New generational terminology for Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6 incoming

[harlan4096]

The Wi-Fi Alliance, a worldwide network of of manufacturers and software companies, announced Wi-Fi 6 today based on 802.11ax technology. Wi-Fi 6 introduces a new naming scheme for Wi-fi generations that uses generation terminology to make identification more straightforward.
The general consensus in regards to WiFi devices, be it routers, modems, or smartphones, is that it is always better when devices support the newest WiFi technology as they promise better performance, power usage, and other benefits over previous generations.
Up until now, you had to do a bit of research to find out whether a device should support standards like 802.11ac or 802.11n, and which of the standards refered to the latest technology generation.
It is impossible to tell based on the name alone if you never encountered these terms before. While it is easy enough to find out that 802.11ax is the newest standard followed by 802.11ac and then 802.11n, it is still not the best of naming schemes considering that research is required to find out about it in first place.
802.11 refers to a set of standards of wireless network transmission methods and you may have come upon others, such as 802.11b in the past. 802.11n and 802.ac are probably the most common standards in use today.
The Wi-Fi Alliance announced today that it will use generational terminology for Wi-fi technologies going forward.

Full reading: https://www.ghacks.net/2018/10/03/new-ge...-incoming/

[harlan4096]

More info: https://www.anandtech.com/show/13426/wif...mes-wifi-6