bolster your network to meet the growing demands of your business, we’re here to help you understand the best solution for your use case.

What is a WiFi Standard?

A Wi-Fi standard represents the set of specifications and protocols that define how wireless networks operate. These are designed to ensure compatibility and dictate how data is transmitted over radio waves to enable wireless communication between devices such as computers, smartphones, tablets, and other networked devices.

When Wi-FI 5 (802.11ac) was released in 2013, increased speeds and performance were offered, as well as the added support for 80 Mhz wide channels, however it took some time for technologies to catch up. The most significant  change was the utilisation of the 5 Ghz band; a short ranged, faster band, easing network congestion in more densely populated areas and increasing data transfer rates across shorter distances.

Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) has, so far, been the biggest leap between standards. It introduced a new security certification (WPA3), doubled the maximum bandwidth up to 160Mhz, streamlined multi-client efficiency and enabled support for true Gigabit speeds (in ideal circumstances). Wi-Fi 6E was introduced shortly thereafter, adding the 6Ghz band and extending its new security and congestion management features to it.

Officially released early this year, Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) is reported to significantly reduce latency and increase real world speeds. Again, doubling band support to 320 Mhz, the latest WiFi standard is game changing for high-quality video, cloud gaming, and AR and VR applications. Find out more about the latest WiFi 7 standard here.

Speed

Both Wi-Fi 6 and 6E boast a significant improvement in speed when compared to Wi-Fi 5. This makes them ideal for use cases requiring data-intensive activities, such as streaming, gaming, and large downloads. Wi-Fi 6E’s lower latencies ensure a much smoother online experience, making it perfect for fast paced reaction based gaming and pixel perfect virtual meetings. Although you can mix and match Wi-Fi standards amongst your devices as they are backwards compatible, it is worth considering that WiFi 6 enabled devices can achieve a near 40% speed increase over their WiFi 5 counterparts.

The Aruba Instant On AP22 WiFi 6 Access Point is a great option for those in need of a high performance to meet the demand of their high density small business environments.

Range

While Wi-Fi 6 does offer a slightly better range, the difference in coverage is nominal. If coverage is a concern for you, a carefully planned Wi-Fi 5 mesh network is still the most cost effective way to eliminate dead zones within a network and ensure you have strong WiFi across your entire property. If you’d like to learn more about this, check out our Mesh Network blog post.

Wi-Fi 6 comparatively reduces network interference and congestion and more efficiently supports numerous devices, setting a reliable foundation for a smart home set up and larger networks supporting a great number of IoT devices.

MIMO & OFDMA

Where the reliability of Wi-Fi 6 really shines is with Multi-user MIMO (directing signals towards the intended wireless device(s) instead of randomly in all directions) and OFDMA (an advanced technology for sharing a radio between multiple users). 

All three bands (2.4 Ghz, 5 Ghz and 6 Ghz) on Ubiquiti's U6-ENTERPRISE WiFi 6E Access Point utilise OFDMA technology, which tactically distributes high volumes of data to ensure that your clients maintain a reliably fast, quality connection.

MU-MIMO allows a router to communicate with devices concurrently by utilising multiple antennas to create multiple spatial streams.

OFDMA optimises how data is transmitted by dividing the available frequency spectrum into smaller sub-channels and allocating them to devices based on their bandwidth requirements (Wi-Fi 6E expands this to its 6GHz band too!)

Security

Data breaches cost UK businesses an average of £3.2m per year, proving how imperative it is to consider security features in your new WiFi set up. With each new Wi-Fi standard comes a set of new security features and improvements:

WPA2 introduced the concept of seamless roaming, enabling clients to move from one access point to another without the need to reauthenticate. 

Although WPA2 was the standard security protocol for over 14 years, it became apparent this standard was vulnerable to ‘KRACK’ attacks when authenticating a client device. During the “handshake” between host and client, hackers could gain access to a network and steal passwords and other personal data. This WPA2 vulnerability is addressed in WPA3, the third generation of the Wireless Protected Access protocol.

The WPA3 Security Standard offers increased resilience against attempts to compromise user credentials and protection against unauthorised device access and control. With the added feature of individualised data encryption for each device, WPA3 plays a crucial role in keeping smart home deployments with many IoT devices secure.

We would highly recommend securing your network with DrayTek's 2866AX WiFi 6 Router, providing advanced Firewall and Content Filtering, Quality of Service and VPN with Gigabit throughput. 

In an age of cyber threats, WPA3’s extra security layer is a significant advantage in all deployments. While WPA protocols aren't backwards compatible, most routers are manufactured with both WPA2 and WPA3 support, ensuring compatibility across all your wireless devices.

Summary

When choosing the right set up, it’s best to consider the upfront investment for a quality install and the benefits you’ll reap in terms of the speed, performance and security of your network.  

If you're content with your current network and have fewer devices, Wi-Fi 5 is still a very solid foundation most users will find very comfortable. However, if you’re looking for a future-proof set up, offering faster speeds, a wider coverage and efficient multi-device support, WiFi 6, 6E or even 7 could be better suited for you. 

If you need further guidance on the best WiFi standards for your specific use case, contact the NetXL Support Team today.