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- OFCOM opens 6GHz. What will it mean for businesses?
OFCOM have opened 500MHz of radio spectrum frequency in the new 6GHz band. This will significantly boost the speed of licence-exempt wireless networks. Low cost out-door wireless bridges currently available in 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz will soon have 6 GHz models. Because of the newly available frequency in the UK, these RLAN technologies (OFCOMS’s naming) will initially be operating in virtually interference free space. WiFi 6 (802.11ax) and 6 GHz means a series uplift in through put capacity, security, latency and a host of other benefits.
WiFi 6 has theoretical data speeds of 9.6 Gbps over the combined 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz bands.
The 6 GHz band for now will see most of the benefits in low cost wireless bridging applications where both ends of the link are 6 GHz native. WiFi enabled client devices (i.e smart phones) hoping to benefit from this new band are few and far between. In a few years you will be see new routers and client devices that need to operate with faster speeds capable of operating across the three bands.
Because 6 GHz has been available in other countries, many of the vendors for Point-to-Point equipment already have these radios ready to import to the UK and start shipping.