Advances In WiFi And What They Mean For IoT (Internet of Things)

Can you imagine a world without WiFi?

AT&T pokes fun at that question in this commercial in hilarious fashion, but perhaps the parody is not so far from reality.

WiFi allows us to be more connected than ever, but other than entering a password on a new network, we don’t often take the time to understand the science behind WiFi. Perhaps it’s considered too technical a topic for most, but if you don’t understand the latest advancements in wireless technology, you won’t know what’s possible.

Care for a visual prop? Check out this infographic illustrating the last 15 years of WiFi!

At Valley Home Theater & Automation, Inc. (VHT), we believe that nothing should stand between you and the connected home that you want. In this post, we’ll break down some highlights of the recent advancements in WiFi and what it means for your connected devices.

Let’s get started.

Wireless Roaming Networks

In offices and larger homes, it’s common to supplement a wireless router with a series of wireless access points (WAPs) to increase signal strength.

When your phone ‘connects automatically’ to a known network, there’s actually a series of events happening. When you walk from room to room, your device evaluates the strength of each WAP and choosing the one that works best for your physical location. For the most part, this all happens in the background and the user isn’t even aware it’s happening.

But when you take this same concept and apply it to IoT devices, some incredible things become possible with home automation. When your house can detect which room you’re in through your device, it can set off any home automation features you can dream of—lights getting brighter/dimmer, music playing, shades drawing, and security measures. There’s no end to the possibilities—all configured through WiFi!

This idea of automatic WAP switching will soon offer seamless transitions into vehicles and other services, too.

Valley Home Theater & Automation, Inc. uses Pakedge products to set up wireless roaming networks with incredible capabilities, lightning fast speed, and convenience. In partnership with Pakedge products and software, we’re capable of providing home automation services to enterprise-grade systems.

802.11ad: Faster Wi-Fi Over Short Distance

The 802.11ad WiFi, also called WiGig, was developed to provide extremely fast networking over a short distance, like in the same room. Think of it as a replacement for cords. 802.11ad WiFi broadcasts at 60GHz, which means the waves cannot penetrate walls. The throughput can reach speeds up to 7 Gbps.

By using this technology in your overall wireless network, you can satisfy the demands of data-hungry devices—like streaming ultra high-definition 4k video from your smart TV.

Tri-Band Routers

For people with lots of different devices competing for Wi-Fi signal, tri-band routers offer an interesting solution. Dual band routers, which are common now, offer two different Wi-Fi channels—2.4GHz and 5GHz. This keeps your network broadcasting uninterrupted Wi-Fi signal to different devices.

Tri-band routers broadcast a 2.4GHz channel and two 5GHz channels. A tri-band router is a good solution if you have a ton of different devices because it will keep them from interfering with each other. It will not, however, speed up a single device on its own.

This is an incredibly exciting time for WiFi. The future of WiFi lies in its application to IoT. Certain features of your home will automatically engage as you move from room to room, or from your house to your car, and much more.

In some ways, you might say the future is already here—contact Valley Home Theater & Automation, Inc. for some ideas how you can use advanced WiFi technology to enhance your home and office environment.

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