Tech Roundup Jun. 5, 2020 | Wi-Fi 6 arrives in Brazil

You’re reading The Brazilian Report’s weekly tech roundup, a digest of the most important news on technology and innovation in Brazil. This week’s topics: the profile of Brazilian gamers, the digital transformation updates adopted by the main state-owned tech company in the country, and the first steps of the new generation of Wi-Fi technology in Brazil. 

Wi-Fi 6 makes way into Brazil

TP-Link announced that its new router, Archer AX10, equipped with Wi-Fi 6 technology, will be available in Brazil in June, according to website CanalTech. The launch comes a few weeks after telecom watchdog Anatel approved the 5.925 to 7.125 GHz frequencies to be used for Wi-Fi transmission, the first step to allow the next generation of Wi-Fi connectivity to work in the country. 

Understanding Wi-Fi 6. Launched in 2019 in the U.S., Wi-Fi 6 is able to support more simultaneous connections, with theoretical speeds reaching 9.6 Gbps. For comparison’s sake, current Wi-Fi 5 technology has a theoretical speed that is 7 times slower. It is also able to avoid interference, which helps improve the signal in residential areas. Faster connection would be useful for data-intensive applications, such as virtual reality, augmented reality, streaming content in 8K-quality, among others.

Yes, but … While there are routers and devices — such as iPhone 11 — already equipped for Wi-Fi 6 technology, Brazilian internet providers are still unable to provide such a fast connection. Basically, the router and the device may support faster connections, but the link that feeds them is still slow. Moreover, Anatel still has to define the conditions for the use of the spectrum, avoiding interference with other models.

Why it matters. Unlike the 5G spectrum, Wi-Fi 6 is “unlicensed,” which means that...