Wi-Fi 7: Everything You Need to Know

Wi-Fi 7 hasn’t yet been ratified, but the IEEE (the people who write the Wi-Fi standards) started working on Wi-Fi 7 in March 2019 and thanks to initial drafts, we do have an understanding of what Wi-Fi 7 could look like: faster, more adaptable, excelling in high density.

So what does Wi-Fi 7 look like?

Wi-Fi 7, or IEEE 802.11be, represents the next major advancement in wireless networking, promising substantial improvements over Wi-Fi 6. It aims to deliver speeds up to 46 Gbps, significantly higher than its predecessor, although real-world results will almost certainly fall short of this. A new ultra-wide 320Mhz and 4096 QAM will both be supported as part of the standard, allowing more data to travel over the air. This increase in speed is facilitated by the use of 320 MHz wide channels, which doubles the channel width compared to WiFi 6, and higher modulation rates (4096-QAM).

Latency is another big focus of Wi-Fi 7; VR/AR and other applications can have very demanding latency requirements, and Wi-Fi 7 will address this challenge with Multi-Link Operation, which allows two Wi-Fi channels (5GHz and 6GHz frequency bands) to be used simultaneously to reduce latency. Multi Resource Units (RU) and Puncturing allow the Wi-Fi channel to be split into different parts. This enables multiple users to use the channel and allows the access point to side-step interference that only affects part of the channel. Enhanced OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division multiple access) will improve efficiency by allowing more devices to share the same channel without interference. This will enhance performance in dense environments with high bandwidth requirements whether due to high-demand devices or high numbers of users.

WiFi 7 will also support better Quality of Service (QoS) controls, catering to the needs of latency-sensitive applications like VR, AR, and real-time gaming.

All this means a better user experience, especially in environments with a higher user density or environments susceptible to external sources of interference.

Wi-Fi 7 vs. Wi-Fi 6: what are the key differences?

Wi-Fi 7 isn’t a revolutionary shift in the way Wi-Fi 6 was, but it makes several really important steps forward in terms of standards.

• In terms of speed, it’ll surge with a maximum speed of 36 Gbps compared to Wi-Fi 6’s 9.6 Gbps
• It’ll support up to 320MHz channels compared to 160 channels
• It will introduce Multi-Link Operation (MLO), making it possible for devices to send and receive data simultaneously across multiple frequency bands and channels
• Multi resource unit puncturing will make to most efficient use of bandwidth
• It can use 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz

What is the Wi-Fi 7 release date?

Whilst the official launch happened just a few months ago (November 2022), displaying early device designs, routers coming to market isn’t expected until later into 2023, probably towards the end of the year and into 2024. Wi-Fi 7 compatible devices will be longer, meaning the uptake of the new standard will largely follow user demand.

If you’d like to know more about Wi-Fi 7 and how best to plan network upgrades, get in touch with our team.