Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) Throwing an “ax” into 5G Era
Living in the era of 5G, we cannot be luckier to have witnessed the next-generation mobile network (NGMN) being rolled out and incorporating major technological advancements across various industries. The icing on the cake, however, is the simultaneous entrance of Wi-Fi 6. A study conducted by Cisco predicted, that Wi-Fi alone, by 2020, will make up 51% of global IP traffic, more than the total of wired access (29%), and mobile networks (20%).
5G and Wi-Fi 6: Two Mutually Supportive Technologies
5G and Wi-Fi 6, respectively representing significant development in the licensed and unlicensed spectrums, have the same enhancements focus: greater speeds, lower latency, and higher performance. Hence hot debates have arisen of whether these two new connectivity technologies are going to replace or augment one another. Despite the market chatters, what matters to stakeholder groups and users is how these two can work together and bring out the most value of both.
For starters, Wi-Fi 6, a high-efficiency version of WLAN with backward compatibility, delivers lower latency and 4x higher speed than its predecessor. This gives Wi-Fi 6 better coverage in indoor scenarios such as homes, offices, conference rooms, on every floor and in every room. In contrast, 5G, while providing 50x higher speed and 1,000x larger capacity than 4G-LTE, allows it to offer better connectivity and higher performance to more devices, hence making it ideal for industry verticals, especially outdoor applications such as bullet train or autonomous vehicle.
Undoubtedly, these two technologies are complementary to each other; their co-existence is sure to bring telecom/networking providers new business opportunities and customers more new use cases. One of the applications that immediately benefit from it is the Internet of Things, for the complex and mission-critical requirements heavily rely on high capacity, fast speed, low latency and the flexibility to choose from the suitable wireless technologies.
The Winner: Networking Vendors and Enterprise Customers
For future network communication appliances, the Wi-Fi 6 support will play a vital role in uCPE and SD-WAN implementation. On the other hand, in the 5G era, uCPE will be relied on to execute higher amounts of virtualized/multi-vendor applications. Hence, improving the wired/wireless data transmission quality, securing the sending/receiving of data packets and constant connection have become the top concern for maintaining corporates network’s business continuity.
Obviously, with the overwhelming advantages of easy-deployment, low-cost and adaptability, Wi-Fi 6 plus 5G make the unparalleled solution for corporate network establishment. Lanner, as an uCPE appliance provider, already visualized this trend and strives to utilize the capacious bandwidth and low latency it brings. To make sure our customers benefit from the maximum value of these technologies, Lanner’s uCPE Whitebox offering – NCA-1515, supporting multiple connection types including the latest Wi-Fi 6 and 5G, serves as an ideal platform for all the next-level applications such as 4K/8K video conference or immersive VR classroom.