[Fortune] Do you have "Wifi 4", "Wifi 5", or "Wifi 6"? New names for Wifi.

[VirtualLarry]

http://fortune.com/2018/10/03/wi-fi-easier-understand/

I think that this change is DUMB. It's only going to confuse things further, IMHO.

("Do you have an 802.11ac router?" "Nah, I've got a NEW 'Wifi 4' router! It's great")...(theoretically, a downgrade...)

 

[mnewsham]

The average consumer has no idea what 802.11n/ac/ax/etc is anyway, so at least wifi 4, 5, 6, etc is going to make it easier to explain to people what is newer.

Frankly it should've happened years ago.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Indeed, the technical standards just confuse most people, even though most of them have the internet in the palm of their hand. It's will make it easier to me to explain it also. "Just get this"

 

[PliotronX]

Its a good move for the general populace, hell it worked for Intel's core series. Even my manager and boss ooo and ahh at i7 even when the mobile version was just dual core so they thought i7 laptops were as powerful as desktops. They care not for core counts, frequencies, memory channels, cache or bus designs. It will be easier for folks who don't care about technical aspects but what is more likely to make a difference in the end product. It's a good move there but I can just hear it now... "Where is the WiFi 1, 2, and 3? I just want the cheapest!"

 

[mxnerd]

Why not call it grade instead generation, which is used for wireless/mobile?

802.11n Grade 4
802.11ac Grade 5
802.11ax Grade 6

 

[VirtualLarry]

They're not using a "G4", "G5", and "G6" nomenclature, they're just using 4,5,6. Like i3/i5/i7, I guess. Although, they do kind of stand for the generation of Wifi.

But if they referred to the grade of wifi, how are you going to differentiate generations then, too? Because what is grade 5 in one generation, may only be grade 2 in 2-3 generations forward. Will mfg's have to put stickers on packaging, REDUCING their rated grade, as per the newest current standard? I really cannot see that going well for them.

Advertising Generation, is much easier, the numbers only go up.

Edit: I guess it wouldn't be so hard to indicate both year of release, as well as grade, if you went with a grade-based system.

So, maybe a sticker, with a big "5" in the middle, with the word "Wifi" (stylized) at the top, and the year ("2018") across the bottom.

 

[JackMDS]

We, (the so called Enthusiasts) that consists of .001% of all world wide Windows OS users it is ""important"". Though it will take us extra 5 seconds to find what actually we have.

Most other people do not even know what to say when I ask "which version of Windows (98, XP,Vista, 7, 8,10) runs on your Desktop/Laptop".