Explained: What is Wi-Fi 6E, how will Wi-Fi 6E help you get faster internet and more – Times of India

You must be already familiar with WiFi 6. Now, there’s a new Wi-Fi standard called Wi-Fi 6E. Announced by the Wi-Fi Alliance in 2020, the new Wi-Fi 6E standard will soon become mainstream by 2022 with smartphone brands including Apple, router OEMs and other network equipment makers adopting the new technology. While you can expect better Wi-Fi speeds with the new standard, the real reason for bringing in Wi-Fi 6E is to avoid network congestion as we have too many Wi-Fi networks around us. Here’s everything you need to know about Wi-Fi 6E.
What is Wi-Fi 6E?
The new Wi-Fi 6E standard will identify devices that support Wi-Fi 6 protocol along with 6 GHz networks. When it comes to Wi-Fi, you are already familiar with two WiFi bands– 2.4GHz and 5GHz. With 2.4GHz, the range of WiFi gets increased while 5GHz offers more data speeds. Now, there is a third band: 6GHz, with the introduction of WiFi 6E. The new standard is simply WiFi 6 technology in the 6GHz spectrum.
With WiFi 6E, you can expect faster data speeds but what’s more important is that your WiFi network (on WiFi 6E) will be free of any congestion and you will not see WiFi connectivity dropping on your device.
How will Wi-Fi 6E help you get better internet connection
The 6 GHz spectrum caters to Wi-Fi spectrum by adding 14 more 80 MHz channels and seven additional 160 MHz channels which are needed for high-bandwidth applications that require faster data throughput such as high-definition video streaming and virtual reality. With Wi-Fi 6E, you can add more users to the same network and the internet connection will be more reliable.

No matter the data plan you have selected or how much money you spend monthly, if there are too many WiFi networks around you, either on 2.4GHz or 5Hz, there will be interference and you will not get a stable WiFi connection throughout the day. This is the problem that Wi-Fi 6E solves.
If you go by the specifications, the top speed of WiFi at 5GHz and 6GHz is the same– 9.6Gbps. That’s the maximum speed that can be achieved by the current WiFi 6 standard. In reality, commercial internet service providers won’t be able to deliver such speeds. But speed isn’t the problem with 5GHz WiFi, the real issue is spectrum availability and with 6GHz (WiFi 6E), there will be four times more bandwidth, ultimately helping smartphones get higher speed internet.
How will you be able to get Wi-Fi 6E
The new Wi-Fi 6E technology is expected to become a standard feature of both iOS and Android smartphones in 2022. To get Wi-Fi 6E, you would need to get a new router that supports it and will be able broadcast connectivity at 6GHz. If you are using fiber broadband internet services at your home then you will have to wait for the operator– JioFiber, Airtel Xstream, ACT or others– to provide WiFI 6E supported routers to use the new technology. WiFi 6E supported devices will come with the badge– “Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6: Worldwide Wi-Fi 6E interoperability”
With all modern dual-band routers, you get to choose to connect 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi networks, with WiFi 6E routers, you will get three options– 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz. If you choose 6GHz, you can expect a more reliable connection as most of your neighbours and surrounding Wi-Fi networks will be using the congested 2.4GHz or 5GHz networks.