FCC's win for Wi-Fi 6E could pave way for much higher wireless speeds

FCC wins appeal to open up 1,200MHz of spectrum in the 6GHz band for Wi-Fi 6E.

(Image source: PC Mag)

(Image source: PC Mag)

The FCC has won its battle to open up 1,200MHz of spectrum in the 6GHz band, opening the way for Wi-Fi 6E.

Wi-Fi 6 already has technologies such as MU-MIMO and OFDMA (remember, these are part of Wireless 802.11ax, which has been renamed to Wi-Fi 6) to improve wireless performance. But it's still hampered because it uses the congested 5GHz band. Wi-Fi 6E will enable faster real-world speeds by allowing devices to connect on the relatively unused 6GHz band.

Though theoretical maximum speeds are unchanged, the fact that it uses the uncongested 6GHz band could enable real-world speeds in the region of 1 to 2Gbps. That's similar to what you get with mmWave 5G.

AT&T tried to block the FCC's plan by arguing that it uses the same band to transmit data between cellular towers.

However, the court agreed with the FCC that the low-power usage of Wi-Fi 6E routers would not interfere with AT&T's high-power transmissions. 

But don't be too excited yet because Wi-Fi 6E would require new routers. Client devices will also need new chipsets to support this. In short, yes, you need new hardware. 

Also, because it uses the 6GHz band, which has an even shorter wavelength, expect range and coverage to be poorer.

Source: The Verge

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