Our Wi-Fi systems,
worn thin by COVID

In 2020 we have started to rely on our home computer networking far more than ever before. We work at home, sit in virtual classrooms at home, much of the time using Zoom, Webex or other internet intensive means to communicate. Many times we’re disappointed or frustrated by twirling on screen symbols telling us to wait for our system to catch up. We jump to call the cable or phone company to upgrade our internet service speed, yet find there’s another bottleneck we had not considered — our in-house network — often times our WiFi system. Is it time for an upgrade there too?

Here are the spec’s for WiFi —what do they do, and how might they benefit you?

The specification for WiFi is called 802.11. When you look at the WiFi type spec on a router or device, you’ll see a bunch of suffixes, e.g. 802.11a, 802.11n, etc. The problem is the suffix conveys no information. Is 801.11n later or earlier than 802.11ac? No one would know - it’s insider gibberish argot stuff. Somebody ( the Wi-Fi Alliance ) got smart and changed the nomenclature.

Now devices will be numbered by generation. It’s easy to perceive that WiFi 6 is probably more advanced than WiFi 5, and, in fact, it is!

So, what’s new in WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 ( the specs formerly known as 802.11ac and 802.11ax respectively ) and do we need to replace our still prevalent WiFi 3 and 4 devices?

Beamforming - Think of early generation WiFi signal coverage as circular, or pie shaped. Every single degree in the 360 degrees of a circle receives the same amount of signal. The problem is, in most locations, there is nothing to receive the signal. With the 5th generation, the routers tend to use multiple antennas to shape a beam of signal in one direction - in effect changing the shape of the router’s coverage from a pizza pie to a hot dog, or a few hot dogs, radiating out to a few devices on the system. The user gets more signal and less noise - a better connection, but remember the device paired to the router has to also be a 5 or 6 Gen unit so it can tell the router to ’steer’ a signal to it.

Band steering - in the US, and most other countries, WiFi is allowed to operate on the 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz bands. 2.4 is a fairly noisy band, but it typically has greater range than the 5.0 GHz band - conversely, the 5.0 band has greater width, so it can carry more information. Both bands are already in use by cordless phones, and the 2.4 band is close to the 2.6 frequency used to heat popcorn, so noise from the ’nuker’ may cause problems. Also, a lot of devices like smart speakers ( Alexa! ), streaming TV signals ( Roku ) and cameras ( Ring ) have been added to the 2.4 band. A lot of traffic builds up at 2.4, so it’s time try 5.0, to use it as the passing lane. Gen 5 and 6 WiFi devices switch automatically from 2.4 to 5.0, trying to give the machine the best signal to noise ratio possible. Another ’trick’ started in Gen 5 is called ’tri-banding’. The means to achieve three bands is to split up the 5.0 band into two parts, and dedicate some channels there to certain devices, while other devices use the remaining channels. When the devices give each other less competition for signal, they all perform more efficiently.

QAM - A WiFi radio is not AM - Amplitude Modulation nor FM - Frequency Modulation. It is QAM, or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation. The QAM method lends itself to digital signals - unlike the analog information you once saw or heard on TV or radio - digital info can be split and sent at slightly different times. Think of QAM as a series of roller coaster cars running up and down the sinusoidal wave of the WiFi signal. They can be a longer or shorter car, or sent at various times or just sit and wait at the gate in the amusement park. The Gen 4 roller coaster train could hold 64 passengers. 256 could load onto a Gen 5 coasters, and in Gen 6, 1024 can board the coaster.

For most of us, the ‘figure of merit’ is how much data can we pack down the pipe, in other words, throughput. The answer to a Gen 6 v. Gen 5 decision is nominally 37% faster for Gen 6 — but — in high density situations, the Gen 6 can notch 4 times greater throughput than Gen 5. Is our house — ‘high density? We have smart speakers, like Alexa. We have streaming TV Chromecasters and Roku devices, we have cameras like the Ring doorbell, iPads and other tablets watching videos, and old smart phones ( that respond to Hey Google! or Hey Siri! ) are used as radios, alarm clocks, remote light switches, plus we also have our laptop and our desktop computers, and our gaming consoles. All of them are on WiFi. Are most houses now ‘high density’situations? We think the answer is a resounding yes. We need to upgrade our home network to match the new uses we’ve found for it, and the faster speeds we now have coming into the house.

In a few weeks we’ll have a written description of the path we charted in our home network upgrade efforts. Hint: we didn’t go out and replace every last machine, we tried to do it on a budget befitting the times. Another point- the years you see above for the spec, e.g. 2018 for WiFi 6. Those are the dates the agreed upon spec was finalized. Then someone had to build and ship a chip for that spec. The next level was the finished product maker incorporating the new spec chipsets in their designs. So be aware that WiFi 6 products didn't start shipping until late 2019, and many weren't universally available even now.



Our WiFi home network has become a hinderance.

Our WiFi radio is way too slow.

Big gains by simple means. Bringing our slowest devices up to speed.

Sending our internet connection into the electric breaker box.

Some thoughts on meeting software

Video cams that pull us out of that 70's TV series look.

Why this information from a law firm?

How, you might ask, does a law firm have any bona fides in this subject matter. A staff member whose first encounter with the digital world was Fortran on a Univac, followed by IMSAI CP/M S-100 bus, manufacturing using 3870 Mostek microcontrollers (2 kilo bytes of onboard ROM!) then 6805 & HC11 Motorola, Intel 8051, etc. etc... for years... plus a few US patents involving RF devices along the way in these areas is our credential. When the isolation happened this year, we realized we could and should help our clients stay current with their health & safety isolation and distancing needs while we worked with them on their family, estate and tax law matters. So you see above the kind of --additional -- advice and service we have been dispensing over the past months.