IEEE 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi

IEEE 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi specifies enhancements to the IEEE 802.11 standard to support very high data throughput in the 5 GHz bands. In this band are more channels available with a better channel seperation than in the 2.4 GHz band. IEEE 802.11ac can bond the standard 20 MHz channels to form wider channels. IEEE 802.11ac products are required to support 20, 40, and 80 MHz channels. Use of 160 MHz channels is optional but supported by the standard as well. Among the other improvements are improvements to MIMO and a more enhanced data coding scheme (256-QAM).

IEEE 802.11ac MIMO works with a maximum of 8 data streams to a single user. In IEEE 802.11ac it is possible to divide MIMO data streams over different users. Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) can be used with up to 4 data streams from 2 to 4 different users.

Under ideal circumstances is a peak data rate of 6933 Mbit/s possible with 8 data streams in a 160 MHz wide channel. A smartphone with a single antenne will have a maximum speed of 433 Mbit/s in a 80 MHz channel. Devices that use 4 antennas with 4 data streams will reach a maximum data rate of 1733 Mbit/s in a 80 MHz channel.

The maximum data rate is ideal for home digital applications like video.