Bug 481632

TBH I'm not convinced. I don't think regular people care about this sort of thing or even notice the difference between wi-fi generations. It's also not actionable; say you connect to a wi-fi 5 network, but you'd prefer it to be 6... what can you do? Nothing! The wi-fi generation is baked into the hardware of the network router itself, not to mention your wi-fi receiver hardware. In addition, there's not much room in these icons. Some already have a badge in the bottom right corner so a number would have to go elsewhere, further reducing space for the wi-fi signal indicator lines.

It might make sense to show this information in the "Details" tab, though.

I can agree with those arguments. The "Details" tab is probably the best place for this information. We should probably primarily use the new wi-fi naming scheme. As in either use "Wi-Fi 6" or "Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)"

In the context of the desktop, a number symbol at the bottom right could indicate how many wifi networks are available. A sum of networks rather than a version number. It would feel redundant since we have a detail view just a click away. I don't think it's common practice for UIs to show version numbers prominently either. They are just updated and you have new functions but icons don't tend to display version numbers.

Ok cool, let's go with the details view. Probably the nicer user-friendly strings should be used there, not the old-fashioned "eight oh two eleven axe" gibberish :)

I disagree with the notion that UI's don't show version numbers. A prime example is phones where the phone indicates if you're on a 3G, 4G or 5G network.

After giving it some thought overnight, I came to the conclusion that maybe using a combined string like "Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)" would be beneficial. 

For starters there are many, many, many devices that still use and are in production that use the lettering naming scheme. OpenWRT for example, despite being open source, still uses letters to set the wi-fi generation for a radio.

Secondly it would allow power user to create the mental connection between the naming schemes by always seeing them next to each other.

Yeah, that makes sense. There's room for it.

Bulk transfer as requested in T17796

*** Bug 498944 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

(In reply to Antti Savolainen from comment #6)
> After giving it some thought overnight, I came to the conclusion that maybe
> using a combined string like "Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)" would be beneficial. 
> 
> For starters there are many, many, many devices that still use and are in
> production that use the lettering naming scheme. OpenWRT for example,
> despite being open source, still uses letters to set the wi-fi generation
> for a radio.
> 
> Secondly it would allow power user to create the mental connection between
> the naming schemes by always seeing them next to each other.

I prefer the "Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)" naming scheme too in the details page!
It seems to me like a bridge between the new naming scheme with 4,5,6,7 and the old one 802.x(x), which is actually way more common.
Besides OpenWRT, which I use on my router, I have searched over the years and still do, the specifications of mobile phones on GSMArena website / database and they use the 802.x(x) scheme to explain which generations the mobile phones can use.
Since who knows when all these other projects and websites will switch to just 4,5,6,7, as a power user, I would definitely like to be reminded more often which is which until I remember them well.
Also I would like to know if I configured well my Router with OpenWRT or my hotspot on my LineageOS phone.
As for visuals, I wouldn't mind to see one of the 4,5,6,7 in the bottom-left corner of the signal / power level (waves-like) indicator, similar to how the password-protected lock indicator is in the bottom-right corner.
And I think I would prefer that the lock indicator would be moved on the left corner and the generation number would be put on the right, where the lock indicator currently is.
Since both the lock and the generation indicator will be in the bottom-left and right corners of the icon, I don't think that they affect in any way the signal / power / level indicator that will still have enough vertical space to add or subtract as many waves as it wants.

Do as you  wish of course!
I just wanted to give my feedback with the fact that I would prefer to see something like "Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)" on the details page.
And both the lock and the number (opposite to the lock indicator) in the bottom corners of the signal / power-level icon.
If I configure my router to advertise the networks on different generations, as the same name, let's say "My-network" instead of:
My-network-4
My-network-5
My-network-6
My-network-7
Then would be very interesting to see what the connection managers (WPA supplicant or IWD) and the Wifi card drivers has chosen to connect to automatically, which can be fast to see / know, if the icon also has the 4,5,6,7 or a bit less fast, but still good in the details page.
As a power user I like to know if my computer, similar to my phone is using the best connection speed for internet, in case there is something to change to improve it somewhere and the easier I find out this information, is generally the better for me.

Also, while a pretty low probability of happening but still possible:
 If I were using an open (passwordless) Wi-fi network and somebody created another one with exactly the same name...
If I were using a closed (password-protected) Wifi
 or the network of a neighbor who previously gave me his / her Wi-fi password from the router or hotspot they own and I forgot to delete it...
It would be much easier and faster to spot that something is not right and I'm not connected to the right network as I pretty much never go the the Details page if I don't have to and when I do I don't check the MAC addresses of the Access Point as I don't remember them.
The Wi-fi generation first and the frequency second would be easy tells to know that something is not right and I'm not connected to the network I think I'm using, since normally I know both the generation and the frequency that my Router and phone can provide.

The network name, since it's so easily to be spoofed and honestly a close enough neighbor with better equipment can even have better signal than me, which would made me thing that the neighbor's network is my network since it has the name that I know and the best signal, is not such a secure thing if we're thinking a bit about security.
The generation and the frequency might be harder to spoof or or both of them combined with the network name.
At least until one day Plasma will have a warning and maybe questions about which is the right one, when it sees multiple access points offering networks with the same name.