Why you should (or shouldn't) upgrade your router to Wifi 6

In this blog post, we will be explaining about the different wifi versions and how they compare to each other before we decide on a set of rough criteria on weather you should upgrade to the latest and greatest.

In this blog post, we will be using the new Wifi naming scheme, which is Wifi 4 to 7 rather than the old naming scheme which is 802.11n/ac/ax/be.

Introduction #

Before we go through the different Wifi versions, we will first go through some of the basic concepts of Wifi.

Here are some of the topics we will be going through

1. Bit rate
2. Multi-user Multi-input Multi-output (MU-MIMO)
3. Resource Unit (RU)

Bit Rate #

What is the bit rate?

The bit rate is the maximum speed that a Wifi connection can achieve. This is usually measured in Mbps (Megabits per second) or Gbps (Gigabits per second). The higher the bit rate, the faster the Wifi connection.

How does it affect your Wifi connection?

The bit rate is the maximum speed that a Wifi connection can achieve. If the tasks you are doing does not require a high bit rate, then you will not notice any difference in your Wifi connection.

Here are some rough estimates of the bit rate required for some common tasks.

Multi-user Multi-input Multi-output (MU-MIMO) #

This is a technology that allows for multiple antennas to be used to transmit and receive data.

It is important to note that the number of antennas is not the same as the number of spatial streams.

Traditionally, each device communicating with the router will have to wait for its turn to communicate with the router.

With MU-MIMO, multiple devices can communicate with the router at the same time. It is as if there are multiple routers, each with its own antenna, communicating with each of your devices.

How does it affect your Wifi connection?

This does not affect your Wifi connection directly.

However, if you have multiple devices connected to your router, MU-MIMO will allow for multiple devices to communicate with the router at the same time, which will improve the overall performance of your Wifi connection.

Resource Unit (RU) #

RU stands for Resource Unit. It is a unit of bandwidth that is used to transmit data. You can think of it as a small slice of bandwidth. Wider channels have more RUs. The different frequencies are like lanes in the highways.

You can think of it as trucks on a highway. The Trucks are the RUs and the highway is the channel. The Trucks carry data on the highway to your router.

In Wifi 5, each truck can only carry data for one device and all trucks can only carry data on one highway lane.

In Wifi 6, each truck can carry data for multiple devices but all trucks can only carry data on one highway lane.

In Wifi 7, each truck can carry data for multiple devices and the trucks can carry data on multiple highways. Even if the lanes are not next to each other.

Wifi Comparison #

Wifi 4 (802.11n) #

This is the first Wifi standard to use MIMO (Multi-input Multi-output) technology, which allows for multiple antennas to be used to transmit and receive data. Do note that this is not the same as MU-MIMO, which is a newer technology that allows for multiple devices to communicate with the router at the same time.

This is also the first Wifi standard to use the 5 GHz band, which is less crowded than the 2.4 GHz band. The 5 GHz band also has a shorter range than the 2.4 GHz band, but in return it has a higher maximum speed. The channel width is also increased from 20 MHz to 40 MHz, which increases the maximum speed possible.

It also introduces a new feature called frame aggregation, which allows for multiple frames to be sent in a single transmission.

Wifi 5 (802.11ac) #

This is the first Wifi standard to use MU-MIMO (Multi-user Multi-input Multi-output) technology, which allows for multiple antennas to be used to transmit and receive data. For Wifi 5, a maximum of 4 users can communicate with the router at the same time through MU-MIMO.

The channel width is also increased from 40 MHz to 160 MHz, which increases the maximum speed possible. It also supports beamforming, which allows for the router to focus the signal towards the device, which increases the signal strength for the device.

Wifi 6 (802.11ax) #

This is the first Wifi standard to use OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access), which allows for even more devices to communicate with the router at the same time. For Wifi 6, a maximum of 8 users can communicate with the router at the same time through MU-MIMO.

There is also a new 6 GHz band (Only Wifi 6E), which has a shorter range than the 5 GHz band, but in return it has a higher maximum speed.

Wifi 7 (802.11be) #

Wifi 7 Introduces a large set of features even compared to Wifi 6

1. Multi Link Operation
2. 16x16 MU-MIMO
3. Multi RU Puncturing

Multi Link Operation

You can connect to multiple bands of wifi and the data will transmit through whichever band is the fastest. This reduces the packet queueing delay and increases the overall speed of the connection on all bands.

16x16 MU-MIMO

This allows for 16 devices to communicate with the router at the same time through MU-MIMO. A 2x step up from Wifi 6.

Comparison Table #

Note: The max speed is the maximum speed that a Wifi connection can achieve theoretically. Real world speeds will be much lower than the max speed.

Should you upgrade? #

Wifi 4 to Wifi 5 #

You should probably upgrade if you face any of the following.

1. You have many devices connected to your router through Wifi. (More than ~5)
2. You have a fast internet connection. (>100 Mbps from your ISP)
3. Your router does not cover your entire house.

I will definitely recommend most people to upgrade to Wifi 5 if they have not done so already.

Wifi 5 to Wifi 6 #

You should probably upgrade if you face any of the following.

1. Most of your devices support Wifi 6.
2. You have many devices connected to your router through Wifi. (More than ~10)
3. You have a fast internet connection. (~1 Gbps from your ISP)
4. Your router does not cover your entire house.

Wifi 6 to Wifi 7 #

As a consumer, this is definitely not recommended. Wifi 7 is still in development and it will likely be released in 2024. It will take a few years for Wifi 7 to be widely adopted.

However, if you are a business owner, you should definitely consider upgrading to Wifi 7 if you face any of the following.

1. You have many devices connected to your router through Wifi. (More than ~20)
2. You have a fast internet connection. (~10 Gbps from your ISP)

Conclusion #

In conclusion, I will recommend most people to upgrade to Wifi 5 if they have not done so already. However, I will not recommend most people to upgrade to Wifi 6 unless they have a fast internet connection and many devices connected to their router through Wifi.

Useful Links #

1. RF Wireless World
2. What is Wifi 7
3. Wifi Wikipedia
4. What are Spatial Streams
5. TP Link Wifi 7
6. EdgeUp Asus Multi RU