Make Sure Your Cabling Plant Is Ready for Wi-Fi 6

Check Cable Type and Connections

Some early Wi-Fi 6 access points are supported by 2.5GBASE-T or 5GBASE-T, allowing an installed base of Category 5e and Category 6 cables to potentially provide support. But it’s highly unlikely that these cable types can support the maximum throughput potential of Wi-Fi 6 and more advanced Wi-Fi 6E.

Second- and third-wave Wi-Fi 6 access points pushed speeds beyond 5 Gb/s, requiring two 5GBASE-T connections at a minimum to each wireless access point to support link aggregation. To achieve the theoretical throughput of 10 Gb/s, each Wi-Fi 6/6E access point requires a minimum of two Category 6A connections.

Check PoE Requirements

It’s not just speed you’ll need to worry about. Most access points today use Power over Ethernet (PoE). With more complex processing that occurs within Wi-Fi 6 access points, they require higher levels of PoE than previous generations that primarily operated within the 13W of Type 1 PoE. That means you will need 30 W Type 2 PoE at a minimum. Higher-end access points that support both Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E can require 60 W Type 3 PoE.

To support maximum throughput and higher levels of PoE, most enterprise businesses are deploying two Category 6A links to Wi-Fi 6/6E access points — even if the remainder of their cabling plant stays at Category 5e or 6. In fact, industry standards specifically recommend two Category 6/class EA connections for wireless access points.

If you’re not planning to upgrade your cabling plant and are hoping to support early Wi-Fi 6 devices over existing Category 5e or Category 6, it’s important to understand that not all existing cable plants will support 2.5/5GBASE-T to 100 meters, and they will need to be tested to ensure compliance.

Check Testing Considerations

If you choose to upgrade your cable plant to Category 6A to support Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E, your testing considerations will be the same as they are for any 10GBASE-T and advanced PoE application. That means alien crosstalk testing is recommended.

The good news is that you can conduct sample alien crosstalk testing of worst-case scenario short, medium, and long disturbed links within the same bundle to help save time. And if you decide not to test for alien crosstalk, you can see TCL and ELTCTL test results by choosing (+ALL) limits on the Fluke Networks DSX CableAnalyzer™ Series tester. These parameters only add about 6 seconds to your test times, and they are excellent indicators of whether a cable link will provide adequate alien crosstalk performance.

With the higher levels of PoE, choosing (+ALL) limits is recommended because it includes measurements for DC Resistance Unbalance within a pair and DC Resistance Unbalance between pairs, as well as a limit for DC Loop Resistance. This will ensure that DC power is split evenly between each conductor of the pair and between multiple pairs for four-pair PoE applications. If the DC power is not evenly divided, you risk the Ethernet signals transmitting to and from your access point becoming distorted and causing errors.

When you’re ready to plug in your new Wi-Fi 6/6E access points, you can check how much power is available on the link using the Fluke Networks LinkIQ™ Cable+Wi-Fi+Network Tester or MicroScanner™ Cable Verifier Series. Simply plug either tester into the end connection, and if the cable is connected to a PoE switch or other Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE), it will display the class (0-8) of power available on the link. You can then compare that to the requirements of your access point to ensure that enough power is available. Learn more about PoE classes, types, and standards in our Guide to Successful Installation of Power over Ethernet.

You can take PoE testing even further with the LinkIQ tester, which places a load on the PSE to determine if the switch and cabling link are capable of delivering the advertised power. It also shows the actual measured volts under load to ensure it meets the required minimum voltage.

The susceptibility to alien crosstalk and heat rise caused by delivery of PoE in cable bundles could very well mean that the cable plant for Wi-Fi 6/6E is specified as shielded Category 6A. If that’s the case, we’ve got you covered in the event of an open shield — our DSX CableAnalyzer Series tester reports distance to shield integrity issues using a patented AC measurement technique.

Keep Learning

• • How In-Building Wi-Fi Systems Work
• • Wi-Fi 7 vs. Wi-Fi 6: What’s New and What It Means for Your Network
• • LinkIQ Duo: The Essential Cable, PoE, Network, and Wi-Fi Tester in One