Office workers' tools are constantly changing: something new and more efficient is always just around the corner. Lately, we've been noticing WiFi6E-compatible computers and phones starting to make their way to the market. However, enthusiasm can turn into frustration when your employees realize that the office's internal network is not yet up to date to support the new features.
What do we need to know about WiFi6E? We had a chat with Aruba's Joni Matis and DNA's Juho Saarinen about the topic and compiled a handy checklist:
1. WiFi, i.e., wireless network, is commonly used in offices. It offers a combination of compatibility, security, and cost-effectiveness which make it the best general-purpose wireless office network. The current version of WiFi is called WiFi6. Previous WiFi technologies were not built with efficiency in mind, but WiFi6 brought a change to that. A modern WiFi6 network can serve a significantly larger number of simultaneous users. It is faster and ensures better quality and safer wireless connection.
2. WiFi's most recent innovation – marked by the additional letter E – brings something decisively different – namely, a new, congestion-free frequency. Until now, WiFi has used frequencies of 2.4 or 5 gigahertz. These frequencies are widely used, so the bandwidth is more and more limited, especially in urban areas. Multi-wavelength IoT devices and even airport radar signals burden these frequencies. Wifi6E doesn't try to squeeze in but instead uses the less congested 6 gigahertz frequency.
3. A new highway to the internet can be a treat, especially when working with tasks that require a lot of bandwidth. For example, a company running numerous simultaneous video calls, video editing, or metaverse development will benefit from it. The early adopters might already be installing special WiFi6E adapters on their laptops. Still, these will soon become redundant as the biggest network interface card manufacturers have started supplying compatible cards to the device manufacturers.
4. WiFi6E also supports the existing telecommunication infrastructure and helps to take advantage of more modern internal office connections. You can, for example, get more out of the 10-gigabit internal network investment with it. It is also a most suitable internal network companion for high-speed WAN connection – whether implemented using fiber optics or fixed wireless access 5G. A good rule of thumb is 5G for the outer wall, 6E for the inner wall!
5. To use WiFi6E in the office, you need base stations that support it. DNA and Aruba deliver WiFi6E as a service that they can tailor to fit each company's unique needs.
If your busy employees suffer from a sluggish or unreliable network, it's the right time to take action and fix the office's WiFi connections once and for all.
There is hardly any effort in the implementation of the access points. The network architects of DNA and Aruba know how to plan and set the connections up to date. Your old devices can use the new access points, even if they can't surf on the six-gigabit frequency.
Get in touch!
