Say hello to 802.11ax: certification of Wi-Fi devices 6 starts today

Today, the Wi-Fi Alliance has launched its Wi-Fi Certified 6 program, which means that the standard has been fully developed and device manufacturers and OEMs can begin the certification process for their products. by the brand Wi-Fi 6..

If you need a bit of catch-up, Wi-Fi 6, which is 802.11ax, is the next generation of Wi-Fi. Theoretically, 802.11ax will allow a greater number of nearby devices to use the Wi-Fi. same channels and Wi-Fi frequencies without causing as much congestion and lag issues as Wi-Fi 5 (better known as 802.11ac) and Wi-Fi 4 (802.11 n) do. This is the good news. The bad news is that buying a Wi-Fi 6 router has very little benefit. You need most, if not all, handy devices (yours and, ideally, neighbors) to support Wi-Fi 6 before seeing improvements.

802.11ax also requires support for the WPA3 encryption and authentication protocol. WPA3 offers significantly better security for your Wi-Fi network than WPA2 and, due to its adoption of Multiple Equal Authentication (SAE), it will likely be more robust against future attacks.

The certification program of the Wi-Fi Alliance is not necessarily that important. Apple, for example, is no longer worried about public certification of the Wi-Fi Alliance or its associated brand for years. But its openness means that we are ready to go beyond the "802.11ax project" stage to integrate routers and peripherals to support all the features of Wi-Fi 6. The presence of this program and the availability branding should significantly accelerate manufacturers' efforts to provide Wi-Fi 6 devices, as well as routers.

The 802.11ax standard requires hardware support. Therefore, you should not expect that a new set of firmware or new drivers will allow your existing router or phone to become an 802.11ax device. Instead, make sure that in the future, all new devices you buy, including expensive Some, like smartphones, support Wi-Fi 6, so you will avoid a technical deficit in a few years. The new Apple iPhone 11 models all support the 802.11ax standard, just like Samsung's Galaxy Note 10. Google's Pixel 4, still unpublished, will also support Wi-Fi 6, like any other smartphone based on the Snapdragon 855 SoC.

Laptops with 10th generation Intel processors (Ice Lake and Comet Lake) should all support the 802.11ax standard because they are integrated directly into the processor. If you plan to buy an older laptop, do not forget that you will need additional hardware, such as a USB dongle, for the 802.11ax standard.

802.11ax support is also a little thin on the router and access point side at the moment, but it is quickly picking up speed. Netgear supports 802.11ax in its RAX80 and RAX120 routers, as well as AX6000, a new 802.11ax version of its Orbi Mesh Kit. TP-Link is also launching Wi-Fi 6 versions of its range, including the Deco X10 mesh and a new Archer AX6000 router. However, although you should immediately start looking for Wi-Fi 6 support in the devices, you may want to wait for the upgrade of this router or mesh kit. This may seem counterintuitive, but a change in your router or mesh kit affects each device on your network, so you want to make sure that it is correct.

Ars will first look at the 802.11ax router and mesh kits, focusing first on their performance with existing Wi-Fi 5 devices in time for holiday shopping.