New Nokia beacon lights up home with Wi-Fi 6

Nokia has bolstered its portfolio of Wi-Fi mesh systems – a network of interconnected routers designed to eliminate blind spots within the home – with the addition of Beacon 6.

The latest Beacon, which sits alongside Beacon 1 and Beacon 3 in Nokia's Wi-Fi mesh stable, is the first Nokia Wi-Fi device to support Wi-Fi 6, a next-gen tech that promises to be a smart-home boon. (See Nokia broadens whole-home Wi-Fi lineup.)

And when it comes to delivering a "seamless transition" for mobile devices moving between 5G and Wi-Fi 6, Nokia claims it's the first supplier out the traps (though it may have to argue that one out with HPE).

Customers, reckons the Finnish firm, will be able to maintain throughput and low latency for video streaming and cloud gaming applications when switching between the two access networks. The official press release spoke reassuringly of a "seamless end-to-end 5G experience."

There is reason for handover optimism. In recent trials of Wi-Fi 6E-capable mobile platforms and laptop equipment, involving US chipmakers Broadcom and Intel, speeds of up to 2 Gbit/s were apparently achieved. Equally important for fans of online gaming, a "consistent" two-millisecond latency connection was also achieved. (See Broadcom, Intel put Wi-Fi 6 through its paces at 6GHz.)

For its part, Nokia was confident that Beacon 6 – on the back of Wi-Fi 6 – will deliver 40% faster speeds than previous Wi-Fi generations.

The Finnish outfit, in a clear bid to try and assert tech superiority, was unsparing in its references to the guile and innovation coming from Nokia Bell Labs to make Beacon 6 – along with some other complementary technologies – possible.

Extras include new mesh controller capabilities that are designed to ensure the "best Wi-Fi performance” is achieved in the home. This is apparently done by managing channel selection and adding advanced interference capabilities, which, asserted Nokia, were unique in the market.

AirTies that bind
Nokia is not the first with a Wi-Fi 6 mesh system. Last October, Turkey's AirTies launched its Wi-Fi 6 portfolio, including mesh extenders and a mesh router.

The company also announced at the time that it had signed deals with "multiple Tier 1 service providers" and expected to bring them to market in the "coming months."

— Ken Wieland, contributing editor, special to Broadband World News