Photo by Andrea De Santis:
By Roger Sands, CEO, and Co-Founder of Wyebot
WiFi 6E provides schools with a technology upgrade that can help them meet their strategic priorities and learning outcomes. However, not all schools will be ready to upgrade at the same time. This article discusses the technology, its differences from older WiFi options, advantages and disadvantages, and how to use WiFi automation to ease the upgrade process.
WiFi 6E
WiFi 6E is the name for any product that operates in the new unlicensed 6GHz wireless spectrum. These devices are the only ones allowed to operate in this frequency band, which makes them different from all other WiFi-capable devices. All legacy devices, including earlier released WiFi 6 devices, can only operate in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
Difference between WiFi 6E, WiFi 6, and WiFi 5
WiFi 6E refers to a WiFi-capable product, while WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and WiFi 5 (802.11ac) are iterations of the WiFi network protocol. They are also referred to as generations of WiFi.
WiFi 6 vs. WiFi 5
WiFi 6, released in 2019, was designed specifically to alleviate issues and improve network efficiency in high density areas. Its capabilities differ from WiFi 5 in a number of ways to allow it to achieve this. This includes:
- Higher maximum data rate: WiFi 6 offers theoretical speeds of 9.6Gbps while WiFi 5 offers 6.9Gbps.
- An increase in the number of devices with which APs can simultaneously communicate thanks to MU-MIMO (Multiple User Multiple In and Multiple Out) technology: while WiFi 5 only offered downlink MU-MIMO, WiFi 6 supports both uplink and downlink capabilities. WiFi 6 also makes MU-MIMO available on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrums. WiFi 5 only offers it on the 5GHz band.
- Reduced latency: thanks to Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), WiFi 6 allows up to 30 clients to share a channel. This boosts overall capacity and reduces latency.
- WiFi 6 provides a better battery life thanks to “target wake time,” which allows devices to schedule check-ins with APs.
- WiFi 6 offers a dedicated 20 MHz-only mode for low-bandwidth IoT devices.
WiFi 6E vs. WiFi 6
WiFi 6E provides all the benefits of WiFi 6 with an added bonus: the 6GHz wireless spectrum. This gives 6E devices access to 14 additional 80MHz channels and 7 additional 160MHz channels.
Since these channels are not shared with any legacy devices, WiFi 6E is less congested and offers less signal interference than WiFi 6 and WiFi 5. This also means that its promised higher performance, lower latency, and faster data rates (all WiFi 6 perks) are even faster and even lower.
The advantages of WiFi 6E for educational facilities
These are some ways that WiFi 6E’s advantages benefit schools.
- Lower Latency: Latency is the amount of time it takes for one data packet to travel from a user device such as a tablet or laptop to an AP or vice versa. The lower the latency, the faster the travel, and the better the network performance from an end user perspective.
Reports show that 6E offers latency as low as under one millisecond. This means that teachers, students, and administrators could see instantaneous responses to keyboard or voice commands, as well as mouse clicks. There would be no delay in video playback, video streaming, online games, or any augmented or virtual reality technologies. With latency this low, there’s no worry that students will get distracted waiting for a video or interactive game to load, and start chatting to each other, therefore requiring a teacher to take valuable time regaining their attention. Everything works when it needs to, with technology always supporting teachers’ goals.
- Faster Data Rates: With faster data rates and more channels, WiFi 6E reduces WiFi network congestion and interference, improving the network speeds experienced by teachers and students. While most users will probably never experience the top theoretical data rate, that faster rate still translates to faster possibilities for all connected students. This means less downtime and more learning time for everyone. With more data-intensive technologies entering schools, this is a needed capability for all.
- Higher capacity: Since 6E devices are the only ones allowed to use the 6GHz frequency bands, schools can adopt these devices without worrying about overcrowding their existing 2.4 and 5GHz bands. This increases a school’s overall capacity, improves the user experience, and provides teachers with a network that will reliably support the latest educational tools. Additionally, having three frequency bands available allows schools to strategically delegate devices to certain bands, further improving security, speed, and overall network performance.
Possible disadvantages of WiFi 6E
There aren’t many disadvantages, but there are two in particular that need to be addressed. The first is that the 6GHz spectrum uses shorter wavelengths than either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz. This is what allows it to transfer data more quickly, but it also means that network performance can suffer if data has to travel long distances. For this reason, it’s better to keep APs close to end users and devices (around 1500-2000 square feet is the max coverage available), and minimize the times that the WiFi signal must travel through obstructions like concrete and metal walls, doors, ceilings, and floors.
The second disadvantage is that while the unlicensed part of the spectrum is available now in certain countries, there can also be licensed users operating within it depending on which country you are in. If this is the case, user experience can suffer, particularly in outdoor spaces. To avoid this, educational facilities can make sure that devices and APs have the ability to connect to the network using all available frequencies. If the 6GHz spectrum stops providing the most reliable or fastest connection, devices can switch frequency bands and continue to provide connectivity and service to students and teachers.
Needed infrastructure changes
To benefit from WiFi 6E’s promised improvements, educational facilities must not only have 6E-capable devices, but also 6E-capable infrastructure. This includes APs, switches, and cables. All must be upgraded before end users can use the new technology.
There are other considerations as well. For example, 6E Aps have three radios, which allows them to offer connections to all three frequency bands. This also means that they typically require more power than older model APs. Facilities need to be ready to meet this increased energy demand, in addition to having the appropriate infrastructure in place.
How WiFi automation is essential
Upgrading an entire WiFi network requires IT to have complete visibility into all network behavior to be able to ensure that network performance never degrades during or after the upgrade. This includes visibility into all connected devices, backend and frontend infrastructure, and applications and services. With hundreds or thousands of possible devices involved, this becomes a full-time task, leaving IT teams no time to devote to other critical responsibilities.
To support teams and ease their workload while still promoting real-time visibility, educational facilities can work with WiFi automation platforms. These platforms use hardware and software to automate the analyzing and optimizing of the entire network ecosystem. They will:
- Automatically analyze all network activity and learn to recognize normal and abnormal performance
- Proactively alert IT to any network issues in real-time
- Automatically provide root cause identification and resolutions with alerts
- Provide remote troubleshooting
- Scale as a facility grows
- Automatically save real-time and historical analytics so that IT can easily review data and performance trends, and end-user quality metrics
With the addition of these platforms, educational facilities experience fewer WiFi network issues and shorter troubleshooting times. In regards to a planned WiFi 6E upgrade, these platforms automatically and proactively provide answers to questions like:
- What percent, if any, of existing clients are capable of using WiFi 6E?
- Where is network utilization the highest?
- How quickly are new devices entering the network?
After an upgrade, IT will have answers to questions such as:
- Were devices adversely affected by interoperability challenges?
- Did the upgrade provide more efficient network and airtime utilization?
- Was the user experience improved?
With these insights, upgrades are smoother for everyone. Facilities can adopt automation platforms at any time, although it is recommended to have at least a few months of data available prior to an upgrade. With this, schools can more easily determine what exactly is needed for their upgrade.
