5G WiFi is really here

Recently, a post on Weibo about 5G is coming has been widely circulated and caused a lot of controversy. Many netizens asked: "Isn't the 4G network still in trial commercial use? How come 5G is about to become popular?" In addition, the news also said that many popular smartphones on the market, such as iPhone 5 and Xiaomi 2S, already support 5G technology. This makes some netizens feel even more strange. The network is not available yet, so how come these phones already support it? After investigation and questioning relevant technical experts, it was found that this 5G is not the 5G for upgrading the mobile communication network, but an upgraded version of WiFi technology, specifically referring to the latest WiFi wireless transmission standard that supports the 5GHz frequency band. Let's give you a detailed introduction to what the mystery of 5G is.

　　5GHz WiFi is really here

　　Want to know what 5G WiFi is? First of all, we may need to explain the origin of WiFi technology. As we all know, WiFi is actually just a commercial brand for wireless local area network technology. As an industry technical standard, it has another name. The first generation of WiFi technology is actually 802.11a, which was first formulated by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) in 1997. It is mainly to enable wireless network products of different brands to be universal and compatible.

　　In the following 20 years, IEEE has upgraded the 802.11x technical standard many times, and several versions such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n have appeared. The biggest difference between these versions is that the speed is constantly improving and the signal coverage is constantly expanding. For example, the 802.11n launched in 2004 is 10 times faster than the previous 802.11g and 50 times faster than the earlier 802.11b, and the coverage is also wider. During the commercialization of the 802.11x technical standard, in order to facilitate promotion, some related manufacturers organized an industry alliance and changed its name to the "WiFi" Alliance in 2000, and used WiFi as a trademark to promote wireless LAN technology, which ultimately led to ordinary consumers only knowing WiFi and not understanding the history of 802.11x behind it.

　　In 2012, the IEEE 802.11x technical standard was upgraded to the latest 802.11ac version. Unlike many previous versions, 802.11ac supported the 5GHz band for the first time, while the previous four generations of technical standards only used the 2.4GHz band for signal wireless transmission. It is worth mentioning that this standard upgrade is the fifth generation upgrade of 802.11x technology, and it just happens to add support for the 5GHz band, so 802.11ac is also referred to as 5G WiFi by non-industry professionals, which is why there are jokes on the Internet that 5G is mistakenly called the fifth generation of mobile communication technology 5G.

　　5GHz WiFi has many benefits

　　So why did IEEE launch 802.11ac technology that supports the 5GHz frequency band? There are indeed many reasons, but the simplest one is that 5G WiFi is faster and the network is smoother. I believe that many mobile WiFi users have encountered too few hotspots, network congestion, frequent disconnections, and weak signals when using public WiFi. The reason for this situation is actually very simple, that is, there are too many WiFi devices nowadays. According to statistics from the WiFi Alliance, there are currently more than 1 billion WiFi users worldwide, and the total shipment of WiFi-certified products has exceeded 2 billion pieces, with an average of 2 million products developed each year. At the same time, the demand for Internet access is also changing. Sending and receiving emails and browsing websites are just the most basic. People also hope to watch movies, play games, listen to music, and process various data.

　　However, the current fastest WiFi transmission speed in the world is only 300Mbps (a few can reach 600Mbps), which is equivalent to only about 36MB of content can be transmitted per second. This was no problem when people only used it to browse websites and handle emails. But today, facing increasingly complex usage needs, the old technical standards have become stretched. Because this was originally just a road that was expected to be used by cars, but suddenly there was an influx of buses and large trucks, and the number is increasing.

　　5G WiFi—the fifth generation of WiFi solves this problem. It increases the transmission speed to 1Gbps, and can transmit about 125MB of content per second. For example, HD movies, which have the highest transmission bandwidth requirements, usually have a data flow of 30-45MB per second, or even higher. 5G WiFi not only meets the transmission conditions, but also does not have a problem transmitting multiple HD movies. It also means that it can accommodate more users and will not cause congestion due to too many users.

　　It is understood that the new 5G WiFi, also known as 802.11ac, uses a chip with an operating frequency of 5GHz, which can cover both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz frequency bands. In addition to being faster, it can also improve the problem of small wireless signal coverage. Although 5GHz is more difficult to bypass obstacles directly than 2.4GHz, due to its larger coverage, considering that the signal will be refracted, the new standard will make it easier for every corner to receive the signal; another major advantage of the new standard is energy saving, and the power usage efficiency is 6 times that of the previous generation. Since more content is transmitted at the same time, the device can also enter low-power power saving mode faster.

　　Faster throughput and more comprehensive coverage make 5G WiFi a veritable information highway. With mobile Internet terminals becoming increasingly popular, this means that this network will have more possibilities in the future.

　　In the future, WiFi will also enable international roaming

　　However, 5G WiFi is not the end of the development of WiFi technology. According to reporters, the WiFi Alliance actually has a bolder plan: to gradually promote WiFi international roaming services by taking advantage of the increasing bandwidth, speed, and number of hotspots.

　　This plan will be implemented in two steps: while promoting 5G WiFi and ensuring bandwidth, a new technology called "WiFi CERTIFIED" will be launched, which will allow mobile devices such as mobile phones to automatically receive calls and download data on the WiFi network in the user's country without prior application and setup; the second step will be more long-term, through the planned 60GHz WiFi technology - allowing WiFi networks to transmit several gigabits of content per second, further realizing seamless global roaming between WiFi products.

　　In fact, Apple founder Steve Jobs also had this dream. As early as 2005, he proposed the idea of ​​using ubiquitous WiFi hotspots to make Apple a "WiFi communication operator" independent of existing mobile communication operators. It is not difficult to see the essence of this idea in products such as iMessage and Facetime provided on the iPhone today. Today, the WiFi Alliance has further promoted this idea to "seamless connection", meaning that WiFi networks will be as convenient as mobile communication networks. Just as when we turn on our mobile phones, they will automatically connect to the communication network. In the future, WiFi networks in any area can be automatically connected, with more stable signals and faster speeds. Not only can we make calls, but we can also watch high-definition videos online and process those complex data. The launch of 5G WiFi is an important step towards realizing this idea.