What Is 6GHz Wi-Fi? Is It Faster Than 5GHz?
Wi-Fi bands and Wi-Fi names work hand to hand. However, these two don’t always correlate. This is because the naming system or Wi-Fi nomenclature is quite complex. Many people refer to Wi-Fi based on their common names because they usually get confused in between the nomenclature.
What is 6GHz Wi-Fi?
Describing Wi-Fi is not so simple. There are two sets of different operational naming schemes used to describe Wi-Fi. One of those names is from IEEE 802.11. This corresponds to the Wi-Fi standards.
\Another system different from this naming system is the Wi-Fi alliance which believes that the IEEE alphanumeric system creates confusion. Hence, the Wi-Fi alliance applied the Wi-Fi X standard with the introduction of Wi-Fi 5 in 2013. After its introduction, many iterations of Wi-Fi were introduced. Among these is Wi-Fi 6E, also called the 6GHz or Wi-Fi 6E: 11ax-2021.
In late 2021, it was decided that Wi-Fi 6GHz band would open up. In addition to this, it will also start accepting broadcasts with the additional 1200 MHz spectrum.
Is 6GHz Wi-Fi faster than 5GHz?
Although both 6GHz and 5GHz cover the same maximum data transmission but the band at which they do so differs. Wi-Fi 6GHz comes with the same maximum data transmission rate but at a lower band than 5GHz. The theoretical maximum speed for both is around 9.6 Gbps. However, this is just theoretical proof, and practically, you can’t witness such a high speed.
The Difference Between Wi-Fi 5GHz and Wi-Fi 6GHz.
Although both have similar theoretical maximum data transmission, significant fundamental differences exist between the two Wi-Fi systems. The following are the parameters which are different in both of these Wi-Fi systems.
- Frequency
Wi-Fi 5 exists as 5GHz, while Wi-Fi 6 exists as 2.4 or 5.0 GHz.
- Bandwidth or Channels
Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi bandwidth or channels exist as 20, 40, 80+80, and 160 MHz.
- Access
The access of Wi-Fi T is OFDM while that of Wi-Fi 6 is OFDMA
- Antennas
The antennas of Wi-Fi 5 is MU-MIMO (4×4) while that of Wi-Fi 6 is MU-MIMO (8×8)
- Modulation
The modulation of Wi-Fi 5 is 256QAM and 1024QAM for Wi-Fi 6.
- Data Rate
The maximum data rate for Wi-Fi 5 is 3.5 Gb per second, while for Wi-Fi 6, it’s 9.6 Gb per second.
- Maximum users
Wi-Fi 5 allows four users per application, and for Wi-Fi 6, it’s eight users per application.
Wi-Fi 6 vs. Wi-Fi 5
Conclusively, Wi-Fi 6 is a newer innovation in data transfer. Although it has a lower band than Wi-Fi 5, it experiences less interference from other signals and gas faster speed with reduced latency. However, its broad-spectrum is expected that the band range of Wi-Fi 6 will surely increase.