In the tech field, updates usually mean better and faster, and Wi-Fi is no exception. The latest standard, Wi-Fi 7, is about to be released, promising significant advantages in speed and reliability. This is easy to understand, but it also offers more specific technical benefits, with notable improvements in some key areas compared to Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E.
The Final 802.11be Standard Is Coming Soon
Before diving deeper, we need to understand one simple fact: Currently, the final 802.11be Wi-Fi 7 revision has not yet been released by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Before its official release, all these features and specifications are just expected to arrive on schedule, and most standards may be realized, but there could also be some changes or even new features added.
Many proposed changes have been circulated in a paper published by the IEEE, which can be viewed by clicking “Read Original” (PDF) at the end of this article. Other details are provided by companies like Qualcomm, Intel, and MediaTek, which are involved in hardware development and the standards they will use.
Wi-Fi 7 Has Extremely High Throughput
Wi-Fi 7, also known as 802.11, boasts extremely high throughput. No one would want to use a longer name, but the suffix “be” may appear in some specifications, just as 802.11ax did for Wi-Fi 6, so it’s worth remembering.
Wi-Fi 7 will be backward compatible with previous Wi-Fi standards, so we don’t have to worry about Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E devices not working properly on new Wi-Fi 7 routers. The same goes for Wi-Fi 7 compatible client devices, which can connect without issue to older Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 5 access points.
Currently, we are still in the so-called “draft” phase of Wi-Fi 7, but certified products are expected to start appearing sometime in 2024. However, based on the draft specifications, we may see some hardware released early in 2023, most of which should be compatible with the final version. If you are concerned about purchasing the “wrong” Wi-Fi 7 hardware, it might be wise to delay your purchase. Now that we have a basic understanding of Wi-Fi 7 and its timeline, let’s delve deeper into the changes this new version of Wi-Fi brings.
Wider Channels, Faster Speeds
The main change in Wi-Fi 7 may be the expansion to 320 MHz channels in the 6 GHz band. This might seem like a bunch of numbers to many, but here’s a very real and significant conclusion: Generally, wider channels mean a broader connection between client devices and routers, which translates to faster speeds. Doubling the channel size means a theoretical throughput of up to 9.6 Gbps, which is twice that of Wi-Fi 6E, but combined with other technologies we will discuss later, it could actually be even faster.
According to the IEEE, Wi-Fi 7 should allow “at least 30 Gbps per AP” and speeds that are about four times that of Wi-Fi 6. MediaTek estimates a performance increase of about 36 Gbps for Wi-Fi 7, while Intel believes it could reach 46.1 Gbps. These are theoretical maximums you will never see in real-world environments. Nevertheless, the smaller, more realistic portion we will benefit from will be a significant upgrade over Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. This expansion applies only to the new 6 GHz frequency, which is part of Wi-Fi 6E’s 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies, which will still use a maximum of 40 MHz and 160 MHz channels, respectively. However, due to other improvements in Wi-Fi 7, even these lower frequencies and smaller channels can operate faster.
Lower Latency
The “old” Wi-Fi 6 standard made significant strides in reducing latency for client devices, but as AR and VR become increasingly popular buzzwords (they still lack a “killer app”), even double-digit millisecond latency is a concern. If you are streaming VR content from the edge, the lower the motion-to-photon latency (MTP latency) describing the delay from AR motion to the visual changes responding to it, the better. Wi-Fi 7 does not significantly reduce “normal” latency, but it aims to minimize worst-case latency.
As we can see from the chart above, Wi-Fi 7/802.11be should significantly reduce worst-case latency. This compression is achieved through several methods, such as coordinated beamforming and parameterized spatial reuse. Without going too deep, these small techniques can improve extreme situations where latency might spike, and they can also enhance reliability and throughput—leading to faster speeds. Multi Resource Units (MRU) are the next technology we will discuss that also offers latency improvements in certain cases.
MRU
Wi-Fi 6E provided consumers with a new set of video streaming frequencies, which is especially convenient in densely populated urban environments where the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands are nearing saturation. Essentially, the entire original forest of this spectrum is now available for gadgets to connect, but it is not completely empty. Like other frequencies that might be used for certain purposes, there are so-called “incumbents” that have been using it for other applications.
According to Cisco, these incumbents include point-to-point fixed service links, satellite services, television broadcasting, and even radar. Extending the forest metaphor a bit too far, there are some angry bears there that you do not want to encounter and interfere with on your 6 GHz Wi-Fi journey. Enter: Multi-RU/system puncturing.
According to Cisco, these existing services include point-to-point fixed service links, satellite services, television broadcasting, and even radar. Extending the forest metaphor a bit too far, there are some angry bears you do not want to trip over and interfere with on your 6 GHz Wi-Fi journey. Enter: Multi-RU/MRU puncturing.
This simple little technology divides operational channels into subchannels in 20 MHz blocks. It can then use a safety buffer to partition any existing usage while still maintaining the channel it belongs to, rather than completely shutting down the entire channel. So if existing usage interferes with the use of those large 320 MHz channels, your router can automatically “isolate” those parts and make good use of the remaining large channels without having to exclude them or revert to smaller channel sizes (and lower speeds). To finally destroy that forest metaphor, this means containing the bears as much as possible rather than completely ignoring large areas of forest because there might be one in there.
MRU can also reduce latency in scenarios where multiple uploads occur simultaneously. They do not have to be queued in order to prevent devices from talking to each other; they can operate on different sub-frequencies. Wi-Fi 6 can do this, but it further optimizes operations when the lengths of uploaded data vary.
Up to 16×16 (CMU-?) MIMO
Wi-Fi has supported Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) for some time, but Wi-Fi 6 made significant changes to it. Previously, MIMO was only used to expand the pipe size to each device. Starting with Wi-Fi 6, it can be used to allow multiple devices to communicate simultaneously with access points on different pipes—this is known as Multi-User MIMO, or MU-MIMO.
Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi can handle up to 8 data streams (8×8 MIMO), but Wi-Fi 7 will expand this to up to 16 data streams, or 16×16 MIMO. As usual, more pipes = faster speeds, so there is a speed boost here, but it also means more devices will be able to communicate with the router at the same time. For example, this could mean fewer problems with synchronized screen streaming and more people gaming without latency, improving the reliability of IoT and smart home devices while reducing latency.
The IEEE did not mention this in its Wi-Fi 7 white paper, but early in the planning cycle for Wi-Fi 7, there were plans to make MIMO work better across multiple access points in what is known as Coordinated Multi-User MIMO (CMU-MIMO). The benefits here are less clear, but it sounds like it should reduce interference in crowded areas with multiple access points and improve speed and reliability for individual devices. However, it is unclear whether this will ultimately be part of Wi-Fi 7.
Multi-Link Operation
Multi-Link Operation (MLO) will do what many might think Wi-Fi already does—it will use multiple sets of frequencies simultaneously. We don’t just mean having your router transmit on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz frequencies as access points for client devices. We mean allowing a single client device to access access points on the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz channels simultaneously.
The obvious benefit here is speed. Two large pipes are better than one large pipe for pulling data, and connecting to multiple pipes opens them up simultaneously. According to Intel, this could lead to a 7.2 times maximum aggregated data rate compared to Wi-Fi 6.
Like almost everything else in Wi-Fi 7, this also provides latency advantages. If a device stays connected across multiple bands simultaneously, then there is no latency when it has to switch based on load balancing or traffic demands between them. It is already connected without having to wait tens or hundreds of milliseconds to switch between them. It can also improve worst-case latency in heavier network loads by increasing so-called “opportunities for transmission.”
Other Benefits of Wi-Fi 7
Wi-Fi 6E introduced Automatic Frequency Coordination (AFC), which is how we can use this new 6 GHz spectrum for Wi-Fi without interfering with existing usage. AFC means lowering transmission power in areas where radar or other broadcast sources are still using these frequencies to prevent interference. But in areas with no existing uses, power transmission levels can be increased. Again, this is “old” and first debuted with Wi-Fi 6E. However, according to the IEEE, Wi-Fi 7 will expand the number of devices that can use AFC, thereby enhancing signal strength and connection reliability for more devices.
4K Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (4K QAM) is also not new. Some Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E devices from companies like Qualcomm supported this technology in the past, but it will become standard in Wi-Fi 7. Essentially, QAM is a method of compressing more data into the same signal—multiplexing, essentially. If you look at the so-called “constellation” of the modulation waveform, it becomes very interesting, visually showing how much information you can push in there.
This visual is for fiber optics, but the idea is similar. More points mean more individual phases and amplitudes in the signal, allowing more data to be packed in.
Wi-Fi 6 provides 1K QAM, which essentially means you can pack 1,024 amplitude phases into a carrier signal, while Wi-Fi 7 will allow 4,096 amplitude phases. The increase does not equate to a linear performance boost. According to Litepoint, the negotiated data rate peak should increase by 20% compared to 1K QAM, or a maximum connection speed increase of 20%.
Other changes are also underway to benefit congested networks or multi-access point networks, as well as potential limited target wake time adjustments that allow networks to reserve capacity for specific use cases at specific times, inherited from the IoT-targeted Wi-Fi HaLow standard—potentially very suitable for industrial and enterprise use.
Wi-Fi 7 TL;DR
Many of these acronyms and numbers ultimately signify the same thing: Wi-Fi 7 will be faster and more reliable. We have circled around from the big-picture effects to individual reasons, but now you know why it will be better in these aspects. We can start throwing out some other numbers that you might be more directly excited about: Wi-Fi 7 should be about 4 times faster than Wi-Fi 6 and 6E compatible devices may see better, more reliable connections in crowded areas and previously troublesome spots. If you use VR, worst-case latency numbers will go down, and you may notice better streaming performance for AR/VR.
We should still remember that things are changing until the final version of the Wi-Fi 7 specification is released. In the draft phase, we may also see the addition of other benefits or some of these technologies ultimately being removed. For instance, CMU-MIMO was a “maybe” for Wi-Fi 7 around 2020 and 2021 but was not directly mentioned in the IEEE’s 2021 white paper. However, we are confident that technologies that should succeed will see significant improvements in connection speed and reliability with Wi-Fi 7, along with greatly improved latency in extreme cases.
For some, there may even be a rush to upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 once it lands. If you are very interested in AR and VR, the gains in worst-case latency could be significant and even observable in some applications. If you have a lot of smart home hardware or existing congestion issues in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies, and you skipped Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, then it might be time to upgrade your router to Wi-Fi 7. If you wait a year or two after the first models hit the market, the prices of Wi-Fi 7 hardware should start to drop, making it a more accessible option. (For example, some Wi-Fi 6E mesh systems cost over $1,000 when that technology first debuted, but prices have since dropped.)
The Wi-Fi standard is becoming increasingly complex, and the combination of small technologies and functional improvements will bring cumulative benefits. Now that some of these changes have been clarified, you know more about how and why Wi-Fi 7 is faster and better, allowing you to decide when and if it is worth planning an upgrade. If you are considering upgrading your smart home devices after purchasing a Wi-Fi 7 router, you will need to learn more about the Matter IoT standard.
