Below you’ll find a listing of the most frequently asked questions that Linx receives. Should you have any questions that are not found here, or need help with any of Linx’s products, please reach out to one of our technical service representatives at info@linxtechnologies.com. Also, be sure to check out our Wireless Made Simple blog for answers and updates to the latest innovations in the world of wireless.
WiFi Antennas
HaLow is the Wi-Fi Alliance branding for IEEE 802.11ah. WiFi. 802.11ah operates in sub-1 GHz bands to provide longer range at lower power than other WiFi solutions. HaLow may therefore be considered a lowpower wide-area (LPWA) networking technology. HaLow typically operates in the unlicensed 900 MHz band, but also operates in 700 MHz and 800 MHz bands in some countries.
U-NII, which stands for Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure, is a United States designation for the frequency bands and requirements under which WiFi and other communications operate in the 5 GHz band. U-NII will likely be extended to cover the 6 GHz band as well. The U-NII frequency bands, including proposed 6 GHz bands are:
6 GHz WiFi relates to IEEE 801.11ax which offers WiFi capabilities in sub-bands from 5.925 GHz to 7.125 GHz. WiFi 6E is the Wi-Fi Alliance designation for WiFi that operates in the 6 GHz band.
WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E both refer to the IEEE 802.11ax standard, but WiFi 6E, where “E” stands for extended, expresses that the solution operates in the 6 GHz band (5.925 GHz to 7.125 GHz) of IEEE 802.11ax.
Because the IEEE 802.11 standards numbering system can be confusing, the Wi-Fi Alliance began branding WiFi “generations.” WiFi 6 equates to the IEEE 802.11ax standard which is the “sixth generation” WiFi standard, operating in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. WiFi 6 also has an “extended” generation known as WiFi 6E which leverages IEEE 802.11ax in new frequencies from 5.925 GHz to 7.125 GHz.
Because the IEEE 802.11 standards numbering system can be confusing, the Wi-Fi Alliance began branding WiFi “generations.” WiFi 5 equates to the IEEE 802.11ac standard which is the “fifth generation” WiFi standard.
Because the IEEE 802.11 standards numbering system can be confusing, the Wi-Fi Alliance began branding WiFi “generations.” WiFi 4 equates to the IEEE 802.11n standard which is the “fourth generation” WiFi standard.
WiFi is based in the IEEE 802.11 standards. The IEEE standards cover WiFi operation in detail, but for antennas it mostly comes down to frequencies of operation as shown in Table 1.
WLAN is a contraction of Wireless LAN (which is a contraction of Wireless Local Area Network) and is interchangeable with the term, WiFi. WLAN is used in some regions, like much of Europe, rather than WiFi.
Wi-Fi is the branding of the Wi-Fi Alliance for IEEE 802.11-based wireless LANs. Beyond that, many formulations of Wi-Fi are used in industry including WiFi, WIFI, and WLAN.
Yes. Linx makes a variety of WiFi antennas which may be found on the Linx website WiFi Antennas page. Use the Linx WiFi Antenna Selection Guide to help find the best WiFi antenna for an application.