5G is coming, will Wi-Fi be replaced? As 5G is about to be commercialized, the topic of 5G is getting more and more. It is undeniable that under the various advantages of 5G network like 10G theoretical bandwidth, low latency, and rich carrier frequency, many people have the most intuitive feeling of 5G is that the network speed is greatly improved, and the network delay is greatly reduced. However, can 5G really replace wired broadband and wireless Wi-Fi? everyone has his own opinion. As one of the leading Wi-Fi technology vendors, Sundray believes that the future relationship between Wi-Fi and 5G is still coexisting rather than being replaced. Four facts can explain the reason.

1.  The enterprise network has a rigid need for privacy.

For large enterprise networks, security and privacy remain the focus of attention. The network carries the core business data communication of the enterprise. It is believed that no enterprise is willing to use the core business data in the public network environment. Because it involves the core secrets of enterprises, most enterprises need to consider the confidentiality of core data before using 5G network.

2. Wi-Fi technology is also upgrading.

While mobile communication technology is being upgraded, Wi-Fi technology is also evolving. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is the latest version of Wi-Fi with faster speeds, lower latency, higher bandwidth and advanced traffic management capabilities.

Wi-Fi 6 can reach speeds of nearly 10 Gbps, reducing congestion and allowing more devices to connect to the network. At the same time, Wi-Fi 6 hast the strengths less susceptible to interference, lower power consumption, and higher spectral efficiency. Therefore, many key indicators of Wi-Fi 6 will not be worse than 5G.

3. The same high-quality service, Wi-Fi has lower cost.

Nowadays, with the increasing popularity of Wi-Fi and the gradual decline in the cost of fiber materials, construction costs are no longer a hindrance to expanding applications and upgrading. Wi-Fi may have a cost advantage over the same quality of service.

Compared with the price advantage of Wi-Fi, the power consumption and tariff problems brought by 5G have become the concern of many users. The increase of tariffs is something that many consumers are not willing to face.

4. Wi-Fi has the characteristics of flexible networking.

Some people think that Wi-Fi has a flexible networking feature, and in a specific field, especially an indoor local environment, there is no real alternative to it. In the urban environment, there will be various types of blocking, and the cellular network signal will be unstable. To solve this problem, it is necessary to increase the density of the base station, or increase the signal relay in a specific area, the cost is higher than increasing the wireless AP.

Above all, even if the 5G era is really ushered in, Wi-Fi will still have a place which is caused by many reasons such as business model, technology upgrade, and cost advantage. Wi-Fi will continue to evolve, and 5G will complement each other and promote each other in the future application market.