Wi-Fi has always been challenged with how it can continue to meet the soaring requirements needed for bandwidth-hungry apps and an increasing number of IoT and mobile devices. Christian Gilby, Senior director of product marketing at Juniper Networks, shares how organizations can ride the 6GHz Wi-Fi wave while managing the complexities that come with it.
In the past, the efficient performance came from trying to squeeze more efficiency out of the limited spectrum for Wi-Fi allocated by governments, but that has a limit. Additional radio frequency (RF) spectrum was necessary to enable networks to meet these new devices’ requirements and deliver a faster, more consistent connection for users of all kinds. This increase in demand led regulatory bodies to allow unlicensed Wi-Fi to operate into the 6 GHz spectrum. The advent of Wi-Fi 6E, which introduces support for this 6GHz band, has the potential to be one of the greatest impacts on Wi-Fi in decades.Â
As countries worldwide begin to allow the use of the 6 GHz spectrum for Wi-Fi technologies, enterprises will start to reap the benefits, including faster Wi-Fi connections for users and applications and less congestion for IoT and mobile devices connected to the network. While this opens a new world of possibilities, managing a network for three frequencies is easier said than done. In a world where lean IT organizations are doing more with less, leveraging AI and machine learning helps simplify the complexities of Wi-Fi 6E.Â
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The Impact of Wi-Fi 6E
While as much as 1,200 MHz of new spectrum is available for unlicensed Wi-Fi operation, the amount of available spectrum will depend on a given enterprise’s local government regulator. Depending on location, this means that Wi-Fi 6E-enabled devices will have up to 59 additional 20 MHz channels, 29 additional 40 MHz channels, 14 additional 80 MHz channels or seven additional 160 MHz channels.Â
This allocation provides relief for enterprises, especially those with high traffic areas such as education, retail, transportation or events, to reduce network congestion and deliver faster, more reliable Wi-Fi networks. These networks will be highly scalable and resilient, with simplified architectures, improving their ability to support more users at multigigabit speeds.
Furthermore, Wi-Fi 6E will increase the access point (AP) uplink requirements and require multigigabit Ethernet (802.3bz) connectivity to the access layer switching infrastructure. The higher frequency results in less range at the same power using similar antennas, meaning some enterprises will need to implement additional APs to see the full benefits.
With more spectrum and thus more channels, Wi-Fi channel and power planning will become even more complex. Additionally, with an increased number of devices, network complexity also increases. Asking already taxed IT organizations to create a completely new network design with these new complexities can be too big of a burden to bear.Â
Leveraging AI
What is the answer to integrating Wi-Fi 6E without being overwhelmed by its challenges? Automation – powered by AI and machine learning. Some solutions on the market already leverage AI tools, such as reinforcement learning, to automatically learn how to optimize channel and power selection, which will become table stakes given the big increase in RF spectrum that Wi-Fi APs will need to coordinate.
Through the implementation of AI solutions, administrators can also create pre-assigned policies for IoT devices that, when a device onboards to the network, are automatically assigned and applied to the device without the need for human intervention. Some APs now offer automated client insights and AIOps to deliver optimized configurations, maximum performance and optimized packet scheduling for increased capacity without the need for manual intervention.
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Automation: The Key Driver for Wi-Fi 6E
With the new spectrum available, complexity is growing rapidly. Beyond today’s challenges, new APs are coming to market that are tri-band and thus will require administrators to optimize three channels per access point. AI is necessary to overcome those challenges, improve service levels and drive higher levels of operational efficiency. The next generation of Wi-Fi is beginning now.
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