Hamina Wireless and Wi-Fi Alliance Services team up to enable outdoor planning for Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E.
The missing link of Wi-Fi industry - operating and designing Wi-Fi 7 and 6E in outdoor environments - has been recently filled by Wi-Fi Alliance Technical Services (TS) and Hamina Wireless. Together, WFA TS and Hamina Wireless announced a joint solution for streamlined design of Wi-Fi 7 and 6E outdoor networks. See also the Wi-Fi Alliance press release on the matter.
The announcement of Hamina and Wi-Fi Alliance happened just a few days before the FCC approved various AFC services, including Wi-Fi Alliance Services’, to be used.
Background: 6 GHZ Wi-Fi is the biggest thing for Wi-Fi in 20 years
For the last 20 years, Wi-Fi has operated over two frequency bands: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. More recently, Wi-Fi saw a major boost with Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E through the introduction of the 6 GHz spectrum band. This new spectrum brings a huge boost in Wi-Fi capacity, performance, and reliability, making it the biggest improvement in Wi-Fi in 20 years.
However, the use of 6 GHz was not been allowed outdoors from the get-go. Very recently though, FCC allowed the use of 6 GHz spectrum outdoors in the U.S. - and soon, in Canada as well with hopes for Europe and other regions following suit. The outdoor use is allowed when a power and channel management system called AFC (Automated Frequency Coordination) is used to limit Wi-Fi device power output. Wi-Fi Alliance Services is among such AFC service providers - a service that tells the outdoor Wi-Fi access points about their allowed radio output in their geographic location. Through the use of Wi-Fi Alliance Services’ AFC service, Wi-Fi 7 and 6E access points ensure outdoor operation within regulation.
The first ever AFC-enabled toolkit for outdoor Wi-Fi 7 and 6E design
Before the partnership between Wi-Fi Alliance Services and Hamina Wireless, there’s been no tools that enable systems integrators and managed service providers (MSP’s) to design AFC-compliant Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E networks for outdoor use on the 6 GHz band. The Hamina & WFA Services solution utilizes the Wi-Fi Alliance Services’ AFC service to enable streamlined, real-time planning of outdoor Wi-Fi 7 and 6E networks with Hamina’s Network Planner Plus solution.
Read more about the Hamina Network Planner options here.
With the combined solution, Hamina’s Network Planner Plus tool:
- Reaches out to Wi-Fi Alliance AFC servers to retrieve AFC power limits for the entire 6 GHz band;
- Optimizes the network channels as well as channel widths in real-time, according to the regional power limits provided by the AFC service of Wi-Fi Alliance Services;
- Displays the AFC limits over the entire 6 GHz spectrum (EIRP, and PSD).
The end result is quick and easy no-wait design of regulatory-compliant Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E networks outdoors.
Conclusion
In short: The missing link in the Wi-Fi industry has been two-fold:
• Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E for outdoor use overall, as well as
• Designing such networks.
At Hamina Wireless, we’re thrilled to partner up with Wi-Fi Alliance Services to provide an integrated, streamlined solution for designing great, modern outdoor Wi-Fi.
Best regards,
Jussi and The Hamina Team
