New WiFi standard coming: 802.11ac to deliver faster speeds than your 802.11n device

One of the leading wireless technology developers – Broadcom — has just announced a new wireless technology capable of hitting gigabit speeds over wireless.

Designed for speedy file transfers and HD movie streaming, 802.11ac is a WiFi technology that according to Broadcom is “three times faster and up to six times more power efficient than equivalent 802.11n solutions”.

While wireless technology has grown in popularity thanks to the surge in devices that use it – phones, tablets, laptop computers – but it’s never delivered quite the speed boost that larger files require.

Called a “fifth generation wireless technology”, the new 802.11ac technology can apparently reach speeds up to 1.3Gbps, making it perfectly suited for streaming large video files.

Range has been boosted too, with more likelihood that you’ll be in range in a larger house.

But don’t throw out that router just yet, as Broadcom and the typical wireless manufactures haven’t said when – or if – this’ll be coming to the market this year.

A graph from Broadcom's 802.11ac showing how the new technology improves wireless range.