802.11n Supports 78% of Smartphone Wi-Fi Connection Time

Devices now using the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard now account for well more than 60 percent of all Wi-Fi use in the more advanced wireless countries in the world, some six years after the capability first appeared in smartphones.

The average 802.11ac, the latest version of the standard, still is early in its adoption cycle, though, representing five to 11 percent of smartphone Wi-Fi connection time in the 10 countries with the highest levels of 802.11ac deployment.

Not surprisingly, connection speeds for smartphones using that latest standards are substantially faster than connections using earlier generations of Wi-Fi  technology, according to OpenSignal.

The average speed for 802.11ac connections was 32.4 Mbps, compared to 6.7 Mbps for 802.11n, or 3.4 Mbps for 802.11g, for example.

In the United States,  7.9 percent of smartphone Wi-Fi sessions tracked by OpenSignal were connected using 802.11ac networks, while 77.8 percent of Wi-Fi sessions used 802.11n networks.

source: OpenSignal