A recent report released by OpenSignal has revealed that the proportion of data traffic across Wi-Fi is almost at 90% overall for users in the US, and over 80% in almost all cases away from the home, confirming suspicions that Wi-Fi is carrying most smartphone traffic.
You probably won’t be surprised to hear that here at Geekabit we’ve always thought that Wi-Fi is the most important technology when it comes to technology, as well as being the most successful.
This fresh data from OpenSignal confirms what we’ve always thought, as Wi-Fi starts to take an even bigger share of smartphone traffic than originally expected.
Across all US mobile providers, the share of data for Wi-Fi is pretty much uniform.
With thanks to OpenSignal for the above graphic.
What We Already Knew
Historically, the Wi-Fi data share among users was approximately 80%, as indicated recently by Spectrum Mobile (Charter). Whether this was a conservative estimate or that the proportion is growing remains to be seen.
Once 4G hit the scene, it was suspected that Wi-Fi carried about 60-70% of US data traffic, but here in the UK during that period of time the figure was above 80%.
Wi-Fi Used More Than Mobile Connectivity, Even Outside the Home
Interestingly, perhaps the most surprising element of the report is that Wi-Fi connectivity outside the home is at more than 80% compared to mobile.
The outlier seems to be T-Mobile, perhaps revealing that their coverage is considerably better than their competition.
With thanks to OpenSignal for the above graphic.
In Conclusion: Wi-Fi Used More Than Mobile?
For everyone in the tech and telecoms industry, including regulators, this report gives us much to be interested and excited about.
When looking at the data, it’s clear that Wi-Fi is continuing to grow its share of data traffic – Even when people are away from home.
5G meanwhile seems to be falling rather short of expectations. Early on when 5G was just emerging, many were shouting about how it was going to give Wi-Fi a run for its money. The mobile industry might have thought this was the way it was going but the data seems to be saying otherwise.
The fact that data consumption over Wi-Fi is only 10% less when people are outside of the home is pretty remarkable. It seems that wherever a smartphone user tends to be – home or out and about – the preference is to use Wi-Fi over 5G.
What Will the Regulators Make of Wi-Fi Significantly Outdoing Mobile Connectivity?
Let’s remember that mobile operators spend billions of dollars for 5G spectrum licences, yet they’re losing out on their share of traffic to Wi-Fi, which doesn’t need a licence at all.
Obviously, we’re not saying that mobile connectivity isn’t necessary – Of course it still is. In order to have coverage wherever we go, we still need mobile connectivity. But are the large amounts of licensed spectrum still required? That’s the question.
For those in the Wi-Fi industry – Like us here at Geekabit! – It’s very exciting and affirming to see how well Wi-Fi is doing out there. We love the work we do and it’s great to see how Wi-Fi is so needed out there in the world.
We’re expecting Wi-Fi tech to go from strength to strength over the coming years as we welcome in Wi-Fi 7 and other future technologies.
Are you trying to enhance and improve your connectivity indoors? If so, you might be weighing up whether it’s best to go for Wi-Fi 7 or 5G. Both of these technologies offer their own unique strengths. Perhaps you’re leaning towards the increased bandwidth and efficiency that comes with Wi-Fi 7 connectivity. Or maybe you’re more interested in the low latency and reliability that 5G can offer you. Which is the one for you?
We live in a world where we are extremely reliant on a continuous, reliable and secure connection – Whether that’s using a device for work or relaxing at the end of a long day. We need online video conference calls that don’t drop out and Netflix binges that don’t buffer.
So how do we meet this demand? The tech world increasingly offers us solutions that evolve alongside our digital needs. We’ve gone from 4G/LTE to 5G when it comes to mobile connectivity, and from Wi-Fi 5 to 6 to 6E and now the emerging Wi-Fi 7 in the wireless networking world.
Everyone wants to know which is best! Which tech development will offer the better improvements on previous issues and limitations – 5G or Wi-Fi 7? Unfortunately, it’s not a straightforward answer.
Focus on Outdoor Mobile Coverage
Both the tech industry and government have predominantly focused their improvement efforts on outdoor mobile coverage.
Whilst undoubtedly worthwhile schemes like the Shared Rural Network have helped to improve outdoor 4G mobile coverage in hard to reach areas, they still have a way to go when it comes to poor indoor mobile coverage.
Interestingly, this is despite knowing that the average person spends 90% of their time indoors, with 80% of all mobile data traffic being generated or terminated indoors.
Meeting the Growing Demand for Indoor Coverage with Emerging Wireless Technology
Back in 2020, both Wi-Fi 6 and 5G entered the commercial wireless market. The connectivity requirements of most domestic indoor environments can be met by Wi-Fi 6. However, in terms of reliability and quality of service with increasing service demands, 5G steps up to the plate and outperforms Wi-Fi 6.
But now that Wi-Fi 7 is arriving on the scene, the tech world needs to have another look at the growing demands for indoor coverage for both public and private places, and what the role of Wi-Fi and 5G is within that space.
Performance Capabilities of Wi-Fi 7 and 5G
As you can see in the graph above, there is a significant jump in theoretical bandwidth for Wi-Fi 7, from 9.6 Gbps (Wi-Fi 6) rising to speeds of 46 Gbps. The speed of 5G sits at 10 Gbps.
When it comes to latency, 5G can offer a latency as little as 1 ms (with a range of between 1 and 10). Wi-Fi 6 sees latency of approximately 20 ms, with Wi-Fi 7 showing an improvement here with a latency of under 5 ms, rivalling that of 5G.
However, we must remember that the speed and latency rates shown here are theoretical only and unlikely to be experienced by users.
When it comes to range, Wi-Fi 7 and 5G have faster speeds due to sacrificing smaller cell coverage range. Wi-Fi 7 can reach 50-100 metres on the 2.4 GHz band, whereas 5G can reach between 500 metres and a few square kilometres depending on the frequency band and transmission power.
Is 5G Most Likely to be Adopted by the Manufacturing and Logistics Sectors?
5G has particularly appealed to the manufacturing and logistics sectors, but many industries are showing interest.
Integrating smart technologies indoors has become a big part of many private businesses, leading to them choosing to deploy 5G networks with access to licensed and unlicensed spectrum.
5G offers much when it comes to speed, capability and low latency, lending itself well to real-time applications for example, tracking lone-workers in industrial and potentially hazardous environments, and tracking last-mile logistics in the manufacturing sector.
Businesses, homes and venues can also make use of mobile broadband with 5G for the likes of high-quality streaming, VR/AR and other broadcasting services being used indoors.
What Stands Out About Wi-Fi 7?
In what ways can Wi-Fi 7 help to improve indoor connectivity? The following features are expected to help indoor activities for domestic, industrial and public sector use within the UK economy and wider society in a significant way, offering a valuable addition to indoor connectivity infrastructures.
It operates across 3 frequency bands, 4K QAM and increased channel width (320 MHz)
More reliable wireless connection
Greater transmission rates
Increased efficiency
Can handle large amounts of devices and large volumes of traffic
Will maintain high speeds with low latency
Let’s remember that whilst almost all devices can run on Wi-Fi 7, to be able to fully harness the available efficiencies with speed and latency consumers will need to be using devices made in 2024.
For this reason, it’s tricky to measure the overall impact and benefit of Wi-Fi 7, however it’s likely to become much clearer over the next few as we see the prevalence of Wi-Fi 7 capable devices increase.
As the adoption of Wi-Fi 7 technology is most prevalent in the industrial sector, we’re most likely to see the biggest impact of Wi-Fi 7 in that arena.
Could 5G Be Deployed Alongside Wi-Fi 7?
A deployment of 5G alongside Wi-Fi 7 is likely.
We’re expecting to see this combination in public and private spaces that switch between indoors and outdoors where reliability and low latency are important considerations for both spaces.
From public 5G networks in shopping centres to private 5G networks in manufacturing factories, we already see how mobile connectivity plays a big role and we would expect that to continue alongside Wi-Fi 7.
What are the Challenges for the Deployment of 5G and Wi-Fi 7?
To meet sustainability targets and reduce energy consumption, there has been an increase in the use of foil-backed insulation and energy-efficient glass within building construction. As well as the concrete, metal and brick already in use within buildings, these additional sustainability-meeting measure can significantly impact signal strength, especially when it comes to 5G networks.
Ways to tackle this issue include:
Small cell deployment
Signal boosters
Antennas designed for 5G
In order to enable the best use of the spectrum, the hybrid sharing model of the 6GHz band between licensed mobile and Wi-Fi was designed. This ensures:
Greater capacity
Faster speeds
Innovative services
Ofcom has supported and pushed this hybrid use method for 5G and Wi-Fi 7, but there does need to be more understanding of the practicalities, costs and complexities.
Hybrid solutions could however solve the issue of signal-reducing building materials, for example, LiFi, which concerts 5G signal to Wi-Fi.
There also needs to be policy and guidance from the UK government in terms of improving indoor connectivity. Last year in 2023, we saw stakeholders across the telecommunications sector get help for improving mobile connectivity with the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy setting out a clear plan.
We now need a similar strategy to address indoor connectivity specifically so that the industry can be challenged to improve indoor coverage and have targets similar to those of outdoor coverage targets.
Wi-Fi 7 vs 5G – Or Should They Go Hand in Hand?
Wi-Fi 7 and 5G will play a vital role in addressing the issue of poor indoor connectivity.
Here at Geekabit, we’re experts in all things wireless and deploying the best network for a specific property and use. We see how important it is to recognise that 5G and Wi-Fi 7 don’t need to be competitors pitched against each other, but as complementary technologies that could transform indoor connectivity for businesses both large and small.
We’re excited to see how both these technologies continue to develop. As the number of use cases develop, it will help us and others in the wireless networking industry to build bespoke solutions for those facing indoor connectivity issues.
We fully believe in maximising the potential benefits of both these technologies by joining them together rather than having to choose just one.
If you’re eager to see what connectivity improvements we can deliver for your business, get in touch with our Wi-Fi experts here at Geekabit today.
We see upgrades all the time in the tech world – They’re almost constant! As soon as one upgrade launches, the next is already on the horizon. But Wi-Fi 7 isn’t just going to be the latest in Wi-Fi standards while we wait for the next one – Wi-Fi 7 is a massive leap from Wi-Fi 6 and brings with it huge upgrades for our digital world.
Wi-Fi 7 is a monumental evolution from Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, giving us:
Faster speeds
Lower latency
Significant capacity increases
What we need from wireless technology is ever increasing, and whilst Wi-Fi 7 is very similar to its Wi_Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E predecessors, it will be able to meet the growing data requirements of both home and business users through key significant improvements.
Are you looking to upgrade your hardware to Wi-Fi 7? It’s a very real consideration now that Wi-Fi 7 routers are on the market. So what do you need to know about Wi-Fi 7 to help make up your mind?
What’s Different About The Wi-Fi 7 Standard?
Speed
Perhaps the overriding feature of the new Wi-Fi 7 standard is the speed – Wi-Fi 7 is considerably faster performance wise when compared to Wi-Fi 6.
Faster internet connections are continually offered by ISP’s for both home use and businesses. How does your local network support the increased download speed? Wi-Fi 7, ensuring there is enough capacity.
How are these speed improvements made possible? Wi-Fi 7 has 2 major upgrades that help with speed:
Doubling the channel width from 160Hz to 320Hz
More data density, which increases the amount of data that can be encoded onto a radio signal
Bigger Channel Width
Within each Wi-Fi band are small bands in which they operate – 20/ 40/ 80/ 160MHz. These are used to connect to individual devices.
With Wi-Fi 7, the bandwidth is doubled to 320MHz. This means that the Wi-Fi speeds to individual devices are doubled, whilst also adding more bandwidth so more devices can be supported.
Increased Data Density
So far we’ve seen how Wi-Fi 7 increases both speed and bandwidth. In addition to this, Wi-Fi 7 can also increase the amount of data that can be encoded onto a radio signal.
This is where a standard called QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) comes in. The amount of data that can be encoded onto a radio signal is measured by QAM. The QAM limit for Wi-Fi 6 was 1024, whereas Wi-Fi 7 offers 4096 (also known as 4K or 4K QAM).
Throughput is increased by boosting its peak rates. For each symbol transmitted, 12 bits can now be carried instead of 10 bits – a 20% higher theoretical transmission rate.
The 2.4x improvement in Wi-Fi speeds between Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 comes from the greater channel bandwidth (320MHz) and increased data density (4K QAM).
Multi-Link Operation (MLO)
The 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi bands are supported by the Wi-Fi 6 standard and previous generations. Wi-Fi 6E then brought a major additional feature by supporting the 6GHz band which offered a new way to connect that avoided the congestion of 2.4GHz and 5GHz. This provided a real boost for urban areas where there can be many Wi-Fi networks in range.
Up until now, a client could only connect using one of these bands on Wi-Fi technology. Wi-Fi changes this – Wi-Fi 7 routers can connect to a client device across 2 different bands.
In simple terms, it’s like having two routes on a map to get you to your destination, and the traffic flow can be moved between the two. This flexibility means that traffic can either be split across both routes, or moved from one route to the other if there is congestion.
Mesh systems take this a step further and benefit even more from MLO. It gets the best performance by allowing a router and a satellite the capability to transmit simultaneously across two different bands.
This particular feature will allow a mobile device to not drop a connection by switching from one band to another. For example, imagine you are working from home and hop on a Zoom call. This feature will allow your device to move from 6GHz to 5GHz to 2.4GHz whilst you walk from the middle of your house out to the garden without the call buffering or dropping out. Sounds good, right?
Flexible Channel Utilisation
Let’s talk about interference. One of the main limitations when it comes to i-Fi is how big an impact interference can have on a whole channel. This is where ‘puncturing’ comes in. Puncturing is when an affected portion of the channel can be blocked whilst the rest of the channel can still be used for data transfer. In this way, Wi-Fi can be made more resistant to interference, ensuring critical flow and lower latency.
If we go back to our map analogy – Imagine one of the routes has a pothole making it unusable. Puncturing with Wi-Fi 7 would mean that the pothole could be blocked and the traffic could go round it, keeping use of the route.
What Elements of Wi-Fi 7 Have Stayed The Same As Previous Wi-Fi Standards?
As we’ve just covered, there are some brilliant new specifications with Wi-Fi 7 that make this Wi-Fi standard pretty special.
However, we shouldn’t overlook the features and infrastructure that the previous Wi-Fi standard already offers and how Wi-Fi 7 builds on these.
We mentioned above how Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 both offer the same 3 bands, including the super fast 6GHz band. They both also feature huge bandwidth.
Let’s also remember that these new and enhanced features are only as good as the device we’re accessing them on. Tech providers are still currently catching up with Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 – We need these new devices to fully be able to unlock the full potential of both of these standards.
Many mobile devices are still using Wi-Fi 6 or earlier standards. The most up to date devices from Apple now support Wi-Fi 6E, as well as many of the latest Windows laptops and Android phones.
The future of the digital world is Wi-Fi 7, so we would expect a swift adoption of this new standard across wireless devices, especially laptops and phones with announcements of new devices supporting Wi-Fi 7 already appearing.
Wi-Fi 7 for Business Use
Now might be the time to consider making an investment in a new mesh system or Wi-Fi 7 supported router to help future-proof your wireless network and ensure you’ll have the most robust wireless performance for your business.
Whether you’re a small or large business, these environments can massively benefit from the new features that Wi-Fi 7 has to offer. Future proofing the connectivity of your business is critical.
As we’ve laid out above, you can improve performance and productivity through added capacity and bandwidth from Wi-Fi 7, supporting a greater number of wireless devices across your business.
If you’re responsible for the network of your business, then you’ll already know that there are many considerations to make:
Reliability
Security
Ease of deployment
It’s only natural as an IT manager, to be cautious of introducing any type of risk to a working environment. Therefore, the final certification of the Wi-Fi 7 standard earlier this year is important to guarantee a consistent feature set in all devices.
There are many areas of a business that will likely benefit from the enhanced performance that Wi-Fi 7 has to offer, like:
IP cameras
Access points
IoT devices
Business routers
Workers devices
Could Wi-Fi 7 improve efficiency across your entire business? Will you be investing in new Wi-Fi 7 supported devices for your business? Let us know what you think.
The tech world is always evolving and looking on to the next thing – To be better, quicker, stronger. Wireless and Wi-Fi technology is no different – We want to be able to access the best possible connection – Strong, reliable and fast.
So how does beamforming help with this?
What is Beamforming?
Beamforming makes Wi-Fi and 5G connections more precise by utilising the science of electromagnetic interference.
The original concept of beamforming has actually been around since the 1940’s. In current communication standards, this tech is playing a pivotal role in improving Wi-Fi and 5G among others.
When beamforming is used alongside MU-MIMO (Multi User Multiple Input, Multiple Output) tech, it can help users to boost their data speeds by accessing more precise connections.
How Does Beamforming Work?
Using Beamforming means that the resulting connection is faster and more reliable. It works by focusing a wireless signal to a specific receiving device. In this instance, the signal is more focused rather than being spread in all directions like, for example, a broadcast antenna.
Unless they are blocked by a physical object, electromagnetic waves from a single antenna will radiate in all directions. To specifically target a beam of electromagnetic energy in order to focus the signal in a certain direction, you can use multiple antennas close together to broadcast the same signal at slightly different times.
These overlapping waves will cause interference which can be good (cause the signal to be stronger) or bad (cause th signal to become weak or undetectable).
When done constructively and correctly, the electromagnetic waves can be focused to a specific direction – Beamforming.
We’re going to spare you the mathematics behind the process of beamforming – It’s extremely complex. If you’re a big maths geek you can look it up online and try and wrap your head around it.
We mentioned earlier that the actual technqiue of beamforming isn’t a new concept and has been around for over 80 years. Wi-Fi and 5G aren’t the only technologies that can benefit from beamforming – Any type of energy that travels in waves can use the concept, including sound.
Beamforming was originally developed to help in World War II by improving sonar and is still an important part of audio engineering today.
But let’s get back to our niche – Wi-Fi and 5G tech is where our interest in beamforming lies.
How does beamforming help Wi-Fi 6?
Wi-Fi 6 is the latest generation of Wi-Fi (also known as 802.1ax but thankfully now with improved naming via the Wi-Fi Alliance!). It succeeds the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard (now more aptly named Wi-Fi 5).
In terms of Wi-Fi standards, beamforming has actually been around since Wi-Fi 4 but seen improvements in both Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6. Beamforming uses MIMO technology to be able to send out multiple, overlapping signals.
Since 2016, the use of beamforming with Wi-Fi 5 meant that different receivers can work with different routers, hence making the beamforming techniques used in Wi-Fi equipment are vendor-neutral.
Beamforming can also be used alongside MU-MIMO technology, allowing multiple users to communicate simultaneously with multiple antennas on the router. Beamforming used in this way ensures that each of the connected clients are efficiently targeted by the router. Data rates and range for signals to specific clients are also improved with Wi-Fi 6 through the increased number of antennas (from 4 to 8).
What about Wi-Fi 7?
In the world of tech we’re always looking ahead to the next thing – So what about beamforming and WI-Fi 7? Unsurprisingly, beamforming will also be a core part of Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be).
Coordinated beamforming will use the capability of modern multi-antenna access points to spatially multiplex their stations, as well as making adjacent neighbouring non-associated stations void.
This technique can actually be used without beamforming via a joint multi-access point sounding scheme. However, a coordinated beamforming process can take advantage of a simpler sequential sounding procedure which will be a part of Wi-Fi 7.
As each station transmits and receives data to and from a single access point, coordinated beamforming does not require joint data processing. This helps diminish backhaul needs.
Whilst this limits complexity, it also delivers substantial throughput and latency enhancements.
Other improvements that we’ll see with Wi-Fi 7 and coordinated beamforming will hopefully include access to gigabit speeds and low-latency communications for more busineses and consumers in various applications.
How does beamforming help 5G?
With the prevalance of 5G increasing with the roll out of networks for smartphones and other WANs, we’ll be seeing beamforming as a core part of the new technology.
5G frequencies are unfortunately more prone to being disrupted by objects causing interference, like walls or other similar barriers for example. This is because 5G operates on the millimetre wavelength (mmWave) frequency.
Beamforming helps with this by creating a more reliable connection. It does by allowing the transmitter to focus the transmission in a specific direction, as explained above. This means the signal is directed towards, for example, a mobile device, vehicle or other IoT device.
Working with MIMO, beamforming can improve throughput and efficiency by directing beams from a 5G base station in both horizonal and vertical directions via large numbers of antennas.
What are the pros of beamforming?
Wi-Fi and 5G tech can really benefit from beamforming.
Information can be transferred quicker and with fewer errors because the signal is of a higher quality due to being focused in a specific direction
Users trying to connect to other signals can benefit from less interference because beamforming can reduce and even stop broadcasting in other directions
Are there any cons when it comes to beamforming?
Whilst beamforming can have benefits for wireless technology, some limitations can lie in the actual process of doing it.
Beamforming requires big computing resources. In some situations, the beamforming calculations would require time and power resources that could make the resulting benefits less worth it
Improving affordability means that beamforming techniques are being built into wireless equipment on the consumer market as well as enterprise-grade wireless hardware
For the best performance, the transmitter and receiver need to be quite close together. The further away the receiver is from the transmitter, the more the benefits diminish
It’s pretty clear to see that beamforming is a big part of the wireless world, especially in terms of Wi-Fi 6 (and 7) as well as 5G.
Towards the end of November, there was an IEEE 802.11 conference in Thailand taking a look at what will eventually come to pass as what we will know as Wi-Fi 8.
As with all things tech, things move at a quick pace as standards and technology advance. These meetings and conferences are important to discuss these advancements and how they affect and consolidate the next standard.
They are a great opportunity for members of the IEEE to not only raise questions but be a part of technical proposals, as well as see what is coming up next in the world of Wi-Fi.
New developments have the potential to affect things like certification and products, so it’s really useful to get insider knowledge.
So what happened at this latest meeting and what will it mean for Wi-Fi 8?
You might be thinking, wait – Do we even have Wi-Fi 7 yet? The Wi-Fi 7 certification program is expected to be rolled out in 2023. But as always, there is always the next standard waiting in the wings! Things are advancing all the time and the next tech development is always on the horizon.
Currently, we’re waiting for the 802.11be standards to be finalised. The latest IEEE meeting had a look at this with a view to getting some of the more intricate details all ironed out ready.
The specifications for Wi-Fi 8 will likely be determined by the UHR (ultra high reliability) study group that studies various proposals.
Will mainstream Wi-Fi use the 60 GHz spectrum in the future?
There will have been various technical presentations as a part of the IEEE meeting, with different contributors vying for different approaches to the next standard of Wi-Fi.
An interesting potential consideration for Wi-Fi 8 was the use of the 60 GHz spectrum within mainstream Wi-Fi. WiGig, based within IEEE 802.11ad/ay, isn’t a popular choice within mainstream Wi-Fi when it comes to products.
There are contributors that want to change this for the next gen standards, particularly in terms of integrating AR/XR/VR and the like on the 60 GHz band.
Not everyone was pro this idea, with other contributors raising the fact that the 60 GHz band had been lacking in success. Instead, they want the UHR to study another area of the spectrum – sub-7 GHz – And look for Wi-Fi improvements there.
Of course, these meetings are the prime place for these discussions, with a view to identifying the best course of action for the next generation of Wi-Fi standard, and where the most enhancements can be found.
The outcome of these discussions within the IEEE 802.11be meetings and the UHR studies will ultimately shape what we will come to know as Wi-Fi 8. Nothing has been finalised yet, but watch this space!
It feels like we’ve only recently been talking about Wi-Fi 6 being new on the internet scene, when up pops Wi-Fi 7! But actually, you might not know that the Wi-Fi 7 chipset infrastructure has actually already been available for a few months.
Not only that, but last month we also saw the release of the world’s first Wi-Fi 7 router. Powered by Qualcomm, this router is the H3C Magic BE18000 Tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router.
There’s not a great deal of information available yet as it’s so new, but look out for more from the China-based network technology vendor H3C for more announcements.
This new Wi-Fi 7 router can purportedly deliver 18.443 Gbps peak data rate (which explains the BE 18000 in the name..) on 3 bands.
What features will this new Wi-Fi 7 router support?
Due to it being powered by Qualcomm’s Networking Pro 1220 platform, the H3C Wi-Fi 7 router can support all the Wi-Fi 7 features you would expect it to, including:
320 MHz channels
4kQAM modulation
MLO
As the unit is tri-band, it is configured for 4×4 MU-MIMO on each of the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands.
When will we see Wi-Fi 7 devices available on the market?
During May, Qualcomm as well as another 2 major chipset vendors introduced their offering of Wi-Fi 7 chipsets for both the device side and network side.
As the prevalence of Wi-Fi 7 platforms increases, we’re likely to then start seeing Wi-Fi 7 devices appear on the market. We could be seeing Wi-Fi 7 enabled phones and laptops as early as the end of this year or early next year!
We wouldn’t be surprised if the most influential technology event in the world, CES, will see the launch of the first Wi-Fi 7 device in 2023.
Is Wi-Fi 7 certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance?
Before we get too carried away with all things Wi-Fi 7, it’s important to note that there is not currently any Wi-Fi 7 certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance. This means that even though the H3C Wi-Fi 7 router has been revealed, it cannot yet be certified as Wi-Fi 7.
So technically, it’s more accurate for us to say that the H3C Wi-Fi 7 router has been designed in line with the standard IEEE 802.11be.
But being the Wi-Fi geeks that we are – We are still pretty excited at the prospect of Wi-Fi 7 and a router that likely meets the upcoming features and specifications.
Watch this space!
Image from https://www.h3c.com/en/Products_Technology/Enterprise_Products/IntelligentTerminalProducts/Magic/BE18000/
Things move fast in the world of tech. We might only just be connecting to Wi-Fi 6, yet Wi-Fi 7 is already hovering in the background ready to arrive on the scene and bring us even more improvements. Before we’ve even had a chance to enjoy the most recent ones!
It’s only fairly recently that the Wi-Fi Alliance announced the certification for Wi-Fi 6E (or Wi-Fi 6 Extended). This joyful addition to the spectrum for unlicensed Wi-Fi was the first in 20 years! Yet even with this extra ability to give the 6 GHz band an advantage, the next generation of wireless technology is still on the way. And with the promise of even higher data rates and lower latency that the current offering!
Wi-Fi 7 (or 802.11be to be technically correct), in comparison to Wi-Fi 6, will:
Use multi-band/ multi-channel aggregation and operation
Deliver higher spectrum and power efficiency
Have better interference mitigations
Offer higher capacity density
Have higher cost efficiency.
As a result of the projected ability for it to support up to 30Gbps throughout, this seventh generation of Wi-Fi is also being referred to as Wi-Fi Extremely High Throughput. It will be approximately 3 times faster than Wi-Fi 6.
What are the enhancements of Wi-Fi 7 over Wi-Fi 6?
Wi-Fi 7 is purported to offer a number of better features. Some of the direct improvements over it’s Wi-Fi 6 precedent are:
The support of 320 MHz transmissions. In comparison to 802.11ax, this is double the 160 MHz it currently supports
The use of higher modulation orders, optionally supporting 4096-QAM. This is a significant increase from 802.11ax ‘s 1024-QAM
The allocation of multiple resource units, such as groups of OFMDA tones
Due to the last feature, Wi-Fi 7 will be the perfect option for enterprise spaces due to having more efficient spectrum utilisation across multiple resource units.
Organisations requiring the addition of AR/VR, Iot and IIoT as part of their workflow will find Wi-Fi 7 a useful tool in their digital transformations.
Applications that require deterministic latency (an upper limit to how long a signal takes to get from point A to point B), high reliability and quality of service will find that Wi-Fi 7 has the potential to support them.
And it’s not just the workplace that Wi-Fi 7 will prove beneficial. Due to Wi-Fi 7 being optimised for video, those who enjoy gaming and streaming at home will also enjoy the improvements. Any smart-home devices and services will likely feel enhanced with the new Wi-Fi standard.
The popularity of video is huge, and will only continue to grow. It is expected to become the dominant form of internet traffic (if it isn’t already). Cisco’s Visual Networking Index expected video traffic on a global IP scale would be 82% of all IP traffic by this year for both business and consumer.
When can we expect to get Wi-Fi 7?
The 802.11be amendment is expected to be published by IEEE in 2024. Commercial deployment of Wi-Fi 7 will likely be around the same time.
Following that, the Wi-Fi Alliance will then release the Wi-Fi 7 certification programme, just like with Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, which will ensure security standards and interoperability.
But in the interim, we’ll be enjoying what Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E has to offer! You can read more about this Wi-Fi standard in our previous blog post, if you’re wondering what all the fuss is about.
