WiFi networks are wasting a gigabit but multi-user beamforming will save the day

[silicon_toad2000]

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/05/wi-fi-networks-are-wasting-a-gigabit-but-multi-user-beamforming-will-save-the-day/

The soon-to-be-deployed technology is called MU-MIMO (multi-user, multiple-input and multiple-output), which is like a wireless "switch" that sends different data to different receivers at the same time.

It's powered by multi-user beamforming, an improvement over the single-user beamforming found in first-generation 11ac products. MU-MIMO will let wireless access points send data streams of up to 433Mbps to at least three users simultaneously, for a total of 1.3Gbps or more. First-generation 11ac equipment without MU-MIMO could send those streams of data simultaneously, but only to one device—and only if that device was capable of receiving multiple streams. Many computers could handle the influx of data, but smartphones and tablets generally couldn't. That meant they could only receive one stream (occasionally two) because of power limitations.