The confusing alphabet soup of Wi-Fi versions got renamed. 802.11n became Wi-Fi 4, 802.11ac became Wi-Fi 5, and 802.11ax became Wi-Fi 6. Wi-Fi 7 is still in development so 6 is the best in-use version.
Technically 6E is the best in-use version for compatible devices. Same as WiFi 6 but adds the 6GHz spectrum that was recently unlocked by many regulatory agencies around the world. The 6GHz range is significantly less congested and would have better real-world performance in dense residential areas.
Edit: A few months ago I stumbled upon this site where the author goes quite in-depth about WiFi and does so in a way that is easy to understand. They debunk/corroborate claims and technologies advertised by manufacturers so it really helps demystify the process of selecting the right WiFi gear.
It’s funny that WiFi is alphabet soup as the other comment mentioned, they rebranded to a single, simple number…then chucked an E on the end.
I get how/why, but it’s just funny.
Do you know the horrors of USB naming?
https://wccftech.com/usb-naming-gets-even-worse-with-the-introduction-of-usb4-2-0-80-gbps-standard/
Usb could have been great, then they decided that with every minor version bump they needed to go back and fuck with the name of the previous version…
Like FFS just do 3(5gbps) 3.1(10gbps) 3.2(20gbps) etc or whatever the fucking difference even is between them all at this point.
6E is great, but basically nothing supports it. I got a 6E capable AP from Ubiquiti, and looking at my devices table, basically nothing has ever used the 6GHz radio. My house has a wide variety of devices, many new. The only thing that’s used it is my MacBook
And that MacBook must get unparalleled speed and airtime
I got over a 1 gigabit download on my S23 Ultra and still couldn’t believe that 10 years ago 10 megabit on wifi was considered decent.
It’s the absolute best computer I’ve ever owned. Maxed out it’s ram and everything just flies
What speeds are you getting on your MacBook?
Smidge over 1.1Gbps peak, average probably around 900Mbps.
Most new devices support 6E at this point with the exception of low-cost phones/computers and IoT devices.
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WiFi in its current form will never be better than ethernet for backhaul applications as it is half-duplex. The benefits of the new spectrum are wider bands which makes the real-world speeds closer to the published speeds. Congested frequencies mean the bands must be more narrow, which lowers real-world bandwidth.
That is a wonderful website, very well written. Thanks for sharing.
pre-numbering, it was almost like trying to decipher Sanskrit when going out to buy a router.
WiFi has literally gone the opposite of USB.
It used to be obvious what USB speeds were, whereas WiFi was 802.11b or whatever.
Now we have WiFi 5 or WiFi 6. And we have USB-C PD 10gbps with AltModeUSB has gotten more complicated and does way more now in more contexts. It charges laptops now, it carries multiplexed displayport signals, it does its own handshake and performs hardware level initialization protocols.
Meanwhile we’ve been wanting the same thing out of wifi since the start. Nothing’s really changed, we just want it to go faster.
You’re thinking of USB-C, not the USB standard. USB PD, Alternative Mode and Thunderbolt aren’t part of the USB spec.
No, I’m thinking about the port. Which is what we are talking about. Usb-c, usb-pd, thunderbolt, etc, all use the same port. I can use the same cable in the same port for all of these.
What’s the difference?
The very simple version is that the newer versions support faster speeds.
I would add the potential for better range as well from a variety of improvements.
Newer WiFi standards can take advantage of multiple frequencies in a single link, which allows for fallback on the slower, but longer range, 2.4GHz networks. Beamforming has been available since at least WiFi 5 (802.11ac) and helps connection quality as well. The new 6GHz spectrum is uncongested and gives better performance in areas with high saturation of 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, such as apartments and highrises.
Range is definitely not better with 6. 6 has larger bandwidths, and is less congested right now because of all the IoT devices using 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands. This will change eventually. 2.4 still has the best range.
WiFi 7 (802.11be) has Multi-Link Operation (MLO) where it uses both 6 GHz, 5 GHz, and 2.4 GHz frequencies simultaneously to always maximize bandwidth at a given range.
Lots of really cool little things that add up to making it faster
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Huh I had no idea, many thanks. I assume it’s backwards compatible?
Yes, as a general rule the device and access point will just connect at whatever the newest version they both understand is.
802.11b PCMCIA card from 2002? You bet!
Never heard about Wi-Fi 4. Always ‘n’ letter was advertised.
Wi-Fi 5 kinda associated with 5 GHz bandwidth, but can be also used on the 2.4 GHz.
It’s a retroactive name just to keep the numbering scheme logical. It would be weird to start off giving the next version “1” so they added numbers to all of the old versions. 802.11n was renamed a full 15 years after it was released!
I wished they’d tidy up the clusterfuck that’s USB versions. Especially in combination with thunderbolt. Holy…
Do you mean to say it’s not perfectly logical that USB 3.0, USB 3.1 Gen 1, and USB 3.2 Gen 1 are all actually the same version? I wish I could travel back in time to the meeting where that was proposed and slap the person in the face until they realized the error of their ways.
USB 3.1 Gen 1 is the same as USB 3.0. It’s like they’re trying to foster scam products. I would genuinely like to know how this bullshit naming scheme came into existence if anyone reading this happens to know.
802.11a was 5GHz long before Wi-Fi 5 was a phrase, and “Wi-Fi 5” as a phrase does not imply any particular frequency.
It was like a posthumous award
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My device always shows the WiFi number. It’s nice to know since I live in an apartment building with shared wifi. The shared wifi is 4/5 and mine is 6 so I can see at a glance if I’m connected right.
I can’t imagine another reason it’d be useful though.
6 is old news. 6e is where its at with 2.4, 5, and 6ghz support.
Even 6e is not the latest anymore. Wifi 7 is rolling out now
Wifi 7 is so hot right now.
It may be beneficial on some devices that requires low latency (like streaming to a VR device or remote gaming). I can see the difference in latency from wifi5 to wifi6 when remote gaming.
Seems like consistency with showing 4G/5G/etc… Nice to know if you’re on public WiFi.
It’s wifi 6
It means it is only 1/3 evil
That’s… Not how any of this works 🤔
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5
4
3
2
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D:
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I’m surprised that you didn’t go into Roman numerals. VI
This isn’t a wrong answers only post so lets make sure everyone is aware of Internet Protocol versions 4 and 6.
Most internet addies look like this 001.002.003.004
That’s IPv4, the current common standard. And were running out of addresses.
To fix this some systems are using IPv6 which adds two more numbers (and more bits per number) as well as a whole batch of protocol improvements.
I’m pretty sure that’s what the WiFi ⁶ enumerator is about.
…or maybe I’m wrong. All the interne6 suggests its the WiFi protocol version 6. Sorry.
c/confidentlyincorrect
It’s the WiFi version. Some devices also show 6E.
