Wi-Fi 7 offers huge leaps in performance and capacity: high speeds, low delays and large numbers of simultaneous clients. Who should be first in line for Wi-Fi 7?
What’s New In Wi-Fi 7?
Wi-Fi 7 comes with promises of theoretical speeds of up to 46 Gbps, almost four times faster than Wi-Fi 6, with less delay and better stability, especially in environments with many connected clients.
This is achieved, among other things, through:
- Wider channels (up to 320 MHz on the 6 GHz band)
- Better utilization of all three frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz)
- Multi-Link Operation (MLO), which makes it possible to use several channels and frequency bands simultaneously
- Improved compression and reduced overhead
- Higher modulation (4K QAM versus 1024 in Wi-Fi 6)
The increased capacity requires a larger form factor, and the Wi-Fi 7-certified access points already on the market are noticeably larger than hardware with Wi-Fi 6 and earlier versions. The price point is also noticeably higher.
This contributes to Wi-Fi 7 being a version that we currently recommend primarily to users with specific needs for performance and capacity.
Who Needs Wi-Fi 7?
Wi-Fi 7 is particularly interesting for:
- Companies with many connected devices and a need for high performance.
- Gamers and users of virtual reality (VR), who depend on the lowest possible delays.
- Technology enthusiasts who generally want the fastest connections and the latest equipment.
- (Smart) home owners who want infrastructure that will cope with everything they will be connecting in the next 5 years.
Ready to get your hands on Wi-Fi 7? We at Eye Networks sell eero’s top of the line device eero Max 7 , which works both as a router and a mesh access point:
- Private households and small businesses in Norway can buy eero Max 7 from us at dinwifi.no
- Nordic ISPs who want to offer eero 6 and other eero models to their customers can
Who Doesn’t Need Wi-Fi 7?
If you already have a wireless network that works well for you, there is no reason to upgrade in the near future.
Most regular internet users who stream video, surf the web and/or have a limited number of connected devices will get everything they need from a Wi-Fi 6 network that is properly configured and installed.
The most common problems with home wifi are related to the layout of the home, the placement of routers/access points, and the large variety of clients that connect to the network. None of this will change significantly by switching to Wi-Fi 7.
In other words, if you have Wi-Fi 6 and a network that is not working optimally today, you probably have the most to gain from troubleshooting and optimizing what you already have:
- Check your router placement! Never behind the TV, in cupboards or under furniture: Stop clearing away the wifi signals
- Add more wireless access points to a mesh network: Wifi mesh: What is it and who needs it?
- If you already have mesh, also check the location of each access point: Don’t make this mistake with mesh and wifi amplifiers
If, however, you are going to buy new wifi equipment anyway, Wi-Fi 7 is well worth considering and will give you a network that can perform well for a long time!
Why Is It Called Wi-Fi 7?
Wi-Fi 7 is the name that the industry organization WiFi Alliance has given to its official certification scheme for products that support the wireless standard IEEE 802.11be. The 7 in Wi-Fi 7 indicates that this is considered the seventh generation of wifi.
The standard itself has not been fully approved as of October 2024, but the industry is already in full swing launching and certifying products, just as when Wi-Fi 6 was first introduced.
Further reading:
- Wi-Fi 7, 6, 5: What Do The Wifi Versions Mean?
- Wi-Fi at 6 GHz
- Channel Bandwidth Recommendations For Home Wifi
Article by Jorunn Danielsen