Monday, September 18th 2023
Intel Launches Wi-Fi 7 Chipsets Before the Official Standard Release
Intel today updated its ARK listings with two new networking chipsets: Wi-Fi 7 BE200 and Wi-Fi 7 BE202. The company unveiled IEEE 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) specification-based chipsets despite the standard still needing final ratification. The Wi-Fi 7 standard promises data rates as high as 40 Gbit/s, with Intel's BE200 chipset using 2x2 TX/RX streams with 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands. However, as demonstrated by the adapter's maximum speed of 5 Gbit/s, real-world implementations might not initially reach the theoretical maximum speed. Various motherboards, like the upcoming Gigabyte Aorus Z790 Master X, are already planning to integrate this technology, showing that the industry is getting ready for a Wi-Fi 7 world.
What makes Wi-Fi 7 especially interesting is its raw speed and underlying technology designed to improve efficiency and capacity. Features like Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) and Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), which were introduced in Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, are mandatory in Wi-Fi 7. These technologies aim to optimize the overall performance of wireless networks, making them more suitable for bandwidth-intensive tasks like AR and VR. While full certification for Wi-Fi 7 is not expected until 2024, with widespread adoption to follow, the technology looks poised to become a significant aspect of our wireless future.
Source:
Intel
What makes Wi-Fi 7 especially interesting is its raw speed and underlying technology designed to improve efficiency and capacity. Features like Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) and Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), which were introduced in Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, are mandatory in Wi-Fi 7. These technologies aim to optimize the overall performance of wireless networks, making them more suitable for bandwidth-intensive tasks like AR and VR. While full certification for Wi-Fi 7 is not expected until 2024, with widespread adoption to follow, the technology looks poised to become a significant aspect of our wireless future.
29 Comments on Intel Launches Wi-Fi 7 Chipsets Before the Official Standard Release
Definitely looking forward to this, 6E (for me) was a letdown.
It can handle a lot of bandwidth but the speeds are just meh.
Also, 4096 QAM is likely to be line of sight only.
The 320 MHz channel width might be doable outside the WiFi 6E countries finally, but it might be of questionable use.
For those interested in where you can use the wider channels on the 6 GHz band. So far Europe has one useable 320 MHz channel.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#6_GHz_(802.11ax_and_802.11be)
Also, it doesn't help that a lof of the bands are low power or ultra low power now, since with less transmit power, the signal reach just gets shorter and shorter.
It's really just for devices w/ weaker antennas, but I did notice the signal was a bit less generally speaking before installing it.
6Ghz definitely mainly bounces, leave a door open and it will get into more rooms due to bouncing... and if we switch to mmWave 5g 60Ghz.... cant go through a single sheet of paper.
Consequently, these modern standards have been able to be used as a form of radar...
With each generation of Wifi, the amount of lying grows exponentially.
I expect between 1-1.5 Gbps actual speed, with both devices almost touching each other and no other noise in that freq band.
If you move a few steps away, I expect 600-800 Bbps, and in 6Ghz band if you move to the next room I expect no signal at all. Or if there are any big objects in the way.
It's actually not a huge place, only a couple of rooms on each floor, so it got expensive to have full WiFi coverage. You tend to get around half of the claimed speed of WiFi, but in this case, they're taking about carrier grade equipment in an 8x8 or 16x16 type configuration, so not something anyone will have at home.
WiFi 6 already gets you around 800 Mbps in the same room, mostly due to the receving end being limited to 2x2, which is now "being solved" by increased QAM and wider channels, neither of which work well at any distance. Lower frequency = lower speeds or it needs a larger chunk of the frequency band, which eats up a wider chunk of the available band at lower frequencies, so that's a no go.
Besides, most of the lower frequency bands are already in use by something else that matters more than WiFi. Yeah, no, you're mixing up frequency bands and technology here.
802.11be/WiFi 7 is improving the 2.4 GHz band as well, not just the 5 and 6 GHz bands, so there are tangible benefits in all frequency bands, which is sort of the point of upgrading a router.
If it was all the same, just with added frequcy band, it would make no sense getting new hardware, but since the days of 802.11ac, a lot of things have been improved, especially if you use multiple wireless devices connected to a single WiFi AP/router.
I'm straight up referring to intels own picture posted above, referring to the dl speed per technology. wifi4 for end UE and wifi5 in regards to AP tput.
What wifi4 provides is enough for the home users on UE end, and on AP end wifi5 is enough. With wifi5 more than enough for normal home users.
MLO, MRU and increased QAM (which absolutely isn't useable for most home users) brings extremely little benefit for the home user.
WPA6 in wifi6 does through security.
What tangible benefit does this provide the normal home user? do provide one example
Even on 802.11n you'd be lucky to get a router that could deliver 300 Mbps, while most handheld devices could only receive at 72 Mbps or less, due to having 1x1 radios with a lot of limiations. I would say there have been huge benefits to consumers moving away from 802.11n, especially as airtime fairness works a lot better these days as well.
As for 802.11ac, we've gotten vastly improved handling of multiple devices once again, whereas the first generation of 802.11ac routers had sup-par processors that couldn't handle more than a couple of devices. Considering most consumers rely 100% on WiFi in their homes, I'd say the improvements to router SoCs have made the 5 GHz band useful, unlike what it was in the early days. MU-MIMO, but maybe more imporantly beamforming has made WiFi signals more reliable, at least if you have a good enough router and enough client devices.
I recently had to upgrade my old Netgear R7800 which had been a solid router for many years and as such went from 802.11ac Gen 2 to 802.11ax and I could see an improvement both in range and signal quality, as well as speeds, but you don't care about that so... but most people do, at least if they have eithe a fast enough internet connection or shuffle things around their network, to say a NAS for backup.
I suggest you have a read over here, even though he doesn't add much content any more, there are some good technical articles that explains the improvements that have been done to WiFi over time.
www.smallnetbuilder.com/
Wireless is so much more complex than anyone gives it credit for. From ptp cones (los isnt enough) to wifi being half duplex and understanding why. Its understandable that most consumers just go "buy new router" but there is so much more to understanding what is actually happening.
Wireless architecting is an entire specialization of networking and for good reason.
We had a really nice jump when we moved from N to AC access points, it was less about speed and more about the improved connection quality due to MIMO tech advances.
That's why I mentioned wifi4 with possibly being a bit on the low end. With very specifically saying wifi5 is more than enough for most home users almost like I mentioned wifi5 (and mentioned wifi4 on UE end, you do know what that refers to?) .... you're also mentioning early/cheap processing issue, which is unrelated to the standard.... Router SoC is under the standards... that's new to me :)
"good enough" most uses whatever outdated shit that the ISP provides (yes it often is, maybe not on HW level yet, but don't trust it to be FW updated:) ) or they just buy whatever is recommended ether by ISP, tech store or consumer-tech sites (ie not enthusiast-sites)
literally non in the link is relevant. that is close to (or is) enthusiast level congrats on new gear. Thanks for putting word in my mouth (my fattening).
Most people don't "shuffle things around their network" or have a NAS. do you visit tech websites too much?
most people use their internet to watch streaming services, surf various website and gaming. non of which is particular heavy in the amount used by a normal household.
oh wow, my new fancy router can download my bank service or email an unnoticeable amount faster.
again, which of the Wifi7 gives tangible benefit for the average normal home user?
30G download speed... wow... 5G in UE dl speed.... big wow...
MLO and MRU (just a carrier for speed. and also WTF wifi is slow af on radio standards) (also means multiple radio AP's...)
higher QAM is also just a carrier for higher speed, and that high is weak af
Im not sure what intel puts under "Managed QoS", but flexible channel utilization and better channel sounding sounds good if you're in apartment complex.
etisoftware.com/resources/blog/report-average-u-s-internet-speed-is-42-86-mbps/
www.europeandatajournalism.eu/internet-speed-in-europe/#:~:text=Internet%20performance%20in%20Europe%20has%20improved%20dramatically%20between,by%2044%20percent%2C%20from%2032%20to%2046.2%20Mbps.
www.speedtest.net/global-index
wow, the Gbps speed in wifi7 sure sounds useful for the average normal home user.
Good enough is mostly because most people have no idea how their router/WiFi works, which seems to include you.
This is why people are shocked at how much better their "internet" got when they got a new router, without changing anything with regards to their internet connection.
Swapped out my parents router some years ago, as they had a POS old 802.11n router and did nothing else and they thought they'd gotten an "internet" upgrade. Then you learnt nothing. If you don't care, then why are you here making an angry rant?
Do I visit tech websites too much? I write news here so you go figure...
I know loads of people that have a NAS at home for backup, so yes, people do actually do that.
A router wouldn't download shit, but a good router with stable signal would make the experience much better for sure. I'm sorry you live in a country with slow internet, but I can get Gigabit speed if I want to pay for it, as can most people in the Nordics and Asia, despite what you've provided as "proof".
The data from Speedtest is an average from everyone that has tested their connection and really doesn't mean much, except possibly that most people don't want to spend too much on their internet connection.
What's the point of your angry rant though? Why are you angry that there's a new WiFi standard that's faster, since no-one is forcing you to use it?
The whole point of modern routers is that they're much better at handling mulitple devices, something that simply wasn't possible with older routers, but I guess that doesn't matter to you either?
Have a look at the Speedtest thread here and you'll see that there are plenty people with a fast internet connection.
www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/post-your-speedtest-net-speeds.101525/