It’s been 5 years since the standard used by wireless routers and devices was last updated and 15 years since there was a new Wi-Fi security protocol. After the long wait, the new standards have been launched, and the world is in for faster, better, and more secure Wi-Fi.
The much anticipated, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6™ (802.11.ax) was officially released on September 16, 2019, accompanied by the new wireless security protocol, WPA3. While it’s going to take time for devices and Wi-Fi networks around the country to upgrade, the performance improvements as compared to Wi-Fi 5 are going to be like night and day.
From the speed of office networks to the ability to connect to an airport Wi-Fi without worrying about being “cyber-spied” on, as the new standard is rolled out and offices upgrade to the new Wi-Fi 6 routers, our connections to the online world are going to take a huge leap forward.
Let’s find out how Wi-Fi 6 is going to change the way you connect online.
Upgrades You Can Expect with Wi-Fi 6 & WPA3
Any enhancement to our online connections can mean major benefits for businesses in the areas of productivity (faster connections), automation capabilities, and security against wireless network intrusions.
The improvements just released with this 6thgeneration Wi-Fi cover multiple areas of your connected life. Here’s a run down of the new features.
Your Router Can Handle More Devices
As the Internet of Things (IoT) has exploded with multiple smart gadgets for home and office, the burden on your wireless router has also become larger.
80% of companies have made IoT a focus over the last 12 months.
If you’ve even been in a crowded area trying to connect to the public Wi-Fi, you most likely experienced a slowdown due to all the devices trying to connect at the same time. For that scenario as well as your own office router, Wi-Fi 6 has the ability to handle more devices while also delivering fast connections.
It does this a couple of different ways:
- MU-MIMO: Better (Multi-user, multiple input, multiple output) MU-MIMO which allows the main access point to talk to multiple devices at once and those devices to talk back at the same time. (It’s like quadrupling the amount of live chat agents on your website.)
- OFDMA: Another tongue-twister, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) allows a wireless channel to divide into multiple subchannels, which can each carry data to a different device. (Like having your own personal lane at the supermarket.)
Your Connections are Faster by Up to 40%
What’s the thing everyone wants when they’re connecting online? Faster speeds! You’ll be pleased to know that Wi-Fi 6 promises to be up to 40% faster than Wi-Fi 5 technology.
Here’s how they do it:
- Increasing Signal Capacity: Instead of carrying 8-bit, a signal can now carry 10-bit, which allows more data delivery. (It’s like ditching the carried basket for a shopping cart – you can get more items in the same trip.)
- Increasing the Wi-Fi Bandwidth: Wi-Fi 6 increases the channel width used for wireless connections from 80 MHz to 160 MHz. This increased bandwidth helps to reduce latency (i.e. lag time) and improves performance. (Like moving from a 2-lane highway to a 4-lane.)
More Secure Wireless Connections
One of the best upgrades for businesses worried about security both of their own network and when staff are connecting to public hotspots, the new standard is going to bring some much welcome security benefits.
No longer will you have to worry about a hacker looking over your shoulder while you’re at Starbucks and wanting to login to your online email. You’ll also have some additional encryption options if your business handles particularly sensitive information.
Here are the security enhancements possible thanks to WPA3:
- User Encryption on Public Wi-Fi: Even on networks with a publicly shared password, Wi-Fi 6 will encrypt user connections by use of CERTIFIED Enhanced Open™and Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE). (Like having your own private locked dressing room in a public “try-on” room.)
- Protection from “Dictionary” attacks: When a hacker downloads the cryptographic key for a Wi-Fi and then runs a hacking software to try to crack the password, that’s call a dictionary attack. That’s no longer possible to do with Wi-Fi 6, due to the upgrade in security.
- Ability to Use Stronger Encryption: For organizations that transmit particularly sensitive information over their wireless network, Wi-Fi 6 offers the ability to move to a more secure, 192-bit, encryption for your wireless traffic.
Get Your Office Upgraded to Wi-Fi 6 Now
If you want to take advantage of all those benefits, Connect2Geek can get your office wireless routers upgraded in no time We’ll help you locate Wi-Fi 6 certified devices and construct a roll-out plan that makes sense for your budget.
Contact us today to get started taking advantage of Wi-Fi 6. Call 208-468-4323 or reach us online.