Wi-Fi generations (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
termnetworking
The successive amendments to IEEE 802.11, given retroactive marketing numbers in 2018 - from 2 Mbps in 1997 through MIMO, multi-user transmission, OFDMA, the 6 GHz band, and multi-link operation.
The useful way to read the sequence is that the goal changed. Early generations sold raw modulation rate; from Wi-Fi 6 onward the features sell airtime efficiency and determinism - dividing a channel into resource units so small transmissions share a slot, letting a radio ignore a neighbouring network's traffic instead of deferring to it, and scheduling when battery devices listen. That shift happened because contention, not modulation, is what limits a busy network, which is also why a newer standard helps a crowded room more than it helps a fast laptop.
Also known as: wi-fi 6, wi-fi 6e, wi-fi 7, ofdma, mu-mimo, bss colouring