What is WiFi 7? When will WiFi 7 be released to users worldwide? These are the questions people search for when a new technology is about to reach users. WiFi 7 is the next era of wireless technology, even as WiFi 6 is not yet widely adopted. GPIT – IT solutions for every business.
What is WiFi 7?
Comparison of WiFi 7 with earlier WiFi generations
| WiFi 5 (802.11ac) | WiFi 6 (802.11ax) | WiFi 6E (802.11ax) | WiFi 7 (802.11be) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency | 5 GHz | Dual band (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz) | Tri-band (2.4, 5, 6 GHz) | |
| Bandwidth (channels) | 20, 40, 80, 80+80, 160 MHz | 20, 40, 80, 80+80, 160, 320 MHz | ||
| Access (multiplexing) | OFDM | OFDMA | ||
| Signal modulation | 256-QAM | 1024-QAM | 4096 (4K) QAM | |
| Antenna | DL MU-MIMO (4 x 4) | DL + UL MU-MIMO (8 x 8) | ||
| Security | WPA2 | WPA3 | WPA4 (TBD) | |
| Key improvements | Mandatory 40 MHz | TWT, BSS colouring, beamforming | Multi-Link Operation (MLO), multi-RU, puncturing | |
WiFi 7 (802.11be) is a standard built on the 802.11ax base. The features WiFi 7 will have are still being discussed and are expected to be finalised in 2024; some advanced features will surely appear in this next WiFi generation.
1. Very high theoretical speed
WiFi 7 is seen as doubling the bandwidth from 160 MHz to 320 MHz compared with the previous generation. WiFi 7 is also expected to use a new 4096 (4K) QAM modulation compared with the old 1024-QAM, for a theoretical speed 20% higher than the 1024-QAM used on WiFi 6.
2. Enhanced OFDMA
In WiFi 5, multi-channel access was OFDM; WiFi 6 upgraded to OFDMA, but it didn’t work very flexibly. Two issues: it only allocated one resource unit (RU), and it didn’t support direct client-to-client links – traffic had to go through the AP.
With enhanced OFDMA, the resource-unit transmission problems are solved. Each client is assigned more RUs, avoiding waste and bandwidth loss when there are few clients on the network. With WiFi 7, there are dedicated resources for direct-link operation: it sends a trigger frame to start a direct-link transmission without going through the AP. This improves efficiency and reduces latency when transmitting between clients on a high-density network.
