IEEE 802.11ac-2013

IEEE 802.11ac-2013 or 802.11ac is a wireless networking standard in the IEEE 802.11 set of protocols (which is part of the Wi-Fi networking family), providing high-throughput wireless local area networks (WLANs) on the 5 GHz band.^[c] The standard has been retroactively labelled as Wi-Fi 5 by Wi-Fi Alliance.^[9][10]

Wi-Fi generations

• v
• t
• e

Generation	IEEE standard	Adopted	Maximum link rate (Mb/s)	Radio frequency (GHz)
(Wi-Fi 0*)	802.11	1997	1–2	2.4
(Wi-Fi 1*)	802.11b	1999	1–11	2.4
(Wi-Fi 2*)	802.11a	1999	6–54	5
(Wi-Fi 3*)	802.11g	2003		2.4
Wi-Fi 4	802.11n	2009	6.5–600	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 5	802.11ac	2013	6.5–6933	5[a]
Wi-Fi 6	802.11ax	2021	0.4–9608[1]	2.4, 5
Wi-Fi 6E				2.4, 5, 6[b]
Wi-Fi 7	802.11be	exp. 2024	0.4–23,059	2.4, 5, 6[2]
Wi-Fi 8	802.11bn	exp. 2028[3]	100,000[4]	2.4, 5, 6[5]
*Wi‑Fi 0, 1, 2, and 3 are named by retroactive inference. They do not exist in the official nomenclature.[6][7][8]

The specification has multi-station throughput of at least 1.1 gigabit per second (1.1 Gbit/s) and single-link throughput of at least 500 megabits per second (0.5 Gbit/s).^[11] This is accomplished by extending the air-interface concepts embraced by 802.11n: wider RF bandwidth (up to 160 MHz), more MIMO spatial streams (up to eight), downlink multi-user MIMO (up to four clients), and high-density modulation (up to 256-QAM).^[12][13]

The Wi-Fi Alliance separated the introduction of 802.11ac wireless products into two phases ("waves"), named "Wave 1" and "Wave 2".^[14][15] From mid-2013, the alliance started certifying Wave 1 802.11ac products shipped by manufacturers, based on the IEEE 802.11ac Draft 3.0 (the IEEE standard was not finalized until later that year).^[16] Subsequently in 2016, Wi-Fi Alliance introduced the Wave 2 certification, which includes additional features like MU-MIMO (down-link only), 160 MHz channel width support, support for more 5 GHz channels, and four spatial streams (with four antennas; compared to three in Wave 1 and 802.11n, and eight in IEEE's 802.11ax specification).^[17] It meant Wave 2 products would have higher bandwidth and capacity than Wave 1 products.^[18]

New technologies

New technologies introduced with 802.11ac include the following:^[13][19]

• Extended channel binding
  • Optional 160 MHz and mandatory 80 MHz channel bandwidth for stations; cf. 40 MHz maximum in 802.11n.
• More MIMO spatial streams
  • Support for up to eight spatial streams (vs. four in 802.11n)
• Downlink multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO, allows up to four simultaneous downlink MU-MIMO clients)
  • Multiple STAs, each with one or more antennas, transmit or receive independent data streams simultaneously.
    • Space-division multiple access (SDMA): streams not separated by frequency, but instead resolved spatially, analogous to 11n-style MIMO.
  • Downlink MU-MIMO (one transmitting device, multiple receiving devices) included as an optional mode.
• Modulation
  • 256-QAM, rate 3/4 and 5/6, added as optional modes (vs. 64-QAM, rate 5/6 maximum in 802.11n).
  • Some vendors offer a non-standard 1024-QAM mode, providing 25% higher data rate compared to 256-QAM
• Other elements/features
  • Beamforming with standardized sounding and feedback for compatibility between vendors (non-standard in 802.11n made it hard for beamforming to work effectively between different vendor products)
  • MAC modifications (mostly to support above changes)
  • Coexistence mechanisms for 20, 40, 80, and 160 MHz channels, 11ac and 11a/n devices
  • Adds four new fields to the PPDU header identifying the frame as a very high throughput (VHT) frame as opposed to 802.11n's high throughput (HT) or earlier. The first three fields in the header are readable by legacy devices to allow coexistence
  • DFS was mandated between channels 52 and 144 for 5 GHz to reduce interference with weather radar systems using the same frequency band.

Features

Mandatory

• Borrowed from the 802.11a/802.11g specifications:
  • 800 ns regular guard interval
  • Binary convolutional coding (BCC)
  • Single spatial stream
• Newly introduced by the 802.11ac specification:
  • 80 MHz channel bandwidths

Optional

• Borrowed from the 802.11n specification:
  • Two to four spatial streams
  • Low-density parity-check code (LDPC)
  • Space–time block coding (STBC)
  • Transmit beamforming (TxBF)
  • 400 ns short guard interval (SGI)
• Newly introduced by the 802.11ac specification:
  • five to eight spatial streams
  • 160 MHz channel bandwidths (contiguous 80+80)
  • 80+80 MHz channel bonding (discontiguous 80+80)
  • MCS 8/9 (256-QAM)

New scenarios and configurations

The single-link and multi-station enhancements supported by 802.11ac enable several new WLAN usage scenarios, such as simultaneous streaming of HD video to multiple clients throughout the home, rapid synchronization and backup of large data files, wireless display, large campus/auditorium deployments, and manufacturing floor automation.^[20]

To fully utilize their WLAN capacities, 802.11ac access points and routers have sufficient throughput to require the inclusion of a USB 3.0 interface to provide various services such as video streaming, FTP servers, and personal cloud services.^[21] With storage locally attached through USB 2.0, filling the bandwidth made available by 802.11ac was not easily accomplished.

Example configurations

All rates assume 256-QAM, rate 5/6:

Scenario	Typical client form factor	PHY link rate	Aggregate capacity (speed)
One-antenna AP, one-antenna STA, 80 MHz	Handheld	433 Mbit/s	433 Mbit/s
Two-antenna AP, two-antenna STA, 80 MHz	Tablet, laptop	867 Mbit/s	867 Mbit/s
One-antenna AP, one-antenna STA, 160 MHz	Handheld	867 Mbit/s	867 Mbit/s
Three-antenna AP, three-antenna STA, 80 MHz	Laptop, PC	1.30 Gbit/s	1.30 Gbit/s
Two-antenna AP, two-antenna STA, 160 MHz	Tablet, laptop	1.73 Gbit/s	1.73 Gbit/s
Four-antenna AP, four one-antenna STAs, 160 MHz (MU-MIMO)	Handheld	867 Mbit/s to each STA	3.39 Gbit/s
Eight-antenna AP, 160 MHz (MU-MIMO) one four-antenna STA one two-antenna STA two one-antenna STAs	Digital TV, Set-top Box, Tablet, Laptop, PC, Handheld	3.47 Gbit/s to four-antenna STA 1.73 Gbit/s to two-antenna STA 867 Mbit/s to each one-antenna STA	6.93 Gbit/s
Eight-antenna AP, four 2-antenna STAs, 160 MHz (MU-MIMO)	Digital TV, tablet, laptop, PC	1.73 Gbit/s to each STA	6.93 Gbit/s

Wave 1 vs. Wave 2

Wave 2, referring to products introduced in 2016, offers a higher throughput than legacy Wave 1 products, those introduced starting in 2013. The maximum physical layer theoretical rate for Wave 1 is 1.3 Gbit/s, while Wave 2 can reach 2.34 Gbit/s. Wave 2 can therefore achieve 1 Gbit/s even if the real world throughput turns out to be only 50% of the theoretical rate. Wave 2 also supports a higher number of connected devices.^[18]

Data rates and speed

Modulation and coding schemes

MCS index[d]	Spatial Streams	Modulation type	Coding rate	Data rate (Mbit/s)[22]
				20 MHz channels		40 MHz channels		80 MHz channels		160 MHz channels
				800 ns GI	400 ns GI	800 ns GI	400 ns GI	800 ns GI	400 ns GI	800 ns GI	400 ns GI
0	1	BPSK	1/2	6.5	7.2	13.5	15	29.3	32.5	58.5	65
1	1	QPSK	1/2	13	14.4	27	30	58.5	65	117	130
2	1	QPSK	3/4	19.5	21.7	40.5	45	87.8	97.5	175.5	195
3	1	16-QAM	1/2	26	28.9	54	60	117	130	234	260
4	1	16-QAM	3/4	39	43.3	81	90	175.5	195	351	390
5	1	64-QAM	2/3	52	57.8	108	120	234	260	468	520
6	1	64-QAM	3/4	58.5	65	121.5	135	263.3	292.5	526.5	585
7	1	64-QAM	5/6	65	72.2	135	150	292.5	325	585	650
8	1	256-QAM	3/4	78	86.7	162	180	351	390	702	780
9	1	256-QAM	5/6	—	—	180	200	390	433.3	780	866.7
0	2	BPSK	1/2	13	14.4	27	30	58.5	65	117	130
1	2	QPSK	1/2	26	28.9	54	60	117	130	234	260
2	2	QPSK	3/4	39	43.3	81	90	175.5	195	351	390
3	2	16-QAM	1/2	52	57.8	108	120	234	260	468	520
4	2	16-QAM	3/4	78	86.7	162	180	351	390	702	780
5	2	64-QAM	2/3	104	115.6	216	240	468	520	936	1040
6	2	64-QAM	3/4	117	130.3	243	270	526.5	585	1053	1170
7	2	64-QAM	5/6	130	144.4	270	300	585	650	1170	1300
8	2	256-QAM	3/4	156	173.3	324	360	702	780	1404	1560
9	2	256-QAM	5/6	—	—	360	400	780	866.7	1560	1733.3
0	3	BPSK	1/2	19.5	21.7	40.5	45	87.8	97.5	175.5	195
1	3	QPSK	1/2	39	43.3	81	90	175.5	195	351	390
2	3	QPSK	3/4	58.5	65	121.5	135	263.3	292.5	526.5	585
3	3	16-QAM	1/2	78	86.7	162	180	351	390	702	780
4	3	16-QAM	3/4	117	130	243	270	526.5	585	1053	1170
5	3	64-QAM	2/3	156	173.3	324	360	702	780	1404	1560
6	3	64-QAM	3/4	175.5	195	364.5	405	—	—	1579.5	1755
7	3	64-QAM	5/6	195	216.7	405	450	877.5	975	1755	1950
8	3	256-QAM	3/4	234	260	486	540	1053	1170	2106	2340
9	3	256-QAM	5/6	260	288.9	540	600	1170	1300	2340	2600
0	4	BPSK	1/2	26	28.8	54	60	117.2	130	234	260
1	4	QPSK	1/2	52	57.6	108	120	234	260	468	520
2	4	QPSK	3/4	78	86.8	162	180	351.2	390	702	780
3	4	16-QAM	1/2	104	115.6	216	240	468	520	936	1040
4	4	16-QAM	3/4	156	173.2	324	360	702	780	1404	1560
5	4	64-QAM	2/3	208	231.2	432	480	936	1040	1872	2080
6	4	64-QAM	3/4	234	260	486	540	1053.2	1170	2106	2340
7	4	64-QAM	5/6	260	288.8	540	600	1170	1300	2340	2600
8	4	256-QAM	3/4	312	346.8	648	720	1404	1560	2808	3120
9	4	256-QAM	5/6	—	—	720	800	1560	1733.3	3120	3466.7

Several companies are currently offering 802.11ac chipsets with higher modulation rates: MCS-10 and MCS-11 (1024-QAM), supported by Quantenna and Broadcom. Although technically not part of 802.11ac, these new MCS indices became official in the 802.11ax standard, ratified in 2021.

160 MHz channels are unavailable in some countries due to regulatory issues that allocated some frequencies for other purposes.

Advertised speeds

802.11ac-class device wireless speeds are often advertised as AC followed by a number, that number being the highest link rates in Mbit/s of all the simultaneously-usable radios in the device added up. For example, an AC1900 access point might have 600 Mbit/s capability on its 2.4 GHz radio and 1300 Mbit/s capability on its 5 GHz radio. No single client device could connect and achieve 1900 Mbit/s of throughput, but separate devices each connecting to the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios could achieve combined throughput approaching 1900 Mbit/s. Different possible stream configurations can add up to the same AC number.

Type	2.4 GHz band[c] Mbit/s	2.4 GHz band config [all 40 MHz]	5 GHz band Mbit/s	5 GHz band config [all 80 MHz]
AC450[23]	-	-	433	1 stream @ MCS 9
AC600	150	1 stream @ MCS 7	433	1 stream @ MCS 9
AC750	300	2 streams @ MCS 7	433	1 stream @ MCS 9
AC1000	300	2 streams @ MCS 7	650	2 streams @ MCS 7
AC1200	300	2 streams @ MCS 7	867	2 streams @ MCS 9
AC1300	400	2 streams @ 256-QAM	867	2 streams @ MCS 9
AC1300[24]	-	-	1,300	3 streams @ MCS 9
AC1350[25]	450	3 streams @ MCS 7	867	2 streams @ MCS 9
AC1450	450	3 streams @ MCS 7	975	3 streams @ MCS 7
AC1600	300	2 streams @ MCS 7	1,300	3 streams @ MCS 9
AC1700	800	4 streams @ 256-QAM	867	2 streams @ MCS 9
AC1750	450	3 streams @ MCS 7	1,300	3 streams @ MCS 9
AC1900	600[e]	3 streams @ 256-QAM	1,300	3 streams @ MCS 9
AC2100	800	4 streams @ 256-QAM	1,300	3 streams @ MCS 9
AC2200	450	3 streams @ MCS 7	1,733	4 streams @ MCS 9
AC2300	600	4 streams @ MCS 7	1,625	3 streams @ 1024-QAM
AC2400	600	4 streams @ MCS 7	1,733	4 streams @ MCS 9
AC2600	800[e]	4 streams @ 256-QAM	1,733	4 streams @ MCS 9
AC2900	750[f]	3 streams @ 1024-QAM	2,167	4 streams @ 1024-QAM
AC3000	450	3 streams @ MCS 7	1,300 + 1,300	3 streams @ MCS 9 x 2
AC3150	1000[f]	4 streams @ 1024-QAM	2,167	4 streams @ 1024-QAM
AC3200	600[e]	3 streams @ 256-QAM	1,300 + 1,300[g]	3 streams @ MCS 9 x 2
AC5000	600	4 streams @ MCS 7	2,167 + 2,167	4 streams @ 1024-QAM x 2
AC5300[28]	1000[f]	4 streams @ 1024-QAM	2,167 + 2,167	4 streams @ 1024-QAM x 2

Products

Commercial routers and access points

Quantenna released the first 802.11ac chipset for retail Wi-Fi routers and consumer electronics on November 15, 2011.^[29] Redpine Signals released the first low power 802.11ac technology for smartphone application processors on December 14, 2011.^[30] On January 5, 2012, Broadcom announced its first 802.11ac Wi-Fi chips and partners^[31] and on April 27, 2012, Netgear announced the first Broadcom-enabled router.^[32] On May 14, 2012, Buffalo Technology released the world’s first 802.11ac products to market, releasing a wireless router and client bridge adapter.^[33] On December 6, 2012, Huawei announced commercial availability of the industry's first enterprise-level 802.11ac Access Point.^[34]

Motorola Solutions is selling 802.11ac access points including the AP 8232.^[35] In April 2014, Hewlett-Packard started selling the HP 560 access point in the controller-based WLAN enterprise market segment.^[36]

Commercial laptops

On June 7, 2012, it was reported that Asus had unveiled its ROG G75VX gaming notebook, which would be the first consumer-oriented notebook to be fully compliant with 802.11ac^[37] (albeit in its "draft 2.0" version).

Apple began implementing 802.11ac starting with the MacBook Air in June 2013,^[38][39] followed by the MacBook Pro and Mac Pro later that year.^[40][41]

As of December 2013,^[update] Hewlett-Packard incorporates 802.11ac compliance in laptop computers.^[42]

Commercial handsets (partial list)

Vendor	Model	Release Date	Chipset	Notes
HTC	One (M7)	March 22, 2013	BCM4335 [43]	First 802.11ac-enabled handset announced February 19, 2013[44]
Samsung	Galaxy S4	April 26, 2013	BCM4335 [45]
Samsung	Galaxy Note 3	September 25, 2013	BCM4339 [46]	Subsequent Devices Include 802.11ac
LG	LG Nexus 5	October 2013[47]	BCM4339 [48]	BCM4339 is the updated version of the BCM4335
Nokia	Lumia 1520	November 2013[49]	WCN3680	First 802.11ac-enabled Windows Phone
Nokia	Lumia Icon	February 20, 2014[50]	WCN3680	Lumia 930 is Europe version of the same phone, also with 802.11ac
HTC	One (M8)	March 25, 2014	WCN3680 [51]
Samsung	Galaxy S5	April 11, 2014	BCM4354[52]
LG	G2	September 18, 2013	AWL9581 [53]
LG	G3	May 23, 2014	BCM4339 [54]
Amazon.com	Fire Phone	July 25, 2014 [55]	WCN3680 [56]
Samsung	Galaxy S5 Prime/SM-G906S	June 18, 2014	QCA6174
Samsung	Galaxy Alpha	September 7, 2014	E702A7[57]
Apple	iPhone 6/Plus	September 19, 2014	BCM4345[58]	First 802.11ac-enabled iOS devices
Motorola	Nexus 6	October 16, 2014	BCM4356[59]
Samsung	Galaxy Note 4	October 10, 2014	BCM4358[60]
Samsung	Galaxy Note 5	August 21, 2015	BCM4359 [61]

Commercial tablets

Vendor	Model	Release Date	Chipset	Notes
Microsoft	Surface Pro 3	June 20, 2014	Avastar 88W8897	802.11ac-enabled touchscreen computing device
Apple	iPad Air 2	October 24, 2014	Broadcom BCM4350	First 802.11ac-enabled iOS tablet device
Google	Nexus 9	November 3, 2014	Nvidia Tegra K1	2x2 MIMO

Chipsets

Vendor	Part #	Streams	LDPC	TxBF	256-QAM	Applications
Broadcom	BCM43602	3				routers, laptops
Broadcom	BCM4360	3				routers, laptops
Broadcom	BCM43569	2				DTV
Broadcom	BCM4352 Archived 2015-04-18 at the Wayback Machine	2				tablets
Broadcom	BCM4350	2				tablets
Broadcom	BCM4356	2				handsets, tablets
Broadcom	BCM4354	2				handsets, tablets
Broadcom	BCM4339	1				handsets
Broadcom	BCM4335 Archived 2012-07-28 at the Wayback Machine	1				handsets
Broadcom	BCM4359	2				handsets
Broadcom	BCM43455	1				handsets
Marvell	Avastar 88W8897	2				tablets
Marvell	Avastar 88W8864	3				routers
Qualcomm	WCN3680	1				handsets
Qualcomm		2				tablets
Qualcomm	QCA9880	3				home routers
Qualcomm		3				enterprise routers
Qualcomm	QCA9892	2				tablets, PtP Links
Qualcomm		4				enterprise access points
Qualcomm	QCA9992	3				enterprise access points
MediaTek	MT7610	1	?	?	?	PC (PCIe or USB)
MediaTek	MT7650	1	?			handsets
MediaTek	MT7612E	2				laptops (PCIe 2.0)
MediaTek		2				laptops (USB 3.0)
Quantenna	QAC2300	4				routers
Redpine Signals	RS9117	1		?		handsets
Redpine Signals	RS9333	3		?		routers
Realtek	RTL8811AU	1	?	?	?	adapter (USB 2.0)
Realtek	RTL8812AU	2	?	?	?	adapter (USB 3.0)
Intel	AC-3160	1	?	?	?	laptops
Intel	AC-7260	2	?	?	?	laptops

Notes

1. 802.11ac only specifies operation in the 5 GHz band. Operation in the 2.4 GHz band is specified by 802.11n.
2. Wi-Fi 6E is the industry name that identifies Wi-Fi devices that operate in 6 GHz. Wi-Fi 6E offers the features and capabilities of Wi-Fi 6 extended into the 6 GHz band.
3. 802.11ac only specifies operation in the 5 GHz band. Operation in the 2.4 GHz band is specified by 802.11n.
4. MCS 9 is not applicable to all channel width/spatial stream combinations.
5. With 802.11n, 600 Mbit/s in the 2.4 GHz band can be achieved by using four spatial streams at 150 Mbit/s each. As of December 2014^[update], commercially available devices that achieve 600 Mbit/s in the 2.4 GHz band use 3 spatial streams at 200 Mbit/s each.^[26][27] This requires the use of 256-QAM modulation, which is not compliant with 802.11n and can be considered a proprietary extension.^[27]
6. With proprietary extension to 802.11n, using 40MHz channel in 2.4GHz, 400ns guard interval, 1024-QAM, and 4 spatial streams.
7. As of December 2014^[update], commercially available AC3200 devices use two separate radios with 1,300 Mbit/s each to achieve 2,600 Mbit/s total in the 5 GHz band.

Comparison

v t e 802.11 network standards
Frequency range, or type	PHY	Protocol	Release date[62]	Freq­uency	Bandwidth	Stream data rate[63]	Max. MIMO streams	Modulation	Approx. range
									In­door	Out­door
				(GHz)	(MHz)	(Mbit/s)
1–7 GHz	DSSS[64], FHSS[A]	802.11-1997	June 1997	2.4	22	1, 2	—	DSSS, FHSS[A]	20 m (66 ft)	100 m (330 ft)
	HR/DSSS[64]	802.11b	September 1999	2.4	22	1, 2, 5.5, 11	—	CCK, DSSS	35 m (115 ft)	140 m (460 ft)
	OFDM	802.11a	September 1999	5	5, 10, 20	6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54 (for 20 MHz bandwidth, divide by 2 and 4 for 10 and 5 MHz)	—	OFDM	35 m (115 ft)	120 m (390 ft)
		802.11j	November 2004	4.9, 5.0 [B][65]					?	?
		802.11y	November 2008	3.7[C]					?	5,000 m (16,000 ft)[C]
		802.11p	July 2010	5.9					200 m	1,000 m (3,300 ft)[66]
		802.11bd	December 2022	5.9, 60					500 m	1,000 m (3,300 ft)
	ERP-OFDM[67]	802.11g	June 2003	2.4					38 m (125 ft)	140 m (460 ft)
	HT-OFDM[68]	802.11n (Wi-Fi 4)	October 2009	2.4, 5	20	Up to 288.8[D]	4	MIMO-OFDM (64-QAM)	70 m (230 ft)	250 m (820 ft)[69]
					40	Up to 600[D]
	VHT-OFDM[68]	802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5)	December 2013	5	20	Up to 693[D]	8	DL MU-MIMO OFDM (256-QAM)	35 m (115 ft)[70]	?
					40	Up to 1600[D]
					80	Up to 3467[D]
					160	Up to 6933[D]
	HE-OFDMA	802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E)	May 2021	2.4, 5, 6	20	Up to 1147[E]	8	UL/DL MU-MIMO OFDMA (1024-QAM)	30 m (98 ft)	120 m (390 ft)[F]
					40	Up to 2294[E]
					80	Up to 5.5 Gbit/s[E]
					80+80	Up to 11.0 Gbit/s[E]
	EHT-OFDMA	802.11be (Wi-Fi 7)	Sep 2024 (est.)	2.4, 5, 6	80	Up to 11.5 Gbit/s[E]	16	UL/DL MU-MIMO OFDMA (4096-QAM)	30 m (98 ft)	120 m (390 ft)[F]
					160 (80+80)	Up to 23 Gbit/s[E]
					240 (160+80)	Up to 35 Gbit/s[E]
					320 (160+160)	Up to 46.1 Gbit/s[E]
	UHR	802.11bn (Wi-Fi 8)	May 2028 (est.)	2.4, 5, 6, 42, 60, 71	320	Up to 100000 (100 Gbit/s)	16	Multi-link MU-MIMO OFDM (8192-QAM)	?	?
	WUR[G]	802.11ba	October 2021	2.4, 5	4, 20	0.0625, 0.25 (62.5 kbit/s, 250 kbit/s)	—	OOK (multi-carrier OOK)	?	?
mmWave (WiGig)	DMG[71]	802.11ad	December 2012	60	2160 (2.16 GHz)	Up to 8085[72] (8 Gbit/s)	—	OFDM,[A] single carrier, low-power single carrier[A]	3.3 m (11 ft)[73]	?
		802.11aj	April 2018	60[H]	1080[74]	Up to 3754 (3.75 Gbit/s)	—	single carrier, low-power single carrier[A]	?	?
	CMMG	802.11aj	April 2018	45[H]	540, 1080	Up to 15015[75] (15 Gbit/s)	4[76]	OFDM, single carrier	?	?
	EDMG[77]	802.11ay	July 2021	60	Up to 8640 (8.64 GHz)	Up to 303336[78] (303 Gbit/s)	8	OFDM, single carrier	10 m (33 ft)	100 m (328 ft)
Sub 1 GHz (IoT)	TVHT[79]	802.11af	February 2014	0.054– 0.79	6, 7, 8	Up to 568.9[80]	4	MIMO-OFDM	?	?
	S1G[79]	802.11ah	May 2017	0.7, 0.8, 0.9	1–16	Up to 8.67[81] (@2 MHz)	4		?	?
Light (Li-Fi)	LC (VLC/OWC)	802.11bb	December 2023 (est.)	800–1000 nm	20	Up to 9.6 Gbit/s	—	O-OFDM	?	?
	IR[A] (IrDA)	802.11-1997	June 1997	850–900 nm	?	1, 2	—	PPM[A]	?	?
802.11 Standard rollups
		802.11-2007 (802.11ma)	March 2007	2.4, 5		Up to 54		DSSS, OFDM
		802.11-2012 (802.11mb)	March 2012	2.4, 5		Up to 150[D]		DSSS, OFDM
		802.11-2016 (802.11mc)	December 2016	2.4, 5, 60		Up to 866.7 or 6757[D]		DSSS, OFDM
		802.11-2020 (802.11md)	December 2020	2.4, 5, 60		Up to 866.7 or 6757[D]		DSSS, OFDM
		802.11me	September 2024 (est.)	2.4, 5, 6, 60		Up to 9608 or 303336		DSSS, OFDM
This is obsolete, and support for this might be subject to removal in a future revision of the standard For Japanese regulation. IEEE 802.11y-2008 extended operation of 802.11a to the licensed 3.7 GHz band. Increased power limits allow a range up to 5,000 m. As of 2009[update], it is only being licensed in the United States by the FCC. Based on short guard interval; standard guard interval is ~10% slower. Rates vary widely based on distance, obstructions, and interference. For single-user cases only, based on default guard interval which is 0.8 microseconds. Since multi-user via OFDMA has become available for 802.11ax, these may decrease. Also, these theoretical values depend on the link distance, whether the link is line-of-sight or not, interferences and the multi-path components in the environment. The default guard interval is 0.8 microseconds. However, 802.11ax extended the maximum available guard interval to 3.2 microseconds, in order to support Outdoor communications, where the maximum possible propagation delay is larger compared to Indoor environments. Wake-up Radio (WUR) Operation. For Chinese regulation.

See also

• IEEE 802.11ad

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External links

• 802.11ac Technology Introduction white paper Archived 2016-03-14 at the Wayback Machine
• MIMO 802.11ac Test Architectures
• 802.11ac: The Fifth Generation of Wi-Fi Technical Paper
• 802.11ac primer
• Intel Wireless Products Selection Guide