Wi-Fi Needs More Spectrum as Demand Surges: CableLabs
A new report by CableLabs warned that Wi-Fi is running out of spectrum given spiraling demand, and it urged policymakers to preserve the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use. The report came as Congress scrambles to identify 600 MHz of spectrum for full-power licensed use (see 2505140062).
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“Any proposals to reduce or repurpose 6 GHz unlicensed spectrum would be devastating to Wi-Fi performance and seriously detrimental to consumers, U.S.-based device manufacturers, and other businesses that expect and depend on reliable connectivity,” the report said. The U.S. led the world in setting aside the entire band for unlicensed use five years ago during the first Trump administration (see 2004230059).
The CableLabs study modeled a 12-story residential building with 12 units per floor in which all the units were using the full 6 GHz band. The study included every 6 GHz Wi-Fi access point and active client device, including smartphones, laptops, tablets, TVs and other connected devices located in the building.
“To identify Wi-Fi spectrum exhaustion, the study analyzed the key indicators of latency (transmission delay) and packet loss (lost data) across every connected device in each residential unit during periods when Wi-Fi activity is highest,” CableLabs said: “The results of the simulation show that consumers in dense residential environments are likely to experience widespread and significant Wi-Fi performance degradation, indicating near-term spectrum exhaustion based on growing demand.”