The next WiFi standard, 802.11ac, and the successor to today’s 802.11n standard, will exceed 1 Gbit/s in transfer speed. The ac-WiFi standard is coming to Smart TVs, tablets and other devices next year.

Faster WiFi coming to Smart TVs
We have only recently started seeing built-in WiFi in TVs but the wireless connections are often too slow to stream for example high-quality video. Next year, we will start seeing the next generation of WiFi built into Smart TVs.


Next year you will be able to stream movies, games, music and other high-quality content directly to your TV – wirelessly

802.11ac is the successor to the current 802.11n used in routers, PCs, newer smartphones and more. The ac-standard can theoretically reach 1.3 Gbit/s transfer speeds today, and possibly much higher rates in the future. In comparison, the current n-standard goes up to 600 Mbit/s in the most advanced setups but often operate at much lower speeds. 

The ac-standard is therefore also important when moving into the Smart TV era. Faster home networks will enable users to wirelessly stream high-quality video, games and more directly to the TV – but it obviously also requires a router that supports 802.11ac.

Both Broadcom and Qualcomm, two chip manufacturers, have ac-WiFi chips coming, and Broadcom specifically mentions that the chip is optimized for Smart TVs. The new chips have already been sampled to electronics manufacturers and are expected to go into mass production in the spring of 2013 – new TVs are traditionally launched in the spring, too.