A hardcore comparison tells you: Which is faster, 5G or Wi-Fi 6?

My wife, who has always been worried about her children's sleep and wants to turn everyone's mobile phone to silent mode, has recently become crazy about setting alarms. Whenever the crisp ringtones ring in our ears at 14:00, 16:00, and 22:00, we can't help but complain inwardly: the officials are allowed to set fires, but the people are not allowed to light lamps. It turns out that my wife can't help herself when faced with "super value flash sales", "slow action, no more", and "absolutely low prices". She needs to buy at the flash sales every hour. The crisp ringtones seem to tell her, it's coming, get ready...

Since the rise of online shopping, snap-ups and flash sales have become commonplace. However, the question of why people can’t get the products seems to be an eternal topic. There is no clear answer, but everyone has their own opinions. For example, my wife often asks, what’s wrong with my phone? Is the network not strong enough? Do you have to force me to switch to 4G (my family hasn’t switched to 5G phones yet)? Why is it stuck here?

Of course, when we calm down, we find that there are many factors that affect "not being able to grab the product", such as: merchant settings, hand speed, luck, mobile phone performance, network conditions, etc. However, this article really wants to put aside all other factors and see which one is faster, Wi-Fi 6 or 5G, so that we can grab the product better.

Cognitive article: First acquaintance with 5G and Wi-Fi 6

The reason why 5G and Wi-Fi 6 are compared together is mainly because these two are the most popular and popular network data transmission technologies. Among them, WiFi6 is the sixth generation of WiFi technology, also known as 802.11ax. As the latest WiFi standard, it can provide higher transmission speeds, lower latency and greater device density.

5G is the fifth generation of wireless communication technology, the latest generation of cellular mobile communication technology, and the mainstream wireless communication technology after 4G. Its goals are high data rate, reduced latency, energy saving, cost reduction, increased system capacity, and large-scale device connection.

Although both Wi-Fi 6 and 5G transmit data through electromagnetic waves, there are certain differences between the two in essence. 5G requires the use of a mobile operator's SIM card and charges based on traffic, while Wi-Fi 6 requires a Wi-Fi 6 router to connect to home broadband.

The above roughly introduces the similarities and differences between 5G and Wi-Fi 6. You can take a brief look at it.

Theory/Practice: Which is faster, 5G or Wi-Fi 6?

2020 is the first year of 5G and Wi-Fi 6. As technologies that are about to dominate living rooms, mobile phones, or even more fields, it is still very interesting for us to discuss them in theory. Although the actual usage scenarios of the two are not the same, sometimes the two technologies are complementary.

Theoretically, the speed of 5G can reach 10Gbps, and the speed of Wi-Fi 6 can reach 9.6Gbs. In terms of speed, there is not much difference between the two. If we have to say which one is faster, 5G can be mentioned here. However, in actual use, we need to take into account base station construction, signal interference and other conditions. According to reliable media test reference data, the speed of 5G is generally 550Mbps, and the actual speed of Wi-Fi 6 is about 800Mbps.

In fact, when Wi-Fi 6 is used indoors, it is also affected by the environment, such as signal interference, wall blocking, etc. Therefore, the actual comparison between 5G and Wi-Fi 6 seems to exist only in theory.

Not only that, Wi-Fi 6 has limited coverage and carries most of the data traffic from mobile terminals such as mobile phones and tablets, while 5G has a wide coverage but high cost, and mobile communication networks are mainly used in outdoor mobile environments.

Results: The two complement each other

Just like we use Wi-Fi indoors and 4G outdoors, the emergence of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G has their own suitable usage scenarios. Wi-Fi 6 is very suitable for indoor wireless networks, such as homes, business halls, offices, conference centers, etc., and its deployment, maintenance and expansion costs are maintained at a reasonable level.

Similarly, 5G is very suitable for outdoor scenarios, especially when the traffic cost is not high, it can still give you a flying transmission rate.

In actual applications, the speeds of 5G and WiFi6 are basically the same. The speed of 5G will be limited by the distance and the number of users using the same base station, while the speed of WiFi6 will be limited by the broadband speed accessed and the number of terminals connected to the same WiFi. Both WiFi6 and 5G are exciting new wireless connection methods. These two technologies complement each other and can help improve data transmission rates and network capacity.

Final Thoughts

Theoretically, the transmission rates of 5G and Wi-Fi 6 are almost the same, but in actual use, they are subject to various objective conditions, and the actual transmission rate of Wi-Fi 6 is faster. However, we cannot talk about the results without considering the objective conditions. In fact, there is no need to distinguish between 5G and WiFi6.

They each have their own application scenarios, and for a long time in the future, 5G will coexist and develop with WiFi6, complementing each other. 5G and WiFi6 will have great application potential and imagination space in many fields such as industrial production and the Internet of Things.

Let’s get back to the point. When we are shopping online, we cannot simply attribute the reason to the network. When the networks are almost the same, we need to look for reasons from many aspects such as merchant settings, hand speed, luck, mobile phone performance, network conditions, etc.

Finally, isn’t it mostly a matter of luck whether you can grab something or not?