(upbeat music)
- Hi, I'm Kia and I'm a Best Buy Home Expert.
And today we're answering the question,
What is Wi-Fi 6 and 6E?
You probably know what Wi-Fi is
and there is a chance you're using it now
to watch this video, maybe you're on a mobile phone
or a laptop, but when the internet was created
you were only able to access it
if you were physically plugged into an internet connection.
As time went on, and as technology advanced,
the internet was able to be accessed through Wi-Fi
which is technology that connects devices to the internet
using just radio waves,
without the use of physical cables.
It would be easy to think that all Wi-Fi is the same,
but over the years,
there have been many iterations of Wi-Fi technology.
The most recent being Wi-Fi 6, which was released in 2019
and Wi-Fi 6E, which was released in 2020.
And that's what we're here to talk about.
Overall Wi-Fi 6 incorporates several new technologies
that dramatically improve Wi-Fi speed,
security and device battery life.
Wi-Fi 6's predecessor was you guessed it, Wi-Fi 5.
Wi-Fi 5 is great, but initially one of the major drawbacks
was it's ability to perform
when several devices were connected
to the same Wi-Fi network.
That's because it used all of its bandwidth individually
between devices.
It was as if each device has to get in a single file line
to make use of the internet
making each device's request happen
in the order they were received by the router.
But as the number of smart devices
in the household increased such as phones, computers,
security systems, TVs, speakers, and many more,
we needed more bandwidth to accommodate
the increase of connected devices.
And this is one of the primary solutions
that Wi-Fi 6 brings.
Wi-Fi 6 is equipped with 8X MU-MIMO
which stands for eight stream, multi-user, multiple input,
multiple output.
8X MU-MIMO feature and a Wi-Fi 6 router
will communicate with up to eight devices at a time.
Solving the problem of older generations of Wi-Fi
that could only communicate
with one to four devices at a time.
This improves performance by lowering
or even eliminating the time that devices have
to wait to receive data from the router.
Another advancement in Wi-Fi 6 is OFDMA,
which stands for orthogonal frequency division
multiple access.
This essentially shortens the time
between data transmissions which increases efficiency
and frees up bandwidth for other devices.
OFDMA can be considered an enhanced version of MU-MIMO.
It allows a router to handle even more simultaneous devices
and data streams at once.
Wi-Fi 6 offers the most speed because of its ability
to handle a high volume of connected devices.
That's where the magic is.
Everyone loves some good, fast Wi-Fi,
but speed isn't the only improvement Wi-Fi 6 offers
because of a new feature TWT or target wake time,
TWT supported devices will go to sleep
until that device needs to use the internet.
This improves efficiency and power consumption
by turning off the Wi-Fi until it's needed.
When the devices are sending or receiving data,
their antennas are powered on, but when in sleep mode,
their antennas are powered off
extending the battery life of the device.
Another bonus feature to Wi-Fi 6 is beefed up security.
It supports WPA3 encryption,
which is the latest in Wi-Fi security
and all network certified for Wi-Fi 6 and 6E
must support WPA3 encryption.
This is the strongest encryption available
for Wi-Fi networks
and stronger encryption means better security
for any data that is transmitted over Wi-Fi.
Now, what's the difference between Wi-Fi 6 and 6E?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
Wi-Fi 6 emits a 2.4 gigahertz
and five gigahertz signal for devices to connect to,
but Wi-Fi 6E adds a 6 gigahertz signal to the network
giving you the ability to use more 80 megahertz
and 160 megahertz channels to improve connection speed
without encountering interference from neighboring networks.
A standard Wi-Fi channel
can be compared to a single lane on a highway.
Newer Wi-Fi standards can bond two
or more channels together,
creating more lanes for traffic to flow
and increasing the amount of data that can travel at once.
In essence, Wi-Fi 6E is like the carpool lane
during rush hour is especially designed
for 6 gigahertz compatible devices.
All in all this extra banded Wi-Fi 6E
extends the capacity, efficiency, coverage
and performance of your signal.
All right, a side effect of bonded channels
is that the signal can overlap with neighboring networks
and the chance of interference increases
due to the relative newness of the 6 gigahertz spectrum,
the chances of interference are much lower.
So wider channels can be used more easily
without interference from nearby networks.
One drawback of the 6 gigahertz spectrum
is that due to the higher frequency of the signal,
the distance it can travel is lower than both five gigahertz
and 2.4 gigahertz.
A 6 gigahertz signal in an environment
where it must pass through multiple barriers, such as walls,
ceilings and appliances can potentially be problematic.
All other features of the Wi-Fi 6 standard
are incorporated in Wi-Fi 6E.
These new Wi-Fi generations rely on new devices
not just software updates.
This means that you have to have Wi-Fi 6 compatible devices
in order to connect to a Wi-Fi 6 network
and you'll need Wi-Fi 6E compatible devices
to connect to a Wi-Fi 6E network.
Don't worry, you can still connect newer devices
to older versions of Wi-Fi.
It would just be like having a 5G phone
on a 4G network or drive in a Ferrari in a parking lot.
It can go fast, just not in this context.
Remember your Wi-Fi 6E compatible devices
will need a 6E router
and your Wi-Fi 6 compatible devices
will need either a Wi-Fi 6 or 6E router.
Just know that on a Wi-Fi 6E router,
your Wi-Fi 6 devices will only be able to communicate
on the typical five gigahertz or 2.4 gigahertz channels.
Thanks to these new technological advancements,
Wi-Fi 6 and 6E are making our lives better
by increasing internet speed per device,
ensuring maximum internet security
and by extending device battery life.
If you need help understanding more about Wi-Fi 6 and 6E,
visit a blue shirt in one of our stores
or use a link below to set up time
with a Best Buy home expert like me.
We're happy to help.
Thanks for watching.