In the market for fast and powerful Wi-FI? It may not mean having to wait for next gen devices or some experimental Internet provider to set up shop near you. The Wi-Fi Alliance, a body that certifies Wi-Fi products to enable interoperability, has expanded their main certification program to include features for faster performance. Any new AC product with the "Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ac" seal will now have a set of features called "wave 2." These allow the products to better handle high bandwidth applications for more connected devices.

WiFi official logo and accepted standards.

A simple firmware update with a compatible device could essentially double performance, under good conditions. There's also an additional spatial stream and wider 5GHz channel support. Further, MU-MIMO (multi-user, multiple input multiple output) is the most anticipated feature. It lets networks multitask by sending data to multiple devices at once rather than one at a time, improving overall network efficiency and throughput.

Most aspects of wave 2 are actually latent in many routers in the market. You may not have to buy a new router, but if you experience performance issues, this may be the final push you need.


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