I am not an internet/connectivity tech. nor I.T. trained. I keep reasonably informed (I hope). You may wish to follow along my thoughts about the connectivity info. I search out & share here, partly my own personal opinions & conclusions. Your own thinking & conclusions are also necessary. Hopefully I can save you some time by sending some of your thoughts in helpful directions & towards useful questions.

Three connectivity/WiFi advances:

5G-Advanced. Also sometimes referred to as 5.5G. Will come into being/arrive “by early Summer 2024”. Some 5G-Advanced hardware & software is already available. Other major suppliers have some in the works & might start showcasing it any time now in 2024. There is speculation that 5G-Advanced might be “largely deployed as an over-the-air software upgrade”. A few of the new features (of 5G-Advanced) are said to be:

– system support for AI & machine learning;

– personal IoT networks; &

– improved satellite connections.

& with faster uplink speeds on the way.

 

HaLow. HaLow WiFi technology being further developed by Australian startup Morse Micro (Australian company). Recently at an urban neighbourhood beach, this company video recorded a demo of 2 people using tablets “connected over a HaLow network”. They demonstrated a video call at longer & longer distances, culminating in a clear video call when the 2 people were 3 km. (almost 2 miles) apart. Some of their intriguing development details:

– “operates in [a ‘sub-GHz range’] which allows it to penetrate obstacles, walls & buildings”;

– has “exceptional low power consumption & superior throughput”; system sends not just pings but actual megabits of data;

– it might “work on coin batteries for months”; this tech’s power-saving abilities “can extend battery life significantly”;

– said to be geared towards providing connectivity for & is collaborating to build battery-powered IoT devices (e.g. security cameras).

One opinion: “HaLow: a viable competitor” but rivals abound in the IoT field, & a current lacking of adoption of HaLow raises concerns.

 

6G. Am still absorbing 5G (& 5G-Advanced) information; meanwhile 6G is progressing too. Is in development by numerous companies, research institutes & countries. 6G networks are most likely going to be significantly faster than networks before them. Some researchers recently unveiled “a single channel optical wireless link that can achieve speeds of up to 240GB/s, a new world record… [Same] team is now setting its sights on quadrupling” that speed, & are optimistic that they can push the data rate so. They reportedly began by using a “stimulated … scattering laser to generate signals at 300GHz for 6G networks.” Then they boosted the data transmission rate further, once or twice. A sub-terahertz band (“ranging from 100 GHz to 300 GHz”) is the “playground for these 6G transmitters & receivers”. It has been said that 6G systems might be deployed by 2028. Personally, in the current ways of technology, I won’t be surprised if it’s sooner.