4 ms·

can we get full duplex?

• zamadatix 4y ago
  The "different frequencies at the same time" feature is called Multi-Link Operation (MLO). MLO has multiple operating modes and one of these, Simultaneous Transmit and Receive (STR), allows for using 1 link (say 5 GHz) for upload and 1 link (say 6 GHz) for download as a valid combination effectively creating a "full duplex" connection in terms of the data transfer. I'm optimistic this will work and be supported "well enough" in a home scenario. Most Wi-Fi heads are more excited about the use of MLO for roaming improvements in enterprise networks though. The ability of the client to completely associate to another AP on another radio before officially roaming the traffic to it could be interesting. Overall MLO is going to be an interesting rollout. Just like many had fears of MU-MIMO sounding great on paper but being near useless in the real world on real devices with real drivers it's possible this ends up as more a "you can if you precisely set up ideal conditions and select the devices to see this work really well" for most of the modes of operation. I think the roaming one is relatively safe and the worst case is you just fall back to normal roaming. The more complicated ones where there are a lot of combos about how a client can associate to multiple APs and actively do things feels like a complicated coordination nightmare and that might take a really long time, if not forever, for client devices to get good at.