Wi-Fi 6e路由器在这里，我们还没准备好

The sixth generation of Wi-Fi -- 802.11ax, orWi-Fi 6- 此时是一个完善的标准。在管理密集，拥挤的网络时更好，具有许多客户端设备，并支持faster top speeds, Wi-Fi 6 is already featured prominently in most of最新的智能手机和笔记本电脑， 更何况Wi-Fi 6路由器的保险杠作物promising to bring the upgrade home.

Just when you think you've got your head wrapped around all that, something calledWi-Fi 6e出现。这不是Wi-Fi 6等Wi-Fi协议的新版本，而是，对于装备播放的Wi-Fi 6设备的特殊名称the newly opened 6GHz band, which is something routers couldn't do before.

Mostly empty save for emergency broadcasts, that 6GHz band is它是5GHz带下方的两倍多，足够的带宽最多为七个非播放160MHz通道。在外行的条款中，如果2.4GHz乐队是一个单线国家高速公路，而且5GHz乐队是一个三通道的州际公路，将6GHz乐队描绘成一个闪亮的，新的七通道高速公路，只有6e设备可以访问ondramp。

这是一个有趣的间距 - 现在，在2021年，我们开始看到支持标准的路由器击中市场。我想知道他们做了什么样的影响，所以我把手放在上面华硕ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000, which looks like a cyborg spider sent from the future to kill Spider-Man, and theNetgear Nighthawk RAXE500，我们亲切地开始称之为“蝙蝠侠”，因为我希望是显而易见的。他们是今年发布的第一个Wi-Fi 6e路由器中的两个，并且在速度测试后速度测试后，我一直在忙着通过速度测试。这是我到目前为止所学到的一切 - 最重要的是，任何人都有很少的原因尚未削弱其中的其中一个。

Wait, they aren't good?

I didn't say that. On the contrary, these are powerful, capable routers that are equipped to bring everything online -- old devices, new devices, devices that don't exist yet -- at the fastest speeds possible. In fact, each one boasts top speeds of up to 4,800Mbps -- 4.8 gigabits per second -- on its 5GHz and 6GHz bands (Asus says the GT-AXE11000's 6GHz band goes even higher, topping out at just above 5 gigs).

在$550 for Asusand$600 for Netgear，两者目前缺货亚马逊，难以找到一点，但它们每个都承诺最新的功能和全部线上的网络性能（以及“全国性统治" from Asus, in typical gaming router parlance that I'm choosing to read as a direct threat toTom Holland）。

What's the problem, then? It's that 6GHz band. There are very few devices currently equipped to take advantage of it at this point -- and even if you've got one of those, you aren't likely to see performance that's noticeably better than what you'd see on the 5GHz band anytime soon. In fact, you could argue that the 5GHz band would actually be preferable for most, if not all of your regular network traffic.

不相信我？好吧，我有图表，所以n'yah。

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让我们从Netgear开始。在左侧，您在我家中的五个景点中的每个路由器的三个频段都有平均下载速度，从最靠近路由器到最远的路由器。我的家是一个Boxy，1,300平方英尺的霰弹枪式房子，我的纤维计划从AT＆T网站上净速度高达300Mbps。为了测量速度，我使用了Samsung Galaxy S21, which supports 6E and can connect on the 6GHz band.

The yellow bars representing my speeds on the router's 6GHz band show that it was able to push my connection beyond the max, with average close- and medium-range speeds as high as 375Mbps. That's great, but the green bars representing my 5GHz speeds were just as impressive. Speeds on both bands plummet in the dead zone that is my back bathroom, and 6GHz did a little better here, but that's about the only advantage I could find -- and it's fool's gold as far as advantages are concerned.

为什么？将眼睛转移到右侧的图形。那些是我的平均水平上传speeds from the same batch of tests. The green 5GHz speeds held up pretty well as I moved away from the router -- but look at the way those yellow 6GHz upload speeds immediately start to drop off. That's because the 6GHz band offers less range than the 5GHz band. My home is too small and speeds capped too low to notice it with the downloads, but it's clear as day with the uploads, and the shortcoming would only grow more significant in a larger space with a faster connection.

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Then again, maybe it's just a Netgear thing? Nope. Check out the matching graphs for Asus. Pretty much the same exact results, although the 6GHz and especially the 5GHz band hit download speeds that were noticeably faster in that back bathroom dead zone.

Regardless, with either router running my network, if you handed me that Galaxy S21 -- which, again, is one of the only Wi-Fi 6E client devices on the market right now -- and asked me to make a video call while wandering around my house, I would use the 5GHz network, not 6GHz. That's not great given that the 6GHz band is replacing one of the 5GHz bands on each of these tri-band routers, and in doing so, driving the price up.

延迟怎么样？

好问题。延迟测量它需要的时间以毫秒为单位，以便您的连接到达目的地并与您需要发送电子邮件的任何数据返回，在线发送电影或在线执行其他任何数据，并且确实应该在6GHz频段上提高。

“6GHz频段的流量较少，可以降低AR / VR游戏和其他Wi-Fi激烈应用的延迟，”Netgear写入在raxe500的数据表中(PDF).

为了理解Netgear在那里说，想想你的幻想Wi-Fi 6e手机作为奥运游泳运动员。没有先前的GEN设备根本干扰你的连接，6GHz乐队就像私人训练设施的游泳池一样 - 这是游泳圈和设置记录的理想环境。2.4和5GHz的乐队更像是一个拥挤的公共池，里面装满了小便的儿童和懒散的成年人，懒得在内管。你可以在它中游泳圈，但肯定的是，在蝴蝶中风中的任何个人最佳方面都会过分干扰。

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场上,无论如何(或多或少)。在我自己的tests, I saw some slight latency differences from band to band, but I'd emphasize slight. With Asus, my overall average latency across all speed tests, each of them pinging the same server on the other side of Kentucky, was 18.8ms on the 2.4GHz band, 18.5ms on the 5GHz band, and 18.3ms on the 6GHz band. With Netgear, those figures came out to 19.4ms on 2.4GHz, 19.1ms on 5GHz, and 19.2ms on 6GHz. In other words, for your average, run-of-the-mill web traffic, you aren't likely to notice any differences in latency from band to band.

Admittedly, that might change with web usage that's more bandwidth-intensive, or with a server that's farther away than the one I test with. I use that nearby server during my speed tests in order to keep the latency variable to a minimum, so I'll need to run a whole new set using distant servers to get a better sense of what 6GHz is capable of. Stay tuned for more on that front.

Where does that leave Wi-Fi 6E?

这里的结论是,它仍然是非常早期的佛r Wi-Fi 6E -- and too early for almost anyone to feel any sort of pressing need to upgrade to a 6E router just yet. I'll know more once I'm able to test more 6E routers (and once I'm able to finish testing these two, including top speed tests at our lab), but I have a hard time imagining the 6GHz band acting as a game-changer for anyone's home network anytime soon. And remember, the absolute fastest home internet connection you could hope to have right now在2张演出中排名第一- 不到一半路由器这样的路由器说6GHz乐队能够。

That's not to say that there aren't benefits to Wi-Fi 6E. The room for additional channels of traffic via the band's additional bandwidth -- the multilane expressway analogy -- should absolutely allow 6E devices to make the most out of what Wi-Fi 6 is capable of, especially on crowded networks with lots of devices that would otherwise need to share a lane. A 6GHz connection might be killer to have nearby at a stadium or an airport, for instance. But that just makes me want a Wi-Fi 6E phone, not a Wi-Fi 6E router.

我今年在看的另一件事是tri-band mesh routers that support Wi-Fi 6E。使用多个设备使用顶级硬件，毫无疑问，一旦在此处到达市场上的一些最昂贵的路由器，而且他们将能够使用6GHz频段在没有干扰的情况下在网格周围移动流量如果实现良好，这可能会使您的2.4和5GHz连接更快。

Time -- and lots of lots of speed tests to come -- will tell, but right now, if you're itching to run out and upgrade your router to one that supports Wi-Fi 6E, I think you might want to hold your horses, or at least temper your expectations.