Wi-Fi Does Not Need Additional Spectrum, New Study Finds

WASHINGTON - Wi-Fi does not need additional unlicensed spectrum, according to a new study by Wi-Fi pioneer and Internet policy expert, Richard Bennett. "Lessons from the History of Wi-Fi," demonstrates that allocating additional unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi is unnecessary and there are more effective ways to enhance Wi-Fi performance.

"Wi-Fi has reached a point where additional unlicensed spectrum no longer translates into tangible performance gains," said Bennett "The United States must rationalize its spectrum allocations in the mid-band to maintain leadership in both licensed and unlicensed technologies. This means prioritizing licensed mobile networks that are facing real congestion challenges, rather than over-allocating spectrum for Wi-Fi."

Bennett's research highlights that newer Wi-Fi versions with larger channels have offered incremental improvements only at very close range. While near to a Wi-Fi router, today's Wi-Fi with existing unlicensed spectrum can provide faster speeds and is no longer a bottleneck in consumer networks. He found that additional spectrum did not have the same benefits, however, at distance just a room away from a router given the limitations in the technology.

The study found that real-world Wi-Fi performance has plateaued since the introduction of Wi-Fi 5 in 2013. Bennett attributes Wi-Fi's greatest improvements to hardware techniques that let it use spectrum more efficiently, not greater channel sizes. Testing performed at distances greater than ten feet showed virtually no improvement from larger Wi-Fi channels.

Providing additional unlicensed spectrum diminishes the incentive for engineers to develop more efficient Wi-Fi technologies, the study notes. In contrast, mobile networks must pay for spectrum and license it through auctions, driving innovation to maximize efficiency and meet consumer demand.

Highlights from the report:

• Performance Plateau: Bennett's tests demonstrated that Wi-Fi performance has seen little improvement with larger channels since the introduction of Wi-Fi 5, particularly at greater distances. At close range, any bandwidth-hungry application is better suited to wired connections.
• Sufficient Spectrum for Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi currently has all the spectrum it needs, even for high-performance enterprise networks. Additional allocations, particularly in the lower 7 GHz band, are unnecessary and would not provide practical benefits to Wi-Fi users.
• Device Upgrade Lag: Advances in Wi-Fi technology are consistently hampered by the slow device upgrade cycle. Newer standards are often underutilized due to the widespread presence of older devices in the field.

About the report author: Richard Bennett is an internet policy expert with over thirty years of experience in network engineering, having contributed to the original Wi-Fi specification, as well as the recent 802.11n and Ultra-Wideband standards.