Wi-Fi 7 Heaven or Wi-Fi 7 Deadly Sins
Published: February 28, 2023
Recently, I had the opportunity to expand on this topic during a 55-minute speaking session at the Wireless LAN Professionals Conference (WLPC) in Phoenix. In my presentation, I explored some of the potential benefits and challenges of this new technology. I also discussed timelines for when we might see both consumer-grade equipment (2023) and enterprise gear (2024).
Wi-Fi 7 offers many possibilities with its exciting features, and it's important to be aware of how this new technology can benefit us. In my opinion, some features hold more promise in the enterprise than others, such as multi-link operation (MLO) and static puncturing. However, as I discussed, the most significant thing happening in Wi-Fi right now remains the recent availability of the 6 GHz spectrum. While Wi-Fi 7 will offer both consumer-grade and enterprise features, the real value will come when these features are able to also thrive by harnessing the pristine bandwidth of the 6 GHz spectrum.
In the meantime, it's important to remember that Wi-Fi 6E is the foundational generation of Wi-Fi that offers 6 GHz connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 will be the next generation that leverages this technology, followed by Wi-Fi 8 and other future generations of Wi-Fi. If you're interested in learning more about Wi-Fi 7 and its potential impact, please take a moment to watch the video of my speaking session titled "Wi-Fi 7 Heaven or Wi-Fi 7 Deadly Sins," at the WLPC conference.