What Is WiFi 6 & How Will It Help My Home Internet Connection?

The world changed in 2020. Shutdowns and stay-home orders during the pandemic had families scrambling to keep all of their devices connected to the internet at once. And in many parts of the nation, there simply wasn’t enough bandwidth and speed to make this work.

Luckily, that is changing. New technology in the form of WiFi 6 is here to help those in rural and suburban areas connect with ease. We at Fidium Fiber are honored to offer this service to the communities we serve as part of all our fiber internet packages.

What is WiFi 6? Let’s dig in and learn how this innovation will change life for families around the country, including families like yours.

What Is WiFi 6, and Why Do I Need It?

WiFi 6 is the next level in evolution for wireless internet connection. This updated version gives families and businesses faster, more dependable internet access and more efficient use of the network for multiple devices at once. But before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s go back to the basics.

“WiFi”, short for Wireless Fidelity, is the technology that lets digital devices connect through radio waves. It’s the method by which your home or business connects to the internet. Different versions of WiFi used to have complicated numerical names until someone finally decided to simplify it by using the numbers one through six. Many homes currently have WiFi 4 or 5.

So, when WiFi 6 arrived on the scene in 2020, many internet-heavy families rejoiced. They could finally enjoy the smart home they’ve always wanted but had too spotty of a wireless connection to fully experience.

And for families with children, WiFi 6 makes it even easier to monitor and control what is available to them online. You will have access to the best protection available.

How Does WiFi 6 Work Compared to Older Versions?

It’s worth understanding a bit about why WiFi 6 works in order to recognize how valuable this technology is. It reaches theoretical speeds of almost 10 Gigs, up from 3.5 Gigs from WiFi 5. And your WiFi 6 router shares its speed among many devices, making it possible for each device to work faster than ever.

Two different types of technology come into play for the WiFi 6 speed and connectivity.

1. MU-MIMO: This acronym stands for multi-user, multiple input, multiple output. The MU-MIMO technology is responsible for allowing the router to communicate with multiple devices at the same time. WiFi 5 routers can communicate with four devices at once. WiFi 6 bumps that number to eight. 
2. OFDMA: Orthogonal frequency division multiple access is the technology that allows the router to deliver data efficiently to multiple phones, laptops, and more. This allows your smart-equipped home to work smoothly and quickly.

As with much technology, understanding how WiFi 6 works isn’t nearly as important as knowing that it absolutely works. The bottom line is that it’s a game-changer for households that have been struggling through glitchy Zoom calls or slow downloads. 

Is WiFi 6 Worth It?

The answer to this critical question is a resounding “Yes!” Once you have WiFi 6 in your home, you will be celebrating your newfound ease. 

Have you spent the last year troubleshooting video calls for your children who are overwhelmed and frustrated because they can’t get online? Does it cause anxiety whenever you need to call into a work meeting because you don’t know if your WiFi will hold? Have you had to repeatedly stop and restart client calls because your connection is unstable?

These worries will be a thing of the past with a WiFi 6 connection to the internet that you can trust to keep you online with confidence.

Delivered through fiber internet connections, this technology will help give you the following:

• Zoom and other video calls that are clear, reliable, and without constant glitches
• Consistent WiFi access for students trying to complete homework or connect to their classes
• Fast downloads and uploads for work and school, thanks to tremendous WiFi 6 speed
• Clear and dependable streaming for movies and TV shows
• Steady connectivity no matter how many devices are in use or where they are in your home

Is WiFi 6 Really Faster than My Existing Network?

You probably hear about internet speeds from different advertisers. Some companies make it sound as if speed is the only important factor when choosing a provider. 

WiFi 6 is certainly fast. In fact, it works up to 40% faster than older versions. But what really sets it apart is how it attains these super speeds. After all, it doesn’t matter how fast you can download if you cannot connect properly in the first place. 

The driving force of WiFi 6 internet service is its reliability in accessing the internet. And reliability is central to everything we do here at Fidium. Each of our fiber internet plans come with WiFi 6 so you can have a dependable and speedy experience that never sacrifices on performance.

Connect All the Devices

So, what’s WiFi 6 used for? Faster speeds are the most obvious benefit of this new technology. But almost as crucial is the ability to have many devices connected at once without difficulty. 

Do you find that your household starts to lose dependable WiFi if more than a few devices are online? Or do you lose the connection in certain parts of your home? These frustrating occurrences are far too common, especially in rural areas. 

Older WiFi versions were fine when households had three or four devices. But the average home now has nine, and experts expect that number to skyrocket, climbing to 50 within the next couple of years. If you are struggling with a handful of items trying to connect, imagine having more than four dozen. It’s not sustainable without WiFi 6.

If that number doesn’t seem possible, consider that it’s not only including items like phones, tablets, and laptops. Smart appliances count here, too. Refrigerators, video doorbells, and washers and dryers are all part of these projections. 

As more and more homes go online with smart technology, connectivity becomes increasingly vital. For modern families, the question of “What’s WiFi 6?” deserves the answer, “It’s a sanity saver!” 

You no longer need to argue over who is online when. Your kids won’t have to miss out on class time due to dropped video calls. You won’t have to worry about the connection holding long enough for you to make your big presentation for work.

This new level of internet service can help restore calm, consistency, and confidence for your family’s daily work and play.

How Do I Get WiFi 6 for My Home?

The past year’s events showed a glaring disparity between urban and rural internet access. Families who are in or near major cities have had more consistent and dependable connectivity. But WiFi internet for rural areas has been spotty and unreliable.

This problem is why we are thrilled to begin bringing WiFi 6 technology through fiber internet access to select rural and suburban regions. Check to see if your area is included in our fiber internet rollout. If so, WiFi 6 is no longer a dream of the future; it’s now!

Enrolling in our state-of-the-art fiber internet service solution may be the best thing your household does this year. Having high speed WiFi 6 internet in some underserved areas will be life changing. No longer will those who prefer small towns over big cities have to suffer through inconsistent internet. Fidium Fiber provides you the highest quality wireless internet experience right where you are.

Consistent Access with a WiFi 6 Mesh System

One of the biggest complaints from internet users at home is that they lose the connection in certain rooms in their house. With students and parents now working from home, this lack of range is a significant problem. 

Some people purchase separate WiFi extenders, which can help a bit. But traditional extenders can’t deliver the same bandwidth as your router.

Think of this problem as if it were the electricity in your home. When making a smoothie, do you have to plug your blender into one large outlet in the middle of your house? Of course not. You have any number of outlets that can deliver the appropriate electricity to that blender. 

But this centralized method is how previous WiFi versions work. When you connect to the internet on an old WiFi network, you are plugging into one central connection that can only reach so far.

WiFi 6, however, decentralizes this access through the use of something called a WiFi mesh system. Fidium’s WiFi 6 mesh network is supported by wireless extenders placed in areas of your home that may need a WiFi boost.

These hubs connect with each other to provide dependable, fast internet access from anywhere in the house. Just like plugging the blender into any outlet in your home, you will be able to get online throughout your home, too. 

Another benefit of this system is longer battery life for your WiFi 6-enabled devices. Because of the mesh gateway’s sophistication, your devices work at optimal levels, protecting their battery life. 

And if that wasn’t enough to make you want WiFi 6, all Fidium Fiber customers will get high-quality mesh WiFi products as part of your fiber optic internet package. You’ll experience consistent connectivity in every room while you work, study, game, or stream.

Are You Ready for a New Internet Experience?

It’s a privilege to be part of this new WiFi 6 movement, and we can’t wait to help you and your family experience a faster, more reliable internet. To see if your area is in our expanding fiber network, check availability on our website or call 1.844.4.FIDIUM (1.844.434.3486) and speak with one of our helpful Fidium Guides.