Why Wi-Fi 6 Is Still the IoT Connectivity Standard

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As Internet of Things (IoT) networks become more dense, managing interference, traffic, and power consumption has become an integral part of hardware design. Wi-Fi 6 still meets those demands by balancing speed and efficiency. By 2030, the global IoT market is expected to exceed US$1.8 trillion,^[1] with the number of connected devices growing from roughly 20 billion today to more than 40 billion by 2034.^[2] With that growth comes scaling the standard design challenges for engineers: how to build low-power, reliable devices that can share data across dense, noisy networks.

Even as Wi-Fi 7 emerges, Wi-Fi 6 remains the most practical, widely adopted standard for IoT connectivity. Since it balances throughput, energy efficiency, and coexistence mechanisms, engineers can deploy scalable, power-aware networks across industrial, smart home, and commercial environments. This blog outlines the technical foundations that keep Wi-Fi 6 as the go-to standard for reliable, lower-power IoT design and highlights a comprehensive module that streamlines product deployment.

Wi-Fi 6 for IoT

Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax) was designed to handle network congestion and device crowding. These are two of the biggest constraints in modern IoT deployments. The standard introduced several capabilities that continue to make it the reliable choice for IoT performance, including the following features:

• Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA): simultaneous multi-device communication achieved by dividing channels into subcarriers, which is ideal for networks with many low-bandwidth IoT nodes.
• Multi-user multiple input/multiple output (MU-MIMO): supports uplink and downlink efficiency by allowing data to be transmitted to multiple clients at once.
• 1024-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM): increases data density per transmission, improving throughput for data-heavy edge devices like smart cameras and industrial monitors.

For most IoT devices, these improvements result in more stable connections and fewer collisions, even when dozens of sensors are sharing the same access point (AP). The real advantage comes in how Wi-Fi 6 manages power without compromising reliability. Target wake time (TWT) is the mechanism that makes that power management possible, as it schedules when devices wake, talk, and return to sleep.

Power Efficiency and TWT

Power management is a defining factor for IoT design. Devices are often sealed or installed in difficult-to-access locations, making long battery life critical. Wireless transceivers consume a large share of system energy, so it is necessary to minimize their active time.

The TWT features of Wi-Fi 6 help to ensure that minimal power is used in periods of inactivity. Once a device negotiates its TWT parameters with the AP, the Wi-Fi^® radio can enter a deep-sleep state between scheduled transmissions, waking only at defined intervals. Although the host microcontroller unit (MCU) typically configures these intervals through the network stack, the transceiver manages timing autonomously, reducing MCU wakeups and overall system energy draw. For example, a sensor using TWT may reduce its wireless module active time by up to roughly 65 percent compared to an always-on connection.^[3]

Reliable Connectivity in Dense or Noisy Environments

The sub-6GHz spectrum, particularly the 2.4GHz band, is heavily congested with Bluetooth^®, Zigbee^®, and other wireless activity. Industrial environments add even more interference from motors, power lines, and machinery. Even still, Wi-Fi 6 consistently delivers reliable performance through several techniques.

Antenna Design and MIMO Flexibility

The RF spectrum below 6GHz is considered highly congested in most inhabited areas. Because there is so much noise and activity, especially in the 2.4GHz band, even defense and industrial systems are migrating to higher-frequency spectrum. This raises the question: how does Wi-Fi 6 maintain reliable operation in such noisy environments?

One of the key strengths of Wi-Fi 6 is the flexibility of antenna solutions that can be deployed with the standard. It also benefits from the robustness of its physical-layer protocols, which can operate across multiple channels within the specified bands and dynamically adjust bandwidth to suit the environment.

Wi-Fi 6 supports both single- and multi-antenna configurations, enabling flexible layouts for different device classes. In higher-reliability or higher-throughput designs, MIMO with beamforming focuses signal energy toward intended receivers, improving link robustness in reflective or interference-prone environments.

However, low-power IoT applications may not make use of MIMO and beamforming, since these require additional transceivers. Nonetheless, Wi-Fi 6’s support for flexible antenna designs includes directional antennas that can improve link gain and selectivity at the device level. In parallel, its OFDMA access method increases spectral efficiency by allowing multiple devices to transmit simultaneously on subdivided subcarriers, minimizing collisions in dense networks.

For many IoT devices, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread radios must operate in the same small spaces without interfering with each other. Wi-Fi 6 makes this possible with built-in features like Packet Traffic Arbitration (PTA), which allows the radios to take turns using the same antenna—sharing resources and transmitting them sequentially instead of simultaneously—and Basic Service Set (BSS) Coloring, which helps the devices differentiate between overlapping Wi-Fi networks. When it comes to hardware, designers can reduce interference by using separate ground planes, small RF filters, or by spacing antennas farther apart so the signals do not mix.

Wi-Fi 6 also manages heavy traffic in crowded networks by using channel planning, frequency hopping, and time scheduling so data from different devices does not collide. Along with OFDMA and MU-MIMO, these methods enable many IoT devices to reliably share the same connection in noisy environments.

Studies show that adjusting antenna gain and sensitivity in dense deployments can significantly improve throughput and reduce error rates. In one case, optimized antenna gain and receiver sensitivity resulted in up to 6 times higher throughput compared with a poorly configured setup.^[4]

An All-in-One Module that Brings Wi-Fi 6 to IoT Devices

The STMicroelectronics ST67W611 brings Wi-Fi 6's efficiency, coexistence, and low-power operation into a single, ready-to-deploy module, thereby allowing engineers to focus on application design rather than RF integration. (Figure 1)

Figure 1:  STMicroelectronics ST67W611 Wi-Fi^® 6/BLUETOOTH^® Low Energy 5.4/Thread modules offer compact system-level solutions that enable reliable, low-power Wi-Fi 6 connectivity in IoT devices while supporting multi-protocol coexistence and dense network environments. (Source: Mouser Electronics)

Key specifications of the ST67W611 module include:

• All-in-one tri-radio design combines Wi-Fi^® 6, Bluetooth^® Low Energy 5.4, and IEEE 802.15.4 (Thread) wireless connectivity in a single module.
• Fully integrated into the STM32 Cube Ecosystem which enables development tools such as STM32CubeMX, STM32CubeIDE, STM32CubeProgramer
• Simple to use HOST application interface allowing a designer to add Wi-Fi^® 6 to low-cost microcontroller designs with the STM32G0 to high end designs AI enabled applications with the STM32N6
• Powered by Qualcomm Wi-Fi technology delivering high-performance 1 × 1 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 operation.
• Pre-certified 32-lead LGA package: ready for board placement and compliant with mandatory global specifications.
• Multiple package options allowing for external antenna connections, onboard PCB antenna or external PCB antenna to enable antenna diversity

The ST67W611 module functions as a Network Co-Processor connected to an external STM32 HOST running various applications for smart homes, smart appliances, healthcare, and industrial IoT (IIoT).

Conclusion

As IoT networks expand and become increasingly complex, Wi-Fi 6 continues to meet power efficiency, reliability, and coexistence demands.

For engineers designing connected devices, Wi-Fi 6 is a mature blueprint for how to balance energy constraints, radio noise, and network density without overcomplicating system design. Features like TWT, OFDMA, and PTA remain practical and integrated modules like the ST67W611 make these capabilities accessible to even compact IoT products.

While Wi-Fi 7 promises incremental gains, Wi-Fi 6 remains the go-to standard for designing reliable, low-power IoT solutions that can thrive in the real world.

Author

Jean-Jacques (JJ) DeLisle attended the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he graduated with a BS and MS degree in Electrical Engineering. While studying, JJ pursued RF/microwave research, wrote for the university magazine, and was a member of the first improvisational comedy troupe @ RIT. Before completing his degree, JJ contracted as an IC layout and automated test design engineer for Synaptics Inc. After 6 years of original research—developing and characterizing intra-coaxial antennas and wireless sensor technology—JJ left RIT with several submitted technical papers and a US patent.

Further pursuing his career, JJ moved with his wife, Aalyia, to New York City. Here, he took on work as the Technical Engineering Editor for Microwaves & RF magazine. At the magazine, JJ learned how to merge his skills and passion for RF engineering and technical writing.

[1]

 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/market-insight/wi-fi-6-devices-market-3592