802.11ay – the one with the real gigabits (WiGig 2.0)

802.11ad brought speed. 802.11ay brought **absurd speed**. officially published in 2021 (as part of the 802.11-2020 base), this amendment was built for the **60 GHz band**, just like ad – but turned the dial way up.

no flashy task group name mentioned in the usual way, but the team behind 802.11ay aimed for one thing: **multi-gigabit wireless** for short-range, high-bandwidth applications – like wireless docks, AR/VR headsets, uncompressed 4K/8K streaming, and maybe even cable-free server racks.

so what changed from 802.11ad? pretty much everything:

• Channel bonding: up to 4 bonded 2.16 GHz channels → 8.64 GHz total bandwidth (!)
• Data rates: up to 176 Gb/s theoretical PHY rate (depending on MCS, bonding, and streams)
• MIMO: introduced support for MIMO in 60 GHz – up to 8 streams
• Beamforming: improved beam tracking and training, essential for mmWave
• Range: a bit better than 11ad thanks to beamforming + MIMO

802.11ay is also part of the evolution toward true wireless backhaul – think mesh routers talking at fiber speeds wirelessly. not for your average coffee shop Wi-Fi, but for the hardcore edge use cases.

was it integrated? yep – fully part of the **IEEE Std 802.11-2020** master document.

802.11ay is **WiGig on steroids**. insane speed, short range, no compromises – unless you count walls. you want your bandwidth in gigabits and you want it now? this is the spec you’re looking for.