How Wi-Fi 6E is driving innovations across industries – Cisco Blogs

Two weeks ago, we took a tour of Wi-Fi 6E and explained the marvel of this new technology and how it’s going to affect the industry. For those that didn’t read the piece, spoiler alert: Wi-Fi 6E technology extends Wi-Fi 6 into the 6GHz spectrum that brings faster speeds, lower latency and provides more security to the network.

The next question that might pop into your brain is: where will this new technology do the most good? The easiest answer is, everywhere. We already know that every organization in every industry wants tougher security, lower latency, higher reliability and more capacity but let’s get more specific.

For any organization considering IoT devices and sensors should take advantage of the new, interference-free spectrum found on Wi-Fi 6E. This means Wi-Fi 6E IoT devices can be deployed on the 6GHz spectrum and segregate them from the day-to-day traffic occurring in an accompanying office. Or do the opposite. In other words, you can have your office workers use the 5GHz or 2.4GHz spectrum to read email, search for information on the web and other daily activities, IoT devices running on the 6GHz spectrum can provide critical real-time updates without interruption from non-business critical communication. Or you can run your IoT devices on the suddenly-free-from-overuse 5GHz and 2.4GHz spectrum while your office workers migrate to 6GHz.

The same can be said for clients that need a super-secure network. As WPA3 is now mandatory on Wi-Fi 6E, the 6GHz spectrum can be used as a highly secure area where your most trusted connections are made.

As you can tell, any industry would love the features listed above, but below are just a few of the industries where Wi-Fi 6E changes the way business is being done currently.

• In healthcare, a Wi-Fi 6E network means that more life-saving devices can connect to the network without fear of lagging or slowdown. A high-frequency spectrum allows for ultra-low latency and emerging data-intensive applications and services, for transferring large data files, such as MRIs or making sure that telehealth appointments are done without interruptions. Wi-Fi 6E provides reliable and consistent low-latency connectivity for critical applications that can’t afford data delays.
• In retail environments, point-of-sale connections will run faster removing the frustration of paying customers languishing in long lines. That results in faster checkout speeds and less queue wait times allowing for more purchases to be made—easy in, easy out. This experience will improve the customer experience translating to better brand reputation, leading to higher sales.
• Every year the education market sees a standard jump due to students entering the school year with new laptops, tablets and phones. So Wi-Fi 6E will help with that battle. It’s more than that though. Wi-Fi 6Ee can change the classroom via immersive experiences and virtual learning because of the large contiguous blocks of spectrum allow for high throughput and concurrent data transmission. With Wi-Fi 6E, immersive learning runs throughout the school day as students actively learn about history by strapping on the VR headset and seeing what it was like to live in feudal Japan. In biology, get up close and personal with what bacteria and other diseases really look like.With these devices being on the 6GHz spectrum, downloading is a breeze and playback is even smoother—and this won’t be hindered by students doing other things. Classes that participate in AR/VR learning along with video streaming makes Wi-Fi 6E a boon for schools. If there are 25-30 students in a classroom watching the same video on their devices, that’s a lot of bandwidth needed to handle this load.
• Much like the IoT devices using the Wi-Fi 6E spectrum as their own, in the manufacturing world, the same can be done for Wi-Fi 6E machines. They would be on the Wi-Fi 6E spectrum, away from the interference of the day-to-day traffic happening on the 2.4GHz or 5GHz spectrums.
• Hospitality customers can advertise a Wi-Fi 6E network to their customers who stay in their rooms. They can boast about the increased speed allowing their networks to accommodate travelers who need these faster speeds.
• Government agencies needs added security. Thanks to inclusion of the WPA3 standard on Wi-Fi 6E devices, that extra security is now mandatory.

Keep an eye from Cisco on our social media channels over coming weeks to learn the latest news on Wi-Fi 6E solutions—specifically our Wireless page. You’ll be treated to blogs and podcasts that will tackle the new technology in depth, plus a lot more news as soon as it becomes available.

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