802.11bh – the one that whispers what your device will do next

802.11bh is not about speed. it’s not about throughput. it’s about **hints** – tiny bits of context your device shares with the network to make things smoother, faster, more efficient. no shouting, no drama – just a well-behaved client letting the AP know: “hey, here’s what i’m planning to do.”

started around 2020 and still under development (expected completion: 2025), 802.11bh is part of the quiet revolution in wireless efficiency: **context-aware Wi-Fi**.

no “Task Group bh” marketing push, but it’s driven by the same crowd behind Wi-Fi optimizations and management extensions – mostly targeting enterprise, IoT, and dense environments.

so what’s the big idea?

• Behavior hints: the client STA can provide **information about its future behavior** – like expected data patterns, sleep/wake cycles, mobility, traffic priority, etc.
• Hint types: things like "I’ll be idle soon", "expect uplink-heavy traffic", "I’m roaming", "I’ll need low-latency", etc.
• AP optimization: the AP can use this info to tweak buffer sizes, airtime allocation, QoS prioritization, or even decide when to hand off to another AP
• Energy efficiency: better power management for the client and network-wide energy savings
• Supports automation: especially useful in smart homes, IoT deployments, and enterprise Wi-Fi where predictability helps scheduling and load balancing

and no – it’s not mandatory. clients can stay silent. but when they talk, the network listens.

802.11bh will be rolled into a future mainline standard – possibly **802.11bn**, or whatever revision comes after 802.11-2023. it’s one of those behind-the-scenes upgrades that make the network feel faster, even if you don’t see it.

802.11bh is like predictive text for Wi-Fi. subtle, smart, and super useful when everything needs to work together quietly and smoothly.