We can currently buy Wi-Fi Mesh routers and systems with the Wi-Fi 6E standard, the latest standard available right now while waiting for the future Wi-Fi 7 . Many people wonder if it is worth spending money on a new Wi-Fi 6E router compared to Wi-Fi 6 models, since the additional money outlay to buy one with the latest standard is up to 50 % higher than other previous model, and you may not know or be able to take full advantage of it. Today in this article we are going to indicate in which cases it is worth it, and in which it is not worth it at all.
What does the new Wi-Fi 6E bring me?
The new Wi-fi 6E standard only allows us to use the new 6GHz band to connect wireless clients, the rest of the features, options and theoretical (and real) speed are exactly the same as the Wi-Fi 6 standard. The advantages of Using this new standard, therefore, is the possibility of using the new 6GHz band, which gives us all of this:
- We will not have interference with other neighboring WiFi networks, since it is in a completely different frequency band.
- We can use channel widths of 160MHz and make the most of the WiFi network.
- There are no DFS channels that might not be available, as is the case with the 5GHz band (and the Wi-Fi 6 standard).
- Here we can connect the fastest WiFi clients , making the wireless network work much faster globally.
Another point in favor of this standard is that the use of the WPA3 encryption protocol is mandatory , it does not allow you to configure WPA or WPA2. Therefore, both WiFi Mesh routers and systems, as well as wireless clients, will use WPA3 to communicate securely. This is a point in favor of this new standard, because it “forces” to use the best WiFi encryption that currently exists.
It’s worth it in these cases
Buying a Wi-Fi Mesh router or system with the Wi-Fi 6E standard will only be worth it in certain cases and not always. You must assess whether you really need to connect to the new 6GHz band or not, because the initial investment in equipment can be quite large, especially if you decide to go for medium-high range models where exceeding €300 for a single router is the most usual.
- There are many 5GHz Wi-Fi networks from neighbors where you live , and the performance you have in this frequency band is very bad, both for speed and for WiFi coverage.
- If you already have several WiFi clients compatible with the new standard. The latest upper-middle-range smartphones, tablets and computers that hit the market usually incorporate this type of connectivity with support for the 6GHz band.
- If you plan to connect with your devices in places relatively “close” to the router, otherwise you should know that the coverage will be less than the 5GHz band and much less than the 2.4GHz band. This is completely normal since we are using much higher frequencies.
- If you use Windows 11 or Linux systems you will be able to connect, remember that the new Wi-Fi 6E standard is not supported by Windows 10 , so you must take it into account.
As you can see, only if you meet certain assumptions will it be worth buying a new device with the standard that allows us to connect to the 6GHz band, otherwise, we believe that it is better that you continue using Wi-Fi 6 because it is much cheaper by having been with us much longer, and there are models of all ranges and prices.
What will happen when the new Wi-Fi 7 comes out? Well, this standard is scheduled to come out later this year, ASUS has already presented its first router recently, however, you should know that they will be much more expensive than Wi-Fi 6E. It is possible that when the new Wi-Fi 7 is released, equipment with Wi-Fi 6E will drop a lot in price, so it could be a good opportunity to buy the previous generation.