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posted by chromas on Thursday October 04 2018, @02:02AM   Printer-friendly

Wi-Fi Alliance rebrands 802.11ac as Wi-Fi 5, picks 802.11ax as Wi-Fi 6

The Wi-Fi Alliance today announced a significant rebranding of the "802.11" Wi-Fi standards that have long served as a source of potential confusion for users: Going forward, the current 802.11ac standard will be known as Wi-Fi 5, while its successor 802.11ax will be known as Wi-Fi 6, establishing a generational terminology that — like Bluetooth 3, 4, and 5 — will be easier for customers to remember and understand.

[...] Today's announcement is significant not just because of its impact on currently popular Wi-Fi standards, but also on one that's been on the fringe: 802.11ad. Also known as WiGig, 802.11ad notably depends on an extra, 60GHz millimeter wave wireless antenna to boost speeds of compatible devices in the same room as the router. A handful of routers and devices, including wireless VR adapters, have adopted 802.11ad over the past year or two.

But the announcement makes clear that the Wi-Fi Alliance sees 802.11ax, not 802.11ad, as the next stage of Wi-Fi's evolution. 802.11ax has no need for the extra antenna, instead making more efficient use of the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands already used by 802.11ac — err, Wi-Fi 5. Wi-Fi 6 promises up to 11 Gbps speeds across three or more devices, with a single Wi-Fi 6 device achieving up to 5 Gbps.

In a statement to VentureBeat, the Alliance explained how Wi-Fi 6 and WiGig will coexist:

"Wi-Fi 6 and WiGig, based on 802.11ad and eventually 802.11ay, will continue to evolve in parallel and remain strong complements to one another within the Wi-Fi portfolio of technologies. We fully expect some products to integrate Wi-Fi 6 and WiGig, which will remain a distinct brand to indicate products that support 60 GHz Wi-Fi for multi-gigabit, low-latency connectivity."

Also at Ars Technica, The Verge, and Tom's Hardware.

Related: Wi-Fi Alliance Approves 802.11ah "HaLow" Standard for the 900 MHz Band
D-Link Joins Hands With Microsoft to Give 'Super Wi-Fi' a Push
Intel to Cease Shipments of Current WiGig Products, Focus on WiGig for VR


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:56AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:56AM (#743834)

    If you're really that confused, and really that old, then you can break out your number line. It will help you determine which one is newer, better and more advanced.

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday October 04 2018, @06:27AM (3 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday October 04 2018, @06:27AM (#743888) Journal

    In which case, the conclusion is, it is not. 3G? 4Glte, not quite 4G, but with the lte? And now 5G! With full Chinese spying, or it is just 5Glte, which is only 4Glte, with a modicum of throughput improvement. Old timers are a valuable resource to you Millennials, and you should cherish them. When the tell you to "get off their lawn", look for something that is just about to screw you over so bad that it make Micro$oft Bob look like a reason to actually marry Bill Gates. Learn from our mistakes, you younglings! Oh, and just be glad we do not have an Anakin Skywalker. Killing kids, that just ain't ever right!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @08:06AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @08:06AM (#743923)

      Old timers are a valuable resource to you Millennials, and you should cherish them.

      Millennial? Artichoke, I'm a fucking dinosaur. I was programming before there was a Microsoft. I still have - and wear - clothes that are older than millennials.

      If you, or anyone, is too old to understand a piece of technology (or things like 3, 3G, 3Gee this is hard, etc) then you are incapable of using it properly. Go get your walker and your home healthcare aide named Bob and watch reruns of game shows that reference pop culture and technology you'll understand, and be thankful that Logan's Run never came to pass. The rest of us are too busy keeping up with, and enjoying, a changing world.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @12:09PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @12:09PM (#744011)

        What a waste of electrons.
        Shut up if you have nothing to contribute, asshole.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:34PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 04 2018, @03:34PM (#744140)

          Surely the AC's post contributed more to the conversation than your post, which contributed less than nothing.