From the earliest dial-up connections to today’s everything-interconnected era, our pursuit of speed and stability has never stopped. Every Wi-Fi protocol innovation marks a giant leap in our smart lives. These protocols all originate from the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, evolving from 802.11b to today’s Wi-Fi 4/5/6.
Early development and performance leaps: from 802.11b/g to 802.11ax
802.11b – 2.4 GHz band, 11 Mbps peak rate; laid the foundation and brought Wi-Fi to the mass market.
802.11a – 5 GHz band, 54 Mbps peak; first to adopt OFDM, but 5 GHz gear was scarce, so it never became widespread.
802.11g – 2.4 GHz band, 54 Mbps peak; merged the best of both—used OFDM in 2.4 GHz for higher speed while staying backward-compatible with 802.11b.
802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) – 2.4 & 5 GHz bands, 600 Mbps peak (4×4 MIMO, 40 MHz); introduced MIMO, broke the 100 Mb barrier, and added dual-band support.
802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) – 5 GHz band only, 6.9 Gbps peak (8×8 MIMO, 160 MHz); brought in MU-MIMO (DL), widened channels, and boosted bandwidth.
802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) – 2.4 & 5 GHz bands, 9.6 Gbps peak (8×8 MIMO, 160 MHz, 1024-QAM); offers high efficiency (capacity), low latency, low power, and strong anti-interference.
MIMO (802.11n): Previously, data was transmitted over a single channel. MIMO uses multiple antennas to transmit and receive data simultaneously, enabling parallel multi-channel transmission and significantly increasing data rates and coverage.
MU-MIMO (DL) (802.11ac): For the first time, it allows a router to send data to multiple terminal devices at the same time (downlink), effectively improving network efficiency in multi-device scenarios. Wi-Fi 5: supports DL MU-MIMO only; Wi-Fi 6: extends to both uplink and downlink.
Wi-Fi 6: the pinnacle of efficiency and stability
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is more than a speed boost—it’s an efficiency revolution that tackles congestion, latency, and power drain, laying the groundwork for next-gen IoT. MU-MIMO handles “high-throughput, large-packet data streams”; OFDMA handles “multi-device, small-packet scenarios.”
OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access):
Principle: Traditional Wi-Fi serves only one device at a time; OFDMA splits the channel into multiple RUs and can deliver data to several devices simultaneously. It divides a single data channel into many small sub-carriers (resource units) and transports small packets to multiple different devices at the same time.
Advantage: Greatly reduces latency, especially in IoT scenarios with small data volumes but many devices, improving efficiency by up to 4×.
UL/DL MU-MIMO (uplink/downlink multi-user MIMO):
Wi-Fi 5 supports only downlink (router-to-device); Wi-Fi 6 adds bidirectional MU-MIMO, letting devices transmit to the router simultaneously and eliminating queuing delays.
TWT (Target Wake Time):
Principle: The router negotiates the next communication time with each device; the device can enter deep sleep outside the scheduled window.
Advantage: Greatly reduces battery drain, extending IoT device battery life by 2–10.
BSS Coloring & Spatial Reuse:
By adding a “color tag” to BSS packets, the system intelligently identifies and ignores interference from neighboring networks, significantly improving stability and anti-interference ability in dense residential environments.
Performance & Dual-Mode Integration: FD7352S Wi-Fi 6 Solution
Neardi’s FD7352S module is built on the latest Wi-Fi 6 Wave 2 protocol and integrates all advanced technologies—an ideal choice for high-performance, high-reliability IoT products.
2T2R Architecture
2T2R MIMO: FD7352S uses two transmit (2T) and two receive (2R) antennas for high-performance transmission.
Theoretical rates: 2.4 GHz – 572.4 Mbps, 5 GHz – 1.2 Gbps; measured throughput up to 550 Mbps.
Modulation: 1024-QAM packs more data per symbol, ensuring smooth, stable HD video streams.
Wi-Fi 6 & BT 5.4 Perfect Coexistence
FD7352S is not only a Wi-Fi 6 module but also an 802.11ax + Bluetooth 5.4 dual-mode combo.
Coexistence mechanism: In the 2.4 GHz band, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth often interfere. FD7352S’s hardware-level arbitration intelligently schedules Wi-Fi data and Bluetooth audio/control packets, keeping both stable—ideal for fast Bluetooth pairing plus high-quality Wi-Fi video.
Bluetooth 5.4: Supports the latest BT v5.4, backward-compatible with BR/EDR/LE 1M/LE 2M/LE LR, providing reliable, low-power, long-range sensor connectivity.
High-Integration Interfaces
Supports SDIO 3.0 (high-speed data) + HS-UART (control) + PCM (HD audio), ensuring broad compatibility.
With outstanding 2T2R performance, UL/DL OFDMA efficiency, TWT low-power operation, and Bluetooth 5.4 dual-mode coexistence, FD7352S delivers a one-stop solution for next-gen smart products.
Your message must be between 20-3,000 characters!
