The ever-rising data consumption and exponential growth of digitization have fuelled a burgeoning revolution in electronics, with each company fighting to bring the next big thing to sway the buyers. Routers despite being a vital tool in this jigsaw puzzle haven’t had much awe factor besides its utility. However, all this is about to change thanks to the next standard in the wireless protocol – The Wi-Fi standard 6.Â
Where the traditional router struggles to keep up with the spread in bandwidth due to increasing connected devices, the new standard is capable of transmitting gigabits of data with massive bandwidth over farther distances more than ever. These radical changes don’t stop there; this new tech also offers enhanced security, low latency, increased transfer rate, and a small power consumption signature.
The technology which was demonstrated in early 2019 did not catch up as expected by the analyst, which despite its alluring features, faced a lot of criticism due to higher cost and direct rivalry from the earlier standard five versions. However, the technology always seems costly and exorbitant till companies decide to outsell it, which was apparent at the CES 2020.
The show highlighted some different routers with prices starting for as low as 200$, which puts them a premium cut above the best standard router available in the market. Netgear unveiled their Nighthawk Mesh, which is the first mesh router from the electronic giant that comes with a two-pack router setup for $230 and can be used with internet speeds up to 400 Mbps. Although mesh routers tend to be priced on a higher side, they can be paired with multiple units to increase coverage and speed, much of which the Wi-Fi 6 is set out to solve, making them a less enticing option.
Nonetheless, the Wi-Fi 6 offers speeds up to 9.6 Gbps from a fixed cap of 3.5 Gbps on Wi-Fi 5 with that extra bandwidth that allows multiple devices to connect to the internet simultaneously. With more and more companies placing its bet on the technology though equipping its products with Wi-Fi 6 compatibility, it’s for sure the technology has its fair share of chance. All in all, we hope to see technology evolving as it does at the CES and would love to watch the Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 working in tandem to make lives better.
