What is WiFi 7? Most users do not pay attention to the equipment related to the Internet and wireless communications, and as a result, updating them is not a priority for them. For example, although Wi-Fi 6 routers were introduced in 2019, many users still do not use this technology. Although the technology has not yet been widely used, the industry is now moving towards WiFi 7.
The WiFi 7 standard is not much different from previous generations. For example, 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz frequency bands are still used. However, this new standard is supposed to increase communication stability. Here are all the important points related to WiFi 7.
What is WiFi 7?
The name of this standard is technically IEEE 802.11be, which indicates that it is a modification to the original 802.11be standard. This standard is also known as EHT, and its main focus is to improve many of the features added to previous standards, such as WiFi 6. For example, we can refer to “orthogonal frequency division multiple access” or OFDMA.
This feature is introduced in WiFi 6 and allows routers to manage more connected devices and use the available range more efficiently. The goal of WiFi 7 is to take productivity one step further with OFDMA coordination. Simply put, this is a data transfer technique that allows multiple wireless access points (APs) to communicate with each other and provide better performance for larger networks.
Like 5G Internet, Wi-Fi 7 aims to reduce latency for tasks such as streaming and gaming. The delay here only refers to the time it takes for the signal to travel back and forth from your router or access point to the device. For example, if you experience long pauses during video calls, you are probably familiar with this type of delay. Naturally, the farther you are from the signal source, the worse the latency. However, network congestion is one of the factors that can exacerbate this phenomenon.
In addition to taking advantage of multiple wireless access points, WiFi 7 reduces latency by using multiple frequency bands and channels simultaneously. This feature, called “multi-link operation”, improves network stability when the network is disrupted due to interference from external signals or even congestion of nearby devices.
Although increasing power or speed is not the main priority of WiFi 7, it achieves this goal thanks to the support of wider channels. Simply put, each of the main bands is divided into several smaller channels. For example, the 5 GHz band is offered in 45 smaller channels, each of which covers the range of 20 to 80 MHz.
The 320 MHz Wi-Fi 7 channels are theoretically much faster than the 7 160 MHz Wi-Fi 6 channels. Although not all devices support these bandwidth-based channels, they are ultimately applicable to some applications. Intel has announced that, in theory, WiFi 7 can offer a maximum speed of 46 Gbps. This is while the maximum WiFi theory speed reaches 6 to 9 Gbps.
Why do we need WiFi 7?
Most users now use WiFi 5 based gadgets that have been around for almost a decade. The much newer WiFi 6 and 6E have not yet been widely used in various gadgets. So why would the wireless industry want to introduce the next generation of WiFi standards? In answer to this question, we must say that in other areas, various innovations are constantly emerging that these technologies will benefit from the new generation and more WiFi facilities in the next few years.
Although video conferencing and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are relatively new at the moment, their popularity will increase in the coming years. This is especially important for organizations because in these companies sensors and monitoring equipment can provide more capabilities thanks to the increased capabilities of new WiFi standards. Millions of users around the world now also use devices such as speakers, lamps, and several other smart gadgets that are connected to the Internet or home network.
In this regard, WiFi 7 with features such as increased capacity and less latency and improved capabilities related to signal interference management can be a good platform to increase the productivity of various devices in the field of IoT. Although regular users may not initially benefit from the new WiFi 7 features, this standard will be important for users interested in technologies such as virtual reality and augmented as well as game streaming.
When will WiFi 7 be available to users?
It should be noted that Wi-Fi 7 is currently far from the promised specifications. In fact, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) has not even formally used the name WiFi 7 for the new generation of technology. According to published reports, the development process of this protocol will be completed in 2023 or 2024, and it is likely that a significant number of gadgets will benefit from this standard one or two years after this date.
On the other hand, although almost a year has passed since the final development of the 6E WiFi standard, many countries have not yet released the 6 GHz band for public use. Although the United States, Britain, and Europe have done so, Australia and Japan, for example, are still looking into the matter. India is one of the countries that has not yet taken any action in this regard.
All in all, WiFi 7 will only seriously enter the market when current standards are widely used. But given the slow pace of using the 6E Wi-Fi standard, it seems that we will have to wait several years to get the Wi-Fi 7.
Source: Android Authority
