The Wi Fi Alliance has released a brand new version of their wireless technology, which boasts new features to enhance performance and increase connectivity across various environments.
Wi-Fi Certified 7 includes the following new features:
- In countries like the United States that have the Wi-Fi band at 6GHz, 320MHz channels are available, which allows for high speeds and multi-gigabit devices;
- Multi-Link Operation, or MLO, allows devices to transmit data and receive it simultaneously via multiple links, resulting in increased throughput and reliability.
- Transmission rates can be increased by using 4K Quadrature Amplification Modulation.
- 512 Compressed block ack to increase spectrum efficiency.
Kevin Robertson, Alliance President and CEO, said that the introduction of Wi-Fi certified 7 marked the emergence and mass adoption of Wi-Fi 7.
He added that “this certification underscores our unwavering commitment to deliver cutting edge technology that redefines how users experience WiFi by providing faster speeds and greater reliability. Wi-Fi can do more than ever before.”
Technology ‘Big Deal’
The Alliance believes that Wi-Fi 7, which is expected to be widely adopted by a wide range of devices, will quickly gain traction. In 2024, more than 233,000,000 devices are predicted to hit the market, and this number will grow to over 2.1 billion in 2028.
Dollars IDC The wireless LAN market is expected to reach $23 billion in 2027 with a 3% growth compounded annually over the next 5 years.
Brandon Butler is the research manager of IDC’s enterprise networks group. He told TechNewsWorld, “We expect consumers and businesses to begin deploying Wi-Fi 7 by the end of this year. And we will see a pretty substantial ramp-up in 2025 and beyond.”
Mark N. Vena (president and principal analyst, at SmartTech Research San Jose is located in California.
TechNewsWorld quoted him as saying: “Using advanced modulation schemes like 4K-QAM allows higher data rates to be transmitted.” Multi-User, Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MUMIMO) technology allows simultaneous data transmission from multiple devices. This improves overall network efficiency.
The introduction of Basic Set Coloration reduces interference and optimizes throughput in crowded environments.
Paradigm Shifter
Mike Leibovitz noted that MLO is a feature that should excite technologists because it alters the Wi-Fi operational characteristics. GartnerStamford-based research and advisory firm.
Multi-link enables a device connect to multiple radios of an access point, and simultaneously send data over all channels. Leibovitz, speaking to TechNewsWorld, said: “That’s an entirely new paradigm.”
Now I can connect the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios to a single Access Point. Now I have new characteristics for potentially more bandwidth, as well as lower latency, better roaming — a whole slew of characteristics that now increase significantly because I can use two channels simultaneously.”
He acknowledged that “This type of functionality is extremely complex.” Imagine trying to implement a feature of that complexity for thousands of different IT devices. It will be a long time before this feature is fully functional in the real-world.
It could take several years before it works correctly in production and enterprise environments,” he said.
What is the catalyst for AR/VR growth?
The Alliance noted that they expect smartphones, PCs and tablets to be among the first to adopt Wi-Fi 7. They also anticipate customer premises equipment and virtual and augmented reality (AR/VR), as well as CPE, to continue to gain market share.
Kristen Hanich added that “novel generative AI applications” which require high throughput speeds will benefit from WiFi 7. Parks AssociatesDallas is home to, a company that specializes in consumer technology.
As businesses increasingly adopt the internet of Things [IoT] She told TechNewsWorld that she was “very interested in the possibilities of machine vision using video cameras” and other devices. “These businesses require CPE that can handle all of these simultaneous connection.”
She continued, “The AR/VR industry has taken a long time to grow. However, there are opportunities with the faster speeds that allow for better performance in homes with multiple headsets.” Apple Vision Pro will be launched in early february, and we expect this market to grow.
Vena said that CPEs such as routers and modems benefit from WiFi 7’s advanced features, providing users faster and more reliable connection.
He continued: “In the AR/VR realm, where high throughput data and low latencies are critical for immersive experiences, Wi-Fi 7’s enhanced performance is a catalyst for its adoption.”
He said that the technology’s ability meet the demands of these applications makes it a transformative tool, driving early adoption both in CPEs as well as AR/VR equipment.
Additional Security
John Gallagher is the vice president of security at Cisco. While it’s too early to tell how Wi-Fi 7 compares with previous versions, certain aspects of this technology improve security. Viakoo Labs, a Mountain View, Calif.-based company that specializes in enterprise IoT cybersecurity.
He told TechNewsWorld that the Multi-Link Operation is the most important new security feature, as it uses a high-level MAC for encryption keys. “This is more secure because instead of three keys being used — one key for each of the possible radio bands being used — the devices only need to build one set of keys.”
“Deterministic latencies is another feature that stands out,” he added. “While it does address security directly, it provides a pathway for analyzing changes in that latency to determine whether the path is secure.”
“In general,” he continued, “the Wi-Fi control plane continues to migrate to the cloud. This brings along all of the cloud-related issues.” Wi-Fi 7 may provide an opportunity for companies to examine any cloud-based systems that are related.
Leibovitz’s advice to enterprises who can’t wait for Wi-Fi 7 is:
“We advise our clients not to rush into Wi-7. Right now, it’s still very early. “Some of the technology advancements are exciting. However, it will be a while before Wi-Fi 7 is widely available and has the correct functionality on both the device and the infrastructure side.”
He continued, “There is a lot buzz about Wi-7 right now.” “We would not advise you to rush into a new Wi-7 infrastructure as the benefits won’t be realized in the next 12-18 months. Wi-Fi 7, however, may not be fully realized for 36 months.