Researchers seem to have cracked 6G wireless, achieving speeds over 9,000x faster than the 5G average at 938 Gbps—would download Black Myth Wukong in 1.1 seconds

fibre optics shooting past electronics of broadband hub

(Image credit: Andrew Brookes via Getty Images)

The science people have been at it again, doing their sciencing, and this time they've gone and proved that wireless speeds can be even speedier than the already-speedy speeds we're used to. Over 9,000-times faster, in fact.

Some nerds over at University College London (UCL) have set a new wireless transfer speed record (via Interesting Engineering) by combining all-electronic and optical ("optoelectronic") methods. The ultimate end-result is a wireless transfer speed of 938 Gbps. And I'm sure, like me, you probably consider that a bit of a failure. Seriously, they couldn't push a little harder and crack the 1,000 Gbps barrier? So close and yet so far.

It's all electromagnetic waves, after all—everything's on the same radio spectrum. It's all photons grooving out at different frequencies, but different bands of frequencies have to be approached differently.

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Two bands, one around 100 GHz and the other between 130–175 GHz, were able to be used together by ensuring a stable carrier signal. This was ensured by using a quartz oscillator—you know, the same thing that regulates a PC's stable clock speed.

The senior author of the study, Dr Zhixin Liu, explains: "Our new approach combines two existing wireless technologies for the first time, high-speed electronics and millimetre wave photonics, to [overcome] these barriers. This new system allows for the transmission of large amounts of data at unprecedented speeds, which will be crucial for the future of wireless communications."

The ultimate end-result, while impressive on the speed front, will more likely instead allow for more people to achieve faster—but not 938 Gbps levels of faster—speeds simultaneously. The fact this is multiplex data could mean that 6G will allow for more simultaneous signal and band uses. This would mean more bandwidth for easier throughput.

Which could ultimately mean a leap towards wireless connectivity that could actually work as a replacement for traditional cable or fibre broadband. Let's work at cracking that 1,000 Gbps barrier though, shall we? Y'know, we like big round numbers and all that.

Jacob got his hands on a gaming PC for the first time when he was about 12 years old. He swiftly realised the local PC repair store had ripped him off with his build and vowed never to let another soul build his rig again. With this vow, Jacob the hardware junkie was born. Since then, Jacob's led a double-life as part-hardware geek, part-philosophy nerd, first working as a Hardware Writer for PCGamesN in 2020, then working towards a PhD in Philosophy for a few years while freelancing on the side for sites such as TechRadar, Pocket-lint, and yours truly, PC Gamer. Eventually, he gave up the ruthless mercenary life to join the world's #1 PC Gaming site full-time. It's definitely not an ego thing, he assures us.