6 GHz Wi-Fi

term

networkingISP & telecom

Stands for: the 5.925-7.125 GHz band opened to unlicensed Wi-Fi

The 5.925-7.125 GHz band opened to unlicensed Wi-Fi, roughly tripling the spectrum available to wireless LANs.

Regulators began releasing 6 GHz in 2020, and it carries far more non-overlapping wide channels than 2.4 or 5 GHz - the reason it is attractive in dense deployments. The trade-off is physics rather than protocol: higher frequencies attenuate faster and pass through walls less well, so coverage per access point falls even as capacity rises. Devices must also support it, which is what Wi-Fi 6E and later certifications indicate.

Also known as: 6GHz, Wi-Fi 6E, 6E, U-NII-5, U-NII-8

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