Now we have Wifi having versions which are easier to understand

When we buy a wifi router, the specs are written in a nonsensical way, which are not understandable by common people. In the past, Wi-Fi versions were identified by a letter or a pair of letters that referred to a wireless standard. The current version is 802.11ac, but before that, we had 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11a, and 802.11b. So now, Wi-Fi is adopting version numbers so that it’ll be easier to tell whether the router or device you’re buying is on the latest version.

So instead of the current Wi-Fi being called 802.11ac, it’ll be called Wi-Fi 5 (because it’s the fifth version). It’ll probably make more sense this way, starting with the first version of Wi-Fi, 802.11b. Now, instead of wondering whether “ac” is better than “n” or if the two versions even work together, you’ll just look at the number. Wi-Fi 5 is higher than Wi-Fi 4, so obviously it’s better.

Wifi networks always work together so in the future when you connect to a Wi-Fi network on your phone or laptop, your device will tell you what Wi-Fi version you’re connected to. That way, if two networks are available — one showing “4” and the other showing “5” — you’d be able to choose the newer, faster option.

Advertisement

“The Wi-Fi Alliance expects the very broad adoption of the term,” Kevin Robinson, the Alliance’s marketing chief, said in a phone call with The Verge. “It’s very unlikely it will be immediately universally adopted — that is just not the way any of these things work. But the industry will move to this generational approach of naming, and ultimately the consumers and industry both will benefit from that move.”

Apart from this the new which was originally supposed to be called as 802.11ax, will now simply be called as wifi 6 and will have faster speed and would be able to handle a multitude of devices.

Advertisement