While many people only recently upgraded to Wi-Fi 6and some may be considering switching to Wi-Fi 6E, their successors are ready to go. Wi-Fi 7 is the next big step forward, and like its predecessors, the new standard promises faster connections, lower latency, and the ability to manage more connections than ever before. .
If you are looking for improve your Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 7 isn’t the answer today, because it’s still over a year away (and in fact, it’s going to be even better before most of us should consider it). If you need to upgrade, consider diving in first how to buy a router before you check out our picks for best Wi-Fi router and The best mesh Wi-Fi system.
What is Wi-Fi 7?
The 7th generation of Wi-Fi promises major improvements over Wi-Fi 6 and 6E and could deliver speeds four times faster. It also includes smart improvements to reduce latency, increase capacity, and increase stability and efficiency.
Wi-Fi 7 is IEEE 802.11 according to the old naming convention, where Wi-Fi 6 is IEEE 802.11ax and Wi-Fi 5 is IEEE 802.11ac. Like previous standards, Wi-Fi 7 will be backward compatible. But to take advantage of the new features and improved performance it promises, you’ll need to upgrade your device. That means buying new routers and access points, not to mention new smartphones, laptops, TVs, etc.
What benefits will Wi-Fi 7 bring?
Wi-Fi 7 will be faster, support more connections, and more adaptive to maintain reliable low-latency performance.
These benefits will help deliver high-quality video and better cloud gaming, and they will serve AR and VR applications that require high throughput and low latency. Wi-Fi 7 also solves congestion and interference problems, clearly benefiting areas with dense device density or overlapping neighboring networks. The latter is most important for businesses and larger venues.
How does Wi-Fi 7 compare to Wi-Fi 6E?
Understandably, you’ll wonder what distinguishes Wi-Fi 7 from Wi-Fi 6E, which broadly promises similar advantages over previous standards by opening up the 6 GHz band. Especially since Wi-Fi 7 will use the same three bands 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz. Here are some notable upgrades.
Wider channel
Each frequency band is divided into channels. The 2.4 GHz band consists of 11 channels of 20 megahertz (MHz) each. The 5 GHz band has 45 channels, but instead of being limited to 20 MHz wide, they can be combined to create 40 MHz or 80 MHz channels. The 6 GHz band supports 60 channels, and with Wi-Fi 6E, they can be as wide as 160 MHz. Wi-Fi 7 supports channels up to 320 MHz wide. The wider the channel, the more data can be transmitted.
A simple analogy is to imagine how much traffic a single-lane road can handle compared to a three-lane highway or a six-lane superhighway.
Higher QAM
Quadratic amplitude modulation (QAM) is a method of transmitting and receiving data using radio frequency waves. The higher it is, the more information you have. Wi-Fi 7 supports 4K-QAM, Wi-Fi 6 supports 1024-QAM, and Wi-Fi 5 is limited to 256-QAM.
The potential benefits are compounded by signal strength, background noise, and interference. Therefore, when the QAM goes up, the range goes down and you need a stronger signal. So, the jump to 1024-QAM in Wi-Fi 6 provided about a 25% increase in data speeds over Wi-Fi 5. The leap to 4K-QAM in Wi-Fi 7 means a 20 percent increase. % peak performance.
Multi-link operation
Perhaps the most exciting advancement in Wi-Fi 7 is Multi-Link Operation (MLO). All previous Wi-Fi standards established a connection between two devices on a single band. Even a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router connects two devices on one band on a fixed channel (the router decides to connect on the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz bands).
MLO can combine multiple frequencies across bands into a single connection. Wi-Fi 7 routers can connect to Wi-Fi 7 devices simultaneously on two or more channels in different bands. MLO has the potential to allow wider channels to carry more data — back to our highway analogy, you can send traffic on highways and superhighways simultaneous.
Speed is not always a priority, but MLO also allows for more efficient operations. Wi-Fi 7 routers can take into account congestion and other interferences and transmit on the best channel to get through it, switching to maintain a stable connection and low latency.
Wi-Fi 7 also enhances existing technologies such as OFDMA, MU-MIMO, and TWT, which we will discuss in the next chapter. Wi-Fi 6E Explainer.
When will Wi-Fi 7 be available?
It may be more than a year before we see the first Wi-Fi 7 devices and routers launch, but the new standard is starting to take shape.
Qualcomm revealed Wi-Fi 7 Chipset and Networking Pro Series Platform, can provide up to 33 Gbps of quad-band connectivity across 16 streams. Partners are working to integrate their technologies into devices. Broadcom and MediaTek also announced Wi-Fi 7 technology. Many vendors will no doubt announce their plans in the coming months as the new standard is solidified and officially specified by Wi-Fi Alliance.
Even when Wi-Fi 7 arrives, it won’t wipe out Wi-Fi 6. The two will likely coexist as complementary technologies for years to come.
