As if Wi-Fi isn’t fast enough, well, this new standard is about to set record speeds in devices come next year. The Wi-Fi Alliance has started certifying laptops, smartphones, routers, and other devices that include this new super-fast Wi-Fi standard called WiGig (Wireless Gigabit). WiGig will have almost double the current Wi-Fi’s top speeds. The standard will be called 802.11ad. 802.11ad is the new wireless standard that includes support for WiGig. Most modern phones, laptops, and routers support 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which theoretically max out at speeds of 4.5 Gbps, while these forthcoming 802.11ad devices are (theoretically) supposed to reach speeds of 8 Gbps. Sweet!
It should be noted that WiGig is not a new technology, but the Wi-Fi Alliance’s certification program has okayed its deployment in today’s announcement. Just like most super fast wireless technologies, WiGig only works over a short range about or 10 meters, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance, this is almost as since of a room. According to Kevin Robinson, who is VP of marketing at the Wi-Fi Alliance, this limitation will open up a lot of other possibilities, key of which is VR. In its current state, Virtual Reality (VR) headsets need to be tethered with a game console or PC, with a series of thick cables because current wireless standards just aren’t fast enough. This makes the user constrained in movement thus limiting how immersed you can be in a VR experience.
A better VR experience and more
But with WiGig, on the other hand, should be fast enough to support VR. Other suitable applications of this new standard speeds include augmented reality (AR), 4K video, and streaming phone and laptop displays to desktop monitors.
WiGig supported devices with the 802.11ad standards will hit the market in 2017 and a few in Q4 2016.
