The next generation brings more than just faster speeds

Wi-Fi is about to get faster. That’s great news: faster internet is constantly in demand, especially as we consume more bandwidth-demanding apps, games, and videos with our laptops and phones.

But the next generation of Wi-Fi, known as Wi-Fi 6, isn’t just a simple speed boost. Its impact will be more nuanced, and we’re likely to see its benefits more and more over time.

This is less of a one-time speed increase and more of a future-facing upgrade designed to make sure our speeds don’t grind to a halt a few years down the road.

Wi-Fi 6 is just starting to arrive this year, and there’s a good chance it’ll be inside your next phone or laptop. Here’s what you should expect once it arrives.

Read more here.

All of the US carriers have now launched some form of 5G cellular network. But what exactly is 5G, and how fast is it compared with 4G? Here are the facts we know so far.

“Nationwide 5G” is here, but for many people, it isn’t making much of a difference. Both AT&T and Verizon are running forms of 5G that light up a ‘5G’ icon on your brand-new smartphone but feel and work exactly like 4G.

That may lead people to wonder what the big deal is with 5G. Is what we’re seeing right now even 5G at all? The answer is yes—technically. It turns out that 5G technology and a “5G experience” are very different things, and right now in the US we’re getting the former without the latter.

Things will start to turn, though. T-Mobile’s “ultra capacity” 5G won our Fastest Mobile Networks 2021 tests by showing speeds much faster than 4G, and starting in late 2021, the upcoming C-band networks may change the game for AT&T and Verizon.

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Here’s everything you’ll ever want to know about the spectrum, millimeter-wave technology, and why 5G could give China an edge in the AI race.

THE FUTURE DEPENDS on connectivity. From artificial intelligence and self-driving cars to telemedicine and mixed reality to as yet undreamt technologies, all the things we hope will make our lives easier, safer, and healthier will require high-speed, always-on internet connections. To keep up with the explosion of new connected gadgets and vehicles, not to mention the deluge of streaming video, the mobile industry has introduced something called 5G—so named because it’s the fifth generation of wireless networking technology.

Read more here.