The 802.11ac Wave 2 standard provides significant benefits to users and a better Wi-Fi user experience compared to 802.11n and 802.11ac Wave 1. Despite low initial consumer awareness and OEM concerns over client device availability, OEMs, service providers and enterprises have embraced the standard, which is now gaining rapid traction and will become the highest shipping Wi-Fi standard yet.
1. Executive Summary 3
2. WLAN Terminology 3
3. Market Growth & Standards 4
3.1 Evolution of Wi-Fi 4
4. Benefits of MU-MIMO under 802.11ac Wave 2 6
4.1 How Wave 2 Works 7
4.2 More Technical Considerations 7
5. Wave 2 and the Wi-Fi Infrastructure Market 8
5.1 Wave 2 for Residential 9
5.2 Wave 2 for Enterprise 13
6. Client Devices 15
7. Conclusions & Implications 17
Exhibits
Exhibit 1 Typical Residential or Small Office Wi-Fi Network. 3
Exhibit 2 Wi-Fi Device Historical Shipments. 4
Exhibit 3 Future Evolution of Mainstream Wi-Fi Standards. 5
Exhibit 4 802.11ac Wave 1 (SU-MIMO) Vs. Wave 2 (MU-MIMO) 6
Exhibit 5 Wi-Fi Infrastructure Forecast by Mainstream Standard. 8
Exhibit 6 Residential 802.11ac Wave 2 Infrastructure. 10
Exhibit 7 802.11ac Wave 2 Infrastructure for Enterprise. 14
Exhibit 8 Other 802.11ac Wave 2 Radio ICs for Infrastructure (& Additional Details) 15
Exhibit 9 802.11ac Wave 2 Client Devices. 16
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