Wi-Fi 6E goes outdoors

[Sue_Gillespie]

Outdoor and hazardous indoor environments are demanding

Users expect great Wi-Fi no matter where they are—and that includes outdoors. Employees need to be able to work anywhere on a corporate campus, walking between buildings, or wrapping up that customer call while parked outside. Concert goers and sports fans expect to share live experiences and enjoy the venue’s digital services without Wi-Fi interruption. Smooth warehouse operations depend on reliable communications from the loading bay, into the refrigerated areas, and all the way through to staging areas. And industrial sites require secure connectivity for growing numbers of IoT devices located in challenging and extreme environments.

HPE Aruba Networking outdoor and ruggedized access points are ready to handle these challenges—they are purpose-built for outdoor, hazardous locations, and extreme weather environments, providing high performance Wi-Fi, no matter the weather or challenging conditions. As part of unified infrastructure from HPE Aruba Networking, our Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E access points help bring secure, reliable, and seamless coverage wherever it’s needed. Using the HPE Aruba Networking AOS-10 wireless operating system and HPE Aruba Networking Central with its AIOps capabilities, IT teams get the visibility and automation to keep Wi-Fi networks performing at peak levels. Important advanced analytics and machine learning capabilities include:

• For better roaming mobile user experience, HPE Aruba Networking ClientMatch employs patented RF technology to optimize user experience by improving connectivity and roaming decisions, eliminating ‘sticky clients’.
• To optimize performance, HPE Aruba Networking AirMatch utilizes AI machine learning principles to automate RF optimization across the entire network, dynamically optimizing each AP’s radio settings to address changing RF conditions across the network.
• For visibility and control over IoT devices, HPE Aruba Networking Central Client Insights uses AI machine learning to discover and profile all the devices on the network, including IoT—so secure access can be managed.

Faster Wi-Fi outdoors with Wi-Fi 6E

Wi-Fi 6E adoption has ramped significantly and is predicted to become the de facto enterprise Wi-Fi standard1 by 2026. We’ve shipped more Wi-Fi 6E indoor APs than anyone (check out our new HPE Aruba Networking 600H Series Hospitality AP) and now we’re excited to launch our first outdoor Wi-Fi 6E access point because it brings more Wi-Fi speed, performance, and capacity beyond the office walls. Wi-Fi 6E takes the efficiency features from Wi-Fi 6 like OFDMA, WPA3, and Target Wake Time and extends them to the 6 GHz band to dramatically increase capacity, speed, and reduce interference.

The new HPE Aruba Networking 670 Series Outdoor Access Points (2) take advantage of Wi-Fi 6E and the 6 GHz band to more than double capacity. With integrated high-power Bluetooth and Zigbee radios, fast wired connectivity, and a limited lifetime warranty, the 670 Series provides high-performance outdoor connectivity, delivering up to 3.9Gbps maximum peak data rates with a Tri-radio 2x2:2 MIMO AP. And for the most extreme conditions, the 670EX models are Hazardous Location (HazLoc) compliant (certification underway), making them ideal for environments such as oil rigs, industrial manufacturing, and transportation sites.



 

 It's a Standard Power Device

To protect incumbent operations in the 6GHz band and optimize capabilities, Wi-Fi 6E devices are broken into 3 class types. HPE Aruba Networking 670 Series Outdoor APs will operate as Standard Power (SP) devices and, where required, will use an Automated Frequency Coordination service (AFC) before enabling the 6GHz radio to eliminate interference with outdoor services (such as microwave links, broadcast auxiliary service, and cable television relay service) that operate in the 6 GHz band. At launch, the 670 Series2 will be orderable in U.S. and Canada only. Other countries may become available as they announce their 6GHz certification standards and requirements.

Want to learn more?

Explore HPE Aruba Networking wireless solutions here, learn more about the 6GHz band, and explore the 670 Series here.


 

Footnotes:

(1) IDC, Wi-Fi 6E and the Future of Connectedness: A New Generation of Wi-Fi in the 6GHz Band, June 2023.
(2) See product datasheet for minimum software support information.