Samsung's upcoming smartphones will reportedly support the new 'WiFi 6' standard. Here's what it'll mean for you.

galaxy s10 render

The upcoming Galaxy S10 from Samsung is said to come with support for WiFi 6, the newest WiFi standard.
WiFi 6 will provide several benefits over the current generation of WiFi devices.
Mobile devices like the Galaxy S10 are set to benefit from WiFi 6.

If the latest batch of rumors are to be believed, Samsung's Galaxy S10 smartphone will come with "WiFi 6" support.

That sounds lovely and new compared with previous WiFi standards, which have been unfortunately graced with confusing names like "802.11ac," the current standard.

WiFi 6 is lovely and new, but it's just a better name for the upcoming "802.11ax" WiFi standard.

Either way, like every new generation of WiFi, WiFi 6 will bring with it improvements worth knowing about.

Check out the improvements coming with WiFi 6:

WiFi 6 is the name of the upcoming WiFi standard.

Every few years, a new WiFi standard is introduced that brings improvements over the previous standard. But the naming system for the standards had no rhyme or reason.

WiFi standards were given names starting with "802.11" followed by a letter or letters. Usually, only the letters are used to indicate the standard your WiFi routers and devices use — for example, the current standard is called "802.11ac" but is usually known as "AC."

For clear reasons, this traditional nomenclature made it somewhat confusing for regular WiFi users — i.e., anyone and everyone — to follow: WiFi standards had a B in 1999, then an A, then G, then N, and now AC. See what I mean about confusion?

WiFi 6 is also technically "802.11ax," but we're happy to simply call it WiFi 6, the name given to it by the WiFi Alliance. That way, it's clearer that WiFi 6 is the sixth-generation WiFi standard.

Samsung's Galaxy S10 is said to come with WiFi 6, which is designed to be four to 10 times as fast as the current standard. But you won't notice unless you have an incredibly fast internet plan.

Devices and routers that support WiFi 6 will continue to use the "2.4 GHz" and "5 GHz" bands that we use today, but speeds will be faster on each band. We can expect speeds four to 10 times as fast as the current standard, according to Network World.

Keep in mind, though, that your speeds are dependent on the internet plan you're paying for. So if your plan includes download speeds of 200 megabits per second, you'll still get only 200 Mbps with WiFi 6.

WiFi 6 starts making a difference in terms of raw speed if you have incredibly fast internet speeds that the current standard can't deliver. I'm talking speeds over 1 Gbps, or 1,000 Mbps.

But even with humble internet speeds, WiFi 6 comes with other improvements ...

Theoretically, it could also mean better range.

As the WiFi mantra goes, you connect to the 5 GHz band for better speeds and the 2.4 GHz band for better range.

WiFi 6 is designed to be more efficient with how much data it can fit into the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. More data translates to faster speeds.

For the 2.4 GHz band specifically, that's an enticing prospect.

Theoretically, WiFi 6 will let you connect to the longer-range 2.4 GHz band rather than the shorter-range 5 GHz band for heavy data lifting, as the 2.4 GHz band will be able to offer faster speeds.

Essentially, you could get faster speeds on the Galaxy S10 at greater distances if you're connected to your router's 2.4 GHz band.

But the 2.4 GHz band is also typically crowded, especially in dense environments like a city. Crowding means interference, which results in slower speeds. We'll have to wait and see how WiFi 6 pans out for the 2.4 GHz band.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider