When To Welcome Wi-Fi 7: The Evolution of Wi-Fi Technology

Consumers today are constantly connecting to Wi-Fi—you’re probably using it right now. Globally, Wi-Fi is estimated to have a multi-trillion dollar value based on widespread use in enterprise, government, education, and residential markets. The reliance on Wi-Fi technology continues to fuel its development within the Wi-Fi Alliance®, which is on the cusp of ratifying the latest version, Wi-Fi 7.
 

Recent data shows that 86 percent of residential homes use Wi-Fi. So, what does this next-generation technology mean for broadband service providers (BSPs) and their subscribers?

When Is Wi-Fi 7 Available?

The Wi-Fi Alliance® anticipates final approval of Wi-Fi 7 in the second half of 2024. Development spanned over five years. Most important to BSPs and consumers is when products—such as PCs, mobile devices, media servers, gaming systems, printers, etc.—will incorporate the new standard and become generally available. This typically occurs after the date of ratification to protect against last-minute changes that could affect product development.
 

To achieve the full benefit of the new technology, connecting devices must support Wi-Fi 7. If the device uses a previous Wi-Fi standard, the performance and capabilities will be based on the earlier version. For example, a Wi-Fi 5 device accessing a Wi-Fi 6/6E gateway will be restricted to Wi-Fi 5 functionality.

What Is Different With Wi-Fi 7?

Wi-Fi 7 can produce 46+ Gbps in throughput—considerably more than its predecessor, Wi-Fi 6/6E, with a max of 9+ Gbps. This is due largely to an increase in channel width and spectrum efficiency. Wi-Fi 7 expands the channel width in the 5G and 6G spectrums to 320 MHz.
 

Think of this as two super-highways adding many more lanes of traffic (i.e., capacity) without having to expand the physical size of the roadway. Additionally, efficient channel use is accomplished by doubling the modulation technique—called 4K quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). Essentially, this technique compresses more data into the same-sized lane.
 

Wi-Fi 7 will drive other improvements as the device community evolves to deliver a better subscriber experience. The engineering community will forge ahead on the physics of the connection. Additional capabilities embedded in the Wi-Fi standard will help BSPs deliver an incredible service experience. For example, one connection sharing channels over multiple spectrums—or the ability to move a connection to a channel with more capacity to balance the device load. This is truly remarkable functionality.

Implementing Wi-Fi 7 With Calix

Calix has delivered Wi-Fi technology for years and understands the evolution of this important technology. Calix’s GigaSpire residential gateways and GigaPro systems fully support the current range of industry Wi-Fi standards and open standards, such as the Broadband Forum technical specifications TR-069 and TR-369. With backward compatibility, subscribers are assured their devices will continue to process data and deliver an unparalleled Wi-Fi experience.
 

In 2024 and beyond, Calix will continue to innovate our residential gateways and GigaPro systems, keeping current with industry standards to ensure competitiveness in the marketplace.

Download our infographic to learn more about the evolution of Wi-Fi and the benefits of Wi-Fi 7.