With everyone being more dependent with the internet more than ever, having a stable WiFi connection at home (or in the office) is a big must-have. To address the new demands for wireless internet connectivity, WiFi 6 was introduced in 2019, and is now slowly becoming mainstream. As more devices now have support for the new WiFi standard, we’re not sure everyone completely understands the benefits of WiFi 6.

To make it easier for you to understand, we explain the key benefits of WiFi 6 and how it will benefit you in the long run.

Can handle higher speeds. While WiFi 5 can handle up to 3.5Gbps, WiFi 6 can do almost thrice at 9.6Gbps. That means WiFi 6 can handle internet plans that offer higher download and upload speeds–and deliver the same speeds without any hardware-related bottlenecks. This is made possible by combining both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands and MU-MIMO (short for multi-user, multiple input, multiple output) for both uplinks and downlinks.

It is not all about speed, by the way: with tech like OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division multiple access), WiFi 6 also aims to lower latency and increase data transfer times, making it a boon for those who play games and those who need to transfer large amounts of data through WiFi.

Has bigger bandwidth for multiple devices. With most households having almost double the number of WiFi devices since WiFi 5 came out in 2014 based on research by The Verge, WiFi routers have reached a point where they can only accommodate a limited amount of devices at the same time. WiFi 6 addresses this with an improved version of MU-MIMO that helps in a more efficient distribution of WiFi bandwidth not just to laptops and phones, but also to smart home devices as well.

With an updated MU-MIMO protocol, WiFi 6 can communicate to up to 8 devices simultaneously, which is double the number of devices WiFi 5 is capable of accommodating at the same time.

Better power efficiency. Because WiFi 6 distributes internet bandwidth more efficiently compared to WiFi 5, this also translates to better power consumption with features like Target Wake Time (TWT). What this does is that the router will so to sleep when no one is using it, and will only wake up when it is needed.

This feature is great especially in times that you are not at home and no one is using the WiFi network at home, helping you cut down on your electricity bill. In addition, TWT also means that your router will only communicate to your smart home devices when you prompt them to do so via smart home apps.

BONUS: Upgrading to WiFi 6 is now more affordable. While early WiFi 6 routers would cost you a fortune, newer, more affordable models like the Huawei WiFi AX3 helps in making the upgrade to WiFi 6 more accessible to everyone and letting them enjoy its benefits. Aside from WiFi 6, Huawei’s in-house Gigahome processor and Wifi 6+ tech lets you enjoy even better and more efficient WiFi speeds when using supported Huawei devices.

The Huawei WiFi AX3 is priced at Php 3,999 and is available at Huawei’s eCommerce shop and their official Lazada store.