I can’t connect to the Internet! The Internet is very slow! Is the Wi-Fi working?
Consumers want fast, reliable connection and they don’t care if its via cellular, Wi-Fi or RJ-45 cable. And they want anywhere, anytime and everywhere.
The need for faster, more reliable, more efficient, and more widespread Wi-Fi coverage is becoming increasingly vital in a world filled with more Wi-Fi devices at both ends of the performance spectrum, from high-throughput and low-latency applications to battery-constrained Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
ABI Research forecasts that by 2024 4.6 billion Wi-Fi-enabled devices will hit the market, from the 3.3 billion units shipped in 2019.
However, unless improvements to Wi-Fi standards and technology become commercially available, those 4.6 billion devices will crowd the airwaves, create even more congestion and hard-to-imagine discontent among owners of these devices.
Vendors like Huawei are harping Wi-Fi 6 as the answer to corporate and consumers’ desire for true ubiquitous connectivity.
Dr. Osama Aboul-Magd, chairman of IEEE 802.11ax Working Group, calls Wi-Fi 6 as essential for transforming the way we support applications on today’s Wi-Fi networks. “Its deployment allows a new and improved user experience in dense deployment scenarios compared to that of previous Wi-Fi generations,” he added.
Only part of the story
This is detailed in the ABI Research whitepaper, The Future of Wi-Fi, which acknowledges the contributions of advancements, such as Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi’s expansion into the 60 Gigahertz (GHz) and sub-1 GHz bands through WiGig and HaLow.
However, ABI Research believes the anticipated availability of 6 GHz spectrum over the next few years has potentially more transformation impact over the next few years.
“It is hard to overstate the potential that 6 GHz and Wi-Fi 6E can bring to Wi-Fi networks,” says Andrew Zignani, principal analyst, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Wireless Connectivity at ABI Research.
Currently, Wi-Fi faces several difficult challenges. Key among them are the growing demands being placed on Wi-Fi networks, leading to increased congestion, performance limitations, and reduced Quality of Service (QoS).
Most Wi-Fi devices are using increasing amounts of data per device, including streaming high-resolution music and videos, video calling, application and firmware updates, digital downloads, social networking, data-heavy web content, and online gaming, among others.
“The tremendous surge in active Wi-Fi devices at home in recent months and the resulting increase in traffic due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders have reaffirmed Wi-Fi as a vital utility, acutely demonstrating both its importance and limitations,” Zignani explains.
He noted that 6 GHz not only brings about additional spectrum and higher throughputs, but essentially guarantees access to channels with no legacy, resulting in a corresponding improvement in latency and simplifying channel access.
“Wi-Fi 6E takes full advantage of what Wi-Fi 6 has to offer and can open new opportunities for Wi-Fi to better support 5G-class services reliant on high multi-gigabit throughput, low latency, high efficiency, broader coverage, and better mobility,” Zignani adds.
Challenges ahead
