We live in a world that is connected by technology and networks such as the internet. For businesses, network connectivity is key part of their infrastructure because it allows them to stay connected within their enterprise and with the outside world as well.
Most businesses these days rely heavily on wireless connectivity like Wi-Fi to function properly, especially since most employees use portable devices like laptops and mobiles to work. Wireless technology and standard keeps improving every few years and with the recent release of Wi-Fi 6, many people are curious about the benefits it can bring to their business.
Today, we will discuss this new wireless standard in some detail and explore the business benefits of Wi-Fi 6, to help you better understand what it can do for your business.
Business Benefits of Wi-Fi 6
Naturally, you would expect that Wi-Fi 6 bring faster network connectivity and internet access, but there is much more to it than that. Here we will discuss some key aspects of business networks and how Wi-Fi 6 can improve each one.
· Security
When it comes to wireless networks, security is perhaps the most important concern for businesses. Secure Wi-Fi networks are essential to the smooth operations of your offices, more so than your wired networks.
This is simply because wired networks are less vulnerable to get hacked from the outside, whereas wireless networks can be infiltrated much more easily. Your business communications and sensitive data are simply not as safe on wireless networks and are an easier target for criminals.
A Wi-Fi 6 network device like a router or access point (AP) can improve your wireless network security by implementing newer security standards. It is “Wi-Fi Protected Access 3” (WPA3) capable, which offers far better encryption and authentication than the previous standard, WPA2.
· User Experience (UX)
Wi-Fi is an important amenity for any work environment, including your office. Communications, online systems, and many other operations rely on stable wireless network connectivity. If your businesses does a lot of video conferences and frequently uses VoIP technologies, you need fast speeds for clear audio and video experiences.
Even if you utilize a wired network for these things, you still need reliable Wi-Fi for the mobile devices being used in your office. It is also important that the guests, customers, or clients that come to your office get smooth wireless connectivity and have a good user experience (UX).
What’s more is that if you have a large number of employees using the same wireless network for business purposes, you need intelligent control over the data transmissions to prioritize it accurately for smooth operations.
Wi-Fi 6 can optimize your UX. There are many factors that improve the quality and speed of your wireless network, but a capable routers or APs play the most important role. With older APs, you face a number of speed and connectivity issues, especially if you have multiple users.
However, Wi-Fi 6 enabled APs and routers come with dual band connectivity, which means they make use of both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously. They also reach higher speeds of that are up to 40 percent better than Wi-Fi 5. Not to mention their use of Multi-User Multiple In/Multiple Out (MU-MIMO) and OFDMA technologies over the typical MIMO of older standards.
Without getting into too much technical detail, all these technologies enhance the speed and UX of your business’ wireless network. What is interesting is that Wi-Fi 6 does not boost the speed of individual devices but it improves the connection speed when multiple devices are connected.
The improvements in range and heavy traffic is significant in large office spaces with multiple users. In Wi-Fi 6 routers, simultaneous communications with up to eight devices is possible, whereas OFDMA allows multiple devices to receive data at once through a single transmission.
· Coverage
Unlike your home Wi-Fi, the deployment of business Wi-Fi often spans a broader range across multiple branches. Your employees may move from room to room, floor to floor, or department to department, and they need equal access wherever they go.
Maintaining the consistency of wireless network connections is a key concern for businesses. This is where Wi-Fi 6 can add coverage and capacity It utilizes up to 8 spatial streams, which represent MU-MIMO access points, allowing more devices to receive data simultaneously.
Theoretically 8 x 8 MU-MIMO routers or APs provide the highest throughput, but 8 x 8 at 5GHz is not necessarily feasible for all businesses because it is expensive and consumes more power. APs can be deployed in Wi-Fi 6 mesh networks to expand the coverage and capacity of your network.
· Scalability
Future growth is always an important aspect of any business. This includes infrastructure and your wireless network should be capable to meet future requirements. Wi-Fi-6 network devices are built using the latest processors, memory, and software. This means that deploying them will future proof your business’ wireless network and allow installations of future client devices.
Even if there are some legacy client devices in your offices, Wi-Fi 6 network devices support backward compatibility, which means they can support all current Wi-Fi enabled client devices.
Conclusion
Wi-Fi 6 has incredible benefits for businesses and offers better speeds, bandwidth, and supporting technologies that make wireless networks far better than Wi-Fi 5 or any other previous standard. The leap from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6 alone is quite significant, let alone from previous wireless standards.
This new standard is the future of wireless network connectivity and all industries and markets are moving towards it. Even newly produced client devices like laptops and smartphones are now mostly Wi-Fi 6 enabled devices.
Whether you jump ship now or later depends on you, but if your business want to thrive in the future, it will need a wireless network that can keep up with standard requirements.
While the mentioned points should give you a better understanding of the business benefits of Wi-Fi 6, it isn’t necessary that your business immediately needs Wi-Fi 6. This is why it is important to consult professionals regarding your individual business needs.
We highly recommend consulting the professional at Communications Solutions Inc. in Jacksonville for the best business network solutions in Florida.
If you want to learn more about the business benefits of Wi-Fi 6, or if you want the best network solutions in Jacksonville, Florida, Contact Us Today.