Not way back, shopping for a router meant selecting between the older Wi-Fi 5 customary and the newer Wi-Fi 6, with affordable arguments for selecting both one. But now, these two current requirements are contending with a 3rd possibility, referred to as Wi-Fi 6E, which the trade has been hyping as Wi-Fi’s biggest upgrade in two decades.

All of which complicates what’s already a reasonably agonizing choice, with corporations resembling TP-Link, Netgear, and Asus promoting routers throughout all three Wi-Fi generations. If you’re attempting to increase your wi-fi protection or remove lifeless zones, right here’s what you might want to know:

Why Wi-Fi 5 nonetheless issues

The Wi-Fi 5 customary—referred to as 802.11ac earlier than the trade began branding its requirements the identical approach Apple names its iPhones—launched in 2013, but it surely stays out there at this time in lower-cost routers. It’s additionally nonetheless a tremendous possibility for a few causes:

First, there’s no inherent distinction in reception vary between Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6, so that you might be able to get comparable protection with a less expensive router.

Amazon’s Eero three-pack with Wi-Fi 5, as an illustration, prices $169, which is $30 lower than the Wi-Fi 6 version with the identical marketed 5,000 sq. toes of protection. The $200 Google Wi-Fi three-pack and $269 Google Nest Wifi two-pack nonetheless use Wi-Fi 5 as properly—Google doesn’t even supply Wi-Fi 6 variations—and you’ll even purchase a Wi-Fi 5 mesh system from Vilo for $100. If you’re simply attempting to increase protection or remove lifeless zones, shopping for the most effective Wi-Fi 5 system you possibly can makes extra sense than getting an inferior Wi-Fi 6 system in the identical worth vary.

Also, most of your units most likely nonetheless use Wi-Fi 5 anyway.

You’ll nonetheless discover this older customary within the entry-level iPad, practically all Roku gamers (besides a pair that also use Wi-Fi 4), all Intel-based Macs, all PCs from previous to mid-2019, and all Fire TV units besides the brand new Fire TV Stick 4K Max. While these Wi-Fi 5 units will even work with newer Wi-Fi 6 routers, they gained’t get any advantages from the newer customary.

One associated word: If you’re shopping for a mesh router, you may see them marketed as both “dual-band” or “tri-band.” With tri-band programs, the mesh factors have their very own devoted line of communication, separate from those that feed information to your units, and that ends in much less congestion and higher speeds. Still, this function isn’t unique to Wi-Fi 6 both. A tri-band Wi-Fi 5 system with extra sturdy backhaul could also be a greater use of your cash than a dual-band system with Wi-Fi 6.

Where Wi-Fi 6 is smart

Wi-Fi 6 does have some benefits over Wi-Fi 5, however you might be able to get by with out them.

If you’re splurging on gigabit web—regardless that it’s overkill for most people—you’ll probably desire a Wi-Fi 6 router to go along with it. As the networking professional Dong Ngo has noted, Wi-Fi 6 can hit speeds of round 1,000 Mbps in the true world with most units, whereas Wi-Fi 5 may get to round half these speeds at finest.

That additional velocity gained’t matter for companies like Netflix—which consumes round 25 Mbps for 4K video—however may turn out to be useful if you happen to’re downloading torrent recordsdata from the web, transferring big quantities of information between networked storage drives, or streaming from an area media server at extraordinarily excessive bandwidths.

Wi-Fi 6’s different massive benefit is that it could actually extra effectively deal with plenty of connections on the similar time. One new expertise, referred to as OFDMA, is geared towards sensible dwelling units, and could also be useful if you happen to plan to attach a bunch of Wi-Fi-enabled mild bulbs and switches to your community. Wi-Fi 6 additionally extends a function referred to as MU-MIMO to uploads, which will be helpful throughout simultaneous Zoom calls or on-line gaming classes.

Router makers additionally declare that telephones and laptops get higher battery life whereas utilizing Wi-Fi 6, although I’ve but to see any impartial checks that quantify this. They assist a stronger from of network security as properly, however except all of your units assist Wi-Fi 6, you gained’t reap the advantages of that additional safety.

Granted, some Wi-Fi 6 routers profit from further options that aren’t instantly associated to the usual itself, resembling better-designed antennas or extra highly effective processors. (We’ve discovered, as an illustration, that TP-Link’s Archer AX50 Wi-Fi 6 router has better performance and range than the Archer A7 with Wi-Fi 5.) Still, Wi-Fi 6 alone doesn’t assure higher reception, and its velocity good points gained’t be noticeable for many web use instances.

Wi-Fi 6E: Still early

Wi-Fi 6E is theoretically a giant deal as a result of it provides a brand new frequency band to dwelling routers for the primary time in additional than a decade.

Today’s Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 routers supply two bands to attenuate congestion, with the two.4 GHz band providing slower speeds at longer vary, and the 5 GHz band providing sooner speeds at considerably shorter vary. Your router could robotically divvy up connections between these two bands, or it could show them as separate networks, letting you manually assign units to every one. (Just so as to add extra confusion, 5 GHz bands are sometimes labeled as “5G” out of the field, regardless of having nothing to do along with your cellphone’s 5G community.)

Wi-Fi 6E provides a 6 GHz band to the combination, additional decreasing congestion and permitting for speeds that had been seldom attainable on the 5 GHz band. But there’s one main downside: Its vary is even shorter than that of the 5 GHz band. This will probably enhance over time via higher {hardware} and even newer Wi-Fi requirements, however for now tests by CNET discovered no noticeable velocity good points for Wi-Fi 6E at shut vary, and big drop-offs at additional distances.

Meanwhile, present Wi-Fi 6E {hardware} is dear—Netgear’s new Wi-Fi 6E mesh system costs $1,500, and even TP-Link’s most elementary Wi-Fi 6E router lists for $200, cash that will be much better spent on a mesh system with Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6.

Netgear

Besides, gadget assist for Wi-Fi 6E is at present restricted to Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra and S22 Ultra, a handful of lesser-known phones, and a small number of laptops. (Rumors of Wi-Fi 6E within the iPhone 13 didn’t pan out.) While different units will nonetheless have the ability to hook up with Wi-Fi 6E routers, they will’t make use of the additional band that’s costing you all that more money.

None of which implies that it’s best to skimp on high quality when changing an outdated router—I’ve discovered that outdated or cut-rate routers have a tendency of be the supply of most Wi-Fi issues—however ensure you’re investing within the options that basically matter, not those that get pleasure from probably the most hype.

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