You've probably been seeing more and more new phones, laptops, and routers advertised with Wi-Fi 7 since they started coming onto the market in 2023. While the new technology makes some big promises to improve on prior Wi-Fi generations, it's important to understand what improvements it brings to the table, how they affect the user experience, and what to expect.
The biggest new features that Wi-Fi 7 brings over Wi-Fi 6 are multi-link operation (MLO), preamble puncturing, and multiple resource units (MRUs). Optionally, manufacturers can include 320MHz channel widths and 4K-QAM modulation as well. While they might sound like technobabble, these features work to improve download and upload speeds, make Wi-Fi networks more stable and reliable, and handle congested wireless environments with lots of clients more effectively.
Read on to learn more about how these features work and what the most meaningful differences are between Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7.
Wi-Fi 6
Wi-Fi 6, also known as IEEE 802.11ax, was officially introduced in 2018. The two biggest improvements over Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) it brought to the table were OFDMA (orthogonal frequency-division multiple access) and 1024-QAM modulation. The former intends to improve transmission efficiency and throughput to a large number of simultaneous clients, while the latter is a modulation scheme that can increase transfer speeds by supporting a higher maximum raw bitrate between your device and the access point. There were also several smaller changes and features:Target Wake Time (TWT) allows devices to wake up at a specified time rather than waiting for the AP to transmit a signal. This can help improve battery life.
WPA3 security became mandatory.
While not new to Wi-Fi 6, 160MHz channel widths became more widely adopted.
Wi-Fi 6E allows for a 6GHz band
If interested, you can read about the full list of changes for Wi-Fi 6 on Wikipedia.
It's important to note that while Wi-Fi 6 routers are fully backward compatible with older devices, clients also need to be Wi-Fi 6 capable to benefit from the technology; otherwise, the protocol will revert to the lowest common denominator.
OFDMA
While Wi-Fi 4's MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) and Wi-Fi 6's OFDMA both increase throughput for multiple simultaneous clients, they work differently. The former uses a beamforming technique that leverages multiple antennas, while the latter partitions WLAN channels into sub-channels called resource units (RUs) for each connected client. Partitioning the WLAN channels means each device can receive data at the same time, improving performance on busy networks.
Wi-Fi 6E
Wi-Fi 6E is typically classified as a distinct protocol, but it's actually just Wi-Fi 6 extended into the 6GHz band. The advantage of all the additional spectrum means your devices are less likely to be subject to interference and noise on existing channels, and there are more contiguous channels available for 160MHz channel widths. In practice, this means your devices are more likely to connect to 160MHz channels, greatly increasing potential speeds. Importantly, Wi-Fi 6E requires dedicated hardware, so both your router/access point and client device need to support it in order to use the new spectrum.
Wi-Fi 7
Wi-Fi 7 has had a somewhat convoluted rollout. The original specification (IEEE 802.11be) was first drafted in 2021, with early routers available for sale in 2023. The Wi-Fi Alliance came out with its "Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7" program in early 2024 to verify compliant devices. The specification introduces several new features and improvements that aim to improve throughput and stability:Multi-Link Operation (MLO) simultaneously sends and receives data across multiple bands or multiple channels on the same band to improve reliability and throughput.
Flexible Channel Utilization/Preamble Puncturing is a feature that allows a portion of channel width to be blocked while the rest maintains a connection. This is useful in noisy wireless environments where there may be interference, allowing your device to use a 160MHz+ channel width non-contiguously.
Multiple Resource Units (MRUs) is a technology that builds upon OFDMA from Wi-Fi 6 and further improves efficiency with multiple client devices. Previously, each client was limited to one RU, but Wi-Fi 7 allows each device to be assigned to multiple RUs at the same time.
4096-QAM (4K-QAM) is a modulation scheme that allows a higher density of data to be transmitted, resulting in higher potential throughput.
240MHz and 320MHz channel widths on the 6GHz band allow for significantly higher throughput.
Like Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 7 routers are backward compatible with previous versions of Wi-Fi, but to fully take advantage of whichever spec, both the access point and the client need to be compatible with the same feature set.
Not All Wi-Fi 7 Devices are Equal
A critically important thing to understand about Wi-Fi 7 is that not all features listed above are mandatory for a device to be considered Wi-Fi 7. Of those features, 4K-QAM and 240/320MHz channel widths are optional, and so is the 6GHz band. This means that it's up to the device manufacturer to include these features, so it's especially important to do your research to see which features your devices support so you don't have any unpleasant surprises after purchasing.
