The Wi-Fi Alliance recently announced that the agency is starting to certify devices such as smartphones, routers, and laptops to get accreditation for support of the new super-fast Wi-Fi standard called WiGig.

Wi-Fi Alliance said that WiGig is almost twice as fast as the current Wi-Fi standard.

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Wi-Fi Alliance said WiGig will be the standard feature of smartphones and laptops that are expected to be released next year.

Despite WiGig's ultrafast speed, it only works over a short distance. Wi-Fi Alliance said the effective rage of WiGig is about 33 feet or 10 meters.

Wi-Fi Alliance also noted that while the new standard promises breakneck speed, its limited range will be one of its biggest limiting factor.

At 33 feet, WiGig is only effective if the user is within the same room as the router or the hotspot that they are connected to.

In a statement acquired by The Verge, Wi-Fi Alliance vice president of marketing Kevin Robinson said, "We talk about it as an in-room technology."

Although WiGig does have one big limitation, experts are still excited about the new standard as it opens up a lot of possibilities, especially its application towards virtual reality.

Meanwhile, it was emphasized that the current generation virtual reality headsets still require a gaming console or a personal computer to work. They are also required to be tethered using cables since current Wi-Fi speeds are not fast enough for their minimum requirements. These limitations create constraints in terms of movement.

However, with the speed that WiGig is promising, it will allow virtual reality developers to create VR headsets without limitations in mobility. The Wi-Fi Alliance also said that WiGig will be useful in augmented reality applications, content streaming, and 4K videos.

TagsWi-fi, WiFi, wi-fi standard, WiGig, Wi-Fi Alliance, WiGig standard