The Wireless Broadband Alliance announced the conclusion of five trial deployments of Wi-Fi 6 across diverse markets.
The WBA noted that these deployments show that Wi-Fi 6, with wider channels up to 160 megahertz, and capacity up to 9.6 Gbps, can enable nearly three-times faster, gigabit data rates.
WNA said that Wi-Fi 6 is now proven to deliver better reliability, lower latency, and better network efficiency, especially in environments with many connected devices.
The trials covered a range of different verticals and deployment scenarios, and demonstrated the key capabilities of Wi-Fi 6 in live networks, which lays the foundation for deployment of Wi-Fi 6 in enterprises, homes, schools, transportation hubs, travelers and the internet of things.
The WBA said that trials addressed the following deployment in key vertical markets:
-Industrial manufacturing: Mettis Aerospace worked with Broadcom, Cisco, iBwave and Intel to deploy Wi-Fi 6 in a dense industrial environment with heavy metal, high temperatures and moving machinery, where previous generations of Wi-Fi did not perform well. The Wi-Fi 6 trial demonstrated improved reliability, coverage, throughput and lower latency for supporting mission critical applications.
-High-density malls: Korean operator SK Telecom deployed Wi-Fi 6 to improve connectivity for consumers, increase quality of experience (QoE) for densely populated areas and provide high throughput for immersive media services. Wi-Fi 6 reduced latency by 80%, reduced throughput fluctuation, and improved service reliability to customers throughout the mall.
-Single-family and multi-dwelling units: CableLabs, Intel and Kyrio deployed Wi-Fi 6 in a mixed-use residential area to increase the user experience in a Wi-Fi loaded network. In this trial, Wi-Fi 6 delivered a significant increase in throughput, enabling the delivery of multiple 4K video with higher quality.
-Education in rural areas: C-DOT and Intel deployed Wi-Fi 6 in a rural school trial in India to enhance new learning technologies, and improve signal coverage and streaming performance. Wi-Fi 6 improved throughput by more than 50% throughout the network.
-Transportation hubs like John Wayne Airport: In the U.S., Boingo, Cisco and Samsung worked together to launch Wi-Fi 6 at John Wayne Airport (SNA) to power a next generation connectivity experience and support airport operations. Following the SNA deployment, Boingo has moved its Wi-Fi 6 technologies from trials to commercial operations and most recently, Boingo has announced an airport-wide commercial deployment of Wi-Fi 6 at São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport.
“These successful deployments prove the strength of Wi-Fi 6 technology to achieve better throughput, lower latency, enhanced reliability, improved network efficiency and better user experience,” said Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of the WBA. “Ultimately, they prove the readiness of Wi-Fi 6 for carrier deployments, and the WBA continues to develop and expand new trials that support Wi-Fi 6 and 6E expansion into new areas in different geographies around the world.”
“Wi-Fi 6 is a strategic pillar of Boingo’s technology roadmap to elevate wireless performance and equip airports and other large venues with connectivity solutions for the 5G world. Wi-Fi 6 meets key 5G requirements to power a broad range of connected use cases in dense environments with greater capacity, speed and scalability. We are pleased to be among the first to put Wi-Fi 6 in action and move the technology from lab to real-world launch,” said Derek Peterson, CTO of Boingo Wireless.
