To write this article, I began by counting how many devices I had at home that used WiFi.
As a gadget hound, I figured that the number would be on the high side, but not too high because I haven’t invested in too many Internet of Things devices.
I guessed seven. Maybe 10.
And I was right… Until I counted everyone else in the house.
A household of four, meaning five phones, several tablets and smart TVs, a few security cameras (so don’t get too inspired by this list), laptops, e-readers, a game console or two, somehow a few watches too.
We were pushing 30, maybe 40 devices.
You might be tempted to ask, “Surely you’re not using them all at the same time right?”
Not all no, but enough of them to cause noticeable traffic on the home network, causing games and video streaming to lag, or in the extreme, devices to be bumped off the WiFi.
No one likes laggy TV or getting taken out of an online game because of latency, let alone dropping out of a vital work call because of WiFi issues.
And so the WiFi 6 standard, released in 2019, was birthed to address our device-dense future.
However, it had its own share of troubles solidifying, requiring a mid generation step up to WiFi 6E in 2021.
Thankfully, WiFi 7 is around the corner, consolidating the gains of WiFi 6 and 6E, and implementing technically challenging solutions.
Images via TP-Link
While TP-Link has great resources that dive deep into what’s changing, it's very technical reading (for mere mortals that is).
So I did the reading to cut through the jargon and came up with a list of seven things to know about WiFi 7, and why you should be thinking about upgrading to it.
1) WiFi 7 is faster
In fact, it’s 4.8 times faster.
WiFi 6 capped out at 9.6 Gbps, which seems pretty fast (I remember the fanfare around the arrival of the megabit internet - ah, fun days).
Images via TP-Link
If you haven’t bought a new router since before 2019, you’ll see an over 13x increase in speed, as WiFi 7 runs at 46 Gbps.
2) More bands
If you’ve set up a WiFi router in the past five years, you’d have noticed that you have to set up two bands.
This means that you regularly see in your home or around the workplace two wifi channels to connect to, a “Home WiFi 2Ghz” and a “Home WiFi 5 Ghz”.
This is because the WiFi 6 standard expanded frequency bands, essentially opening more “space” for devices to connect to a router.
WiFi 6E, the midstep between WiFi 6 and 7 added a third band, a 6 Ghz band to the network, something that WiFi 7 also does, but it also refines it because:
3) The bands work together
WiFi 7 changes the way devices communicate with the WiFi router.
So rather than treating the 2, 5, and 6 Ghz bands as individual “lanes” to send data over, WiFi 7 allows them to work together.
That means that a device will see WiFi 7’s bands as one big road, rather than three parallel ones.
4) The bands are more flexible
TP Link describes standards such as Multi-RU (Resource Unit) and Preamble Puncturing.
Images via TP-Link
The TL;DR version of what this means is that WiFi 7 more intelligently handles data traffic within the WiFi network, utilising resources that previously went unused, or were blocked by other connections.
5) Doubling Capacity
WiFi 6 utilised what is known as 8X8 MU-MIMO, where WiFi 7 doubles that to 16X16 MU-MIMO.
Images via TP-Link
MU-MIMO basically refers to devices sending and receiving data over the wifi network, and the 8X8 refers to the number of spatial streams (think like lanes on a road) that could be used to send that data.
WiFi 7, simply put, doubles the number of those streams, from eight to 16.
6) Latency
WiFi has displaced wired internet connections entirely, especially in homes.
But for many dedicated gamers, WiFi simply has too many drawbacks, chief amongst them being latency, especially when dealing with fast response games like shooters.
As a result, many, including myself, chose wired connections instead (and believe me, I needed all the help I could get).
WiFi traffic also tends to get bunched up between device and router, with lots of pieces of data waiting for permission to travel between the two.
That waiting period, while fractions of a second long, is not imperceptible - that is what we experience as lag.
Images via TP-Link
To counter this, WiFi 7 offers Multi-Link Operation (MLO), meaning your data is no longer restricted to single lanes.
Where previously large pieces of data were essentially prioritised the same as small pieces, WiFi 7 changes prioritisation so that more data can pass through the network at the same time.
TP-Link claims 100x better latency in the worst case, compared to WiFi 6.
This not only means less lag when blasting enemies online, it also allows for smoother video streaming, especially at higher resolutions, such as 4k and 8k.
7) Everything, everywhere, all at once
Each individual situation cited above improves particular aspects of the WiFi experience, and WiFi 7 is notable for seeing the improvements work in unison in order to increase user experience across the board.
It's not just for homes
While it's easy to see where homes might benefit from WiFi 7, the standard will also improve experiences for businesses.
Whether it's a terminally online content company whose lifeblood is the internet (hint: Mothership) or a poor counter staff at a popular cafe who has customers constantly complaining about how terrible the WiFi is (hi, past me), WiFi 7 has clear workplace benefits too.
And this is to say nothing to the more complex, high tech operations, that are likely already planning their WiFi 7 strategies.
The standard is not quiiiiiiite there yet, as there are still other things to be finalised, which is due to be ready early 2024.
But TP-Link already offers a range of routers that are WiFi 7 compliant, with any changes in standard to be adjusted via firmware update to the router.
WiFi 7 feels like a larger step forward than WiFi 6, and hopefully represents maturity and stability in the WiFi standard, especially with some consumers who, having seen the buzz about WiFi 6 and 6E, are now wondering what the buzz is about.
If you want to know more, or check out some TP-Link WiFi 7 routers, follow this link.
This sponsored article by TP-Link made this author sit down and count how many devices he has in his home. He may have a problem.
Top image via Tan Min-Wei