Wi – Fi 7 is already being developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance , the organization responsible for the specifications and approval of this wireless technology. The new standard should offer faster connections, lower latency and better network management. To solve any doubts regarding the next generation, we will explain the benefits, frequencies, maximum speed and other details about the new Wi-Fi standard. Check out!
What is WiFi 7?
Wi – Fi 7 , or IEEE 802.11be in the old nomenclature, is a new standard for wireless networking, being the direct successor to Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax) and Wi-Fi 6E (IEEE 802.11ax), released in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
This technology promises up to four times faster speeds compared to its predecessor, as well as improved stability and efficiency. However, just like its predecessors, to have access to all the features and performance improvements offered by Wi-Fi 7 , you will need to purchase a compatible router, as well as smartphones , notebooks , etc.
What are the benefits of Wi-Fi 7?
The new standard is being developed to support a greater number of simultaneous connections and to maintain acceptable performance even in low-latency situations, benefiting high-resolution video playback and cloud gaming, as well as meeting the demand for virtual reality services. and increased, for example.
Wi – Fi 7 will also better manage congestion to avoid a significant decrease in the internet connection on networks with many connected devices. Another benefit of the next generation is that it will be more efficient at blocking interference caused by neighboring networks or other devices.
What frequencies and speeds does Wi-Fi 7 support?
The new version of Wi-Fi will support the same frequencies as Wi-Fi 6: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz. The main difference is that the last two bands will be used to aggregate a greater amount of data through a single channel, resulting in 320 MHz – the predecessor only reached up to 160 MHz. In countries that do not provide 6 GHz due to restrictions, the technology will have two 5 GHz channels (240 MHz).
In terms of supported speeds, Wi-Fi 7 has an extremely high throughput (EHT). According to the Wi-Fi Alliance , this standard will deliver up to 40 Gbps, which is four times the capacity of Wi-Fi 6E (9.6 Gbps) and six times the performance of Wi-Fi 5 (6.9 Gbps).
Wi-Fi 7 Key Features
The new version of Wi-Fi should reach the market with several important technologies. Although the specifications have not been finalized, some features of the new standard have already been released. Check it out below:
Multi-Link Operation (MLO)
The Multi-Link Operation (MLO) feature is considered one of the main reasons the next generation offers high throughput. With it, devices will be able to transmit data using the three channels (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz) to create a single channel of aggregated data, thus seeking to increase speed and reduce latency.
MLO is not an exclusive feature of Wi-Fi 7 , but in this version it will allow you to operate between the 5 GHz and 6 GHz frequencies faster, since these spectra are close and manage to work, most of the time, without having to wait for the of 2.4 GHz. Thus, it will be possible to avoid any type of slowness and, consequently, improve the performance of the network.
4K Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)
The Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) feature can be found on older Wi-Fi generations. It serves to distribute multiple data packets by overlapping signals of multiple amplitudes and phases. However, this technology has been updated in the new standard with the addition of “4K QAM”. Compatible equipment will be able to overlay 4096 signals simultaneously . In terms of comparison, Wi-Fi 6 can only reach 1024. Thanks to this improvement, network capacity can be increased and latency reduced.
Automated Frequency Coordination
One of the main obstacles of current Wi-Fi networks (6 and 6E) is interference with other devices that use the same 6 GHz channel. To avoid this problem, Wi-Fi 7 will have the Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) feature.
In practice, this technology will collect data from antenna patterns and signal directions to create a database. Then, several calculations will be carried out to avoid interference in the analyzed areas and, where there are no “blocks”, the new Wi-Fi will be able to transmit its 6 GHz channels with maximum power, being able to operate with 63 times more energy .
Advantages of Wi-Fi 7 over Wi-Fi 6
In addition to implementing new features, Wi-Fi 7 will also improve several existing technologies. For example, MU-MIMO , the feature responsible for simultaneous data transmission, will have its throughput increased to 16 — double that of Wi-Fi 6. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) will also be improved. In the new standard, channels are now divided into Multiple Resource Units (MRU) to reduce interference and latency.
To decrease power consumption, Target Wake Time (TWT) technology will put the device in a sleep mode when no network access is needed. The new standard will also bring Restricted Target Wake Time (RTWT), which manages to reserve part of the bandwidth for a specific type of data transmission.
WiFi 7 Availability
As the Wi-Fi Alliance has not yet finalized the specifications and features of the new Wi-Fi standard, it is only expected to officially launch in 2024, with routers being pre-certified as early as next year.
Some companies have already announced chips compatible with the new standard. Qualcomm introduced the Networking Pro platform , which includes the 1220 , 1620 , 620 and 820 models with Cortex-A73 cores , while MediaTek made official two components ( Filogic 880 and Filic 380 ) and Broadcom five: BCM67263 , BCM6726 , BCM43740 , BCM43720 and BCM4398 .
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