Rapid growth in the number of connected devices, streaming entertainment, and other high-bandwidth activities is placing staggering performance demands on today’s Wi-Fi. Intel’s leadership in Wi-Fi innovation continues, bringing higher levels of performance to PCs to meet the world’s growing connectivity needs.
Intel’s Connected Home Division has been acquired by MaxLinear. Additional details on the acquisition and transition of Puma 6 and Puma 7 gateway platform products, as well as other connected home products for Wi-Fi Access Points, Ethernet and Home Gateway SoC products, can be found at www.maxlinear.com.
Introducing Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+)
A Whole New Level of Wi-Fi Performance
Based on 802.11ax support for 160MHz channel bandwidth and WPA3, premium Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) delivers nearly 3X faster speeds1, up to 4X higher capacity2, 75% lower latency3, and next-gen security to PCs and wireless networks.4 Wi-Fi 6 is the most significant advancement in Wi-Fi technology in over a decade.
Why Wi-Fi is essential for remote working, learning, and playing ›
Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) enabled PCs offer best-in-class wireless connectivity for Gigabit and higher speeds and ultra-responsiveness.5
Intel® Wireless-AC (Gigabit)
The Predecessor of Wi-Fi 6
Intel® Wireless-AC delivers Gigabit Wi-Fi performance for gaming, downloading, file sharing, video streaming, and more.6
Premium Wireless Products from Intel
The quality of a wireless network is only as strong as its weakest connection. Choose PCs powered by Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig +) and Wireless-AC (Gigabit) for best-in-class wireless connectivity.5
New Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) PC Products
The latest in high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi delivers ultra-fast, ultra-reliable connections with less lag, especially in congested environments.
Intel® Wireless-AC (Gigabit) PC Products
Experience faster, smoother Gigabit Wi-Fi with PCs powered by Intel® Wireless-AC 2X2 160 MHz processors.6
Industrial Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC Products
Intel® Wireless products for industrial IoT use cases support discrete Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® technology connectivity in extreme conditions with extended temperatures (-40 to +85°C) for always on, always connected applications.
Product and Performance Information
Nearly 3X Faster: 802.11ax 2x2 160 MHz enables 2402 Mbps maximum theoretical data rates, ~3X (2.8X) faster than standard 802.11ac 2x2 80 MHz (867 Mbps) as documented in IEEE 802.11 wireless standard specifications, and require the use of similarly configured 802.11ax wireless network routers.
4X Capacity/Scalability: This claim is based on a comparison of overall network capacity for similarly sized 802.11ax vs. 802.11ac networks. The IEEE 802.11-14/0165r1 802.11ax specification amendment defines standardized modifications to both the IEEE 802.11 physical layers (PHY) and the IEEE 802.11 Medium Access Control layer (MAC) that enable at least one mode of operation capable of supporting at least four times improvement in the average throughput per station (measured at the MAC data service access point) in a dense deployment scenario, while maintaining or improving the power efficiency per station. For additional details visit: https://mentor.ieee.org/802.11/dcn/14/11-14-0165-01-0hew-802-11-hew-sg-proposed-par.docx.
75% Latency Reduction: Is based on Intel simulation data (79%) of 802.11ax with and without OFDMA using 9 clients. Average latency without OFDM is 36ms, with OFDMA average latency is reduced to 7.6ms. Latency improvement requires that the 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) router and all clients support OFDMA. For more information, visit intel.com/wifi6disclaimers.
WPA3 Wi-Fi Security Features: The Wi-Fi Alliance industry consortium will certify Wi-Fi 6 products for compliance with the IEEE 802.11ax standard, and will require WPA3 security certification as a pre-requisite to ensure the latest in Wi-Fi security features. WPA3 Simplified Passwords: WPA3 uses Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) to replace the Pre-Shared Key (PSK) exchange protocol used by WPA2. SAE more securely handles initial key exchange and uses forward secrecy, which makes it more resistant to offline decryption attacks and provides stronger password-based authentication. WPA3 Enhanced Protection: Additional network protection comes from the equivalent of 192-bit cryptographic strength across an 802.11ax network and is superior to the 128-bit AES encryption utilized with WPA2.
Best in Class Wi-Fi 6: Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) products support optional 160 MHz channels, enabling the fastest possible theoretical maximum speeds (2402 Mbps) for typical 2x2 802.11ax PC Wi-Fi products. Premium Intel® Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) products enable 2-4x faster maximum theoretical speeds compared standard 2x2 (1201 Mbps) or 1x1 (600 Mbps) 802.11ax PC Wi-Fi products, which only support the mandatory requirement of 80 MHz channels.
802.11ac 2x2 160MHz enables 1733 Mbps maximum theoretical data rates, 2X faster than standard 802.11ac 2x2 80MHz (867Mbps) and nearly 12x faster than baseline 1x1 BGN (150Mbps) Wi-Fi as documented in IEEE 802.11 wireless standard specifications, and require the use of similarly configured 802.11ac wireless network routers or better. To achieve Gigabit wireless speeds the network requires a wireless router/access point that supports 160MHz channels.