It’s not surprising that the Golden State Warriors, who have been on the forefront of basketball innovation, are also on the forefront of technology innovation. Their pivot to Wi-Fi 6E technology at Chase Center is part of the franchise’s approach to offering a modern, immersive fan experience worthy of the seven-time NBA champions and marks the first Wi-Fi 6E network implementation at a live entertainment venue in North America.
Unparalleled fan experience
It’s no longer snapshots from a flip phone – Warriors fans connect by streaming videos and sharing photos, listen to the play-by-play, and rely on the Warriors + Chase Center app to pull up the latest statistics. This connected experience requires more bandwidth and is less forgiving when it comes to latency.
To keep up with rising expectations, Wi-Fi connectivity must be extremely fast and always available. However, the number of people and devices – over 18,000 attendees and 10,000+ devices – makes it challenging to ensure outstanding fan experiences.
“With the addition of Wi-Fi 6E Access Points in the arena bowl, we can provide fans a more immersive experience that we believe is unmatched by any other professional sporting venue.”
– Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Brandon Schneider]
Wi-Fi 6E as a game changer
In partnership with Aruba, Chase Center has deployed more than 250 Wi-Fi 6E APs to provide comprehensive coverage for the seat bowl. “With the addition of Wi-Fi 6E Access Points in the arena bowl, we can provide fans a more immersive experience that we believe is unmatched by any other professional sporting venue,” said Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Brandon Schneider.
Wi-Fi 6E is ideal for streaming and uploading low latency, high-bandwidth video and sharing high-definition photos. Technically speaking, it extends the efficiency and security improvements of the 802.11ax standard to new, unlicensed spectrum in the 6 GHz band. This nearly triples the amount of capacity available in the US (and many other countries) and adds more 80/160MHz wide channels, which better support high-definition video and augmented reality/virtual reality.
To take advantage of Wi-Fi 6E, client and IoT devices need to enable access to the 6 GHz band. Over the past few quarters, the number of devices that support 6 GHz has climbed rapidly – nearly 800 as of June 2022 – and organizations -- especially in retail, higher education, and manufacturing -- are moving to future proof their networking investments by deploying Wi-Fi 6E access points.
Aruba Wi-Fi 6E APs
Aruba has been on the forefront of Wi-Fi 6E innovation starting with advocacy work with the Wi-Fi Alliance and governments across the globe. In addition, Aruba is the current market leader in Wi-Fi 6E shipments, according to the 650 Group, an industry analyst firm.
By unlocking the 6 GHz band and supporting Wi-Fi 6E, Aruba APs offer more than double the available capacity of previous generations of Wi-Fi, comprehensive tri-band coverage across the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands, and up to seven 160 MHz channels in 6 GHz to support low-latency, bandwidth-hungry applications like high-definition video and augmented reality/virtual reality applications.
In addition to the benefits of the 6 GHz band, Aruba Wi-Fi 6E solutions offer:
- Less interference: Patented ultra tri-band filtering enables 5 GHz and 6 GHz to operate without restrictions or interference.
- Simple, secure access: Role-based policies can be configured and automatically enforced using Aruba Central, which defines proper access privileges for employees, guests, contractors, and other user groups no matter where users connect on wired and WLANs.
- AIOps and automation: APs steer traffic from the busy 2.4 GHz band to the 5 GHz/6 GHz band to optimize performance and use machine learning for dynamic bandwidth adjustments. AIOps and automation in Aruba Central proactively identify issues and recommend actions based on the largest data lake available.
- Indoor location capabilities: Built-in GPS receivers and intelligent software enable APs to self-locate and act as reference points for accurate indoor location measurements that enable location-based services such as navigation, high-value asset tracking, and proximity-based marketing campaigns.
- Broad IoT support: APs include BLE and Zigbee radios and USB ports in support of safety, compliance, digital transformation, and other initiatives – backed by an ecosystem of 200+ partners.
In overtime
The Golden State Warriors are doubling down on the fan experience at Chase Center. Visitors enjoy the benefits of Wi-Fi 6E’s higher bandwidth and lower latency that enables high-definition video, AR/VR, IoT and other next-generation applications. With Wi-Fi 6E, it’s game time!
Additional resources
8 Questions to Ask Before You Deploy Wi-Fi 6E
