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NETGEAR Boosts Wi-Fi With New Nighthawk AX12 Router


nir

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The next generation of wireless routers based on the 802.11ax standard, also known as Wi-Fi 6,  is coming to new consumer routers. Although not officially announced by Netgear, The Gulf Times reports that Qatar service provider Ooredoo will be launching broadband fiber service in Lusail with Netgear’s latest Nighthawk AX12 router. This is the first AX router we have seen released in conjunction with an operator. However, according to Netgear, availability of this new router will be limited to Qatar for now.

Let’s cut through the cryptic Wi-Fi nomenclature. 802.11ax is the next generation Wi-Fi standard following the 802.11abg, 802.11n and 802.11ac versions of Wi-Fi. It will provide up to 6Gbps speeds over multiple frequency bands including 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and additional bands ranging from 1GHz to 7GHz. 802.11ax, or just “AX” as it is commonly referred to, also supports multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), which uses multiple antennae to direct multiple independent and simultaneous data streams. It also includes WPA3 security protocol and has other technical enhancements to improve performance and efficiency. From a technology side, Broadcom and Qualcomm are leading the charge with new silicon solutions for AX. AX has so much bandwidth, it is targeted at replacing cables with gigabit speeds capable of supporting 4k video and game streams and with MU-MIMO it is effective in dense deployments with the use of multiple streams.

Netgear, a leader in Wi-Fi routers, is often first to adopt the latest technology. According to the reports, the Nighthawk AX12 will support up to 12 independent streams, the highest in the industry. This would indicate the use of a Qualcomm chipset because the IPQ8074 supports up to 12 streams using 8x8 MIMO on the 5GHz band and 4x4 MIMO on the 2.4GHz band. Broadcom’s current AX chipsets, the BCM43684,  supports up to 8 streams with 4x4 MIMO on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands.

Thus far, most AX announcements have been focused on infrastructure/enterprise-class solutions. The unofficial announcement of the Netgear Nighthawk AX12 would signal a new wave of consumer AX routers with some of the latest technology, just in time for the holiday season. While consumers are often slow to upgrade Wi-Fi routers, the increasing bandwidth requirements, such as for gaming and video, on an increasing number of devices is likely to push many consumers to consider upgrading for better wireless performance.

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