Wi-Fi Standards: Wi-Fi 5, 6 and 6E Compared

netzwerk
hardware
English

Wi-Fi Standards: Wi-Fi 5, 6 and 6E Compared

Since 2018 the Wi-Fi Alliance uses simple names: Wi-Fi 5 = 802.11ac, Wi-Fi 6 = 802.11ax, Wi-Fi 6E = ax with the 6 GHz band.

The standards

Wi-Fi 5 (ac): 5 GHz, up to ~3.5 Gbit/s theoretical, MU-MIMO from Wave 2.
Wi-Fi 6 (ax): 2.4 + 5 GHz, OFDMA, better with many devices, lower latency, up to ~9.6 Gbit/s.
Wi-Fi 6E: additionally 6 GHz — less overlap, more channels, low latency.
Wi-Fi 7 (be): 2.4/5/6 GHz, 320 MHz channels, MLO, up to ~46 Gbit/s.

Practical speeds

The theoretical values are marketing. In reality you achieve 30-60% of them, depending on distance, walls and interference. 1 Gbit/s internet needs Wi-Fi 6/6E and good reception.

Channels

2.4 GHz: channels 1, 6, 11 do not overlap. 5 GHz: 36, 40, 44, 48 etc. 6 GHz: many 80/160 MHz channels, usually without DFS.

Planning

Connect access points via Ethernet (no repeaters).
Enable WPA3, disable WPS.
Keep firmware up to date.