Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-01-19)

52 19 Januar y–1February 2022 •Issue623

available,ratherthanhavingtowaitits

turnbehindotherdevicesonthe

network,andcanstartprocessingor

usingthemsooner.

3

Access deviceson

2.4GHzand5GHzbands

Wireless devicescommunicate on oneof

twofrequencies:2.4GHzor 5GHz.The

2.4GHzbandarrivedfirstin1 997via the

802.11 st andard,and wasalsointhe

802.11bstandardthatfollowedtwo years

later. 1999 also sawthe launch of 802.11a,

whichopenedupthe 5GHz bandand

usedit to transmit data at significantly

higherspeeds.

In theyears since,we’ve alternated

betweenthe twofrequencies with each

newstandard. The 802.11gprotocol

adopted in 2003 usedthe2.4GHz bandto

provide thebestofbothworld s: ie,

speedscomparable to those5GHzbands

on 802.11a ,but with th elongerrangesof

othe r2.4GHzstandards.

Wi-Fi4(2008) worked with both

bands, whileWi-Fi 5(2014)supported

only 5GHz.But with Wi-Fi6we once

againhavethe benefit of both 2.4G Hz

and5GHzinthe same box.

Whyisthisimportant?Because many

internet-connectedhomedevices and

oldergadgetsarecompatible onlywith

2.4GHzsignals.Somesmart door bells,

plugsand lightbulbs ,for example, won’t

connectto5GHz,soanyonewithone of

thosedevices ,running aWi-Fi 5network,

mightalsoneed to runa2.4GHznetwork

alongsideit.

With Wi-Fi6,t hisshouldn’tbea

problem. Accommodating2.4GHz and

5GHz signal ssimul taneouslymeans the

networkshould be accessibletoany

devi ce,whicheverfrequency it’s

programmed to use.

4

Uselessbattery power

We’rebecomingmorereliantthan

ever on efficientbattery management.

We want oursmartphonestolastfrom

breakfas ttobedtime on asinglecharge

andour laptop stosee usthrough a

workingday.Mostdevices can manage it

when they’re newbut,ast heyage and

thei rbatteriesbecomelessefficient,they

mayneed some help –whichiswhere

Wi-Fi6comesintoits own.

Wi-Fi6incorporatesatechnology

called Target Wake Time (TWT)which

effectively lets your battery-powered

devi ce hangup a‘do not disturb’sign

foraspecifiedperiod. So,while a

streamingsmart TV mightneedtobe

constantly communicati ng with the

router,yourbattery-powered,internet-

connecteddoorbellismorelikelyto

need onlythe occasional check-in for

systemmessagesorsoftwareupdates.

The rest of thetime, itsinteractionswill

only be triggered by abuttonpush. This

means it can tell therouter notto

interractwithituntil an agreed time at

some poin tinthe future.

Thishas twobenefits.Aswellas

reducingthe amount of traffic onthe

network,whichleavesthe wireless signal

free forother devicestouse,battery-

powereddevices likeyourdoorbellwill

uselessenergybecause they can power

downthei rwireless circuitry foraperiod

of ti me safe in theknowledge therouter

will notbothe rit.

5

Stream multiple HDTV

channelssimultaneously

Maintainin gahigh-definition video

stream currentlyrequi reslessbandwidth

than youmightimagine.Netflix

recommends aminimumconnection

speed of 25 Mbps for4K(ultra-high

definition)video,whichyourexisting

routersshould be capabl eof.

However, as networksget busierand

we move from 4K to even higher-

definition broadcasts, we’remorelikely

to feel thestrai n, andthisiswhenWi-Fi 6

will really proveits worth.

Youcan alreadybuy8KTV sets, which

offer nottwice, butfourtimes the

resolution oftheultra-hig hdefinition 4K

panels that we’rejustbecomingfamiliar

with.There’snot much contentfor 8K

TVsrightnow but, as it becomes

available,it’slikelytorequiredata ratesof

around100Mbpsto1 25Mbps.

Setthree of theserunning on different

TVsinthe same home,alongside

streamed radio, someoneplayi ng games

at highfram eratesandsmart devices

checking in with each otherfrequently,

andWi-Fi 6mightsoonbecomethe only

viable option.

HOWWI-FI 6 NEARLYQUADRUPLEDOURHOMESPEED

Before we discuss whichWi-Fi 6routers

youshould consider, we’llexplainwhat

differen ce it made to thedata-transfer

speed inourtesthome. WhileWi-Fi 6

can in theory supportspeedsof up to

9.6Gbps,you won’tachieve that in

practicebecause this capacit ywill be

shar ed betweenmultipledevices and

antennas ,aswe’ll exploreinmoredetail.

Whyyouwon’t

actually get9.6Gbps

It’s time foranotheranalogy.

Imagineafactor ycan make

an averageof9.6 carsaday.

If it wasmakingthemsolely

forAudi, andall available

resourceswerebeing used

with th at goal in mind, that’s

therateatwhichAudimight

expecttoreceive newstock.

However, if thefactory hadalso

signed contractswithFordand Nissan,

theoverall outputwould remain the

same,but each client wouldreceive

vehicle sataslowerrate, becausethey’re

shar ingthe factory’s overallcapacity

–justasyourdevices do with your router.

Nowimagine ther e’scongestionatthe

factorygate,whichslows therateat

whichcars canleave theproductionline.

The carswould flowthroughthesupply

chainmoreslowly.Muchthe same

happenstothe data travelingthrough

your homewhen it encounterswalls and

othe rsolid objects. The better insulated

your home,the more pron ouncedthe

slowdown will become.

Afterthat, there’sthe rate at which

your devi cescan handle data.These are

likethe car dealerships. If they

can’tsellthe vehicles quickly

enough(or, in thedevice’s

case ,dealwithand dispose

of thedata), they’ll onlyneed

to useafractionof the

factor y’stotal capacit yto

satisfyall thestock they can

possibly manage.That’s why

youwon’t experiencethe

quoted speeds,printed on your

router or itspackaging, in

regular use.

moredetail.

o

whichcarscan le avethe productionline. your device

l

t

f

s

p

yo

qu

rou

regu

We tested theWi-Fi6

data-transferspeedsof

ourNetge ar Nightha wk

RAX70 router