How Much Do You Know About Wi-Fi 6?

Joanne LennonSenior Manager, Product Marketing November 29th 2018

“Too much – yet not enough!” – Devin Akin, Founder and Principal Wi-Fi Architect, Divergent Dynamics

While there are many innovative technologies and solutions being introduced at the Network Edge, few garner as much interest than the next generation of Wi-Fi. With over 8 billion Wi-Fi devices globally, Wi-Fi is engrained in every area of our lives – at home, at work, and at leisure. Many now view Wi-Fi as a utility – up there with electricity or water. The thought of having a coffee shop, hotel, or stadium without Wi-Fi nowadays, is on par with them having no coffee, beds, or athletes.

Next Gen Wi-Fi

However how much do people really know about the next generation of Wi-Fi – 802.11ax or Wi-Fi 6 as it was recently renamed?   Devin Akin, the Principal Wi-Fi Architect at Divergent Dynamics, believes “Too much – yet not enough!” He explains “There is a significant amount of public information on 802.11ax; however, some of it misleading and overstated, and much of it not addressing what people really need to know – What will it mean for my business and when should I upgrade?”

Fortunately, Devin is on a crusade to help answer these questions.  Renowned for cutting through marketing fluff and telling it as it is, Devin provides his candid thoughts on claims such as

  • 11ax is like a switch (Devin: “it isn’t”)
  • 11ax will give 4X throughput (Devin: “it won’t – unless it’s a greenfield deployment”)
  • The benefit of MU-MIMO will finally be realized (Devin: “No chance”)

Devin goes on to explain, “Vendors should take the pole position on helping customers understand what parts of 11ax are useful and what parts are hype. 11ax has a very real potential to positively impact high density networks and organizations if implemented properly, but customers should not be quick to conclude that 11ax technology will instantly catapult their business years into the future. 11ax is incremental technology that will improve protocol efficiency, leading to better handling of high client density and application performance.”

To learn more, listen to the Best Practices: 802.11ax Design and Deployment webinar. It is truly a not-to-be-missed webinar for anyone considering Wi-Fi upgrades anytime soon.

Get Smart Series

However, education on 802.11ax doesn’t stop there.  Extreme is launching an educational series of short technical videos, Are You Ready for 802.11ax?, hosted by Devin, covering all the 802.11ax details you need to know. 

  • Video 1 – What is 802.11ax? And Why?  Devin explains the basics of 802.11ax and existing issues with Wi-Fi.
  • Video 2 – OFDMA: The Key Technology of 802.11axDevin goes ‘under the hood’ explaining in detail what OFDMA is and why it matters.
  • Video 3 – Additional 802.11ax Enhancements and Throughput: Learn about Guard Intervals, how 11ax works in the 2.4GHz band, modulation, 1024QAM and more. And most importantly, Devin will take you through the details of what you should expect in throughput with 11ax.
  • Video 4 – More Features, Biggest Challenges and When to Upgrade:  Devin covers more features included with the 802.11ax standard, and will share his thoughts on the #1 question “When should I upgrade?”

Got Questions? Ask Devin

Do you still have a burning question on Wi-Fi 6 that you can’t find the answer to? Now you can Ask Devin. Submit your questions today and have them addressed by Devin in an upcoming video update, which we’ll email directly to you.

As Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest’.  Before you invest in Wi-Fi 6, ensure you understand what it really means for your business.

Additional Resources

To learn more about Extreme Networks solutions, check out the resources below: