Dramatically Boost Outdoor Wi-Fi 6 Performance with a High-Efficiency Antenna

Since its introduction in 2018 and final certification in February 2021, a great deal has been written about 802.11ax (herein referred to as Wi-Fi 6) and its key features. The headline feature of Wi-Fi 6 is orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA). This technology comes from the cellular world, thus the frequent conflation of Wi-Fi 6 with 5G, and delivers a deterministic network where the access point controls when and how a client device will transmit. For good reason, the IEEE calls 802.11ax the “High-Efficiency standard.” If OFDMA was the only new technology in Wi-Fi 6, we could be satisfied with that. Fortunately, the IEEE went beyond OFDMA and created additional modes that all contribute to a more efficient network. For example, the upstream OFDMA and MU-MIMO decrease latency and increase capacity for high-density networks and latency-sensitive applications like AR and VR. Target Wait Time (TWT) allows a client device to power down for longer periods of time (measured in fractions of a second up to minutes), increasing battery life and decreasing unnecessary RF management overhead, even for a smartphone streaming an online movie.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.cambiumnetworks.com/blog/dramatically-boost-outdoor-wi-fi-6-performance-with-a-high-efficiency-antenna/