What You Need to Know About Wi-Fi 6E
If you curse your home Wi-Fi network when working from home, here’s some good news: The FCC recently approved a new Wi-Fi connectivity standard, Wifi 6E, which allows wireless routers to access the 6 GHz band. What does this mean for you? Faster, more stable Wi-Fi connection – Following the release of the first Wifi 6E products at the end of 2020.
Of course, this begs a lot of questions: How much better will Wifi 6E compare to Wifi 6? What will you need to update? Will your current devices suddenly become obsolete?
Put on the foil hats that block your wireless signal and let’s get started.
What kind of upgrade is Wifi 6E really ?
We won’t know exactly how many Wifi 6E updates will come until the first 6E devices arrive in our homes, but the technology is promising.
Routers with the current Wifi 6 standard use the 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands, while the new 6E routers will be able to use the 6GHz band, which is currently virtually noise-free. Experts seem to think that there are many 6GHz frequencies out there, and that band connection will result in faster and clearer connectivity between your Wi-Fi devices.
We certainly hope that it will – after all, a lot of what is said about 6E has been said about 5G as well. Unfortunately, the advertised benefits of mobile 5G don’t materialize in the US , and most 4G phones are more affordable and generally as fast as their 5G counterparts .
Will you need to upgrade your hardware to use Wifi 6E?
Oh yeah. Just as 5G mobile connections require 5G compatible phones, you will need new hardware to access 6GHz. This includes the Wifi 6E router as well as PCs, smartphones and other devices that can communicate with it in the 6GHz band.
The first Wifi 6E products are expected to be released at the end of 2020. Once you get a fully Wi-Fi 6E compliant setup, you should theoretically see the benefits right away (although there are ways to set up your wireless network for now ).
Should you upgrade to the first Wifi 6E router to hit the market?
No. Let’s be honest, even with a pretty good home network setup, you’re probably using decent wireless AC (Wi-Fi 5) equipment at best. And you probably won’t even max out that connection speed with everything you own, and not all of your devices are hitting the highest speed on your home network because they are ill-equipped to work as fast as your network can go.
You can buy Wifi 6 routers right now; they are expensive and probably overkill for your needs. 6e wireless routers will also be expensive (if not more expensive), and very few (if any) of your devices will be able to connect to them at frequencies above 6 GHz. Those that do will probably not even be able to tap their highest speeds – if we’re talking about portable devices, especially – as it consumes a lot more battery life with minimal effect (for most people).
In other words, take your time to be the first to use Wifi 6e. You get a bigger advantage if you improve your home network setup the old-fashioned way: by connecting another hotspot or two. After a few of your devices support Wifi 6e (and who knows when it will), you might want to consider upgrading your router and hotspots. By then, hopefully, prices for this will have dropped to reasonable levels.
The best early use of Wi-Fi 6e connectivity will come from wireless mesh hardware, as disabling dedicated 6GHz backhaul is a great way to get reliable, uninterrupted connections between your hotspots. They can then create separate, fast 5GHz and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks, serving whatever data-hungry devices you want to connect. However, you will no doubt pay more for these types of meshes as soon as they appear.
Are your old devices going to be obsolete?
No. All of your current devices should continue to work for a long time, no matter what types of connections they support. Future routers are expected to be compatible with both Wifi 6 and Wifi 6E, as well as all slower standards reverting to wireless-n. There is no reason to think that they won’t support every device you currently own.