Wi-Fi 6E moves to 6GHz band to compliment 5G

The Wi-Fi Alliance recently brought up a new term called Wi-Fi 6E which is slightly different from the original Wi-Fi 6. Wi-Fi 6E will provide users with access to the 6 GHz Wi-Fi spectrum. Currently, the devices that have Wi-Fi 6 have only access to 5 GHz operation.

The alliance plans to bring in 6 GHz band to facilitate Wi-Fi’s growth as it’ll be able to provide a clear spectrum with less interference from legacy Wi-Fi 4 or 5 devices along with greater availability of wider channel sizes. Wi-Fi 6E has a frequency range of 1200MHz on the 2.4 GHz band and 500MHz on the 5GHz band. The 6GHz band could thus help in accelerating processes of various high-bandwidth applications that need faster data input like 4k video streams and virtual reality.

Edgar Figueroa, CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance stated that: "6GHz will help address the growing need for Wi-Fi spectrum capacity to ensure Wi-Fi users continue to receive the same great user experience with their devices," He also added that “Wi-Fi Alliance is introducing Wi-Fi 6E now to ensure the industry aligns on common terminology, allowing Wi-Fi users to identify devices that support 6GHz operation as the spectrum becomes available."

The Alliance is also working on interoperability testing for the latest Wi-Fi 6E connections and predicts that consumer-type access points and mobiles will be the first devices that will have access at once when the regulators make the additional spectrum available.