What’s Best? Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) or 5G?
2018年11月15日
每一次新的移动电话标准出台，我们都会看到关于“Wi-Fi终结”的新说法。当3G被宣布时，承诺将使Wi-Fi（802.11b）成为冗余，这显然是不正确的。有了4G（LTE），这个故事又重演了一遍，并声称它将把Wi-Fi（802.11ac）放入碎纸机。而现在5G的信息是，它将覆盖房屋和建筑物的内外。就好像Wi-Fi很快就不需要了。
这就引出了一个问题：下一代Wi-Fi将产生什么样的影响，Wi-Fi 6（802.11ax）? Do we even need it in the 5G/wireless landscape? I think we need better questions.
Beyond the hype
当然,有些消息传递的5 g是公正的typical marketing hype, showcasing the favorable points and ignoring the less favorable ones. For example, 5G with 4 Gbps will be faster than Wi‑Fi (.11ac) with 1.3 Gbps. The immediate counter argument is that Wi‑Fi (.11ax) with 9.6 Gbps will be faster than 5G. But will these speeds be achieved in real life? We’ve seen this before, these glossy promises of high-speed access being wiped away by the hard truth of “no connection in the basement,” or something similar. Cue the collective consumer yawn.
（顺便问一下，如果与家庭的连接速度为300 Mbps或更低，那么地下室的9.6 Gbps Wi-Fi有多好？这解决了什么问题？）
If we want a real sense of where the developments are heading, it’s probably a good idea to go a little deeper than marketing headlines. What are the real facts that can guide us? For starters, laws of physics tell us that radio waves (both Wi‑Fi and 5G) have difficulties penetrating objects such as walls and foliage, and their data rates decrease with distance. Radiating more power helps a little, but it also causes unwanted noise, making equipment more expensive. In addition, there are legal maximum output power ratings to adhere to.
There are also economic laws. Cellular (3G/4G/5G) uses licensed bands. Mobile operators (service providers) pay money to use this spectrum and need to roll out a network of (connected) base stations to cover a large area. They then need to recover this money with subscription fees. In such a service area, many users need to be served, sharing the same frequency band over multiple channels.
相比之下，Wi-Fi使用的是未经许可的频谱，所有人都可以免费使用。然而，输出功率非常低，所以无线电信号（或多或少）留在你自己的房子或建筑物中，并具有良好的（所谓的）频谱重用。每个家庭都可以使用相同的频段。然而，要在你家门口上网，你需要向互联网服务提供商支付一笔订阅费，其中包括一个简单的路由器。如果你想，你也可以买一个更贵的路由器。
因此，从频段的角度来看，Wi-Fi和5G之间存在着一种有趣的技术划分，但客户真的在乎吗？客户关心快速的互联网接入-任何地方-在一个体面的价格。相比之下，运营商/提供商关心的是在任何地方（家里和家周围）提供良好的互联网服务，并控制成本。有趣的是Wi-Fi off-load（蜂窝网络将流量卸载到Wi-Fi连接），这两种不同技术之间的界限已经模糊。
一点历史是有帮助的
It’s interesting to note that the Wi‑Fi world is rooted in the commercial computer industry, while 5G is rooted in the more legislated telephone industry. So, telephone operators (now service providers) have more affinity with 5G than with Wi‑Fi. When most telephone operators started to deliver internet to consumers, it was delivery to the front door. What happened inside the house was the consumer’s responsibility.
There’s another distinction between cellular and Wi‑Fi: a mobile phone uses a service subscription that requires a SIM card. This SIM card ensures that phones are connected to subscriptions and don’t use the network illegally. But Wi‑Fi doesn’t need a SIM card; the frequency band is license-free. Not surprisingly, the mobile world is looking for ways to make the SIM card redundant, but initiatives like soft SIM and eSIM aren’t making the desired progress because they’re too cumbersome and/or are not sufficiently secure.
这些历史的结果是，消费者的互联网连接世界分为两部分：移动（有订阅和SIM卡）和固定（有路由器在家）。这种情况现在已经确立。当然，无线互联网连接可能会很麻烦，最初，电话运营商利用这一麻烦作为一个机会，推广蜂窝网络作为Wi-Fi的替代品。好消息是这种心态正在改变。
有线电视运营商也加入了这一行列。他们发现，对于许多消费者来说，家中的Wi-Fi覆盖是一个主要问题。有线电视运营商的回应是，他们将服务范围扩大到家庭内部。这迫使蜂窝网络运营商也采取同样的行动，同时开发出更高质量的无线室内互联网服务。
Wi‑Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax)
Better coverage inside the home is one of thekey characteristics of the new generation of Wi‑Fi, now called Wi-Fi 6(based on the IEEE 802.11ax standard). The distributed concept behind this new version of the Wi-Fi standard (also called Wi‑Fi mesh) helps to把互联网分发到家里的每个房间, with the main router at the front door, and small satellite routers (also known as repeaters) on every floor and in every room. This enables internet service providers to sell and support solid internet connectivity everywhere in the home — all good news!
There are also interesting crossover products, though, and a nice example is theFRITZ!Box 6890from German supplierAVM.This box is a traditional router, providing Wi‑Fi everywhere in the home. But it doesn’t use DSL, fiber or cable — it uses LTE. So, this box has a SIM card and operates the same way as if you use your mobile phone as a hotspot to connect your tablet to the internet, for example. The difference is the FRITZ!Box makes this configuration permanent in your house. The trick is to make sure you have the right subscription service (preferably unlimited data) to avoid high mobile charges for your private wireless hotspot.
A better way of looking at things
尽管有这些跨界车,在谈到cellular and Wi‑Fi, it still feels like two separate worlds and that we’re switching back and forth between them, like a car shifting gears. Fortunately, most phones are somewhat smart, and when the Wi‑Fi connection isn’t working, the phone automatically switches to the cellular network. But there’s a real problem if you’re “on the edge of Wi‑Fi” and Wi‑Fi attempts to take back the connection, leaving you in limbo with a nonworking Wi‑Fi and a nonworking cellular connection. In those moments, the solution is to turn off Wi‑Fi to end the battle and avoid poor response times.
But wouldn’t it be better if there were a good hand-off between the Wi‑Fi connection and the cellular connection, so that the user always gets the best performance against the lowest cost?
作为一个消费者，我不在乎自己是通过Wi-Fi连接，还是将来通过5G连接。这个系统提供了最好的连接，无论是在家里，室内，室外，还是在路上。然后我就可以在家里订阅互联网，在户外订阅手机服务——但有一个转折点。我说的是另一种思维方式。在这种情况下，服务提供商（无论是移动运营商还是有线运营商）都可以在家中和在路上提供最高质量的无线互联网接入服务。在这一领域有许多举措正在进行中，都属于“Wi-Fi卸载”范畴，原则上这项技术就在那里。但由于多重竞争和遗留利益，它还不是主流。
“正确”的选择
可能更清楚的是，客户对下一代Wi-Fi或“下一代G”并不感兴趣。消费者只想随时随地以最实惠的价格获得最好的互联网连接。这是每个人——无论是蜂窝网络提供商、热点提供商还是互联网服务提供商——都可以思考如何最有效地向其庞大的订阅群提供最佳服务的方式。
Key is to envision 5G and Wi‑Fi 6 working together to implement this, instead of playing one against the other. There should be no “right” technology choice or choosing the one best technology for a given application.
And hopefully this different way of thinking will also help to concentrate on today’s real bottleneck — how to get high-speed internet to the home.
深入：5G或.11ax（Wi-Fi 6）？
进一步了解Wi-Fi的未来。
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