Wi-Fi Alliance Announces Wi-Fi 6

The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced that the next generation of wireless based on 802.11ax technology will be called Wi-Fi 6.

The new naming system identifies Wi-Fi generations by a numerical sequence which correspond to major advancements in Wi-Fi. The generation names can be used by product vendors to identify the latest Wi-Fi technology a device supports, by OS vendors to identify the generation of Wi-Fi connection between a device and network, and by service providers to identify the capabilities of a Wi-Fi network to their customers. The generational terminology may also be used to designate previous Wi-Fi generations, such as 802.11n or 802.11ac. The numerical sequence includes:

● Wi-Fi 6 to identify devices that support 802.11ax technology
● Wi-Fi 5 to identify devices that support 802.11ac technology
● Wi-Fi 4 to identify devices that support 802.11n technology


“For nearly two decades, Wi-Fi users have had to sort through technical naming conventions to determine if their devices support the latest Wi-Fi,” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. “Wi-Fi Alliance is excited to introduce Wi-Fi 6, and present a new naming scheme to help industry and Wi-Fi users easily understand the Wi-Fi generation supported by their device or connection.”



The Wi-Fi Alliance has also introduced updated UI visuals to show the current type of Wi-Fi connection a device is on. The UI visuals will change as a device moves between Wi-Fi networks.

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