[foreword]
2020 is the beginning of the full popularization of Wi Fi 6. Since the Wi Fi Alliance announced the Wi Fi 6 certification plan on September 17, 2019, many brands have accelerated the release of products supporting Wi Fi 6. At the same time, the naming method of the previous version of Wi Fi standard has been renamed, from the original 802.11n/ac/ax to Wi Fi 4, Wi Fi 5, Wi Fi 6, making the naming easier. At present, the wi-fi6 certification program has been supported by many manufacturers in the industry, such as Linksys, Netgear, ASUS, etc. With wi-fi6 standard routers and clients coming into the market, we can see that wi-fi6 standard will gradually replace wi-fi4 and wi-fi5, and develop into industry standard. Xiaomi, Tengda and TP are currently in the certification of Wi Fi alliance, but they still can't find the certification of wi-fi6. How to identify whether the newly purchased device does not support Wi Fi 6? In fact, as long as the participating manufacturers add the Wi Fi 6 certification mark on the package, the device supports Wi Fi 6 (802.11ax).
How to choose router
The ideal router is of course to choose a wide range of signal coverage, performance stability is necessary. Many routers on the market claim that there are many antennas and signals with stable coverage. In real life, the use is not so ideal. Houses like Chinese style are diversified in structure: large space duplex houses, complex rental houses, leaping floor users, etc. the coverage or signal stability after passing through the wall are not satisfactory.
The traditional solution is to use multiple routes for bridging or relaying, which is similar to the chain topology shown in the figure above. If there is a problem with one route in the middle, the whole chain will be broken.
Now the mainstream high-end routing adopts the advanced mesh topology networking technology, also known as mesh network technology. All nodes in the network are connected to each other, and each node connects at least two other nodes, and all nodes form a whole network. By the way of node interconnection, all nodes in the LAN are connected together, and any two nodes have multiple connection channels, and show a clear trend of decentralization. In short, if there is a problem with one route, other routes will relay to fill the signal gap, ensure the normal network, and facilitate the network management and maintenance. It is no longer necessary to consider maintaining the centralized placement like the traditional route relay.
In mesh network, there is also a good advantage: all devices at the transmitter and the access end are managed in a unified way. With the convenience of a unified network name (SSID) and password, it is easy to roam seamlessly, and devices can switch between networks without feeling.
The difference can be seen simply from the comparison of the above figure. The traditional route relay will automatically switch signals from downstairs to upstairs, and it needs to wait for the mobile device to be connected again. In this way, the switching stuck time will be obviously felt and the network speed will be significantly reduced. Mesh network will automatically match the user through algorithm, so that the device can also connect to better WiFi signal in the mobile, and in the process of switching, it is very fast to connect, almost can't feel the WiFi signal has been switched. If the router also supports 802.11k/v/r protocol, it's really seamless roaming.
Now, the mainstream routes of mesh are supported on the market, and all of them support arbitrary Networking: wired networking, wireless networking, mixed wired wireless networking and other networking methods. Customized networking methods are implemented according to the needs of each person's home environment.
[features of Wi Fi 6 technology]
Wi Fi 6 is the so-called 802.11ax new Wi Fi protocol. It introduces a number of new technologies (OFDMA, MU-MIMO, BSS anti-interference, TWT timing wake-up, 1024-qam, etc.) to improve the communication quality, transmission efficiency, energy consumption performance and multi device capacity of wireless network. The theoretical maximum rate through 160MHz channel can reach 9.6Gbps.
MU-MIMO:
To achieve multi-channel concurrency in physical space is suitable for parallel transmission of large data packets (such as video, download and other applications), improve the utilization rate and system capacity of multi space streams, improve the effective bandwidth of a single user, and also reduce the delay. However, the operation state is not stable enough, which is easily affected by the terminal.
OFDMA:
It is suitable for parallel transmission of small data packets (such as web browsing, instant messaging and other applications), improves the channel utilization and transmission efficiency of single space stream, and reduces application delay and user queuing. The operation state is stable and not easy to be affected by the terminal.
Therefore, MU-MIMO and OFDMA do not conflict at all, and they are often used in practice. During deployment, resources are allocated based on each service (such as web browsing, video viewing, downloading, instant messaging and other business scenarios). By designing reasonable MU-MIMO and OFDMA, the conflicts caused by random access of the terminal up and down in the case of dense multi-user can be effectively reduced, and the use experience of multi-user high-density access scenarios can be effectively improved. In the actual use process, users do not need to care about the operation mechanism behind the parallel transmission. The real feeling is that no matter how many terminal networks are stuck, they are really "6".
BSS anti interference:
In the era of ubiquitous Wi Fi signal, the interference between wireless is also ubiquitous. There are two kinds of interference of wireless signal: adjacent frequency interference: interference caused by superposition of radio waves in adjacent frequency band, which will lead to data damage; same frequency interference: although it will not damage data, it will increase the cost of competition.
On the surface, the reason for these interferences is that we often encounter a lot of APS installed in isolation in our environment, so there are a lot of cross coverage of wireless signals, causing interference. In brief, BSS anti-interference is to identify the wireless message through BSS coloring technology, so as to achieve better interference management effect: reduce the interference of surrounding wireless signals on their own network.
TWT timed wake up:
So that Wi Fi 6 can save more power, which is helpful for mobile devices such as mobile phones and Internet of things devices. The connection between the device and the wireless router will have timed sleep and wake-up, which is equivalent to a combination of work and rest rather than working all day, improving the power performance and transmission efficiency of both sides.
[Wi Fi 6 device of my choice]
By understanding the characteristics of Mesh network technology and Wi-Fi 6 technology, we believe that the partners can also see the future development direction of routers. Recently, I upgraded PCI-E wireless network card for my desktop computer. I chose Intel ax200 (dual 8dB antenna) wireless network card that supports WiFi 6. The price performance ratio is very good. The performance and stability are definitely better than those of "crab" chip network card! It not only has Bluetooth 5.0 function, but also supports MU-MIMO technology.
The hard truth of "good horse with good saddle" is that the router at home also needs to upgrade to support WiFi 6. At present, Linksys ea7500 is used at home. This upgrade of router considers these aspects: small size, low heat generation, radiation safety in line with SRRC standards, etc., so that the router will not be too prominent on the desktop.
Recently, I saw Linksys launch the first WiFi 6 router that supports ax: Linksys mx5300. I know about the use of Linksys ea7500 before, so I will naturally consider choosing more of the same brand. This time, I chose Linksys mx5300. I was interested in its cross protocol networking technology and with USB3.0 extension + 4 LAN ports. Because there are USB storage and 4 LAN ports on the market at the same time, and there are almost no routers supporting mesh system, this Linksys mx5300 with USB and 4 LAN ports is a perfect upgrade for me. Let's share the experience of using this Linksys mx5300 router.
Specific performance features of Linksys mx5300:
WiFi 6 intelligent mesh networking technology, supporting cross protocol networking technology, the world's first cross wireless protocol networking, that is, Linksys WiFi 6 mesh and WiFi 5 mesh family products can freely network to meet the diversified networking needs.
The new Qualcomm quad core chip has 2.2GHz processing performance, 512MB flash memory, 1GB memory and 12 spatial streams.
OFDMA and MU-MIMO technology, multiple users can participate in 4K video stream, play online games and perform other data intensive operations at the same time, while ensuring a good use experience. Improve the support for uplink and downlink MU-MIMO technology.
Smart backhaul 2.0, the previous generation of velop uses AC smart backhaul, under the support of the new generation technology, it can achieve cross protocol backhaul. According to the surrounding environment, the strategy of using AC return or ax return will be judged intelligently.
There are 13 high gain antennas, which can only cover rooms and house types above 200.
BSS coloring technology, with which you can reduce the wireless interference of the surrounding neighbors to your network.
USB 3.0 interface, supporting USB storage, room wide shared storage, and building home cloud disk.
WPA3 encryption technology, a new generation of encryption technology. Security upgrades to prevent brute force cracking of information.
Linksys coverage enhancement technology (range boost technology) 11ax can be used at a channel frequency of 10MHz, which will increase the user's Wi Fi coverage by up to 50%.
The package is designed with blue + gray background. On the right side of the front is the rendering of this router. On the left side is the performance features: it can cover up to 3000 square feet, supports 50 + devices, and has a maximum speed of 5.3gbps. On the side of the package is the introduction of multi languages: ax network standard, 4x4 MU-MIMO support, Qualcomm quad core chip 2.2GHz processor, OFDMA technology, etc.
The package is simple: router, power adapter, network cable, manual, etc.
The attached network cable is designed as flat wire. The Linksys mx5300 uses 12V / 4A 48W external power supply and 2-pin national standard plug.
Linksys mx5300 has a size of 11.3cmx11.3cm × 24.3cm, the height is like a 500ml bottle of coke, and the weight is 2.83kg. It adopts a vertical design appearance, so it occupies a very small place, unlike the traditional router, which occupies a large desktop space horizontally.
At the top of the router is the cooling hole, and there is an indicator light in the corner to show different working conditions.
As mentioned earlier, Linksys mx5300 has many upgrades in the interface, which is composed of one Wan + four LANs + one USB3.0 interface. If it is a multi wired device access requirement, there is no need to worry about the insufficient use of the network interface.
The USB3.0 interface can be used as a simple NAS, and also improves the performance. For example, the access to mobile hard disk is used for home network storage.
At the bottom of the router, there is a circle of anti-skid silicone footpads at the bottom, and in the middle is a nameplate sticker with the default SSID and password on it. The key design of the router is at the bottom: on key, WPS key, reset key. This design is also hidden to avoid the wrong press of bear children at home.
The deployment of Linksys mx5300 is very simple. Press the reset button at the bottom 5 times in a row and wait for 2-3 minutes. The mx5300 can be automatically configured into DHCP Internet access mode, and then connect the default Wi Fi name and password on the label at the bottom to complete the configuration required for Internet access. Of course, you can also install the official Linksys app through the mobile phone, which can be easily deployed. Linksys's product gives me the greatest feeling that it is extremely easy to deploy. Even new users who are not familiar with the deployment can operate the deployment step by step according to the graphic guide prompt.
After connecting the router to the power supply and network cable, connect to WiFi according to the default SSID and password at the bottom of the router. Opening the app will automatically identify the device and run the network setup program. The next step can be completed according to the prompt.
Log in to Linksys account according to the prompts, and customize the WiFi name and password.
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