The next big new thing in Wi-Fi networks will boast groundbreaking technology, but it might not arrive for a couple years yet. Here's the lowdown on 802.11ax, for now: Well, you've heard of 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac wave 1, and 802.11ac wave 2a The IEEE standards, put simply, are agreed-upon sets of technological capabilities and features that all devices that want to call themselves, say, 802.11ac, have to have.