WPA3: When will we see it on the Wi-Fi we use?

January 20, 2018, 11:11

Yes! New WPA3 security standard: The Wi-Fi Alliance, which is made up of device makers including Apple, Microsoft and Qualcomm, announced on Monday, January 9, the next-generation wireless security standard, WPA3.
The standard will replace WPA2, a security protocol that has been around for nearly two decades and is built into almost every wireless device today, including phones, laptops and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, devices that support WPA3 will be released later in 2018.
Devices will have to be WPA3 certified to have this feature, in other words, they will have to apply for and receive the “Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ WPA3™” badge. So you'll likely start seeing this logo on new routers and other wireless devices starting in late 2018.
The Wi-Fi Alliance hasn't announced anything about whether existing devices will be able to support the new WPA3 standard, but we'd better not wait because we'd be disappointed.
Many devices could theoretically receive software or firmware updates to support WPA3, but manufacturers would have to apply to get WPA3 certification for their existing hardware before moving forward with those updates. This of course comes at a cost, and most manufacturers would prefer to spend their resources on developing new devices rather than getting certifications for old ones.
It's worth mentioning here that even if you have a WPA3-enabled router, you'll still need WPA3-compatible devices (laptops, phones, and anything else that connects to Wi-Fi) to take full advantage of this new security feature.
The good news is that the router will be able to support both WPA2 and WPA3 security standards at the same time.
So once WPA3 is released and not widely available, there will be a long transition period, during which some devices will connect to your new router using WPA2, while others will connect using WPA3.
Once all your devices support WPA3, you will be able to disable WPA2 on your router to improve security, just as you can disable any outdated WPA and WEP security standards and only use WPA2 connections on your router starting today.
While it will take some time for WPA3 to fully roll out, the important thing is that the transition process begins in 2018. Let's see when it's complete...