Your phones, computers, and tablets will soon be faster thanks to an upgrade. It's called Wi-Fi 6, and experts at tech giant, Cisco, say it should be rolled out in the next 12 to 18 months.
At Cisco Live at the convention center in downtown San Diego, tech experts explained that it will be four times faster than what is currently possible on the wireless system we use, known as Wi-Fi 5.
"It is more powerful than any Wi-Fi we've ever had," said Todd Nightingale, Senior Vice President of Cisco Meraki. "It has better voice and video connections. Your videos and Facetimes will be crisp and clear."
It will also help enhance experiences in augmented and virtual reality through lower latency, which will lead to less lag time.
Another benefit of Wi-Fi 6 will be longer battery life for most devices, Nightingale said Wednesday.
"Wi-Fi 5 uses a big chunk of your battery life," said Nightingale. "Wi-Fi 6 opens up the possibility of all these devices we use lasting on batteries not just for days, but years at a time."
When Wi-Fi 5 was released, the average U.S. household had about five devices in it. Now, the average household has about nine devices in it, which is dragging down Wi-Fi speeds.
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Wi-Fi 6 will resolve that issue, allowing devices to work in close proximity of each other without drag when users are browsing the internet and downloading content.
