We spend our lives connected to a WiFi network and more and more devices are connected to the Internet via wireless. From the computer or mobile to the lights or the home vacuum cleaner. As if WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E weren’t enough, now WiFi Alliance has announced WiFi Certified 6 Release 2. The new cutting-edge standard for wireless communication that evolves from WiFi 6, the standard announced in 2018, and WiFi 6E another improved version of the same.
WiFi vulnerabilities are a big problem that can affect our connection no matter how new standards are introduced. The WiFi Alliance changed the naming scheme with the release of WiFi 6, as previously users had to look up the supported standards on WiFi-enabled devices such as a router or modem to find out which one was supported. This was changed with the change to numeric versions: Wi-Fi 6 certified devices support 802.11ax technology, while Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 4 devices only have 802.11ac and 802.n technologies respectively. Then came the launch of WiFi 6E which unlocked 6 GHz for WiFi devices.
Improvements brought by WiFi 6 Release 2
This new wireless connection standard adds support for uplink multi-user multi-input, multi -output (multi-user MIMO), which provides smoother streaming and video conferencing services, faster uploads, and more reliable gaming. Additionally, three power management features improve the energy efficiency of WiFi 6 Release 2. This benefits Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial business applications.
These new features apply to all bands supported by Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz) , bringing capacity, efficiency, coverage and performance benefits to large residential, business and public networks . At the same time, it provides strong WPA3 ™ security.
WiFi 6 Release 2, by including support for 6 GHz, means that it replaces both Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. These new features include improved Wi-Fi uplink performance by adding support for uplink multi-user MIMO. The addition allows “devices to upload content simultaneously to an access point”.
Multi-user MIMO
Uplink Multiuser MIMO improves network performance and reduces latency while videoconferencing, uploading documents, or performing any task that requires more uplink capacity.
Regarding the sleep mode and low power, “they include the activation time of the transmission target (TWT), the extended sleep time and the energy savings of multi-user dynamic spatial multiplexing (SMPS), allowing the optimization of the energy of various battery-powered devices ”. These features allow multiple devices to receive extended sleep periods, specific “wake-up” times for data transmission, and ” enable dynamic shutdown of redundant receive chains to optimize power consumption on Wi-Fi 6 Release 2 networks.”
Wi-Fi 6 Release 2 is already being certified and new devices that support this new standard are expected in late 2022 . What is unclear is whether existing devices can receive firmware updates to support the new standard.
