The Definitive Guide to MU-MIMO

What is MU-MIMO?

MU-MIMO is a technology that allows multiple users to simultaneously send and receive data at the same time.

MU-MIMO is an acronym for Multiple User-Multiple Input, Multiple Output. It is a technique that lets multiple users send and receive data at the same time. This allows for more efficient communication between multiple users, e.g., when one user wants to chat with another user who also has MU-MIMO enabled on their device, but neither of them have access to the devices’ Internet connection.

How MU-MIMO works with wireless device

MU-MIMO is a technology that allows multiple users to share the same wireless connection with each other. This technology can be used for multiple applications, including voice calls, video calls and data transfer. .To share a Wi-Fi connection between users, the Mobile Internet Measurement (MIMO) receiver in the mobile device measures users’ signal strength and transmits an SMS message when the user’s signal is too weak. It then adjusts its transmissions to enable full use of the available bandwidth. This technology can be used for multiple applications, including voice calls.

MU-MIMO is a protocol designed to improve the performance of multiple-user MIMO networks. More recently, the concept has been extended to other types of networks with multiple users – such as 802.11ac multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), G.73, and 5G NR networks.

When multiple users begin accessing the router at or near the same time, congestion can be introduced as the router services the first user’s request while the second and third, fourth, etc. While these wait times can be minuscule, they can add up with more devices (smartphones, tablets, computers, etc.) and users asking for resources. MU-MIMO helps this by allowing multiple users to access router functions without the congestion.

What are the benefits of MU-MIMO?

MU-MIMO is a technique where multiple users simultaneously send data to the network. The data is transmitted in parallel. The advantage of this technique is that it can be used to increase the number of users that can be simultaneously connected to the network at once.

Several advantages can widely enhance your network experience if using this feature.

• The signal remains constant : The main benefit of MU-MIMO is that instead of each stream being systematically interrupted, a MU-MIMO access point can keep its signal constant for the connected client devices. . The channel is then shared on the best available channel by all clients of the access point. This lets a MU-MIMO access point support many more clients than a single stream would be able to handle !
• MU-MIMO helps increase network capacity : Both MU-MIMO and SU-MIMO devices operate fast because all network devices have less time to wait to get data from the WiFi access point. Still, MUMIMO technology increases the network’s capacity and efficiency.
• Any channel width is supported : Although your network uses narrower 20MHz- or 40MHz-wide channels, MU-MIMO can help it run faster by serving some clients simultaneously on fewer channels. Although your network uses narrower 20MHz- or 40MHz-wide channels, MU-MIMO can help it run faster by serving some clients simultaneously on fewer channels. Variable channel widths: Your network could use a wider 70MHz channel with MU-MIMO and transmit in a different frequency to achieve the same throughput.
• MU-MIMO improves performance : It reduces latency and improves performance for high-density activities such as video streaming, video calls, or webinars MU-MIMO is a method of combining multiple users into a single entity, and then transmitting data to each user.

Which WiFi Routers Support MU-MIMO?

Routers with MU-MIMO support are a more efficient way to connect multiple devices. IEEE 802.11ac is the latest WiFi standard that offers much better performance for various applications, including gaming, streaming and multimedia. WiFi Routers operating on older standards such as Wireless-A, B, G, and N do not support MU-MIMO, and it’s only a feature in some of the later Wireless-AC routers. Your safest bet is to look for a router that explicitly states it supports MU-MIMO, Next-Gen AC, or AC Wave 2.

What kind of devices support MU-MIMO?

The future of wireless communication is expected to be based on MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) technology. MU-MIMO can provide multiple users with a common channel for data transmission.

If you want to use MU-MIMO in your wireless network, both the client device and the access point must support 802.11ac Wave 2 MU-MIMO. Not all access points support MU-MIMO, which means having at least 802.11ac Wave 2 devices.

Most modern devices already do, the older models, such as 802.11 a, b, g, n do not support it. Anyway, the equipment must specifically state that they can support MU-MIMO. MU-MIMO is more than just faster. MU-MIMO adds to the reliability of a wireless network, and it increases the chances of a packet being received by both your clients and the access point. The client device will process many more messages from the access point before dropping any, because it sends so many more messages per second: each frame or transmission sent by the client is typically larger than one from the access point.