What is WiFi 6?
In short Wi-Fi 6 (or 802.11ax) is the latest and greatest evolution of Wi-Fi, offering improved performance over its previous iterations. Both the router and the connecting device will need to be enabled with 802.11ax to fully benefit from all the enhancements, though you will find that equipment specified with Wi-Fi 6 is backwards compatible with the previous standards.
The easiest way to see the benefits of Wi-Fi 6 is to compare its metrics against those of its previous iterations - so we have generated a table below that will allow for that ease of comparison.
| Wi-Fi 1 (802.11b) | Wi-Fi 2 (802.11a) | Wi-Fi 3 (802.11g) | Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) | |
| Created | 1999 | 1999 | 2003 | 2009 | 2013 | 2019 |
| Frequency Band(s) | 2.4 GHz | 2.4 GHz | 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz | 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz | 5 GHz | 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz |
| Range Inside | 35m | 35m | 45m | 70m | 45m | 70m |
| Maximum Speed | 11 Mbps | 54 Mbps | 54 Mbps | 600 Mbps | 6800 Mbps | 9600 Mbps |
As you can see from the table, some of the earlier standards have existed since 1999 and if you are still utilising a router with one of the older versions you may have noticed that most of the latest devices do not support or may not work to their full potential. With each evolution, you will note the increase in speed and distance that the signal can reach, which is usually the focus when deciding which Wi-Fi router to opt for.
One of the major concerns with using an older Wi-Fi standard is the lower level of security in place. Older Wi-Fi routers will likely use the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) standards, which were subsequently replaced with WPA2 which offered extra security. Wi-Fi 6 will use the WPA3 standard by default, which with the extra drive for enhanced security from the growing ecosystem of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, will move to address those additional requirements.
DO I NEED A WI-FI 6 WIRELESS ROUTER?
At the time of writing, Wi-Fi 6 wireless routers are expensive and the number of devices that natively use it are limited. You may wish to opt for the less expensive Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) which still offers some of the latest security features and performance enhancements over those earlier standards. Should you have a more flexible budget then you may wish to future-proof your home or business network by investing in Wi-Fi 6. If you frequently update your devices, it is likely that you will soon acquire technology that will natively use the Wi-Fi 6 standard to fully utilise its benefits.
It is also important to fully understand your requirements to determine if you are trying to overcome an issue with your existing wireless network or simply upgrading an existing network that has been working well. If you are facing issues with your existing Wi-Fi network, you should first determine if it is a signal quality issue or a capacity issue. For the latter, an upgraded Wi-Fi router may well solve your issue. For the former (and for some capacity issues), you may be better placed looking at alternative solutions such as mesh Wi-Fi; these follow the same Wi-Fi standards but work to minimise Wi-Fi dead zones and bottlenecks.
Finally, you should check that all your existing devices are compatible with the latest Wi-Fi standards, as (much like wireless routers) devices can become dated and unable to take advantage of advances in technology.