Generation IEEE
standard
Adopted Maximum
link rate
(Mb/s)
Radio
frequency
(GHz)
Wi-Fi 8 802.11bn 2028[1] 100 000[2] 2.4, 5, 6[3]
Wi-Fi 7 802.11be not yet completed 0.4–23 059 2.4, 5, 6[4]
Wi-Fi 6E 802.11ax 2021 0.4–9608[5] 2.4, 5, 6[a]
Wi-Fi 6 2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac 2013 6.5–6933 5[b]
Wi-Fi 4 802.11n 2009 6.5–600 2.4, 5
(Wi-Fi 3)* 802.11g 2003 6–54 2.4
(Wi-Fi 2)* 802.11a 1999 5
(Wi-Fi 1)* 802.11b 1999 1–11 2.4
(Wi-Fi 0)* 802.11 1997 1–2 2.4
*Wi‑Fi 0, 1, 2, and 3 are named by retroactive inference.
They do not exist in the official nomenclature.[6][7][8]

IEEE 802.11bn, dubbed Ultra High Reliability (UHR), is to be the next IEEE 802.11 standard.[9] It is also designated Wi-Fi 8. As its name suggests, 802.11bn aims to improve the reliability of Wi-Fi.[10]

802.bn will require more advanced antennas for channels above 6GHz which are used in 802.11be and lower. 42.5 GHz and 71 GHz require line of sight and cannot penetrate walls. Outdoors 802.bn will be attenuated by rain as is experienced by satellite communications. See rain fade.

  • Multiple Access Point (AP) Coordination and Transmission
  • Millimeter Wave (mmWave) Frequencies
  • Low Latency

The goal of 802.11bn is to reach 100 Gbps speeds. This is faster than copper Ethernet which tops out at 40 Gbps. This will require retrofitting ceiling mounted access points with single mode fiber.

References

edit
  1. ^ Reshef, Ehud; Cordeiro, Carlos (2023). "Future Directions for Wi-Fi 8 and Beyond". IEEE Communications Magazine. 60 (10). IEEE. doi:10.1109/MCOM.003.2200037. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  2. ^ "What is Wi-Fi 8?". everythingrf.com. March 25, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  3. ^ Giordano, Lorenzo; Geraci, Giovanni; Carrascosa, Marc; Bellalta, Boris (November 21, 2023). "What Will Wi-Fi 8 Be? A Primer on IEEE 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability". arXiv:2303.10442.
  4. ^ "Understanding Wi-Fi 4/5/6/6E/7". wiisfi.com.
  5. ^ "MCS table (updated with 80211ax data rates)". semfionetworks.com.
  6. ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (2018-10-03). "Wi-Fi Now Has Version Numbers, and Wi-Fi 6 Comes Out Next Year". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  7. ^ Phillips, Gavin (18 January 2021). "The Most Common Wi-Fi Standards and Types, Explained". MUO - Make Use Of. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Wi-Fi Generation Numbering". ElectronicsNotes. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  9. ^ Levinbook, Yoav; Ezri, Doron (2024-07-01). "AP cooperation in Wi-Fi: Joint transmission with a novel precoding scheme, resilient to phase offsets between transmitters". Signal Processing. 220 (July 2024). doi:10.1016/j.sigpro.2024.109432. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  10. ^ Giordano, Lorenzo; Geraci, Giovanni; Carrascosa, Marc; Bellalta, Boris (November 21, 2023). "What Will Wi-Fi 8 Be? A Primer on IEEE 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability". arXiv:2303.10442.

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Wi-Fi 6E is the industry name that identifies Wi-Fi devices that operate in 6 GHz. Wi-Fi 6E offers the features and capabilities of Wi-Fi 6 extended into the 6 GHz band.
  2. ^ 802.11ac only specifies operation in the 5 GHz band. Operation in the 2.4 GHz band is specified by 802.11n.