Do you remember the first time you had a WiFi connection at home?
ContentsOld Technology Leads to LagHistory of Signal and WiFiUpgrading to Wifi 6:The Future of WiFiThe Need Is GrowingThe possibilities seemed endless, and suddenly they were. A whole new set of gadgets have started to emerge, from smart doorbells to smart thermostats. There has also been an increase in connected gadgets per person.
Where the internet was once only available from a shared home computer, people now have multiple devices each, including phones, laptops, e-readers, gaming systems, and more.
Unfortunately, the older generation of WiFi struggled to keep up. Although speeds have increased, it still has a fatal flaw. Many current WiFi routers only connect to one device at a time, sending and receiving information only from that device before moving on to the next.
Newer WiFi5 routers can connect to 4 devices at once. WiFi6, meanwhile, will be able to connect to multiple devices at once, revolutionizing our connected homes and businesses.
Your old WiFi router does the job, but sometimes it struggles to keep up. You can watch the streaming video just fine, but when the kids are all playing Fortnite with their friends, your video might buffer more.
This is because the more devices connected to a single WiFi router, the longer it takes for the signal to get back to your device. Every time you add a new device to your old network, it slows down the signal even more.
In 1941, Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr patented frequency-hopping Spread-Spectrum as a means of guiding torpedoes during World War II without being detected. The technology hopped signals across different frequencies in a predetermined pattern, much like how WiFi works today.
In fact, this invention is also used in Bluetooth and Zigbee, as well as many other technologies. Its significance went undiscovered for decades after its invention. Then, Lamarr finally received recognition for his work in 1997. That was three years before his death.
ARPANET was the first network of multiple computers, wired together to communicate with each other. It is considered the predecessor of the Internet. The first wireless network was developed in 1971 at the University of Hawaii using radio communications.
Then TCP/IP was invented in 1983 to turn a single network into a network of networks. The World Wide Web followed in 1990. Multiple technological advances before, during and after these milestones had come together to give us today's modern WiFi.
WiFi5 routers have increased connections from one device at a time to four. In 2017, the average American household had five connected devices, enough to slow down the connection for everything. Additionally, the average number of connected devices soared to more than three times that of 2017, introducing the need for even better technology.
Think about your connected thermostat and all the ancillaries you can connect to it, each with their own need for a WiFi connection. Then think about your IoT fridge connecting to your Alexa so you can check what's in your fridge before you get home from the office. There's every WiFi-connected TV, gaming system, tablet, laptop, and more, each bogging down your system.
WiFi6 will revolutionize the way we connect to the internet at home and at work. Not only will the new generation of WiFi be able to connect to more devices at once, but it will also be able to handle larger packets of information from each. Think of all the laptops on your work network and the slow internet when everyone is at the office the same day – upgrading to WiFi6 will make things better.
See also:Top Remote Work Trends in 2019 You Should Learn About
By next year, there will be over 20 billion IoT devices in the world. That's more than 2.6 times what we already have today.
Before you buy your next IoT toaster, stop to ask yourself if your network is ready to handle another connected device. It might be time to switch to WiFi6 just to save your sanity. Learn more about the history and future of WiFi from the infographic below!
