• kirklennon@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    The confusing alphabet soup of Wi-Fi versions got renamed. 802.11n became Wi-Fi 4, 802.11ac became Wi-Fi 5, and 802.11ax became Wi-Fi 6. Wi-Fi 7 is still in development so 6 is the best in-use version.

    • mustardman@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      Technically 6E is the best in-use version for compatible devices. Same as WiFi 6 but adds the 6GHz spectrum that was recently unlocked by many regulatory agencies around the world. The 6GHz range is significantly less congested and would have better real-world performance in dense residential areas.

      Edit: A few months ago I stumbled upon this site where the author goes quite in-depth about WiFi and does so in a way that is easy to understand. They debunk/corroborate claims and technologies advertised by manufacturers so it really helps demystify the process of selecting the right WiFi gear.

    • towerful@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      WiFi has literally gone the opposite of USB.
      It used to be obvious what USB speeds were, whereas WiFi was 802.11b or whatever.
      Now we have WiFi 5 or WiFi 6. And we have USB-C PD 10gbps with AltMode

      • hyperhopper@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        USB has gotten more complicated and does way more now in more contexts. It charges laptops now, it carries multiplexed displayport signals, it does its own handshake and performs hardware level initialization protocols.

        Meanwhile we’ve been wanting the same thing out of wifi since the start. Nothing’s really changed, we just want it to go faster.

        • anlumo@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          You’re thinking of USB-C, not the USB standard. USB PD, Alternative Mode and Thunderbolt aren’t part of the USB spec.

          • hyperhopper@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            No, I’m thinking about the port. Which is what we are talking about. Usb-c, usb-pd, thunderbolt, etc, all use the same port. I can use the same cable in the same port for all of these.