For the first time in the world, the WAA Alliance has released a WLAN performance standard based on service experience in home scenarios

Shenzhen, November 7, 2023 - The World Alliance for the Development of Wireless LAN Applications (WAA) released two new standards at the IEEE Standards Conference's Wireless LAN Application Ecology and Standards Workshop on November 7, 2023. They are "Technical Requirements for WLAN Single-Device Network Performance and Experience in Home Scenarios" and "Test Methods for WLAN Single-Device Network Performance and Experience in Home Scenarios".

Gary Hoffman, President-elect of IEEE Standards Association, Zhang Ping, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chairman of WAA, Zhang Wenping, Director of Information Infrastructure Division and First-level Researcher of Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, Sheng Fei, Chairman of WAA Expert Committee, Chen Chaoyang, Deputy Director of Shenzhen Municipal Administration of Social Organizations, Dang Meimei, Chief Engineer of Institute of Technology and Standards, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Li Feng, General Manager of the Terminal Application Product Department of China Mobile's Smart Home Operation Center, Zhao Weifeng, Director of Terminal Products of the Home Network Division of China Telecom Tianyi Digital Life Technology Co., Ltd., Feng Zhishan, President of Optical Access of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Zhao Yujin, General Manager of Wireless Products of New H3C Technology Co., Ltd., Shi Weiqiang, General Manager of Wired Architecture of ZTE Corporation, and other guests jointly launched the release ceremony of the new standard.

In 2022, there will be more than 500 million FTTH users in China, and WLAN has become the most extensive networking method within the home. For a long time, the WLAN experience in home scenarios has problems such as application lag, poor remote meetings, weak signals, and Wi-Fi disconnections, resulting in a sharp increase in network quality complaints under WLAN access, and users generally perceive that WLAN networks are not as stable as mobile networks. There are two main reasons for the WLAN experience problem in home scenarios: first, there are a large number of home gateways, wireless routers and other products on the market, many brands, and different product capability levels, and users lack the ability to distinguish their performance and quality when purchasing WLAN products; On the other hand, the test indicators and test methods of home network products released by multiple evaluation agencies in the market are not uniform, which increases the difficulty for users to choose home WLAN products to a certain extent.

ordinary consumers, lack of Wi-Fi technical background, when buying a wireless router, they are often exposed to professional WLAN parameters (such as: frequency band, protocol, number of antennas, number of streams, spectrum, signal-to-noise ratio, M-MIMO, EDCA roaming initiative, 802.1X...) Troubled, at a loss. And different consumers live in different house types, the requirements for wireless routers will be very different, without professional guidance, ordinary users will buy inappropriate routers, which leads to many experience problems in the later use process.

industry urgently needs to establish performance indicators and evaluation and certification systems for home gateways, FTTRs, wireless routers, and home networking devices, so as to provide a reference for operators and consumers when choosing high-quality home network products.

WAA Alliance, which has a deep insight into the above pain points. In order to improve the WLAN performance and user experience in the home scenario, the WAA Alliance members conducted in-depth analysis and discussion on the market, and after a year of unremitting efforts, today released the "Technical Requirements for WLAN Single-Device Network Performance and Experience in Home Scenarios" and "WLAN Single-Device Network Performance and Experience Test Methods in Home Scenarios", which are the world's first WLAN performance standards based on service experience in home scenarios!

These two standards clearly define the technical standards for the performance and experience of devices ordered in home scenarios, and are designed to guide users to purchase home WLAN devices, help operators evaluate WLAN devices, promote the development of WLAN technology, improve user performance and experience in home scenarios, and make family life better. The two standards summarize all the technical and incomprehensible WLAN parameters into six indicators related to experience: coverage, security, stability, connectivity, bandwidth, and latency. It simplifies the complex and deeply meets the needs of home usage scenarios and helps users solve the pain points of home WLAN service experience. Purchase a certified device that has passed the WLAN single-device network performance technical specification standard in the home scenario, so that the home Internet access is free, and the office and shopping are smoother, and the life is better.

the project managers for these two standards are: China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., and China Telecom Group Co., Ltd. Participating units include Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., ZTE Corporation, New H3C Technology Co., Ltd., China Information and Communications Technology Group Co., Ltd., Shanghai HiSilicon Technology Co., Ltd., Spirent Communication Technology Co., Ltd., Brite Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., China Electronics Standardization Institute, China Quality Certification Center, Ruisheng Microelectronics Suzhou Co., Ltd., Jiji Huiyi, and Gengxing Co., Ltd.

This is not the first time that the WAA Alliance has released a standard, and at the 2023 China Radio Conference on September 14, the WAA Alliance also released two standards: "WAA Network Device Collaboration Series Technical Standards" and "WLAN Performance Technical Specifications for Campus Office Scenarios".

WAA Alliance is one step closer to realizing its vision of "wireless LAN networks that provide the best experience for the digital world" and its mission of "becoming an open international WLAN industry development platform, establishing a scenario-based WLAN performance standard certification system, and creating the best WLAN application experience".

It is reported that in the near future, the WAA Alliance will also release the WLAN networking equipment specification for home scenarios for large households.

we look forward to the release of more performance experience standards by the WAA Alliance to continuously promote the improvement of WLAN quality experience. It is believed that the WAA Alliance will continue to play an important role in the field of wireless LAN in the future, and work with partners in the global WLAN industry chain to jointly promote the construction and improvement of the WLAN performance standard certification system, provide users with a better wireless experience and promote the development of the global WLAN industry.

About the WAA Alliance – The WAA Alliance is a non-profit independent legal entity registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs dedicated to the development of the wireless LAN industry. It is voluntarily composed of technology providers, manufacturers, system integrators, enterprise users, scientific research institutes and professional institutions in the field of wireless LAN from all over the world. The WAA Alliance is committed to building an open, international, and influential WLAN industry development platform, uniting global industry chain partners, and jointly building an international WLAN performance experience certification brand.

WAA Alliance aims to "become an open and international WLAN industry development platform, establish a scenario-based WLAN performance standard certification system, and build the best WLAN application experience<span style="font-size: 16px;"> and mission. Up to now, the WAA Alliance has 70 members in 11 countries and regions, about 35% of whom are from outside Chinese mainland.