Russia allowed to use 5.9-6.4 GHz frequencies for Wi-Fi 6E standard

The State Commission on Radio Frequencies at a meeting on December 23 decided to allocate the 5.9-6.4 GHz band for

Wi-Fi 6E communication standard indoors -including in offices and residential buildings, the Kommersant portal reports with reference to the Ministry of Digital Development. The main difference between Wi-Fi 6E and its predecessor Wi-Fi 6 is its operation at 6 GHz and a greater number of channels within the frequency. Devices with Wi-Fi 6E appeared on the market in 2021, this standard is supported by all the latest models of smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Honor, Xiaomi and others, as well as laptops from Asus, Acer, Lenovo and others. However, for Russia, vendors turned off the functionality, since the technology was not legalized in the country.

In terms of the availability of routers with supportWi-Fi 6E in Russia "there are no big problems," Oleg Ivanov, the director general of the Radio Research Institute subordinate to the Ministry of Digital Development, quotes the publication. He explained: “A significant number of Wi-Fi equipment is produced by Chinese and Taiwanese companies that have not imposed restrictions on imports to Russia. Otherwise, these are mass devices, and their import can be arranged from third countries.” The Ministry of Digital Transformation confirmed that the routers "arrive in sufficient quantities through the existing supply chains." According to experts of the publication, problems may arise with user devices in Russia. “In the current geopolitical situation, there is a considerable risk that Intel will not rush to activate the modem modules of devices with Wi-Fi 6E support,” admits Alexey Boyko, an analyst at MForum Analytics.