Wi-Fi 7 arrives in full early 2024, promises 5x speed boost over Wi-Fi 6

[Daniel Sims]

Why it matters: Hardware vendors have been offering Wi-Fi 7 capable devices based on draft specifications for some time. The final release of the standard was anticipated for 2024 and with a clearer timeline now available, more manufacturers like Intel are expected to soon unveil products that utilize Wi-Fi 7's enhanced bandwidth and stability.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has confirmed that the final Wi-Fi 7 standard will be released before the end of the first quarter of 2024. It promises to deliver multi-gigabit speeds and other improvements compared to the current Wi-Fi 6 standard.

Intel and Broadcom showcased Wi-Fi 7 speeds last year (also known as 802.11be) reaching up to 5 Gbps – significantly surpassing Wi-Fi 6's typical maximum of around 1.7 Gbps. Wi-Fi 7 achieves this by allowing seamless switching between the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz frequencies, which compatible devices can juggle simultaneously.

Additionally, the 6GHz spectrum offers access to 320MHz superwide channels, doubling the throughput compared to Wi-Fi 6 – a key factor in the speed increase. The new standard also enhances transmission rates by 20 percent by upgrading from 1024 QAM to 4K QAM.

Wi-Fi 7 connections are also expected to be more stable than previous specifications. The multi-link operation intelligently balances traffic, enabling networks to accommodate more devices efficiently. The Alliance suggests that the new standard will be ideally suited for augmented and virtual reality applications. The FCC's recent preliminary approval for ultrafast Wi-Fi tethering on the 6GHz spectrum is a significant step towards enabling VR and AR equipment to utilize Wi-Fi 7.

The 2024 launch date roughly matches Intel's predictions from 2022. The company plans to release Wi-Fi 7-capable PCs starting next year, with widespread market availability in 2025. Qualcomm is also optimistic about Wi-Fi 7, incorporating it into its FastConnect program alongside 5G.

Since last year, other manufacturers have been jumping the gun using draft specifications, including the likes of Netgear, TP-Link, Asus, Amazon, and Gigabyte. Amazon launched the $600 Eero Max 7 router in September, boasting wireless speeds of up to 4.3 Gbps. The $1,700 three-pack system can cover up to 7,500 square feet.

For those looking to upgrade their desktops for Wi-Fi 7, Gigabyte's recently announced PCIe adapter is an option. The single-slot card offers speeds of up to 5.8 Gbps and includes all official specification features from the Alliance, though its pricing and availability are yet to be confirmed. Motherboards supporting Wi-Fi 7 from most major manufacturers are now available for those starting new builds.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/101163-wi-fi-7-arrives-full-early-2024-promises.html

 

[umeng2002]

You can pry my Ethernet cable from my cold dead hands.

 

[nnguy2]

I haven't found what the speed vs distance break down or even what the expected range is so I figure within 3-5 ft of the router for max speed. Becuase if they're not bragging about range then you know it's crap distance.

 

[Bhaskar Shetty]

All this new terms but still this all depends on the net speed the country is providing at best

 

[toooooot]

You can pry my Ethernet cable from my cold dead hands.

I like it for PCs too. But whenever I think I should do it again, hell, it would require scheduling an appointment, and probably half the day for cable people to move the router to the room where my PC is.
A new router is still preferable to me. Although I still don't know how much it would cost me.

 

[yRaz]

I like it for PCs too. But whenever I think I should do it again, hell, it would require scheduling an appointment, and probably half the day for cable people to move the router to the room where my PC is.
A new router is still preferable to me. Although I still don't know how much it would cost me.

There is so much noise from random wifi devices around that wifi is useless for anything but streaming and I don't use any if those. I have my tablet connected to wifi, that's it.

 

[fazy shah]

I have wifi 6 and 6e devices but still, the signals are very poor even after a single room distance. so I don't see upgrading myself to this *****. No thanks.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I haven't found what the speed vs distance break down or even what the expected range is so I figure within 3-5 ft of the router for max speed. Becuase if they're not bragging about range then you know it's crap distance.

I have wifi 6 and 6e devices but still, the signals are very poor even after a single room distance. so I don't see upgrading myself to this *****. No thanks.

It's also SUPER finicky. My desktop PC does not have a 6e wifi chip. It does have N multi channel. With an N or AC router I can pull 300 Mbps no problem, but with 6e I struggle to pass 100 mbps, and connectivity is spotty. My laptop has 6e, and has no connectivity issue, but speeds vary wildly from 200-600 Mbps, with no consistency. Never seen 1Gbps or higher on my internal network. My wired devices hit 1 Gbps without issue, and my main desktop 2.5 Gbps.

 

[FaTaL]

If they're advertising 5x speeds using 2.4 and 5ghz frequencies. hooray. otherwise ...|... this... 6ghz sucks. The signal can barely pass through 1 wall (w/ no copper wiring) in my house.

 

[FaTaL]

You can pry my Ethernet cable from my cold dead hands.

Same. My PC is connected to my router via ethernet. Nothing beats its stability.

 

[nnguy2]

It's also SUPER finicky. My desktop PC does not have a 6e wifi chip. It does have N multi channel. With an N or AC router I can pull 300 Mbps no problem, but with 6e I struggle to pass 100 mbps, and connectivity is spotty. My laptop has 6e, and has no connectivity issue, but speeds vary wildly from 200-600 Mbps, with no consistency. Never seen 1Gbps or higher on my internal network. My wired devices hit 1 Gbps without issue, and my main desktop 2.5 Gbps.

my experiences as well.

 

[p51d007]

4G, 5G, 6G...wifi 5,6,7
Gee, it's almost like the phone & wifi companies are taking a page out of the CPU book and
boosting speed just because they believe people will buy whatever hast the biggest number.

 

[hwertz]

I haven't found what the speed vs distance break down or even what the expected range is so I figure within 3-5 ft of the router for max speed. Becuase if they're not bragging about range then you know it's crap distance.

Yup. Anything above 256-QAM doesn't get realistic range, 1024-QAM in Wifi6 and 4096-QAM in Wifi7 are both so they can show those massive peak speeds.

That said, using 6ghz band will open up even more nice, clean, channels compared to 5ghz (and forget about 2.4ghz, unless you are out in the countryside it's pretty trashed.) That multi-link (being able to use all of 2.4, 5, and 6), in a moving device it'd be better to automatically carry some traffic over 2.4ghz during those moments when 5ghz signal fades, and when you're further from the acccess point automatically carry traffic over 2.4 instead of 5... versus the current status quo where that traffic would probably be carried over 5ghz at low link rate and possibly with packet loss.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Not to self, rush out in February 2024 and update every single wifi device in the house as well as smartphones.

 

[UncleMikeRetro]

Not even saturating my MoCA network at home with my 600/400 speeds.
You know, most folk who pay for Gigabit speeds from their ISP are using at best maybe 200 Mbps on their home Wi-Fi.

 

[p51d007]

Wi-fi 7 to arrive in 2024, promises 5x the speed *


* Must be 12 inches or closer to the router.

 

[hwertz]

Not even saturating my MoCA network at home with my 600/400 speeds.
You know, most folk who pay for Gigabit speeds from their ISP are using at best maybe 200 Mbps on their home Wi-Fi.

Yeah, I feel like the cable company here is laughing all the way to the bank offering gigabit service, then having built-in wifi that may hit 300mbps if you're lucky. (Not really their problem, if you hooked up to the gigabit ethernet port you'd get gigabit. And if you hooked a better access point up to that gigabit port, you could hit gigabit speeds over wifi. But still.)

 

[Mark Fuller]

I still say there is nothing faster and more reliable than a wire. I got a new set of bluetooth hearing aids, static makes it unusable at times like when you're so far from the signal source the rf interference makes a streaming signal from a cell phone or other device unreliable.

 

[maxxcool7421]

ONLY USEABLE in Windows if you run windows 12 and buy the colon fisting DLC... ala WI-FI 6 restrictions to windows 11

 

[UncleMikeRetro]

Yeah, I feel like the cable company here is laughing all the way to the bank offering gigabit service, then having built-in wifi that may hit 300mbps if you're lucky. (Not really their problem, if you hooked up to the gigabit ethernet port you'd get gigabit. And if you hooked a better access point up to that gigabit port, you could hit gigabit speeds over wifi. But still.)

RIGHT?

 

[VariableSpike]

5x the speed!.....if you are like 10cm away from the router...