WiFi Alliance Rebrands WiFi Naming Scheme With WiFi 6

WiFi Alliance Debuts 802.11ax As WiFi 6

Every now and then, the WiFi Alliance will announce new WiFi standards. Over time, they’ve gotten ever more complicated names for the new standards. Often, the names are exotic with things like 802.11b or such. In order to simplify things, the WiFi alliance is planning to revamp the naming standards. Moving forward, WiFi generations will be denoted by numbers. The first such example will be the new WiFi 6 scheme.

The current WiFi naming scheme aims to make things easier to understand for daily users. The problem with the old scheme is that it had crazy names like 802.11b/g/n or 802.11ac. The problem is that for the uninformed user, they can’t tell which WiFi standard was faster as there was no logical progression. The new system aims to solve this using simple numbers. WiFi 4 will be 802.11n, WiFi 5 802.11ac and finally, the new WiFi 6 will be 802.11ax.

User-Friendly Naming Scheme Finally Chosen

For the fans of complexity, the technical terms, and names for the connections will remain. However, the systems will likely hide the technical name. The WiFi connection logo will also show the version number going forward. This will allow users to more easily see the speed of the network they are connecting to. With so many overlapping types of WiFi, being able to quickly see which network is nominally the fastest at a quick glance is welcome.

As expected wireless industry welcomed the new change. The new naming scheme will reduce user confusion and also make it easier to market. At the same time, the naming scheme still refers back to the technical standard. It might have taken a very long time, but the consumer-friendly name is finally here. I for one, can’t wait for WiFi 42 to arrive in the future and bring us all enlightenment.