Everything you need to know about WiFi-7

Although a lot of individuals HAVE JUST upgraded TO WI-FI 6, and some may be contemplating a move to Wi-Fi 6E, their successor is already on the horizon. Wi-Fi 7 is the next important advancement, and it, like its predecessors, promises quicker connectivity, lower latency, and the ability to manage more connections gracefully than ever before.

 

The good news is that Wi-Fi 7 will continue to work with your older devices. If you don't want to replace all of your gadgets for the sake of a more stable network, the good news is that Wi-Fi 7 will still work with your older equipment. And as you replace your phones, PCs, and other wireless devices with those that support the new standard, certain things should improve significantly. Another question is whether you should buy a Wi-Fi 7 router now or wait.

 

If you want to upgrade your Wi-Fi now, Wi-Fi 7 is not the solution because support will be limited for some time. However, early adopters will be pleased to learn that the first batch of Wi-Fi 7 routers will be available in early 2023. Realistically, most of us will have to wait a long time before considering switching. If you need to upgrade quickly, consider learning how to buy a router before diving into our recommendations for the finest Wi-Fi routers and mesh Wi-Fi systems.

 

What is Wifi-7?

 

The 7th generation of Wi-Fi offers significant improvements over Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, with speeds up to four times quicker. It also incorporates ingenious advancements to minimize latency, expand capacity, and improve stability and efficiency.

 

In the old name convention, Wi-Fi 7 was IEEE 802.11be, Wi-Fi 6 was IEEE 802.11ax, and Wi-Fi 5 was IEEE 802.11ac. Wi-Fi 7 will, like earlier standards, be backward compatible. However, in order to take benefit of the new features and increased performance it promises, you must upgrade your devices. This entails purchasing new routers and access points, as well as new smartphones, computers, televisions, and so on.

 

Wi-Fi has contributed to the world's ability to stay informed, engaged, and productive. This was made feasible by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) industry standards and the WFA (Wi-Fi Alliance) comprehensive device compatibility and certification testing. Intel is happy to be at the forefront of both organizations, driving Wi-Fi's continuing evolution, including its next generation, Wi-Fi 7, which is based on capabilities outlined in the IEEE P802.11be draft amendment.

 

Wi-Fi 7 features will expand on and improve upon previous Wi-Fi generations. Not only will this mean quicker speeds, but also vastly better responsiveness and dependability for immersive consumer experiences and complex future technologies.

 

Also Read | Wifi 6: The Future of IoT

 

Is Wifi-7 Faster?

 

It will, indeed. According to Intel, an "average" Wi-Fi 7 laptop might reach a "potential maximum" of roughly 5.8Gbps — that's theoretical, of course, but even half that figure would be excessive for most people.

 

Channel bandwidth, or the amount of the conduit that data is blasted through, is what makes it speedier for the most part. Wi-Fi 7 doubles the maximum channel bandwidth to 320MHz, up from 160MHz on better Wi-Fi 5, 6, and 6E routers. It's a larger pipe that can hold more data. That's relatively basic, however only the 6GHz band enables those big ol' channels - the 5GHz band doesn't have enough room.

 

The new spec also allows for the combination of bands into a single connection via a feature known as Multi-Link Operation (MLO). As an example, if you can download a file at 1Gbps on the 6GHz frequency and 700Mbps on the 5GHz band, combining the two might get you up to 1.7Gbps. It also means that if one of those connections fails for whatever reason, your device can simply switch to the other. How well this works in practise will be determined when we test Wi-Fi 7 routers and devices together.

 

 Wi-Fi 7 additionally more than doubles the number of MU-MIMO spatial streams (concurrent streams to and from other devices). Wi-Fi 6 enables 8 x 8 MU-MIMO, which implies that a router with eight antennas can communicate with eight devices (or one device with eight antennae) and send up to eight concurrent streams to each device. It's 16 x 16 for Wi-Fi 7, but don't get too enthusiastic. Despite the fact that the 6E standard is capable of more, consumer-grade Wi-Fi 6E routers, even expensive ones like Netgear's Nighthawk REX 500, often deliver 4 x 4 MU-MIMO. It's also difficult to locate phones, laptops, and other Wi-Fi-capable devices that outperform 2 x 2 MU-MIMO.

 

The smart home has improved with time, but devices in a congested wifi environment can still be sluggish or even unresponsive. There are improvements in the Wi-Fi 7 spec that may help with this in the future.

 

One reason your smart home devices may be slow is that they are just waiting their turn. One of the major obstacles in wireless transmission is airtime - if the router is too busy talking to one or more devices (depending on the standard), others clamoring for attention must wait for it to complete. It occurs in fractions of a second, but with enough network chatter, that time can accumulate. One cause of sluggish smart home devices can be that they’re just waiting their turn.

 

Comparing Wifi-6 and Wifi-7

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Comparison between WiFi-6 and WiFi-7

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Wi-Fi technology is more advanced than ever, but if you're looking for one of the best Wi-Fi routers right now, selecting the proper Wi-Fi version can be challenging. 

 

Your decision is compounded further by Wi-Fi 7, a new Wi-Fi standard that was just ratified and will be available in new devices later this year. Although they have historically been more expensive, the finest Wi-Fi 6 routers will most likely be cheaper once Wi-Fi 7 devices become available.

 

Whether you're looking for a new router or just doing your homework before your next big update, here's everything you need to know about how Wi-Fi 6E compares to Wi-Fi 7 and why you might want to switch. Some of the major differences seen have been listed below - 

 

1. Wider Channels

 

Each band is subdivided into channels. The 2.4-GHz spectrum is divided into 11 channels of 20 megahertz (MHz). The 5-GHz spectrum includes 45 channels, but they can be combined to generate 40-MHz or 80-MHz channels rather than being confined to a width of 20 MHz. The 6-GHz spectrum allows 60 channels, which can be as broad as 160 MHz with Wi-Fi 6E. Wi-Fi 7 offers channels with a bandwidth of up to 320 MHz. The more data that can be transmitted, the wider the channel. Consider how much traffic a single-lane road can manage in comparison to a three-lane highway or a six-lane motorway.

 

2. Increased data density

 

WiFi 7 enhances not only the speed and bandwidth of a radio signal, but also the amount of data that can be encoded onto it. This is assessed using the quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) standard. Whereas WiFi 6 had a QAM limit of 1024, WiFi 7 has a limit of 4096 (or 4K; the standard is sometimes known as 4K QAM), increasing throughput by increasing peak rates. Each transmitted symbol can now carry 12 bits rather than 10 bits, resulting in a 20% increase in potential transmission rates.

 

The 2.4x gain in WiFi speeds between WiFi 6 and WiFi 7 can be attributed to both increased channel bandwidth (320MHz) and increased data density (4K QAM).

 

3. Increased speed

 

Most importantly, WiFi 7 will be substantially faster than WiFi 6. The identical WiFi radio configuration will result in 2.4x better rates. As a result, maximum WiFi 7 speeds on a standard mobile phone can reach up to 5Gbps. WiFi 7 helps to ensure that your home is ready for 10 Gigabit internet speeds as they become accessible as Internet service providers (ISPs) increase their Internet speed offerings.

 

4. Greater QAM

 

Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) is a method of transmitting and receiving data using radio waves. The more information you can fit in, the higher it is. Wi-Fi 7 supports 4K-QAM, Wi-Fi 6 only 1024-QAM, and Wi-Fi 5 only 256-QAM.

 

Signal intensity, background noise, and interference all confound the potential benefits. as a result, when QAM increases, the range decreases, necessitating a stronger signal. As a result, the upgrade to 1024-QAM in Wi-Fi 6 provided approximately a 25% data rate boost over Wi-Fi 5. The upgrade to 4K-QAM in Wi-Fi 7 results in a 20% boost in peak performance.

 

5. Operation on Multiple Links

 

Multi-Link Operation (MLO) is possibly the most interesting advancement in Wi-Fi 7. Every previous Wi-Fi standard connected two devices on a single frequency band. Even a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router links two devices on a single band on a defined channel (the router chooses whether to connect on 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, or 6-GHz).

 

MLO can mix many frequencies from different bands into a single connection. A Wi-Fi 7 router can connect to a Wi-Fi 7 device simultaneously across two or more channels in separate bands. MLO may offer broader channels capable of sending more data—to return to our highway analogy, you can send traffic on both the highway and the superhighway at the same time.

 

Although speed isn't always the most important factor, MLO enables for more efficient performance. A Wi-Fi 7 router can account for congestion and other interference and transmit on the optimum channel to avoid it, switching to maintain a stable connection and low latency. MLO may also help to mitigate the 6-GHz band's relatively short range.

 

Also Read | WiFi 6E Technology: Working and Advantages

 

Summing Up

 

In addition to new ways for reducing networking latency (the delay in networking response) and jitter (latency fluctuation), the new spec appears to have something for everyone. It includes increasing connection density, increasing spectrum efficiency, and making Wi-Fi more stable.

 

Although this seventh generation of Wi-Fi technology is still subject to change in the next few years as the IEEE 802.11be definition, hardware, and software are all ironed out, the essential components and capabilities of Wi-Fi 7 are becoming clear.

 

The 160-MHz-wide data channel available in Wi-Fi 6 (aka IEEE 802.11ax) will help satisfy the avid gamer at home if you have one of the best Wi-Fi 6 routers, but it comes at the expense of tying up several channels.

 

The entire Wi-Fi 7 concept is dependent on the design, manufacture, and testing of the next generation of Wi-Fi chips. Expect major chipmakers like Broadcom, MediaTek, Qualcomm, and others to develop their own circuits to enable Wi-Fi 7 in the top Wi-Fi routers and client devices like phones, tablets, and notebooks. Traditional routers and high-performance mesh kits will likely include tri-band and quad-band designs.