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From 802.11b to Wi-Fi 7: What Do Wi-Fi Numbers Mean?

Higher numbers—like Wi-Fi 6 instead of 5—usually mean faster internet, but not always. Here's how to tell them apart and which one you should choose when upgrading your network.

October 23, 2023
Wi-Fi Graphic (Credit: René Ramos; Wi-Fi Alliance; Getty Images/LIORIKI)

Our homes are chock-full of wireless internet-connected devices: smartphones, tablets, a laptop, and maybe a gaming console or two. Heck, even our thermostats need a Wi-Fi connection now. To put a precise number on it, a study last year found that the average U.S. household has around 22 internet-connected devices. With all this gear demanding online access, perhaps it's time to consider upgrading your home wireless network.

Surely the latest wireless standards have to be improvements over that router you bought seven years ago, right? Correct: Since the debut of the first Wi-Fi networking standard back in 1997, with data rates at a measly 1 to 2 megabits per second (Mbps) and a range of only 66 feet, we've seen leaps and bounds in the speed, range, and capabilities of wireless networking protocols and their related hardware.

Family with many wireless connected devices
(Credit: Amazon)

Today, there's widespread adoption of wireless networking standards with speeds reaching up to 10.5Gbps thanks to 802.11ax, also known as Wi-Fi 6. Wi-Fi 6 is one of the latest wireless networking specifications, introduced in 2018 and finalized in 2020.

But figuring what type of network you now have and whether you should upgrade to a faster Wi-Fi 6 system—or maybe wait for Wi-Fi 7?—isn't as simple as it sounds. Among the many considerations are which devices you use with your Wi-Fi network and whether they can take advantage of the latest networking speeds. For instance, my Apple MacBook Air from 2020 is compatible with the TP-Link Wi-Fi 6E wireless router I bought last year. However, my laptop can't use the router's peak speeds, because it only supports up to Wi-Fi 6.

Unboxing a TP-Link Wi-Fi 6E router
(Credit: TP-Link)

A more basic problem, and one that has nothing to do with the technology itself, is that wireless networking names and numbers have historically been a mess to decipher. Even the term Wi-Fi itself doesn't really mean anything. You've probably come across variations of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 numbering scheme, which is at least more specific, but still a jumble of numbers that doesn't roll off the tongue. With flavors like 802.11g, 802.11n, and 802.11ac, it's unclear how the newest version compares to its predecessor, or which is the latest Wi-Fi standard in the first place. What do these numbers mean? What improvements or features do the newer standards offer?

The hardware manufacturers that form the Wi-Fi Alliance industry group eventually realized they had a branding problem. So the Alliance rolled out a slightly simplified numbering scheme in 2018 to denote wireless networking generations such as Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6, and so on. This naming convention makes it easier to understand which technology is the newest and which devices support a particular standard.

This guide will explain what the different Wi-Fi specifications are and which features and speeds each generation of Wi-Fi can support.


In the Beginning, There Was 802.11

The O.G. wireless networking specification was IEEE 802.11, adopted in 1997. Limited to a maximum data rate of 2Mbps and operating on a single 2.4GHz radio frequency, it's obsolete today.

802.11b

The first major revision to the 802.11 spec arrived two years later, offering a big jump in data transfer speed to a maximum of 11Mbps. The 802.11b standard was the first form of Wi-Fi to see widespread adoption in the consumer market, starting with the Apple iBook G3—the first mainstream consumer laptop with integrated wireless networking support—and Apple's AirPort Wireless Base Station, both introduced in 1999 and spurring the growth of home wireless networking.

802.11a

Alongside 802.11b, 1999 also brought another revision to the original IEEE wireless standard: 802.11a, which used a 5GHz rather than 2.4GHz radio frequency. This meant less interference from other household devices such as cordless phones, microwave ovens, and Bluetooth speakers and headphones, all of which operate at 2.4GHz. The crowded radio band has the potential to disrupt the internet connectivity of 802.11b devices.

Another benefit of using the 5GHz band is increased speed, as the 802.11a spec allows network speeds up to 54Mbps. Its main drawback, however, is decreased range—5GHz signals cannot penetrate walls and other solid objects as well as the 2.4GHz signals of 802.11b devices can.

Wi-Fi infographic
(Credit: TP-Link)

Essentially, consumers in 1999 had to pick either better range with slower speeds (802.11b) or faster performance but reduced wireless coverage (802.11a). You can cover a larger home with 802.11a by adding more routers or access points, but that makes a network more expensive to implement.

802.11g

In 2003, consumer Wi-Fi got a big upgrade in performance with 802.11g. This variation operates on the 2.4GHz frequency, offering the wider range and better penetration through floors and walls of 802.11b, but is able to offer data speeds up to 54Mbps, just like 802.11a. Basically, it was the best of both worlds. Backward-compatible with existing 802.11b hardware, the 802.11g specification saw widespread adoption in the market. Many manufacturers refined it by producing dual- or tri-band 802.11a/b/g hardware.

Since it ran at 2.4GHz, 802.11g still had the weakness of potential interference with other wireless devices using the same frequencies. Overcrowding of the radio band only got worse as the popularity of Wi-Fi networks exploded.

All three of these specs are pretty much obsolete these days, though the Wi-Fi Alliance retroactively gave each a new name as part of its brand makeover in 2018. The original 802.11 and refreshed 802.11b are designated Wi-Fi 1; the 802.11a protocol is Wi-Fi 2; and 802.11g was renamed Wi-Fi 3.


A Great Leap Forward: 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4)

Wi-Fi progress waited five years for its next jump ahead. The 802.11n technology standardized in 2008—now known as Wi-Fi 4—improved on both the 802.11a and 802.11g wireless networking protocols by using both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands and allowing significantly faster speeds, ranging from 72Mbps to a robust 600Mbps.

Wi-Fi 4 was the first wireless standard to implement Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology, which uses multiple transmitters and receivers simultaneously to permit faster data speeds. The system can also operate on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies at the same time, allowing users to switch between network frequencies as needed, hopping onto the 5GHz band to better avoid interference on the crowded 2.4GHz highway.

Wi-Fi infographic
(Credit: CenturyLink)

While this dual-radio capability is built into Wi-Fi 4, the functionality you get will depend on your router. Many 802.11b/g/n wireless routers offer dual radios, which lets you have SSIDs or network names broadcast simultaneously on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. You can switch between the two as needed or as your device allows. However, some routers offer just a single-radio design—you'll have to pick 2.4GHz or 5GHz and can't have both operating simultaneously.

Wi-Fi 4 also incorporates a higher-bandwidth channel configuration, with both a 20MHz and a wider 40MHz bandwidth channel. This allows for more simultaneously connected devices on each network, handling more data and delivering faster speeds for all users on the network.

802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5)

Fast forward another six years to 2014, and I do mean fast. The Wi-Fi 5 wireless specification (also known as 802.11ac) was the first consumer networking standard to be measured in gigabits rather than megabits per second, with a top speed of a whopping 3.46Gbps. It differed from its immediate predecessors by operating solely on the 5GHz band, allowing significantly faster data speeds at the expense of range. The faster spec was designed to help accommodate the growing demands for data-hungry applications, such as high-definition (1080p) and 4K video and multimedia streaming, online gaming, and faster data transfers with mobile devices.

It's important to note that while Wi-Fi 5 operates only on the 5GHz band, many Wi-Fi 5-certified wireless routers are backward-compatible with Wi-Fi 4 and feature dual-band functionality, letting you have both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks operating at the same time. Users can choose between the 2.4GHz network for extended range or the faster speeds of the 5GHz network. If your client device—be it a handset, tablet, or laptop—has Wi-Fi 5-certified hardware, it can use the fastest 802.11ac speeds offered by this networking standard.

Wi-Fi router and phone on table
(Credit: Motorola)

Wi-Fi 5 builds upon the foundation of Wi-Fi 4, improving several technologies introduced in that standard. Where Wi-Fi 4 featured four spatial streams and a channel width of 40MHz, Wi-Fi 5 doubled that to as many as eight spatial streams and a channel bandwidth of 80MHz, which can be redoubled to 160MHz (with two 80MHz channels). Simply put, Wi-Fi 5 allows a lot more data to be transmitted wirelessly.

See a deeper dive into 802.11ac or Wi-Fi 5 technology at our sister site ExtremeTech.


Where We Are Now: 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6)

Today's primary wireless networking standard is 802.11ax, otherwise known as Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E (we'll get to the difference between 6 and 6E in a second). Adopted in 2019 and finalized in 2020, this wireless protocol improves both speed and capacity. Like each new generation before it, Wi-Fi 6 brings a substantial increase in throughput, with a theoretical maximum data rate of up to 10.53Gbps.

With the increasing prevalence of fiber-to-the-home internet service, consumers are seeing internet speeds increase dramatically, and need their Wi-Fi equipment to keep up. Direct Ethernet-based links have long been the fastest and most reliable internet connections, but with almost everything going mobile these days, they're no longer the most practical. Fortunately, wireless networking speeds are catching up quickly thanks to Wi-Fi 6.

The other main goal of Wi-Fi 6 is overcoming issues with capacity and overcrowding. We're saturated with wireless networks nowadays, especially in urban areas. Each neighborhood has many overlapping Wi-Fi networks, and with only a limited number of channels, these networks can easily interfere with one another and cause connectivity issues and slowdowns. Wi-Fi 6 aims to fix that.

The specification combines both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, allowing for more channels for data transmission, and adds Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (ODMA) technology that lets multiple client devices connect to the same channel and transmit data without interference or slowdowns.

This description simplifies things quite a bit, so be sure to check out our detailed explainer of what Wi-Fi 6 is and what it's capable of. Also see our guide to the best Wi-Fi 6 routers we've tested.

Wi-Fi 6E

For years, consumer wireless networking used only two main radio frequencies: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. As wireless networks have become ubiquitous, we're surrounded by Wi-Fi signals and have more devices connecting to our networks than ever before.

Wi-Fi 6E brings some relief to this congestion. In 2020, the FCC opened up the 6GHz radio band, giving Wi-Fi a huge boost in available radio channels (it essentially quadrupled the number of channels for wireless routers to use). The result is increased speed, with the 6GHz band allowing for reliable speeds in excess of 1Gbps, as well as less interference and much higher capacity for multiple devices on the same network connection.

To be fair, Wi-Fi 6E is not without drawbacks. As with 5GHz, the new 6GHz band uses shorter wavelengths and therefore has a more limited range. Wi-Fi 6E service can be fantastically fast when you're close to your router, but 6GHz signals struggle as distance increases and are more vulnerable to interference and transmission issues when traveling through walls and floors.

Person using laptop outside
(Credit: Amazon)

Wi-Fi 6E routers and laptops have been on the market for some time, but we're just starting to see other compatible devices such as the Apple iPhone 15 Pro hit the market. Most of today's smartphones and laptops still rely on Wi-Fi 6, so they can't take advantage of the 6GHz band. In addition, only a handful of countries—including the U.S., Brazil, and Korea—have opened up the 6GHz band for commercial use, so depending on where you live you might not yet be able to buy a Wi-Fi 6E router.

Automated Frequency Coordination

Another factor holding back Wi-Fi 6E (and upcoming Wi-Fi 7 devices, discussed below) is regulatory approval. Wi-Fi devices aren't the only ones making use of the 6GHz radio band—fixed satellite providers, for instance, are another. In order to prevent new wireless networking devices from interfering with existing users of the 6GHz frequency, the industry has come up with a feature called Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) that has not yet received government approval. Until it does, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 devices aren't approved to operate at full power, and the result is significantly reduced signal strength and range compared to theoretical maximums.

For more information on Wi-Fi 6E, see our detailed article here.


What the Future Holds: 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7)

Naturally, even though we're only beginning to see the full rollout of Wi-Fi 6E, the next generation of wireless networking is already on the horizon. Wi-Fi 7, also known as 802.11be, promises another massive leap in speed with a peak data rate of over 40Gbps. With residential fiber internet service plans now ramping up to multiple gigabits per second, Wi-Fi 7 will certainly feel fast enough to make full use of your home internet connection for several years to come.

Building on Wi-Fi 6E technology, Wi-Fi 7 works across 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz radio bands and is capable of 16 MIMO streams, offering a massive increase in network throughput. This generation also introduces a new Multi-Link Operation (MLO) technology that permits multiple devices to send and receive data over different frequency bands automatically and simultaneously. In other words, you (the user) won't have to worry about choosing a 2.4GHz, 5GHz, or 6GHz connection; your router and client devices will negotiate the proper connection automatically and more efficiently handle connections with multiple devices.

Wi-Fi infographic
(Credit: TP-Link)

Wi-Fi 7 is still in development, and the standard isn't expected to be officially finalized until next year. However, we've already seen a few "pre-certified" Wi-Fi 7 routers come onto the market, though they're quite expensive. Read our Wi-Fi 7 guide for more information about this latest wireless technology.


Which Wi-Fi Version Should You Choose?

Wi-Fi has come a long way since the days of 802.11, so congrats on making it this far both in this guide and if your network is limping along with one of the early standards. We hope this guide has brought you up to speed (no pun intended) on the different wireless networking technologies available. Which Wi-Fi version is best for your needs obviously varies depending on your situation.

Most people these days have a home full of connected tech, from handheld devices and PCs to smart TVs and gaming consoles. In order to handle all these data-hungry devices, you need a home network that can handle the workload. If you have many connected devices and multiple simultaneous streaming media viewers or listeners, or simply have a fiber-optic or other high-speed home internet connection, it makes sense to go with Wi-Fi 6, or future-proof yourself a bit with Wi-Fi 6E. Such a router will be able to better handle all your devices and make good use of your speedy connection.

If you don't have a ton of internet-connected devices or don't do a lot of high-resolution video streaming, you might be OK with a Wi-Fi 5 router, especially if you bought a relatively new or re cent one. It's not the latest generation of Wi-Fi, but it will work fine if you can live without the fastest speeds.

Finally, if you still have an older 802.11b/g/n router, what are you waiting for? It's definitely time to upgrade to a newer, faster Wi-Fi networking setup. These routers are fairly outdated at this point, and particularly with the ever-increasing speeds of home internet connections, you'll see better overall performance if you upgrade to a newer wireless router.

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About William Brawley

Contributing Writer

William Brawley

I've always had a strong love of tech, computers and other electronics. As a kid, I always thought my dad's variety of home hi-fi stereo equipment was super cool (and probably helped foment my love of music at an early age). I also fondly remember playing through Myst with my mother on the family Windows 95 PC!

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