Wi-Fi 6 makes it official

Official Press Release

The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 certification program from Wi-Fi Alliance is now available and delivers the best user experience with devices based on IEEE 802.11ax. The certification program brings new features and capabilities that enable substantially greater overall Wi-Fi network performance in challenging environments with many connected devices such as stadiums, airports, and industrial parks.

With adoption of the latest Wi-Fi generation increasing, product vendors and service providers can trust Wi-Fi CERTIFIED will distinguish Wi-Fi 6 products and networks that meet the highest standards for security and interoperability. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 provides significant capacity, performance, and latency improvements to the entire Wi-Fi ecosystem, while ensuring products across vendors to work well together to deliver greater innovation and opportunity.

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 supports a more diverse set of devices and applications, from those requiring peak performance in demanding enterprise environments to those requiring low power and low latency in smart homes or industrial IoT scenarios. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 delivers nearly four times the capacity of Wi-Fi 5, and is an evolutionary advancement for Wi-Fi’s ability to deliver high-performance infrastructure and optimized connectivity to all devices on a network simultaneously – bringing noticeable improvements in densely connected Wi-Fi environments.

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 delivers critical connectivity that supports cellular networks, and leverages high speeds, low latency, power efficiency, greater capacity, and enhanced coverage to deliver many advanced 5G services.

“Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 is ushering in a new era of Wi-Fi, building on Wi-Fi’s core characteristics to provide better performance in every environment for users, greater network capacity for service providers to improve coverage for their customers, and new opportunities for advanced applications,” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO, Wi-Fi Alliance. “Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 will deliver improvements in connectivity, including in high density locations and IoT environments.”

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 delivers advanced security protocols and requires the latest generation of Wi-Fi security, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WPA3. Advanced capabilities available in Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 include:

Orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA): effectively shares channels to increase network efficiency and lower latency for both uplink and downlink traffic in high demand environments
Multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO): allows more downlink data to be transferred at once and enables an access point to transmit data to a larger number of devices concurrently
160 MHz channels: increases bandwidth to deliver greater performance with low latency
Target wake time (TWT): significantly improves battery life in Wi-Fi devices, such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices
1024 quadrature amplitude modulation mode (1024-QAM): increases throughput in Wi-Fi devices by encoding more data in the same amount of spectrum
Transmit beamforming: enables higher data rates at a given range resulting in greater network capacity

“Wi-Fi 6 brings greater speeds and more efficiency to Wi-Fi networks, expanding its role as a critical communication platform,” said Phil Solis, research director at IDC. “Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 drives a higher quality experience for all Wi-Fi’s many use cases, further propelling the Wi-Fi market and ensuring Wi-Fi maintains its strong position as the connectivity landscape evolves.”

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 expands on Wi-Fi’s core strengths including affordable performance, efficient operation, commitment to security, ease of use, self-deployment, and long-term compatibility, while also supporting a more reliable user experience in areas of high user demand. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 leverages Wi-Fi’s global ubiquity to more efficiently connect users in more environments, support growing data requirements, and expand advanced use cases including augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), streaming high-definition content, real-time monitoring, and mission critical applications. As more spectrum is made available for Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 will only continue to drive greater global Wi-Fi innovation and economic contributions.

The Samsung Galaxy Note10 is the first Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 smartphone, and Wi-Fi Alliance expects most leading phones and access points will soon support the latest generation of Wi-Fi. The first products designated Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 which comprise the test bed for certification include:

Broadcom® BCM4375
Broadcom® BCM43698
Broadcom® BCM43684
Cypress CYW 89650 Auto-Grade Wi-Fi 6 Certified
Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) AX200 (for PCs)
Intel® Home Wi-Fi Chipset WAV600 Series (for routers and gateways)
Marvell 88W9064 (4x4) Wi-Fi 6 Dual-Band STA
Marvell 88W9064 (4x4) + 88W9068 (8x8) Wi-Fi 6 Concurrent Dual-Band AP
Qualcomm® Networking Pro 1200 Platform
Qualcomm® FastConnect 6800 Wi-Fi 6 Mobile Connectivity Subsystem
Ruckus R750 Wi-Fi 6 Access Point

Industry support for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6:

“In addition to increased speed and capacity, Wi-Fi 6 will support the growing density of connected devices in the home, delivering lower latency, enhanced battery life, and better overall performance. Wi-Fi 6 helps guarantee that users get the most out of these new functionalities in complex environments where they cohabit with legacy devices will require smart management of the whole ecosystem. AirTies’ Smart Wi-Fi software and cloud-based management software will ensure that service providers maximize their investment in Wi-Fi 6 to meet the evolving needs of their customers. We look forward to supporting Wi-Fi Alliance and its new Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 program.” – Metin Taskin, CTO of AirTies

“Wi-Fi is the primary connectivity method for billions of devices, users and things. We applaud Wi-Fi Alliance’s Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 program as it will provide users with confidence that their devices meet the highest standards for security and interoperability and that they will provide the best possible user experience. As device densities continue to climb, bandwidth needs continue to surge and sophisticated new security threats continue to emerge, it will be increasingly important for users to select devices that are certified to meet the market’s most exacting standards, so they can take advantage of the emerging, innovative, next-generation use cases that Wi-Fi 6 is enabling.” – Chuck Lukaszewski, vice president of wireless standards and strategy for Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company

“ASSIA’s mission is to develop technologies that improve reliability of wired and wireless network connections. ASSIA has built a large portfolio of wireless technologies that utilize Wi-Fi 6 today, and for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 devices these ASSIA technologies bring significant gains in network performance as well as vendor neutral network management options. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 will help build a massive IoT ecosystem at a fraction of the cost of deploying licensed band equivalent systems. We look forward to being part of evolution during this exciting time!” – Tuncay Cil, Chief Strategy Officer, ASSIA

"With the growing number of connected personal and IoT devices pushing current Wi-Fi to its limits, Wi-Fi 6 ushers in a new era of networking performance, and the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 certification program ensures users get the best home Wi-Fi experience out of this amazing new technology. As a pioneer of the world's first Wi-Fi 6 router and a rapidly expanding ecosystem of Wi-Fi 6 network adapters, motherboards, laptops and mini PCs, we at ASUS believe Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 is the answer for multi-device households and are happy to see the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 certification program from Wi-Fi Alliance is available now." – said Tenglong Deng, General Manager, ASUS Networking and Wireless Devices Business Unit.

"Wi-Fi 6 is a game changer in unlicensed connectivity, offering consumers exactly what they are seeking – the fastest, most responsive and reliable Wi-Fi.” – JR Wilson, Vice President of Tower Strategy and Roaming, AT&T

“Wi-Fi 6 is a game changer for dense and congested environments, helping operators like Boingo facilitate a more seamless connected experience in large venues that include airports and stadiums. Higher data rates, better spectrum usage, and increased network capacity are among the standout features of Wi-Fi 6 and we’re excited to see the technology’s certification program take off.” – Dr. Derek Peterson, chief technology officer, Boingo

“Broadcom is thrilled to have three of our best-in-class devices included in the certification test bed for today’s official launch of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 — the BCM4375, BCM43698, and BCM43684. These Broadcom devices already power 10s of millions of Samsung Galaxy phones and routers around the world. Capable of supporting up to 160 MHz wide channels, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 devices offer consumers lower latency, better battery life and as yet unseen throughputs, all of which are critical for 5G services. As the full 6 GHz band is made available for unlicensed use - with multiple 160 MHz-wide channels — the Wi-Fi 6 consumer experience will be turbocharged for the gigabit home and AR/VR.” – Vijay Nagarajan, Vice President, Wireless Communications & Connectivity Division, Broadcom

"Thanks to the work of Wi-Fi Alliance and the commitment of its members to interoperability, Wi-Fi has changed the world. Wi-Fi 6 represents a significant evolution of Wi-Fi, taking wireless connectivity to new heights and enabling new applications and use cases that will continue to shape the world we live in. As the rollout of Wi-Fi 6 accelerates, the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 program will provide Cisco’s customers assurance that the network and user devices will interoperate as expected; maximizing the benefits for businesses, the economy and users – which is exactly what Wi-Fi has been doing for the last 20 years.” – Matt MacPherson, Wireless CTO, Cisco

"Our world is becoming increasingly hyper-connected, and what gets me really excited about Wi-Fi 6, beyond the huge improvements in capacity and performance is the support for 2.4 GHz band and the power consumption improvements. With Wi-Fi Alliance and the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 certification program, we can ensure peak performance for all devices with next generation WPA3 security, no matter the use case. Whether for a factory, a stadium, or an office building, Cisco Meraki customers can be confident that deploying a Wi-Fi 6 network will deliver a secure, simple and superlative experience.” – Jayanthi Srinivasan, Director of Product Management, Cisco Meraki

“Wi-Fi 6 will help us meet the demands of tomorrow’s connectivity, with increased speed delivered to numerous devices simultaneously. Offering lower latency, better range, higher capacity and improved battery life for devices, Wi-Fi 6 ushers in the next generation of the world’s predominant wireless networking technology. We believe that Wi-Fi 6 will open a vast number of new applications and possibilities for our business.” – Cole Reinwand, Comcast Cable Communications, XFINITY WiFi

“Ruckus has always been at the leading edge of new certified technologies from Wi-Fi Alliance, and we’re proud that our extensive collaboration with Wi-Fi Alliance has contributed to the successful launch of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6. By being one of the first to incorporate Wi-Fi 6 features, the Ruckus R750 access point is both among the first fully Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 products and a high-performance Wi-Fi 6 access point used in the Wi-Fi Alliance test bed for interoperability certification. We look forward to participating with Wi-Fi Alliance in this exciting next phase of Wi-Fi industry growth.” – Morgan Kurk, CTO at CommScope

“Cypress' early Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 leadership underscores our commitment to market enablement with advanced automotive applications including BSS color mapping, support for scheduling, and high performance in congested environments. The high-data rates supported by Wi-Fi 6 will also enable efficient factory automation using over-the-air downloads on parallel manufacturing lines. Consumers will be able to enjoy uniform home-to-car experiences benefiting from robust, secure, and longer-range Wi-Fi 6 connections while maintaining backward-compatible Wi-Fi 5 IoT device connections already installed in their home networks.” – Brian Bedrosian, vice president of marketing, IoT Compute and Wireless Business Unit at Cypress

“Some hype is just noise — but some new technologies really do transform their market. By finally gaining a megaphone, Wi-Fi 6 is one of those technologies. In addition to providing added capacity and coverage to support more connected devices, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 access points have the potential to completely transform enterprises and end-user experiences, something Wi-Fi 6 compliant and Wi-Fi 6 compatible access points can never claim.” – Perry Correll, Director of Product Marketing, Extreme Networks

“Wi-Fi 6 incorporates many new technologies, such as OFDMA technology, which divides the WLAN channel into multiple narrower subchannels, reducing competition, backoff and network latency and improving network efficiency. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 guarantees the experience of these new technologies and continues to enhance the competitiveness and influence of Wi-Fi in the data transmission field." – Joe Yu, Wireless Product director at H3C

“Wi-Fi 6 is a major step forward in the evolution of Wi-Fi. Not only does it bring higher maximum data rates, it also improves robustness in crowded Wi-Fi environments, creating a better user experience with a sustained level of performance for the user. In addition, Wi-Fi 6 brings significant benefits to new low-power markets such as IoT and wearables, enhancing the current Wi-Fi 5 products targeting these markets with improved power consumption, low data rates, and the addition of OFDMA to share spectrum efficiently.” – Richard Edgar, Senior Director of Product Management, Ensigma, Imagination Technologies

“Wi-Fi 6 is the greatest advancement to Wi-Fi in the last decade. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 ensures that products across the industry will live up to the full potential and deliver user experiences promised by Wi-Fi 6. Intel is honored that our leadership solutions for both client PC/IoT and home routers/gateways were selected for the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 test bed.” – Eric McLaughlin, GM, Wireless Solutions Group, Intel Corp.

“Wi-Fi 6 has already taken center stage in serving public hotspots like coffee shops and sports arenas as well as residential customers, where high data rate and efficient access control among users are strongly demanded.” – Jaehyung Koo, Vice President, KT

“As a leader in delivering new Wi-Fi connections and experiences to consumers worldwide, NETGEAR is thrilled to see the advancement of the Wi-Fi 6 certification program. With a broad range of Wi-Fi 6 routers via our Nighthawk performance Wi-Fi line, and a mesh Wi-Fi 6 system joining the Orbi Whole Home Wi-Fi family, NETGEAR is committed to improving the way people live through the connections we make.” – David Henry, senior vice president of Connected Home Products for NETGEAR

“Quantenna is committed to providing an exceptional Wi-Fi user experience and is actively involved in the development and standardization process of Wi-Fi 6. With Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6, consumers can easily identify and be assured that the devices they get include advanced capabilities for quality and interoperability. We look forward to certifying our products that enhance next generation Wi-Fi use cases.” – Irvind Ghai, vice president of Marketing, Quantenna Connectivity Solutions Division at ON Semiconductor

"Wi-Fi 6 is a key development that brings end-users a superior roaming experience. It is a milestone for this technology which offers improved connectivity, especially in dense areas of population and means an overall enhanced roaming capacity." – Cedric Gonin, International Carriers, Orange

“At Qualcomm Technologies, we’ve been heavily supporting the global transition to Wi-Fi 6 for several years and are happy to be a part of Wi-Fi Alliance’s Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 program. Qualcomm Technologies has shown its commitment in Wi-Fi 6 on the strength of our dogged pursuit and investment in the full potential of the new standard. We are excited to see the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 program launching, as it’s yet another indicator of the broad industry readiness to further establish a fervent, growing ecosystem of Wi-Fi 6 networks and devices.” – Rahul Patel, senior vice president and general manager, connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

“Samsung is excited for the official launch of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6. High speed 5G services need Wi-Fi 6 and so do consumers who want to seamlessly share the moments they create on their mobile devices. As a leading innovator in smartphone technology, we made this a reality when we launched the Samsung Galaxy S10 - the world’s first Wi-Fi 6 phone - earlier this year. Today, we are proud to officially announce that the Galaxy Note10 is the world’s first Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 smartphone.” – Inkang Song, VP and Head of Technology Strategy Group of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics

“The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 program ensures that devices based on 802.11ax technology meet industry standards for interoperability and security, thereby delivering superior performance and better coverage to users experiencing Wi-Fi 6. In the meantime, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 includes advanced features, which provide devices with features of peak performance and low latency in smart home or IoT scenarios, ensuring a fast, flexible and connected Wi-Fi ecosystem.” – John Yin, Marketing Manager, TP-Link

“Wi-Fi 6, as the newest generation of Wi-Fi technology, can bring users higher throughput, lower latency, lower power consumption, and also enhance network efficiency. As an important member of the Wi-Fi Alliance, Xiaomi is committed to supporting Wi-Fi 6 technology in our applications, as well as engaging more deeply in Wi-Fi 6 certification, to bring our global users more and higher quality Wi-Fi 6 products.” Baoqiu Cui, Vice President of Xiaomi Corporation, Chairman of Technical Committee

For more information on Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6, please visit: https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-certified-6