Back Issues This Week → Calendar → Current Issue → Popular →

All issuesVolume 297, Issue 3IT NewsNetworks

Wi-Fi 5 Vs. Wi-Fi 6: What's The Difference?

How-To Geek, December 20th, 2022

Wi-Fi 6 is a newer wireless networking standard, and it supports all Wi-Fi 5 features while adding new ones. It delivers faster internet speeds, higher efficiency, and can more efficiently handle a large number of wireless simultaneous connections.

If you want to buy wireless networking gear, Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 are two of the most prevalent wireless generations you'll currently find on the market. But what makes Wi-Fi 6 different from Wi-Fi 5, and is it better?

What Is Wi-Fi 5?

Wi-Fi 5 is the fifth generation of the wireless networking protocol and is also known by its Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard name of 802.11ac. It was introduced in 2014 and brought several improvements over Wi-Fi 4 or 802.11n, including support for data rates that exceed one gigabit.

more →  ·  More from Networks →