Enriching onboard experience for rails with ‘WiFi 6’

Train operators and system integrators need a solid knowledge of WiFi6, the wireless technology that enables next-generation wireless communications.

802.11ax (High-Efficeincy Wireless) is the next evolution of Wi-Fi, the most successful wireless technology in the world. This new release brings some of the most fabulous advances ever seen in wireless communications for decades. It will be the enabling technology for IoT (Internet of Things), smart cities, industry 4.0, edge computing, and the tactile Internet.

Its commercial name is ‘WiFi 6’. Within three years, there will be more than one billion WiFi 6 devices on the market, and in total there will be 14 billion Wi-Fi devices (twice as many as humans). This is something no other wireless technology can come close to, as Wi-Fi adoption rates are much faster than in other options. The reasons are many:

It uses non-licensed spectrum.

• It provides unmatched bandwidth and quality of service
• It is easy and cost effective to innovate over Wi-Fi
• It is perfectly backwards compatible with old devices
• Chips are cheap and easy to integrate into a product
• Technicians know the technology
• The ordinary user knows the technology.

This translates into a huge demand for fast, reliable and value-added WiFi 6 networks in challenging environments such as hotels, offices, trains, stations, aircraft, buses, sport stadiums or convention centers. Fortunately, 802.11ax is specifically designed for such complex Wi-Fi deployments.

This article highlights the main benefits of deploying a WiFi 6 network (based on 802.11ax) in the rail industry. Whether you are a train operator, a system integrator, or a passenger, at the end of this reading you will have a solid knowledge of the wireless technology that enables next-generation wireless communications under these demanding scenarios.