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WBA trials set new latency reduction benchmark

December 5, 2025

The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), the industry body dedicated to driving the seamless and interoperable service experience of Wi-Fi across the wireless ecosystem, has released its End-to-End Quality of Service (E2E QoS) Field Trials Report – Maximising Performance: Unveiling the Real Benefits of Wi-Fi QoS Management report. The trials demonstrate how standardised Wi-Fi QoS mechanisms deliver measurable, real-world performance gains across latency-sensitive applications such as video conferencing, cloud gaming and live streaming.

The trials were conducted by WBA members Airties, Charter Communications, Intel, Meta and Zebra. They recorded QoS performance improvements in all tested scenarios, including audio/video conferencing, cloud gaming and live streaming. Up to 70 per cent reductions in latency were achieved alongside higher and smoother framerates, higher resolutions and reduced round-trip traffic times. Overall stability under heavy network traffic was also improved in all cases.

Going beyond performance metrics

Well-implemented QoS delivers advantages that extend far beyond technical performance. The findings show that consistent, intelligent QoS management drives operational efficiency for providers, improves Quality of Experience (QoE) across latency-sensitive applications, and creates new commercial and brand opportunities. From lowering network congestion costs to enabling differentiated premium services and enhancing user satisfaction, QoS has become a strategic business enabler rather than a purely technical feature.

Business benefits seen in the trials include:

  • Performance differentiation:Enables operators, OEMs and enterprises to deliver consistent low-latency connectivity, improving customer satisfaction and reducing churn
  • Enhanced user experience:Provides smoother collaboration, education, gaming and streaming experiences, strengthening brand loyalty and user engagement
  • Operational efficiency:Prioritizes latency-sensitive traffic and optimizes resource use, reducing packet loss, congestion and operational costs
  • Market & ecosystem readiness:Supports the creation of new service tiers like “low-latency Wi-Fi”or “QoS-certified enterprise Wi-Fi”and aligns chipset vendors, OS developers and service providers for rollout
  • Foundation for Next-Gen Wi-Fi: Establishes a scalable performance baseline for AR/VR, industrial IoT, and real-time collaboration, with IoT identified as a key focus for the application of the same QoS framework in future trial phases

A framework that bridges standards and the real-world

The Wi-Fi Alliance QoS Management Specification Release 2 (R2), validated through these field results, now stands as a practical and effective framework for ensuring consistent traffic prioritisation across uplink and downlink flows, bridging the gap between standards and real-world implementation. The results validate that enabling Wi-Fi QoS Management mechanisms, such as Mirrored Stream Classification Service (MSCS) andStream Classification Service (SCS), significantly enhances the QoE for today’s most demanding applications.

Phase two trials to explore new enterprise use cases

By translating advanced QoS specifications into real-world outcomes in use cases for consumers and enterprises, WBA and its members are establishing the performance foundation for next-generation applications such as augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), industrial IoT and real-time collaboration tools.

Building on the success of the phase one trials, phase two will extend testing into multi-access point, mesh network and high-density environments to allow further exploration of real-world enterprise and IoT scenarios.

Tiago Rodrigues, President and CEO of the WBA, said: “These trials mark a major step forward for the Wi-Fi ecosystem and a pivotal enabler for the next wave of low-latency applications. By proving that standardized QoS management translates into tangible, real-world performance we are helping operators, device makers and application developers deliver faster, more reliable connectivity for millions of users and new business use cases worldwide.”

Metin Taskin, CEO and founder of Airties, said: “Delivering end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) is more essential than ever, especially since consumers and enterprises expect optimal Wi-Fi performance even for demanding, latency-sensitive applications. Airties is honored to help co-lead this important WBA initiative and validate the benefits of mechanisms such as Mirrored Stream Classification Service (MSCS) and Stream Classification Service (SCS). This work is further evidence of Airties’ commitment to empower operators to deliver smooth, smart connectivity in order to reduce churn, attract new customers, lower costs, and innovate.”

Eric A. McLaughlin, VP and GM of Intels Connectivity Solutions Group, stated: “Intel appreciates the opportunity to lead this important WBA initiative because QoS plays such a critical role in delivering reliable, low-latency connectivity. QoS is broadly enabled across Intel Evo/vPro-branded laptops that also utilize the Intel Connectivity Performance Suite (ICPS) software that was leveraged for MSCS testing. These trials confirm how the real-world benefits of QoS over Wi-Fi significantly enhance end-to-end user experiences during latency-sensitive applications.”

Somesh Agrawal, Senior Director at Zebra Technologies, added: “Zebra’s role in these trials underscores our dedication to solving the toughest enterprise challenges. For our customers in retail, logistics, and healthcare, this successful validation of QoS management means a dramatic reduction in network latency, ensuring their mission-critical operations run flawlessly.”

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