A Comparative Analysis of 5G and WiFi6 for VR Immersive Education

The adoption of Virtual Reality (VR) in educa- tion is rapidly evolving, driven by the need for immersive, real-time, and interactive learning experiences. However, the performance of VR-based learning environments is highly dependent on network connectivity, with key param- eters such as round trip time (RTT), packet loss, jitter, and frames per second (FPS), influencing user experience. In this paper, we conduct a comparative analysis of Private 5G (P5G) and WiFi6 for VR-based education, examining the impact of different network configurations. Experimental results indicate that P5G consistently delivers, near-zero packet loss, and minimal jitter, making it the most reliable option for immersive learning. While WiFi6 maintains a steady latency and FPS, its performance degrades under higher network loads due to increased packet loss and jitter, which may introduce inconsistencies in VR experiences. On the other hand, our experiments on built-in 5G modules and external 5G dongles reveals that while the external dongles performs well, they exhibit variability in round trip time and packet loss under increased device densities, highlighting limitations of external 5G modules. These findings provide insights on the critical role of different connectivity and networks on seamless VR education.