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takyon writes:

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

Original Submission

1. "takyon" - https://soylentnews.org/~takyon/
2. "Wi-Fi Alliance rebrands 802.11ac as Wi-Fi 5, picks 802.11ax as Wi-Fi 6" - https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/03/wi-fi-alliance-rebrands-802-11ac-as-wi-fi-5-picks-802-11ax-as-wi-fi-6/
3. "been on the fringe: 802.11ad" - https://venturebeat.com/2018/07/06/even-in-5g-era-wi-fi-will-matter-but-it-needs-to-get-faster/
4. "Ars Technica" - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/10/wi-fi-branding-to-get-a-lot-simpler-with-upcoming-wi-fi-6/
5. "The Verge" - https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/3/17926212/wifi-6-version-numbers-announced
6. "Tom's Hardware" - https://www.tomshardware.com/news/wi-fi-alliance-introduces-version-numbers,37881.html
7. "Wi-Fi Alliance Approves 802.11ah "HaLow" Standard for the 900 MHz Band" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=16/01/06/0239200
8. "D-Link Joins Hands With Microsoft to Give 'Super Wi-Fi' a Push" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=16/11/24/040207
9. "Intel to Cease Shipments of Current WiGig Products, Focus on WiGig for VR" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/09/12/1335245
10. "Original Submission" - https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=29358

printed from SoylentNews, Wi-Fi Alliance Rebrands Wi-Fi Standards on 2024-04-19 04:50:36