Several people have upgraded to Wi-Fi 6 recently, while some choose to use the 6E version. But the exciting thing is that their successor, Wi-Fi 7, is on the market already. It is the upcoming advancement on the horizon. Like its predecessors, it also features faster connections, lower latency, and adjusting more connections.
However you want to improve Wi-Fi today, it should not be your choice now. Whether you must upgrade pronto, you should know first how to purchase a router.
What is Wi-Fi 7?
Wi-Fi 7 is the 7th generation that will offer significant improvements over the 6th and 6E. Besides, it can provide speeds up to four times quicker. In addition, it offers clever advances to decrease latency, boost capacity, and increase stability and efficiency.
IEEE 802.11be is Wi-Fi 7 in the old naming convention, while the sixth generation was IEEE 802.11ax, and the fifth was IEEE 802.11ac. Like earlier standards, it is backward compatible. But if you want to enjoy these new features, you must upgrade your devices. It indicates purchasing new routers and access points, no new smartphones, laptops, TVs, etc.
Advantages of Wi-Fi 7:
It is quicker and supports more connections. The advantages are as follows:
320MHz Channel Bandwidths:
It can give massive throughput gains through a wider channel. Besides, the 6GHz spectrum is also beneficial. In addition, it can provide peak rates of more than 40 Gbps. It can provide a speed four times faster than the 6E version.
Multi-Link Capabilities:
It comes with many multi-link options, which boosts throughput and decreases latency. Besides, it uses two Wi-Fi radios. These work in 5 or 6 GHz high bands.
Flexible Channel Utilization:
It depends on preamble puncturing, which helps to avoid interference channels. As a result, you can use wider channels in the face of interference.
Moving The Technology Forward:
These technologies are compatible with IEEE 802.11 and Alliance standards.
These advantages help you to provide high-quality video and better cloud gaming. Besides, these serve AR and VR applications that need high throughput and low latency. In addition, it handles congestion and interference.
How does Wi-Fi 7 Compare to the 6E Generation?
The seventh generation uses two similar 2.4-GHz, 5 -GHz, and 6-GHz bands. Here are some notable upgrades.
Wider Channels:
Every band has channels. The 2.4-GHz band has 11 channels of 20 megahertz (MHz) each. Besides, the 5-GHz band comes with 45 channels. But it is not limited to 20 MHz. Instead, these can combine to generate 40-MHz or 80-MHz channels. Moreover, the 6-GHz band is compatible with 60 channels. The 6E version allows you to be as comprehensive as 160 MHz. The seventh generation is compatible with up to 320 MHz wide channels. A wide channel can transmit more data. In this case, a good example is imagining how much traffic a single-lane road can handle than a three-lane highway or a six-lane superhighway.
Higher QAM:
QAM stands for Quadrature Amplitude Modulation. This process helps to transmit and receive data in radio-frequency waves. A high procedure can pack in more details. Besides, it is compatible with 4K-QAM, while the sixth generation supports 1024-QAM, and the fifth generation was limited to 256-QAM.
Signal strength, background noise, and interference complicate the potential advantages. Besides, the range will drop when QAM increases, and you will require a powerful signal. Therefore, the jump to 1024-QAM in the sixth generation increased the data rate by around 25% over the fifth generation. In addition, the leap to 4K-QAM in the seventh generation boosts peak performance by 20%.
Multi-Link Operation:
MLO stands for Multi-Link Operation. It is the most exciting advancement in the upcoming generation.
Each generation model can create a connection between two devices on a single band. Besides, a tri-band 6E generation router allows you to connect two devices on one band on a fixed channel. In this case, the router chooses a band among the 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, or 6-GHz bands.
This feature allows you to combine different frequencies across bands into one connection. Besides, the router enables you to connect to a device across two or more channels in various brands. In addition, it enables wider channels that can transmit more data.
Although speed is not a significant factor always, it can provide more efficient performance. Besides, the router can consider congestion and other interference. Again, it can even transmit on the best channel to bypass it. Thus, it helps to switch to maintain a stable connection and low latency. Finally, it increases existing technologies, including OFDMA, MU-MIMO, and TWT.
When Will Wi-Fi 7 be Available?
It might be over a year until you see the first devices and routers supporting the seventh generation. However, this standard will take shape very soon.
Conclusion:
Qualcomm has recently released its seventh-generation chipset and the Networking Pro Series platform. It can offer up to 33 Gbps of quad-band connectivity over 16 streams. In addition,
Broadcom and MediaTek recently announced the technologies. We expect that more vendors will announce their plans. So the new standard is firmed up and designated by the Alliance. But this version will not sweep the sixth version away.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- When can we expect it?
We expect the first Wi-Fi 7 routers to come to the market sometime in 2023, with the fastest 9.6Gbps speeds.
- Is it a full duplex?
It is always Half-Duplex as data moves in a single direction.
- Will it replace Ethernet?
Alan Hsu said it could replace Ethernet.
