Learn to differentiate between different WiFi networks and their frequencies

Although WiFi technology is a modern solution, it has an interesting origin. The origin of this technology lies in a system of wireless network created by ALOHA Systems For to log in there island of hawaii in 1971.

There Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States in 1985 I present one general purpose network with bandwidths of 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz. Later these frequency bands were called Herd ISM. Corresponds to the development of the network LAN Token Ring IBMwhich allows you to connect computers for data transfer.

In 1988, the first wireless ATM system based on IBM technology was developed, which came to be called waveLAN. Later, in 1989, it became the IEEE 802.11 LAN/MAN standard.

Vic Hayes, the so-called “Father of WiFi” created the first working group of the IEEE 801.11 standard for wireless LANs. Subsequently, the following advances in this technology have been made:

• 1994: Dr. Alex Hills presents a project on wireless networks in which he provides a wireless connection to a total of 7 buildings
• 1996: The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization introduces a wireless network based on the IEEE 802.11 protocol
• 1997: The first official and commercial version of WiFi technology is launched with a maximum speed of 2 Mb/s
• 1999: The speed increases to 11 Mb/s on the 2.4 GHz frequency (IEEE 802.11b). A month later, a speed of 54 MB/s is reached for the 5 GHz band
• 2003: A speed of 108 Mb/s is reached for the 2.4 GHz band (IEEE 802.11g)
• 2009: First time 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies were combined simultaneously with speeds of up to 600 Mb/s (IEEE 802.11n)
• 2014: The speed of 6933 MB/s is reached for the 5 GHz band (IEEE 802.11ac)
• 2019: They manage to increase the speed to 9608 Mb/s (802.11ax). Note that there are two trade names in this case. WiFi 6 only supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and WiFi 6E adds 6 GHz band for the first time
• 2022: announces the WiFi 7 (802.11be) standard which increases the speed to 46,120 Mb/s and combines the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands, for the first time, in a single standard.

IEEE 802.11 standard

For a uniform use of technology, it is normal to create a certified and regulated standard. This allows any manufacturer to develop solutions that can work without problems. Above all, this is important in communication networks, because otherwise it could be chaos.

Who is in charge of ccontrol and manage these standards in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) the United States.

We have the set of IEEE 802 standards which is based on these three fundamental pillars:

• standards local area network (LAN) technicians
• Together media access protocols (MAC)
• Physical layer (PHY) to implement the wireless local area (WLAN) computer communication

Since WiFi technology is based on this technology, it is classified in the IEEE 802 standard. At the technical level, it is called IEEE 802.11 and letters are added to distinguish the versions.

Because this name is difficult to remember, the WiFi Alliance from 2008 began to establish the trade name “WiFi 4” for the IEEE 802.11n standard. It was not until 2014, with WiFi 5, that this denomination began to be more common.

What are the current WiFi standards

The number of devices supporting this communication protocol has increased a lot. The arrival of smartphones or tablets, for example, has forced it to adapt to support a large number of devices connected simultaneously. The game has also resulted in updating the standard to provide the best performance to the user.

We will see what differences there are between each of these versions thinking of the needs detected by the WiFi Alliance.

WiFi 7

Present in March 2021 draft of the 802.11be standard which establishes the different aspects of this technology. Between November and December 2022, the first WiFi 7 devices are presented, the marketing of which will begin in 2023. It is estimated that by 2024 there should be a standardization of this new standard.

It should be kept in mind that currently (March 2023) the 802.11be standard is not a definitive standard, it is in the draft phase. This means that there are candidate technologies that will be in the final standard and other candidates that may or may not be added.

candidate characteristics

These appear in the project authorization request are:

• 320 MHz bandwidth and more efficient use of non-contiguous spectrum
• Aggregation and multiband/multichannel operation
• 16 spatial streams and improvement of protocols Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)
• Coordination of multiple access points (AP)
• Enhanced Link and Retransmit Adaptation Protocol
• If necessary, adaptation to regulatory standards specific to the 6 GHz spectrum
• The integration of IEEE 802.1Q Extensions of Time-Sensitive Networks (TSN) for real-time, low-latency traffic

WiFi 6

The standard IEEE 802.11ax is adopted in 2019, adding efficiency-focused features. It focuses on optimizing performance in areas where there is a high density of devices, such as shopping malls. This is possible for spectrum enhancement, by adding orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)

The most important new features are:

• OFDMA: As we said, it is orthogonal frequency division multiple access. Although present in earlier versions, they allow users to subdivided channels to provide access to different users and devices. This allows you to reduce latency and improve efficiency when multiple devices are connected. Enables more efficient data transmission when the connection is not good.
• MU-MIMO: allows the transmission of Simultaneous data streams to multiple devices, whereas before it was done one by one. The router can now send and receive data to multiple devices at once faster, instead of queuing and going one by one.
• BSS coloring: is a special reuse technique that uses markings or “colors” to identify networks. It is used so that access points can decide whether simultaneous use of the wireless medium is allowed or not. Reduce interference.
• Reduction of energy consumption: includes technology Target Wake Time (TWT). Until now, the devices occasionally checked for new data transmissions. Now the router and device are allowed to negotiate expected uptimes. this allows reduce energy consumption.

WiFi 6E

This is actually just a “minor” update to the IEEE 802.11ax standard. It is distinguished by the addition of commercial support for the 6GHz frequency, which was not supported. This implementation theoretically improves the vtop speed up to 30%.

WiFi 5

New 802.11ac standard it started to deploy in 2014 and it stands out for the native addition of the 5 GHz frequency. Commercially it is called WiFi 5, but that has nothing to do with the new frequency band. It stands out for improving bandwidth, improving special streams and modulation.

The main features it adds are:

• Extended channel link: add the optional 160 MHz channel band and obligatorily 80 MHz for the stations
• MIMO
  • Support for up to eight special streams
  • Up to four-way multiurio downlink
  • Multiple STAs, each with one or more antennas, transmitting or receiving independent data streams
  • Special Division Multiple Access (SDMA) which are not frequency separated, but specially resolved analogous to MIMO
  • MU-MIMO downlink added as a special mode
• Modulation
  • 256-QAM added as a special mode
  • Non-standard 1024-QAM mode can be offered, allowing 25% higher data rate compared to 256-QAM
• Other Features
  • Beamforming with standardized sound and feedback for cross-vendor compatibility
  • MAC changes
  • Coexistence of 20, 40, 80 and 160 MHz channels
  • Four new PPDU header fields

Comparison of the different versions

Difference between 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz frequencies

You may not know this, but how often we connect is very important. There are significant differences in operation and performance between frequencies. We summarize them in the following table in a fairly simple way.

The 2.4 GHz band is considered the best for general use, browsing, etc. The 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands are geared more towards gaming and large data transfers. You should keep in mind that coverage will always be better with a low frequency than with a high frequency. If the waves must pass through two walls, the 2.4 GHz band will provide better coverage and better performance than the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands.