The world is ready: Multi-User MIMO

If one Wi-Fi stream just about keeps up with your day-to-day devices and applications – what would happen if you had access to four streams at once?

Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) delivers the highest available dual-band data rates with multiple Wi-Fi devices in the house. Basically, it supercharges your wireless by giving your devices more speed and stability – eliminating digital queues and keeping every phone, tablet, PC or games console connected.

Excellent service

MU-MIMO may be the most significant wireless innovation since 802.11ac (Wave1) was released 3 years ago.

Most modern routers take turns serving each device in your home or office, in a kind of first-come-first-served tactic that may seem fair, but is actually coming at the cost of speed and stability.

With the power of MU-MIMO, everybody gets served at once – with a connection that’s up to three times faster than before. And with that kind of performance, Wave2 MU-MIMO will deliver a much needed boost in overall Wi-Fi performance.

Benefits for all

All that’s between you and this complex, advanced wireless technology is time. A 1×1 device supports one transmit stream and one receive stream. And as you move up through 2×2 and 3×3, the wireless connection grows stronger. With MU-MIMO, it’s at its strongest. But working with lesser devices means it’s not able to give all it’s got, as most mobile Wi-Fi devices are only 1×1 – with the capacity for only one receive stream.

But even when restricted by the technological limitations of other devices, MU-MIMO is a marked improvement on traditional Wi-Fi.

More than just making your network faster, it boosts its capacity – more efficient service allowing for more traffic, without compromising performance. This makes MU-MIMO a valuable addition to homes, businesses, and public spaces and Wi-Fi hotspots.

We’re ready

The technology doesn’t rely on the sophistication of the devices it serves to deliver its benefits. It’s easier and cheaper to implement, and it was initially developed as an optional add-on to the 802.11ac wireless standard – so is almost lying dormant in so many devices already in homes and businesses.

But while it’s already available on most high-end chipsets, and plenty of new smartphone models support it too, MU-MIMO is a little way from being ubiquitous. For MU-MIMO to reach its potential, the devices it’s supporting need to able to harness its power.

The world is ready for MU-MIMO. All that’s left to do it wait for technology to catch up…