On the other hand, Wi-Fi is continuing to develop in order to gain super-fast connection speeds for a small area and target the general everyday household use, whilst 5G is trying to improve the connectivity on a larger scaled area so people are able to roam around and still be connected. Both technologies complement each other and work the best in their set environments and cannot fairly compare based on specific needs.

Oughton, E., Lehr, W., Katsaros, K., Selinis, I., Bubley, D. and Kusuma, J. (2021) 'Revisiting Wireless Internet Connectivity: 5G vs Wi-Fi 6', Telecommunications Policy, pp. 1-15. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102127

Oughton, E.J. et al. (2021) “Revisiting wireless internet connectivity: 5G vs Wi-Fi 6,” Telecommunications Policy, 45(5), p. 102127. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102127. 

Wi-Fi technology has only a few different frequency channels that may be utilized by neighboring Basic Service Sets (BSSs). When multiple access points are close to each other, the BSSs are overlapping. As a consequence, a transmitting node blocks other transmissions in its BSS and in other BSSs with the same channel, which makes frequency reuse difficult [20].

Wi-Fi 6 utilizes the concept of BSS coloring from IEEE 802.11ah to indicate the BSS in the packet header. A node takes advantage of this information to overhear transmissions of packets from other BSSs. As a result, a node may start a transmission if it estimates that it will not create a collision with ongoing transmissions that are part of another BSS. This improves SR in Wi-Fi 6 [21]. Section 5 explains the details of this feature.

5G

One fundamental technique of the 5G wireless communications is the use of spectrum at frequencies above 8 GHz. Previously cellular networks, including 1G, are operated at a frequency of 850 and 1,900 MHz [38]. 2G and 3G networks are then operated at additional frequency bands and spectrum around 2,100 MHz, and 4G technology is operated at additional frequency bands and spectrum around 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 1.7 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, and 2.5 GHz [39,40]. Currently, the range of frequencies extending from several hundred MHz to a few GHz is nearly fully occupied [4]. More frequencies are needed to allow increased capacity for mobile networks [41,42]. The only way forward is to make use of high frequency. The high radio frequency known as millimeter waves has been adopted in 5G allowing for a massive increase in transmission speeds [43,44].

 

References:

Andrews JG, Buzzi S, Choi W, Hanly SV, Lozano A, Soong ACK, et al. What will 5G be? IEEE J Select Areas Commun. 2014;32:1065–82.10.1109/JSAC.2014.2328098

Wi-Fi 6 Industry White Paper. Available online: https://e.huawei.com/en/products/enterprise-networking/wlan/wifi-6/industry-white-paper (accessed on 1 September 2022).

Šepić, N.; Kočan, E.; Veljović, Z.; Pejanović, M. Assessment of Novel Solutions for Throughput Enhancement in IEEE 802.11 ax Networks. In Proceedings of the 27th Telecommunications Forum (TELFOR), Belgrade, Serbia, 26–27 November 2019. [Google Scholar]

References

Oughton, E. J., Lehr, W., Katsaros, K., Selinis, I., Bubley, D., & Kusuma, J. (2021). Revisiting Wireless Internet Connectivity: 5G vs Wi-Fi 6. Telecommunications Policy, Volume 45, Issue 5.

Link:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030859612100032X