One of the biggest differentiators between a home or small business and a larger enterprise is capacity. And in a world where speed is tantamount to efficiency, enterprises enjoy a commanding lead. However, Qualcomm(NASDAQ:QCOM) has introduced new 802.11ax WiFi chips that will reduce congestion on next-gen networks to deliver vastly enhanced connection, perhaps evening out the playing field.

According to Qualcomm, the new 802.11ax WiFi chips will be able to deliver speeds of up to 4.8Gbps. The company also says it is the first to announce end-to-end commercial solutions to support 802.11ax.

Without getting too technical, 802.11ax mainly focuses on expanding network capacity instead of speed to get the best possible connection, and make better use of the WiFi spectrum. This is an important development because there is more variety in todays networks. This variety overloads the WiFi spectrum and negatively affects the connection, and thus the spinning wheel of doom when you are trying to watch that cat video.

In the prepared statement released by Qualcomm, David Henry, senior vice president, home networking, NETGEAR, one of the leading manufacturers of routers in the world said:

We are excited about the potential impact that 802.11ax will have in the home and small businesses, 802.11ax is not an incremental upgrade to keep pace with todays demands. The technology will reset the bar for what matters most in networking, and will lay the foundation of network capacity for years to come.

Whether in your home office or retail store, your WiFi connectivity is going to be affected by the tens of thousands of things that will be part of the Internet of Things (IoT) in your vicinity all clamoring for bandwidth at once. With 802.11ax, Qualcomm says connections will be seamless, dead spots will be reduced and harmful interference where there are many WiFi access points that overlap will be reduced. You will be able to stream 4K Ultra HD, video conference, collaborate, share and transfer files easily.

Qualcomm expects to toll out the chips in the first half of 2017, so it remains to be seen which manufacturer will incorporate this technology into its devices first.

WiFi Symbol Photo via Shutterstock

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Qualcomm's New WiFi Technology Should Boost Capacity for Small Business - Small Business Trends