IEEE 802.11ac (WiFi 5) vs. 802.11ax (WiFi 6) Comparison

IEEE 802.11ac (WiFi 5) and 802.11ax (WiFi 6) are both wireless networking standards developed by the IEEE. 802.11ac came after 802.11n (WiFi 4) and before 802.11ax.

802.11ac was introduced to provide faster and more reliable wireless communication, specifically focusing on the 5 GHz frequency band.

IEEE 802.11ax was designed to offer significant improvements in wireless network performance, capacity, and efficiency, aiming to meet the ever-growing demands of modern wireless communication.

WiFi 802.11ac (WiFi 5)

This WLAN standard is the successor to IEEE 802.11n. It achieves high throughput by utilizing wider bandwidths, multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), a higher number of spatial streams, and advanced modulation schemes like 256 QAM.

Its primary goal was to provide faster and more reliable wireless communication within the 5GHz band. It’s often referred to as Wi-Fi 5 because 802.11ac is the fifth generation of the 802.11 standard.

Key features and characteristics include:

• Wider Channel Bandwidths: Supports up to 80 MHz and 160 MHz, enabling high data throughput.
• MU-MIMO Support: Enables multiple devices to be served simultaneously on the same channel.
• Beamforming: Allows the Access Point (AP) to focus signal energy directly towards connected devices, improving signal strength and reliability.
• Backward Compatibility: Works with older standards like 802.11a/b/g/n.
• Enhanced Security: Supports WPA2 for improved wireless security.
• Improved Range and Coverage: Offers better range and coverage compared to its predecessors.

It’s commonly used as a high-speed Wi-Fi solution in both home and enterprise environments. Its enhanced data rates and performance make it suitable for bandwidth-intensive applications like streaming HD video, online gaming, and large file transfers.

WLAN 802.11ax WiFi (WiFi 6)

This WLAN standard is the successor to IEEE 802.11ac and is known as Wi-Fi 6 because 802.11ax is the sixth generation of the 802.11 standard.

It boasts advanced features like downlink and uplink OFDMA, uplink resource scheduling (without contention, unlike 802.11ac), MU-MIMO (both downlink and uplink), longer OFDM symbols, a higher modulation scheme (1024-QAM), more spatial streams (up to 8), support for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, and BSS coloring.

Key features and characteristics of IEEE 802.11ax include:

• Higher Data Rates: Offers maximum data rates of up to 9.6 Gbps under ideal conditions, achieved through advanced modulation schemes like 1024-QAM.
• OFDMA Support: Allows for more efficient sharing of channel resources.
• Enhanced MU-MIMO: Supports MU-MIMO and extends the number of simultaneous streams up to 8, enhancing its ability to serve multiple devices concurrently.
• Target Wake Time (TWT): Allows devices to schedule when they wake up and communicate with the AP, conserving power, which is ideal for IoT devices.
• Improved Security: Supports WPA3 to enhance security for wireless networks.
• Flexible Channel Widths: Supports channel widths of up to 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz.
• Comparable Range: Doesn’t significantly increase maximum range compared to 802.11ac.
• Backward Compatibility: Works with older Wi-Fi standards.

Difference between 802.11ac and 802.11ax

Let’s break down the differences between the 802.11ac and 802.11ax Wi-Fi standards, focusing on features like speed/data rate, capacity, range, and network efficiency.

Conclusion

While they share some similarities, 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) introduces several enhancements and features that are absent in 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5). As a result, 11ax delivers higher data rates, improved efficiency, and better support for dense deployments and IoT devices.

Therefore, 802.11ax is considered a more advanced and capable Wi-Fi standard for addressing modern networking needs.