Earlier this year a new type of Wi-Fi showed up on the block. It’s better, faster, and flashier than other Wi-Fi standards, but what exactly is a Wi-Fi standard? And what is Wi-Fi 7 exactly?
Most importantly, does your business need to upgrade to it?
We’ve got answers to all these questions in this week’s post.
What Is Wi-Fi 7?
Wi-Fi 7 is the newest Wi-Fi standard, also known as IEEE 802.11be. It’s the seventh generation of Wi-Fi and was just formally launched in January 2024 as Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7™ from the Wi-Fi Alliance®.
It promises to bring substantially higher speeds, better connectivity, and all sorts of other benefits compared to the last generation (Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6e), like lower latency, support for using multiple simultaneous bands, and seamless support for a new National Security & Emergency Preparedness (NSEP) service.
There are tons of other really technical updates and upgrades over previous generations of Wi-Fi, including better use of a wider set of frequencies across three frequency bands.
In short, Wi-Fi 7 is the newest type of Wi-Fi. It’s far more capable and powerful than any previous type — but that doesn’t automatically mean you should make the switch just yet. (More on that in a minute.)
What the Heck are Wi-Fi Standards?
Good question.
Think of a Wi-Fi standard as a sort of language. For Wi-Fi to work as seamlessly as it does, all the hardware involved needs to be speaking the same language. Routers, laptops, smartphones, printers, and even refrigerators: if it’s gonna use Wi-Fi, it has to know the language to speak.
Or, for the gamers out there, you could think of a Wi-Fi standard as a particular console generation. Playstations are all the same category of device (game console) and do the same category of things (play games). But the technology inside the original Playstation from the 1990s is, er, very different than what’s in today’s Playstation 5.
You may remember a decade-plus ago when there was lots of talk of 802.11b vs 802.11g vs 802.11n, and so on. Panera used to boast about having super fast and (then) modern Wi-Fi for its guests, boasting about their 802.11b speed. But new protocols kept coming, bringing faster and faster speeds until Panera’s “boast” started to make them look downright dated.
So what happened to Panera’s old Wi-Fi (they’ve made upgrades since then) and your old Playstation or Nintendo? The technology that used to be, well, the standard, is now old-fashioned, slow, and not all that capable. It can’t keep up with the demands of modern technology (and modern technology users).
The reason we have different Wi-Fi standards is that technology keeps getting better. Eventually, we sort of outgrow the current technology, and we need something that can do more.
Wi-Fi 7 is the latest something-that-can-do-more.
Should Your Business Adopt Wi-Fi 7? Probably Not Yet.
There’s little question that Wi-Fi 7 is the future standard. In the coming years, businesses will move to it and start enjoying the benefits.
But for most businesses, it’s still really early to make the switch to Wi-Fi 7.
That’s because making the switch to Wi-Fi 7 means switching to hardware (like your Wi-Fi routers) that speaks the language. The first of those only started hitting the market last year, and they’re far from ubiquitous.
And it’s not just the devices facilitating Wi-Fi 7 that need upgrading; it’s also the devices that will be using Wi-Fi 7. And those aren’t exactly widespread yet.
For example, Apple didn’t even start including Wi-Fi 6E support in its iPhones until the very latest release, the iPhone 15 Pro. The same goes for Macs, which didn’t get this support until 2023 or 2024 depending on the model. (No Apple products can “speak” Wi-Fi 7 yet as of April 2024.)
Unless your entire fleet of hardware is brand-new (2024), then it can’t take advantage of Wi-Fi 7. And even some brand-new hardware still won’t have this capability.
One Scenario Where Upgrading Makes Sense
There is one scenario where you should consider upgrading: if you’re renovating your office or revamping your network, it could be a smart move to install routers and other infrastructure that supports Wi-Fi 7. That way, when the standard starts becoming standard in consumer and business devices, you’ll be ready.
But for now? Don’t upgrade just to upgrade. There’s plenty of time before that becomes a real need.