The tremendous growth in the volume and types of various Wi-Fi devices, coupled with the increasing popularity of high definition streaming video, is creating a demand for better and more productive technologies. 802.11ac is the new Wi-Fi standard that is designed to meet these needs.
The new communication standard makes it possible to greatly expand network bandwidth, starting from 430 Mbit / s (devices at 433 Mbit / s per channel were already available in 2014) and up to a maximum speed of 6.77 Gbit / s with 8x MU-MIMO- antennas. This is the most significant innovation in this area regarding IEEE 802.11n. In addition, a decrease in power consumption (J / bit) is expected, and this, in turn, will increase the time of independent operation of all mobile devices.
More about Wi-Fi IEEE 802ac technology:
The first point in the history of 802.11ac can be considered the beginning of 2011, at a time when the Institute of Electronic Engineers (IEEE) took the first draft of the next "version" of Wi-Fi. And just six months later, Quantenna launched the first such chipset on the market, which is perfectly compatible with routers and commercial devices. Another important milestone in the development of high-speed Wi-Fi can be taken in 2014 at CES. At this exhibition, new controllers were announced by a large chip manufacturer Broadcom, while companies such as Lenovo, ZTE, Huawei, Comcast and other well-known players in the modern electronics market decided to implement them in their own products.
How does the new 802.11ac standard differ from the more widespread 802.11n today?
- The most basic difference is that the updated Wi-Fi standard offers many times higher data transfer rates (1.3 gigabits in theory), which will have a beneficial effect on streaming media (especially HD video), mobile applications and data transfer ... The 802.11n standard guarantees a maximum data transfer rate of 150 Mbps from antenna 1, 300 from 2 and 450 from 3. In the 802.11ac standard, these indicators are several orders of magnitude higher: 450/900 and 1.3 Gbps. Also, the speed of devices compatible with 802.11ac, having 8 antennas at once, can reach 6-7 Gbps.
- Another advantage of the new Wi-Fi standard is an even wider range of network coverage and a stronger and more stable signal, which makes it possible to cover an apartment using only one router. These improvements were achieved through the use of beamforming technology (so-called "beamforming") - which is able to recognize the location of an installed device and sends a Wi-Fi signal directly to that device.
- Electronics with "outdated" Wi-Fi operate mostly on a highly crowded 2.4 GHz frequency, sharing it with a nearby microwave and other appliances. Therefore, another advantage of the 802.11ac standard is the elimination of interference by operating in the 5 GHz band.
- The process of transition to the 802.11ac standard will last for several years, therefore, devices and devices operating on the new Wi-Fi standard are planned to support backward compatibility with outdated standards. You don't have to throw out your router after buying a new device: if necessary, they can automatically switch from 5 GHz to 2.4 GHz purity.
802.11ac in practice. WiGig and LTE-A and SG
As expected, Wi-Fi and the IEEE Alliance approved the new specification by the end of 2014. In the current 2015 year, according to experts, at least one billion devices will be compatible with the new technology. However, you won't have to wait long: all commercial solutions supporting ultra-fast, gigabit Wi-Fi already exist on the market. 
This includes a MacBook laptop released in 2013 and AirPort Extreme, Galaxy S4 smartphones running on Broadcom chips (BCM4435), a series of ASUS G75VW laptops, a Toshiba EXCITE tablet, as well as a large number of routers from Tp-Link, Asus, D-Link, Belkin, etc.
Availability:
Despite the fact that it is far from the official ratification of the new 802.11ac standard, and providers are not yet ready to provide the required speed, physically new Wi-Fi is available now. Ordinary users can now benefit from the new standard by broadcasting their "streaming" HD-resolution video to several devices within the local network at once, synchronizing "large" files (using for example Time Capsule). But such routers are quite expensive - from $ 200, and there are still too few devices compatible with 802.11ac.
WiGig:
Together with 802.11ac, another promising standard is developing - 802.11ad (called WiGig). Compared to 802.11ac, this technology operates at an even higher frequency (60 GHz), which prevents the signal from passing through walls. This specification can be called "USB wireless" rather than the heir to Wi-Fi, since WiGig can only connect devices that are close to each other (within a few meters). But, despite its "myopia", WiGig guarantees speeds up to 7 gigabit / s, that is, almost 50 times higher than 802.11n.
The scope of the standard is connecting external hard drives, connecting monitors and other peripherals, as well as transferring large files and data, such as uncompressed HD video.
LTE-A and SG:
The development of networks for cell phones is also moving forward. In the spring, Samsung spoke about the creation of a technology that should become the basis for the transmission of the 5th generation (5G) mobile network. The transmitter made by the company showed a speed of over 1 Gbps at a distance of up to 2 km. In reality, this result means that HD video can be downloaded to a tablet or smartphone in half a second, and a movie in ten seconds. However, despite the achievement, it will not be possible to use 5G networks soon - not earlier than 2020.
And a few more words about IEEE 802.11ac
802.11ac is no longer some bright tomorrow, but what has happened today with its advantages (reliability, speed) and some disadvantages. All that's left is just a little wait. A lot of people will now be wondering: is it worth the move to 802.11ac, what can you expect from it in daily use, and how is it better than 802.11n? I think there is no need to rush. Well, if you buy a router that supports 802.11ac, it's no good if most likely all the devices you will be connecting use the 802.11n standard. Better to buy a normal, expensive 802.11n router that will work stably at 5Gh.
Over time, everyone will move to the new standard. When 802.11n was introduced, everyone also talked about the uselessness of the new standard.
