Why did WiFi speeds mature so slowly?

HangTime

HangTime

HangTime

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Nowadays home WiFi connections can run at hundreds of megabits per second (maybe faster for all I know). But I remember not so long ago it being a big deal getting a Wireless G router that could handle up to 54mbit up from 11mbit Wireless A or whatever.

It's not like with cabling where there might be a physical limitation to get a given speed, WiFi will be taking the same route as it did say 15 years ago.

So what I'm wondering is why didn't we have 100mbit+ Wifi much sooner, notwithstanding I guess that with slower internet speeds there was probably less demand for fast wifi and/or fewer WiFi enabled devices? I mean when 11mbit Wireless A was doing the rounds, 100mbit LAN had been around for absolutely ages already.
 
You have WIFI 6E just about on us now (My intel card is WIFI6E/BT5.2), WIFI 5ac will do about 600Mb/s in real use from the VM HUB4 and that is not the fastest ac device.
 
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Today's fast WiFi depends on technology that simply wasn't available (at consumer prices) a decade ago. The signal processing and multiple antenna systems are sophisticated and the result of the last decade's physical layer R&D.
 
I'm not an expert on this topic, but I'd think simply due to the difficulty in actually developing the technology.

When it comes to wired Ethernet, the means of making it faster were not exactly trivial (otherwise we'd all be on 100 gigabit now), but neither were they incredibly complicated. The basic technology of sending the signals down the wire stay the same, but you just allow that to happen at a higher frequency and thus more data per second by things like improvements in the cabling (thicker wire, shielding from interference, etc...) and higher performance chips that can operate at the higher frequencies.

Wireless on the other hand, you have a fundamental limitation imposed by radio waves travelling through the air - you can't make them go any faster (well, 5 Ghz band vs. the 2.4 Ghz one I guess...) and you have interference to deal with which is outside your control. You can shield a wire, you can't shield a radio wave passing through the air.

The improvements in WiFi have come from all kinds of other sources instead - multiple antennae being the most obvious, but also things like beamforming technology. These kind of improvements tend to require very complex processing of the signals, which isn't easy to do. You need to be able to do it very efficiently too without using much power, since devices using WiFi are far more likely to be on a battery than something running wired Ethernet. That means development of new signal processing chips, which is a long, complex and costly process.

You also need to get co-operation from many different manufacturers when developing new standards, since both the access point and the device have to implement the same thing (and get it exactly right) or it won't work. In short, it's not easy at all.
 
I'd also go with demand, it wasn't there. If you were moving large files then you had wired, most wireless devices were for internet only and those were limited at the net speed.
Now demand is growing and so is the tech, more devices and faster home net speed.
 
We’ve had Wi-Fi capable of doing over 100Mbps since 5GHz 802.11n came along around 2009.

I don’t feel that the development of Wi-Fi standards have been slow at all - the more obvious limitations are client device manufacturers opting to still put absolute crap into their devices in terms of radios or antenna design, and the lack of a widely available cost effective way to backhaul more than 1Gbps from the AP. I remember getting some Sony laptops in 2011 that had a wireless card in that would only do 2.4GHz 802.11n and a single spatial stream - just a complete waste of time.
 
turbot1984 said:
Wi fi is rubbish...30-40mpbs next to router. Top (3rd floor) powerline 110mpbs. Sky Q kit.
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Personally I find it more concerning that people still have such unreasonable expectations of WiFi, let alone think powerline is an alternative to actual structured cabling. I almost feel like we need to start some sort of appeal to send you some 5e.
 
Avalon said:
Personally I find it more concerning that people still have such unreasonable expectations of WiFi, let alone think powerline is an alternative to actual structured cabling. I almost feel like we need to start some sort of appeal to send you some 5e.
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Mine seems quite reasonable pulling 474.2 Mbps up and down in an old house, but I do have a small mesh system to help (albeit not in the same room as my phone when I did the test). My PC is currently hardwired, which I got upstairs via external cabling rather than powerlines (which are horrid in my old wiring).
 
montymint said:
Mine seems quite reasonable pulling 474.2 Mbps up and down in an old house, but I do have a small mesh system to help (albeit not in the same room as my phone when I did the test). My PC is currently hardwired, which I got upstairs via external cabling rather than powerlines (which are horrid in my old wiring).
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I think you may have taken my reply to someone who stated they could only get 30-40Mbit on the third floor using SkyQ out of context. It’s perfectly possible to get 4-600Mbit with the right client and AP or router in the right environment, especially with say a wired backhaul, or at least a dedicated one, but it’s unreasonable to expect it when you skimp on the hardware at either end or have an overly busy RF environment or that passing the signal through two floors and any walls in LoS won’t reduce throughout.
 
Avalon said:
I think you may have taken my reply to someone who stated they could only get 30-40Mbit on the third floor using SkyQ out of context. It’s perfectly possible to get 4-600Mbit with the right client and AP or router in the right environment, especially with say a wired backhaul, or at least a dedicated one, but it’s unreasonable to expect it when you skimp on the hardware at either end or have an overly busy RF environment or that passing the signal through two floors and any walls in LoS won’t reduce throughout.
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Oh yeah, 100% agree on that. The first thing I did when I got virgin was to pop the hub in modem mode and replace it with something better for routing.

I think I shouldn't be allowed to post before at least 2 coffees :)
 
A lot of delays will be around legislation of airwaves and standardisation of new bands/formats as well.
 
Avalon said:
Personally I find it more concerning that people still have such unreasonable expectations of WiFi, let alone think powerline is an alternative to actual structured cabling. I almost feel like we need to start some sort of appeal to send you some 5e.
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Agree, and the 'convenience' marketing of wifi over many years has given the impression its perfect. Lets face it, what % of gadgets actually have an ethernet port these days?
 
Some of it comes down to the fundamentals of physics and what is legally permissible and sensible in terms of the power output of the radios in devices.

Most countries don’t want everyone to have powerful radios constantly transmitting because they can interfere with other services and well other people trying to do the same thing.

In reality there is very little you can’t do over WiFi 5 (ac) or WiFi 6 (ax) when you have well places access points in your property.

Also just look how long it’s taken to get past 1gb Ethernet outside of the data centre or commercial applications. 10gb is still hugely expensive compared to 1gb.
 
Duke said:
A lot of delays will be around legislation of airwaves and standardisation of new bands/formats as well.
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I also daresay once the hardware companies have developed, marketed and built the devices they want them to be in the supply chain for a while and sell enough to make their monies back?

I think only Mobile Phones have had the most rapid growth in tech but even they get hamstrung with patents and fallings out.
 
Th0nt said:
I think only Mobile Phones have had the most rapid growth in tech but even they get hamstrung with patents and fallings out.
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Over the last twenty years, mobile phones and WiFi have developed on similar trajectories, utilising similar technical developments.
 
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