New Aruba AP Brings Wi-Fi 6 Express Lanes to Busy Environments

Logging In to the New Wi-Fi 6 Standard

When logging in to the HPE Aruba Instant On AP22, it might seem like you are experiencing new and faster Wi-Fi technology, particularly if you’re doing things such as streaming movies and other high-intensity content in a crowded environment where lots of other people are connected to a network.

However, Wi-Fi 6 is not a new type of wireless signal. Instead, it’s a collection of technologies that work together to better optimize existing standards, especially in environments where a lot of devices are trying to connect to a wireless network. It’s also sometimes referred to as 802.11ax to distinguish it from 802.11ac, which is the Wi-Fi 5 standard.

Wi-Fi 6 was invented in 2019 but has only recently started to be used more extensively as more devices with the technology are released. While it’s true that individual devices using the Wi-Fi 6 standard will probably see small bumps in speed when using a Wi-Fi 6 access point, the real advantage of the standard is its ability to effectively manage multiple connections at their best possible speed.

The first big advantage to Wi-Fi 6 is that it uses multi-user multiple input, multiple output transmissions, which makes more effective use of radio antennas and data streams. 

When combined with the replacement of the 256 quadrature amplitude modulation found in 802.11ac APs with the much larger 1024 QAM standard, you get even more advantages. The new 1024 QAM standard can broadcast through eight spatial data streams, effectively quadrupling available bandwidth.

EXPLORE: Get ready for the transformative power of 6G.

But it’s more than just having greater bandwidth available with Wi-Fi 6. The APs that use it are also a lot smarter about managing signals, devices, applications and users. They do this by leveraging orthogonal frequency-division multiple access technology to pull every little bit of the available spectrum and give it to users. 

It can do that because it divides up the radio spectrum into much smaller units than the older standard could, providing users with exactly the bandwidth they need with nothing wasted. The extra bandwidth that one user does not need can then be instantly configured for another who does. 

APs with Wi-Fi 6, such as the HPE Aruba Instant On AP22, are constantly evaluating their connections and optimizing them so that everyone gets what they need as long as some sliver of bandwidth is still available.

In terms of performance, Wi-Fi 6 APs can offer users more stable wireless connections and reduced latency with almost no dropped signals. Should too many users overload the AP, which would require a very crowded environment, APs such as the Aruba AP22 are smart enough to follow whatever content rules administrators set up for them. 

For example, they can be configured to reduce the bandwidth for certain applications, or to prioritize certain users or groups. That way, any slowdown will be minimized or perhaps even go unnoticed by whoever or whatever is designated as a priority.

While Wi-Fi 6 is not a new standard, it’s finally starting to see mainstream use. And given all of the optimizations bundled within it, it will seem like a new kind of wireless signal to most users, even if it’s only optimizing existing technology.