Qualcomm's latest solution for mesh networking may deploy gigabit-level Wi-Fi to the entire home with smaller footprints

Mesh Wi-Fi is typically marketed as an effective way of deploying a good wireless signal around a given space, often in 3 dimensions. They are based on hardware platforms by chip-makers such as Qualcomm, which claims to have taken the needs of those who have switched to home-working into account when designing its latest generations of these products.

Furthermore, Qualcomm claims to have covered other next-gen demands on connectivity, 8K video and gaming included, with its new Immersive Home platforms. They also support mesh points that can shrink down small enough to fit in the palm of the hand.

The new solutions are also rated for the latest Wi-Fi 6 and 6E standards, and can apparently deliver "Gigabit performance to every corner of the home". Their flagship is the Immersive Home 318 platform, which is rated for tri-band - 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz - 6E in an advanced 2x2 + 2x2 + 4x4 configuration. It also has "multi-gigabit wireless throughput for high performance clients", as well as 160MHz channels for the 5 and 6GHz bands.

The last 2 specs are also found in the Immersive Home 316 Platform, which supports a 6-stream tri-band (2x2 (2.4GHz) + 2x2 (5GHz) + 2x2 (6GHz), specifically) configuration. There is also an Immersive Home 210 series, which consists of the 216 and 214 platforms. They are dual-band, although the former is still capable of 6-stream Wi-Fi 6 (2x2 (2.4GHz) + 4x4 (5GHz)), whereas the latter is a 4-stream (all 2x2) solution. 

Either way, this new range of mesh Wi-Fi platforms are rated for up to 2.5 times the throughput per watt compared to their predecessors, as well as latencies of 3 milliseconds or less for applications such as VR. They may soon appear on shelves in the form of new mesh systems, to be released by OEMs such as Askey; Belkin; eero; Netgear; TP-Link and Xiaomi.