Bits, Frames, and Packets

Access points

Why an access point? Here's the thing, in my house we have weird LAN on all floors. However a now all devices require LAN. The move towards WiFi 6 and especially the 5 Ghz band (AC/AX) in my home and workplace resulted in enhanced performance in terms of transfer speeds, as well as better handling of a large number of devices on the network. There is however one drawback, less range, especially when going through walls this can lead to wireless signal issues in a few areas in the house at the farthest points and for some, the garage. Here's where an Access point comes into play. EnGenius released their ECW220S WiFi 6 2x2 access point, which is identical to the ECW220 aside from antennas.  The web is a dangerous place these days, at least when you leave devices unsecured. The EnGenius ECW220S is designed from the ground up with safety in mind. It has several mission critical security features, such as intrusion detection and mediation technologies. As stated and obvious, it features WiFi 6, so it can connect to a wide range of smart devices. It's also simple to set up and install because there's free cloud management software available. These are only a few of the issues we'll have to consider. 

Hardware

Once opened up we see that the ecw220s has been fitted with a quad-core 1GHz Qualcomm IPQ6010 SoC, 512MB Samsung (2x SEC 134 K4B4G16) RAM and 128MB Storage. The switching handled by Qualcomm QCA8072, the two radio's are Qualcomm Atheros IPQ8072A (QCN5052) 802.11a/n/ac/ax 2×2:2 for 5 Ghz and Qualcomm Atheros IPQ8072A (QCN5021) 802.11b/g/n/ax 2×2:2 for the 2.4 Ghz band.

802.11ax = Wi-Fi 6

The 802.11ax standard a big thing for Wi-Fi. The .ax name is changing though as the Wi-Fi Alliance will get renamed to Wi-Fi 6. They advance on that as 802.11ac and 802.11n will be named Wi-Fi 5 and 4. The new name is introduced to make WIFI standards more easily recognizable. Let's face it, not everybody knows what 802.11ac means when I say it. Numbers are easy, and higher is better they must have thought.

• Wi-Fi 6 to identify devices that support 802.11ax technology
• Wi-Fi 5 to identify devices that support 802.11ac technology
• Wi-Fi 4 to identify devices that support 802.11n technology

6th gen WIFI (AX) technology combines the two and current 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies. That technology is also known as Dual Band Simultaneous Streaming and, in theory, could achieve a proper 1.8 Gbit/s. 

• Works with other Wi-Fi standards. Access points will be able to handle devices transmitting using 802.11a/b/g/n/ac.
• Increase by at least four times the average throughput per user in high-density scenarios, such as train stations, airports and stadiums. Now you can upload a picture or FaceTime in a flash, while on the go.
• The ability to use wider spectrum channels to achieve gigabit speeds and higher.
• Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technology effectively allocates spectrum when you need it, so more users can be accommodated in the same channel bandwidth, both uploading and downloading. This allows many more users or devices to share a single 90 MHz or 160 MHz channel.
• There are a number of changes to the standard that mean using the spectrum more efficiently and more robust and reliable connections, including outdoors.
• 802.11ax introduces a scheme to reduce interference and use the spectrum even more efficiently called Spatial Reuse with Color Identifier. Each Wi-Fi access point and client transmits data with a unique identifier called a “color.” Wi-Fi “listens” for interference before sending data, and will back off if it senses data in the band. With 802.11ax, when an access point or a client listens first before transmitting data, they are more aggressive if they hear data from a different color, since that data is going to a different AP further away from the client.
• Improved traffic flow and channel access
• Better power management for longer battery life

OFDMA is utilized with the EnGenius ECW220S to simplify data transmission and reception for customers. The channel capacity is separated into many resource units that are assigned to each client, allowing for far more efficient bandwidth use than was previously possible with the WiFi 5 standard. Additionally, beamforming is critical, as it focuses the signal on the individuals who can utilize it, rather than all over the place. MU-MIMO is also enabled, which enables the server to serve several clients concurrently if they have compatible WiFi adapters.  What's intriguing, but not surprising, is that functionality exists for creating a mesh network by connecting many wireless access points. Along with combining several EnGenius APs into a single network, there is a means to extend the WiFi signal into hard-to-reach places. This is because support for 802.11r/k enables simple roaming between nodes. If you already have a Cloud platform, all access points can be on the same network.