Standardized Wi-FI quality of service (QoS) provides 70% reduction in latency and improvements in a number of other metrics, according to a new report published by the Wireless Broadband Association (WBA).
The report, entitled “End-to-End Quality of Service (E2E QoS) Field Trials Report — Maximizing Performance: Unveiling the Real Benefits of Wi-Fi QoS Management,” was based on trials conducted by members Airties, Charter Communications, Intel, Meta, and Zebra.
The WBA said the trials produced improved QoS across audio/video conferencing, cloud gaming and live stream. The trials showed higher and smoother framerates, higher resolutions and reduced roundtrip traffic times. The press release says overall stability under heavy network traffic was evident in all cases.
The WBA report found that the Wi-Fi Alliance QoS Management Specification Release 2 (R2) was validated by the results. No specific information about the trials, such as where and when they were performed and how they were conducted, was included in the press release.
“These trials mark a major step forward for the Wi-Fi ecosystem and a pivotal enabler for the next wave of low-latency applications,” WBA President and CEO Tiago Rodrigues said in a press release.
“By proving that standardized QoS management translates into tangible, real-world performance we are helping operators, device makers and application developers deliver faster, more reliable connectivity for millions of users and new business use cases worldwide.”
WBA cited business benefits seen in the trials include performance differentiation; enhanced user experience; operational efficiency; market and ecosystem readiness; and the ability to serve as a foundation for next gen Wi-Fi.
The WBA research comes at an opportune moment. According to a September report from TechSee, 68% of U.S. households reported Wi-Fi problems during the preceding year and 67% contacted their provider at least once. Eighteen percent experienced problems daily and an additional 20% experienced on a weekly basis.
The WBA is also tackling another Wi-Fi-related issue with the release in October of three reports aimed at providing a framework for how Wi-Fi, Passpoint, and OpenRoaming services “can facilitate and sustain emergency calling and priority communications around the world.”