WiFi 6, the next version of the ubiquitous local area network technology also known as 802.11ax, won’t be standardized and ready for widespread adoption until later this year, but development momentum continues as operators and enterprises prepare for the formal release. The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), an industry body with nearly 100 members including vendors and network operators, today released preliminary guidelines to help foster deployment of WiFi 6 when it’s released by IEEE.

The organization published a white paper that outlines multiple scenarios for WiFi 6 that encourages operators, enterprises, and municipalities to follow steps to mitigate challenges around WiFi while meeting service-level agreements for their customers. The proposed guidelines focus on bandwidth, throughput, latency, traffic prioritization, and other factors.

WBA estimates nearly 70% of smartphone traffic is carried over WiFi networks today, and mobile data is expected to grow at a 47% compound annual growth rate through 2023. “WiFi 6’s use of [orthogonal frequency-division multiple access], [1024-quadrature amplitude modulation], eight spatial stream support, and added uplink functionality for MU-MIMO (multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output) are all critical features that will have a positive impact in higher usage and higher capacity networks,” WBA wrote in the paper.

Although WiFi hasn't been standardized yet, Cisco has already released a series of access points and core switches in its Catalyst and Meraki portfolios to foster adoption of the burgeoning standard.

The paper also includes guidelines for radio frequency planning and design with a focus on band steering, MU-MIMO, and adjustments that will be required in high-density deployments that demand increased capacity. As such, it addresses deployment scenarios for public venues, stadiums, residential units, IoT, and enterprise WLANs.

“Since its inception 20 years ago, WiFi has become a fundamental expectation for consumers and enterprises alike,” said Tiago Rodrigues, general manager at WBA, in a prepared statement. Global demand for WiFi is growing as mobile network operators ramp up for 5G and regulators prepare to open more spectrum to WiFi traffic, he explained, adding that this confluence of events requires timely and collaborative direction from all interested parties.

“Technologies like WiFi 6 and Passpoint (a standard designed to streamline network access in WiFi hotspots) are steering unlicensed networks into the 5G era, meeting high performance expectations across speed, latency, reliability, security, and traffic management. To realize digital transformations for both people and things, we’ll need WiFi and its ability to carry the bulk of data traffic with unparalleled efficiencies,” said Derek Peterson, CTO at Boingo Wireless and co-chair of WBA, in a prepared statement.

Boingo Wireless, BT, Charter Communications, Broadcom, Cisco, and Commscope all contributed to the development of the proposed WiFi 6 guidelines.