Wi-Fi 6E: The Revolution of WLAN
More and more WLAN and IoT devices coming onto the market support Wi-Fi 6E. But what is behind IEEE 802.11ax and what are the differences to previous versions? Here you can find out everything you need to know about the new WLAN standard. Discover the innovations of the new WLAN generation.Update
Wi-Fi 7 is Launched
The new 802.11be Wi-Fi standard is here. With impressive speeds, minimal latency and maximum reliability.
Find out everything you need to know about Wi-FI 7 802.11be here.
Milestone of the WLAN-Industry
The Evolution of Wi-Fi 6E
Wi-Fi 6E is the latest WLAN standard. Wi-Fi 6, also known by the name IEEE 802.11ax as defined by the Wi-Fi Alliance, has been around since 2019 and previously covered the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands. The Wi-Fi 6E extension now also allows access to the 6 GHz frequencies.
Wi-Fi has been an integral part of our digital lives since its birth in 1997, and so this technology has continued to evolve, becoming faster, more powerful and offering more and more usage options. However, due to the high utilisation of the individual networks, congestion and interference occurred more and more often, and the stability and performance of the Wi-Fi signals decreased. Therefore, the need for more space with more power and speed became more significant and a new WLAN standard was developed: Wi-Fi 6E, the Enhanced Standard of the existing Wi-Fi 6. This ensures greater bandwidth, higher performance, lower latency and interference reduction as more devices can connect simultaneously without compromising performance.
In the following chart, you can see the development of Wi-Fi over the past years until today.
Wi-Fi: Data Transfer Rate from 1997 to 2023
Advantages
The Improvements due to the 6 GHZ Band
Especially for heavily frequented WLAN areas such as large companies or residential complexes, the new 6 GHz frequency band offers additional unlicensed spectrum. Wi-Fi 6E devices will operate in 14 additional 80 MHz channels and 7 additional 160 MHz channels. In Germany, a general allocation of the 6 GHz band for wireless access systems including local radio networks between 5945 and 6425 MHz was published in 2021 by the Federal Network Agency. The Federal Network Agency is thus following the harmonization decision of the EU Commission. In the USA, however, a larger frequency range was released than in Europe. With the 6 GHz band, the spectrum from 5925 to 7125 MHz can be used. These extensions ensure less overlap and signal interference between wi-fi networks.
In addition, the new frequency band offers more capacity for applications such as 4K and 8K streaming, virtual reality gaming and HD video streaming. DFS scanning is also no longer required because, unlike 160 MHz channels in the 5 GHz WLAN band, devices in the 6 GHz band do not share spectrum with radar devices or TV stations. Another advantage is WPA3 (WLAN Protected Access 3), which is mandatory for Wi-Fi 6 devices and makes data traffic even more secure than in the past by using the latest security and authentication protocols. TWT also conserves battery power, as mobile devices switch to standby mode if no WLAN connection is available. You can find more information about the above-mentioned innovations in our FAQs.
ALL Benefits of Wi-Fi 6E AT A GLANCE
The new Wi-Fi standard 802.11ax ensures:
wider channels
faster speeds
very low latency
higher throughput
interference reduction
improved security features
lower power consumption
Technical Innovations
From Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6E
Wi-Fi 5
| Frequency band | 5 GHz |
|---|---|
| Standard | 802.11ac |
| Max. data rate | 1,3 Gbit/s |
| Access technology | OFDM |
| Antennas | 4 x 4 MU-MIMO |
| Modulation | 256-QAM |
| Target Wake Time (TWT) | No |
| BSS Coloring | Yes |
| WPA3 | Yes |
Wi-Fi 6
| Frequency band | 2,4 GHz, 5 GHz |
|---|---|
| Standard | 802.11ax |
| Max. data rate | 9,6 Gbit/s |
| Access technology | OFDMA |
| Antennas | 8 x 8 MU-MIMO |
| Modulation | 1024-QAM |
| Target Wake Time (TWT) | No |
| BSS Coloring | Yes |
| WPA3 | Yes |
Wi-Fi 6E
| Frequency band | 2,4 GHz, 5 GHz + 6 GHz - exclusively for 6E devices |
|---|---|
| Standard | 802.11ax |
| Max. data rate | 9,6 Gbit/s |
| Access technology | OFDMA |
| Antennas | 8 x 8 MU-MIMO |
| Modulation | 1024-QAM |
| Target Wake Time (TWT) | No |
| BSS Coloring | Yes |
| WPA3 | Yes |
| Parameter | Wi-Fi 5 | Wi-Fi 6 | Wi-Fi 6E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency band | 5 GHz | 2,4 GHz, 5 GHz | 2,4 GHz, 5 GHz + 6 GHz - exclusively for 6E devices |
| Standard | 802.11ac | 802.11ax | 802.11ax |
| Max. data rate | 1,3 Gbit/s | 9,6 Gbit/s | 9,6 Gbit/s |
| Access technology | OFDM | OFDMA | OFDMA |
| Antennas | 4 x 4 MU-MIMO | 8 x 8 MU-MIMO | 8 x 8 MU-MIMO |
| Modulation | 256-QAM | 1024-QAM | 1024-QAM |
| Target Wake Time (TWT) | No | Yes | Yes |
| BSS Coloring | No | Yes | Yes |
| WPA3 | No | Yes | Yes |
Wi-Fi: Bandwidth and Channel Allocation
Disadvantage
The Coverage of the 6 GHz Band
The higher the transmission frequency, the lower the range. And in addition, walls or doors interfere with the signal. Although the 6 GHz spectrum guarantees a significantly higher data throughput than the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, the range is severely limited. Therefore, it should - at least in Europe - be used primarily in the same room. Ideal for your home’s wi-fi system.
Equipment
Which Devices Support Wi-Fi 6E?
Routers and repeaters, smartphones, laptops, IoT devices, smart home tech - all need the appropriate hardware to fully benefit from the new Wi-Fi 6E luxury - but backwards compatibility is maintained.
The following Wi-Fi routers and client devices already have a corresponding module:
ASUS RT-AXE7800 Tri-Band WiFi 6E
NETGEAR Nighthawk RAXE300 Tri-Band WiFi 6E Router
TP-Link Archer AXE75 Wi-Fi 6E WLAN Router
Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 3 Notebook
Dell Latitude 7430
Acer Swift 3
Google Pixel 7
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Intel® Killer™ Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) Produkten
AVM does not yet offer a Fritzbox with Wi-Fi 6E. And there is no iPhone with this technology from Apple yet either. (Status January/2023)
WLAN Certification
Bring your Wi-Fi Product to Market with Us
To ensure that your WLAN products are up to standard and can provide a secure and reliable service, we perform our testing services in our accredited laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment. We offer the full scope of Wi-Fi testing and guarantee transparent and fast certification processes for market access.
Learn more about our WLAN testing and certification services.
CE (Europa)
Ready for the European Market
FCC (USA)
Handling the US Type Approval procedure
ISED (Kanada)
Your way to the Canadian Market
MIC (Japan)
Get your Type Approval for Japan
Frequently Asked Questions
All you need to know about Wi-Fi 6E
- What is meant by OFDMA?
-
OFDMA stands for Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access. For Wi-Fi 6, it is one of the crucial features to improve network performance. Especially for IoT devices, this technology offers great advantages as they transmit small data packets. OFDMA divides channels into several small frequency allocations, allowing small amounts of data to be transmitted in parallel. A data packet therefore does not block the entire channel, which makes faster and more efficient data exchange possible.
- What is behind the acronym TWT?
-
TWT stands for Target Wake Time. This function allows an access point to define a specific time for the access of individual devices. Outside of these times, the connected end devices are in standby mode. With this technology, Wi-Fi 6 access points ensure lower energy consumption and an increase in the efficiency of home networks.
Data transmission is so much more economical because end devices only switch on when they need to perform a task.
- What does WPA3 mean?
-
WPA3 means Wi-Fi Protected Access Version 3. It is the latest security standard of the Wi-Fi Alliance for wireless networks based on the IEEE specifications 802.11 and was published in 2018. This security standard defines the authentication procedure that WLAN devices use to register with an access point.
For example, WPA3 provides increased security against so-called "dictionary attacks", which means that automated password guessing is prevented.
- What does U-NII stand for?
-
U-NII stands for Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure. It is the US designation for the licence-free frequency band in the 5 GHz range. This frequency range is divided into several sub-bands of 100 MHz each, which are then called U-NII-1, U-NII-2A, etc.
Contact us
Type Approval of your Wi-Fi 6E Product
For market access, make sure your product is fully developed, tested and functional so that users have a positive experience with it. We help you meet all the necessary requirements and are happy to answer any questions you may have about testing and certifying your Wi-Fi products. Let us know the details of your request in the contact form or get in touch with us by phone.