802.11ad – the one that went millimeter-wave

IEEE Std 802.11ad-2012, Amendment 3 to the 2012 revision, was all about going big on speed – by going high on frequency. no official “Task Group ad” listed, but this was the amendment that brought **Wi-Fi to 60 GHz** – a frequency band where data moves fast and signals don’t go far. this is the one they called **WiGig**.

so what was the point? simple: insane **throughput** over short distances. 802.11ad defined operation in the **60 GHz band**, where there’s tons of spectrum available – enough to hit multi-gigabit speeds without interference from your microwave or neighbor’s router. perfect for **wireless docking**, uncompressed video streaming, and super-short-range high-speed links.

technically, it introduced the **Directional Multi-Gigabit (DMG)** PHY layer – a setup designed to blast high-bandwidth signals across the room. but because 60 GHz signals don’t penetrate walls well and attenuate quickly, 802.11ad relied heavily on **beamforming** – using antenna arrays to steer focused signals right at the target device.

the amendment also defined its own **frame types**, like **DMG Beacon frames** and **DMG Capabilities**, tailored to the new PHY and MAC behavior in this band. it was Wi-Fi, but very much a new flavor – optimized for speed, not range or compatibility with legacy bands.

802.11ad got absorbed into **802.11-2016**, and lives on in 2020 and later revisions. while it never became mainstream like 11ac or 11n, it paved the way for **ultra-high-speed wireless** tech in docking stations, VR headsets, and enterprise-grade point-to-point setups.

802.11ad went all in on short-range speed. if you’ve ever seen a wireless display or dock that felt faster than wired – this might’ve been under the hood.