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| less than a minute read

Next-Gen WiFi less about "ludicrous speed" and more about reliability

WiFi 8, which isn't likely to roll out until 2028 anyway, is already being represented as a major step forward in reliability rather than record-breaking speed. 

For years (and generations of WiFi) the goal has been to get faster and faster, increase bandwidth so more data can get across the networks. But it sometimes comes at a cost of reliability. That's no longer going to be the case if the teams working on WiFi 8 have their way. 

I'm sure there will be people in some corners of the Internet who are pure speed junkies and would want to see a continuation of physics-defying bandwidth acceleration. But all that speed is meaningless if your video is buffering, or you get a notification that there's no internet connection. 

And it's not like it's slowing down. No one is arguing “slow and steady wins the race.” Data is still moving at warp-speed. It's just, perhaps, time to look at how far we've come and see what the real issues are. Anyone who loses connectivity on any kind of regular basis will tell you reliability of the network is job #1. 

Wi-Fi 8, or 802.11bn as it is classed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), began life in 2022 as the Ultra High Reliability (UHR) study group. It followed a period of several years that saw rapid advances in data transfer speed, but wireless network users have often found the headline speeds unattainable in practice.

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technology, innovation, wifi, english, highlight

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