COVERFEATURE
50 19 Januar y–1February 2022 •Issue623
WHATYOUCANDO
- •Streammultiple TVsand games
simultaneouslywithout problems - •Use beamformingtodirectWi-Fi
signalsto specific devices - •Run every device on your network at
itsmaximumspeed - •Preservebattery lifebyusing
Wi-Fi6’s Target Wake Time - •Add Wi-Fi6toanold laptop using a
D-Link dongle - •Discoverwhich Wi-Fi6router is
perfect foryourneeds - •Checkwhetheryour computer
supports Wi-Fi6
W
i-Fi 6isthefastest,smartest
networkingstandard
ever devised. Although it’s
beenindevelopmentfor
severalyears,andthefirstdeviceswere
certifiedasfarbackas 2019,it’sonlynow
becomingwidelyprevalent.So, if you’re
intendingtoupgradeyournetwork, it
makesperfect senseto optforWi-Fi 6.
There’s noneedto upgradeyour
wholenetworkat once.Ifyouwantto
upgradeonlyyourrouterfornow,you
can, whilecontinuingtouse yourcurrent
smartphoneandlaptopuntil theyreach
theendof theirusefullives.Whenyoudo
replacethemwithWi-Fi6-readydevices,
you’ll benefitfromtheinvestmentyou’ve
alreadymadewithyourrouter.Wi-Fi6canachievearoundthreetimes
thespeedof Wi-Fi5,and16 timesthatof
Wi-Fi4.This meansit canaccommodate
manymore devices beforeit startstofeel
thestrain. It does this byusingfaster
components in tandemwithsmarterdata
management.Theresult is asmoother,
lessfrustratingexperience,particularly in
homeswhere severalpeopleare browsing
theweb,playinggamesandstreaming
Netflix oriPlayeratthesametime.
Wi-Fi6hasbeendesignedaroundthe
waywework today. It makesconcessions
to thefactthatmoreofourdevicesare
batterypoweredwhilecopingbetterwith
‘noisy’environments, whereneighbours’
networkscanencroachonthesame
channelasyours.WHYYOU MUST
UPGRADETO
WI-FI 6
Wi-Fi 6 isfastandpowerful
enoughtorevolutionise
yourhomenetwork,but
only ifyouknowhowto
getthemostfromit.
NikRawlinson givesyou
alltheexpertadviceyou
need aboutthisexciting
technology