Wi-Fi 7: What is it and who needs it?

Wi-Fi 7 offers enormous leaps in performance and capacity: High speeds, low latency, and large numbers of simultaneous clients. Who should adopt Wi-Fi 7?

What’s New in Wi-Fi 7?

Wi-Fi 7 promises theoretical speeds of up to 46 Gbps, nearly four times faster than Wi-Fi 6, with lower latency and better stability, especially in environments with many connected clients.

This is achieved 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 enables the use of multiple channels and frequency bands simultaneously
Better 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. They also come at a noticeably higher price.

This contributes to Wi-Fi 7 being a wifi version we currently recommend primarily for users with specific needs for performance and capacity.

Who needs Wi-Fi 7?

Wi-Fi 7 is particularly interesting for:

Businesses with many connected devices and requirements for high performance.
Gamers and virtual reality (VR) users, who depend on the lowest possible latency.
Technology enthusiasts who generally want the fastest connections and the latest equipment.
(Smart) homeowners who want infrastructure that will handle everything they connect over the next 5 years.

Are you ready to get your hands on Wi-Fi 7 yourself? We at Eye Networks sell the super-device eero Max 7, which functions as both a router and mesh access point:

Private customers and small businesses can purchase eero Max 7 from us via dinwifi.no
Internet service providers who wish to offer eero Max 7 and other eero models to their customers can
- Join our eero for Service Providers program
- Become a dinwifi.no partner

Who does not need Wi-Fi 7?

If you already have a wireless network that works well, there is no reason to upgrade immediately.

Most ordinary internet users who stream video, browse the web, and/or have few connected devices get everything they need with a properly configured Wi-Fi 6 network.

The most common problems with home Wi-Fi are related to the layout of the residence, the placement of routers/access points, and the variation in clients connecting to the network. This will not change significantly by switching to Wi-Fi 7.

In other words, if you have Wi-Fi 6 and a network that is not performing optimally today, you will likely benefit most from troubleshooting and optimizing what you already have:

Check router placement; never behind the TV, in cabinets, or under furniture: Stop hiding your Wi-Fi signals
Add more wireless access points in a mesh network: Wi-Fi mesh: What is it and who needs it?
If you already have mesh, check the placement of each access point: Don’t make this mistake with mesh and wifi repeaters

If, however, you are going to purchase new wifi equipment anyway, Wi-Fi 7 is well worth considering and will give you a network that can live and deliver for a long time!

Why is it called Wi-Fi 7?

Wi-Fi 7 is the name the industry organization WiFi Alliance has given to its official certification program for products that support the wireless standard IEEE 802.11be. The number 7 in Wi-Fi 7 indicates that this is considered the seventh generation of wifi.

The standard itself is not completely finalized 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.

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Article by Jorunn Danielsen