Current Wi-Fi standards for smartphones get things up to pretty decent speeds, but for the time being, speeds in the range of gigabits per second are out of reach. The Wi-Fi Alliance is looking to change all of that, however, with the introduction of the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED WiGig standard, or 802.11ad, to the mobile world. The first routers featuring the technology hit the market back in January, and routers sporting 802.11d, including kit from the likes of ASUS and Google’s OnHub project, can be had now for prices ranging from around $200 up into the $500+ territory. With that pricing and with how long the standard has been around, it’s probably safe to say that WiGig is on the verge of mainstream adoption.
Wi-Fi standards used in smartphones right now work on the 2.5GHz and 5GHz channels, achieving speeds up to about 600 megabits per second on most compatible hardware. WiGig, on the other hand, cranks it up to the 60GHz range. This brings serious speed increases, with theoretical max speeds encroaching the multiple gigabits per second area. According to a press release from the Wi-Fi Alliance, mobile chipsets that support WiGig will be hitting the market in droves throughout 2017, with analyst ABI Research projecting some 180 million WiGig mobile devices to hit the market during that time.
On top of being far faster than current Wi-Fi standards, WiGig is touted as being more secure, as well. WiGig is also less susceptible to interference from other devices or objects, with multi-gigabit speeds being achievable with most devices at a radius of up to ten meters. While some larger houses will end up requiring multiple routers or extenders, this means that the average flat, apartment, or middle-class home can get connected on a single well-placed 802.11ad router. The secret sauce in all of this is beamforming, which allows direct beams of data between connected devices, rather than the more scattered approach most Wi-Fi devices currently use. A number of non-mobile WiGig devices are already on the market, such as the Dell Latitude E7450, and more will be coming as the technology moves up in ubiquity and down in price.