Wi-Fi 6E becomes official—the FCC will vote on rules this month

Enlarge / Today’s devices don’t—and won’t—support the new 6GHz band. Once the spectrum is ratified for Wi-Fi use, you’ll need hardware upgrades before you can take advantage of it.

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In a press release yesterday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced that he has proposed a set of rules for the new RF spectrum that the proposed Wi-Fi 6E standard will use. In this month’s April 23 meeting, FCC members will vote on those proposed rules for unlicensed use of the 6GHz band (5.925–7.125GHz).

The Wi-Fi spectrum we already have—2.4GHz band

In the 1990s, the biggest concern for Wi-Fi users was “how far will the Wi-Fi reach.” Today, the biggest concern—whether most users realize it or not—isn’t how far the Wi-Fi will reach, it’s how many different devices are competing for airtime. The legacy 2.4GHz band is almost entirely unusable for many urban dwellers—it’s crowded with microwave ovens, Bluetooth headsets, and every Internet-of-Things device imaginable.

Making matters worse for 2.4GHz, the frequency band offers excellent range and penetration—which in an increasingly crowded modern setting is very much a bug, not a feature. A Wi-Fi device can only transmit if no other device in range is also transmitting—so increased range and penetration also means increased competition for airtime.

This competition doesn’t exist only in one Wi-Fi network, either—having a different SSID (Wi-Fi network name) and password than your neighbor doesn’t keep your devices

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