Tuesday, January 9th 2024
The Wi-Fi Alliance Introduces Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 is here, introducing powerful new features that boost Wi-Fi performance and improve connectivity across a variety of environments. Cutting-edge capabilities in Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 enable innovations that rely on high throughput, deterministic latency, and greater reliability for critical traffic. New use cases - including multi-user AR/VR/XR, immersive 3-D training, electronic gaming, hybrid work, industrial IoT, and automotive - will advance as a result of the latest Wi-Fi generation. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 represents the culmination of extensive collaboration and innovation within Wi-Fi Alliance, facilitating worldwide product interoperability and a robust, sophisticated device ecosystem.
Wi-Fi 7 will see rapid adoption across a broad ecosystem with more than 233 million devices expected to enter the market in 2024, growing to 2.1 billion devices by 2028. Smartphones, PCs, tablets, and access points (APs) will be the earliest adopters of Wi-Fi 7, and customer premises equipment (CPE) and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) equipment will continue to gain early market traction. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 pushes the boundaries of today's wireless connectivity, and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED helps ensure advanced features are deployed in a consistent way to deliver high-quality user experiences.
Advanced features include:
Companies including Broadcom, CommScope RUCKUS Networks, Intel, MaxLinear, MediaTek, and Qualcomm form the test bed for certification and are among the first Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 devices.
Industry support for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7
"Airties looks forward to supporting broadband service providers' plans to launch new Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 devices to their subscribers. Wi-Fi 7 provides unprecedented capacity and spectrum efficiency to support far more connections and immersive applications. By embracing Smart Wi-Fi software that is truly standards-based, open-source, and hardware agnostic, ISPs can gain maximum flexibility and control over subscribers' home broadband experience. With Airties' Smart Wi-Fi, ISPs will be positioned to optimize the performance of both Wi-Fi 7 and legacy devices to improve QoE, drive incremental revenue, reduce customer support costs, reduce churn, and serve as a platform for future innovation." - Metin Taskin, Co-CEO, Airties
"Boingo has been a Wi-Fi leader for over two decades, and this leadership will continue as we pioneer Wi-Fi 7 deployments and leverage Wi-Fi 7 CERTIFIED equipment. Wi-Fi 7 promises to usher connectivity into the next phase of digital innovation, delivering unprecedented speeds and capacity. Together with 5G, Wi-Fi 7 will drive digital transformation for Boingo's customers at military bases, airports, transit hubs, stadiums, hospitals, hotels and enterprises worldwide." - Dr. Derek Peterson, Chief Technology Officer, Boingo Wireless
"Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 has arrived, bringing lower latency, blazing fast speeds, determinism and high capacity to homes, enterprises and large public venues. Built for our ultra-connected world, Broadcom's Wi-Fi 7 solutions deliver reliable multi-gigabit broadband connectivity to where it is needed most. We are honored to once again participate in the test bed and collaborate with industry peers to revolutionize the wireless experience by launching features like Multi-Link Operation (MLO), which avoids congestion and significantly lowers latency, laying the foundation for a digitally immersive and connected world." - Vijay Nagarajan, Vice President of Marketing, Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division, Broadcom Inc.
"RUCKUS Networks has always been at the forefront of enterprise Wi-Fi innovation. We are honored to be the only commercial Wi-Fi AP vendor selected to be included in the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 AP test bed. RUCKUS, a longtime collaborator of Wi-Fi Alliance, is proud to have actively participated in multiple Wi-Fi 7 plug fests to ensure interoperability with a variety of Wi-Fi 7 client devices and to accelerate Wi-Fi 7 market adoption. RUCKUS looks forward to working with Wi-Fi Alliance in the future to continue delivering Wi-Fi technology innovations." - Bart Giordano, SVP & President, Networking, Intelligent Cellular and Security Solutions, CommScope
"Over the past two and a half decades, Wi-Fi has revolutionized the way we interact and function as a society. It stands as the foremost technology for daily connectivity. We are still at the dawn of the 6 GHz era, heralded by Wi-Fi 6E and we are poised to unlock unprecedented wireless user experiences. Wi-Fi 7, which is the next step of this evolution, signifies more than an incremental upgrade—it's a leap into a realm where speed, capacity, and reliability converge to meet the insatiable demands of our connected world." - David Coleman, Director of Wireless in the Office of the CTO, Extreme Networks
"Congratulations to Wi-Fi Alliance for the launch of the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7. Intel-powered PCs and IOT products with Wi-Fi 7 will enable multi-gigabit speeds with wired-like responsiveness and new extreme levels of connection reliability. Ecosystem collaboration and interoperability are essential to help deliver on these expectations. We are delighted that our new Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 solution has been officially certified and included in the program test bed to help make great user experiences possible with other Wi-Fi 7 devices." - Eric A. McLaughlin, VP & GM Wireless Solutions Group, Intel Corporation
"MaxLinear is spearheading the advancement of Wi-Fi technology, in strategic partnership with Wi-Fi Alliance. Our focus extends beyond mere support; we're actively defining the future of Wi-Fi access points. Our pivotal role in the Wi-Fi 7 certification test bed underscores our dedication to elevating user experiences with unparalleled speeds, enhanced capacity, and lower latency. Our innovative tri-band single chip Wi-Fi solution exemplifies our leadership in carrier-grade Wi-Fi. We're not just participants; we are the architects of a new era in wireless communication, enabling diverse applications across consumer, enterprise, and industrial sectors." - Will Torgerson, VP/GM Broadband Group, MaxLinear
"It's impressive to see how quickly the Wi-Fi 7 certification program has progressed. As one of the first adopters of Wi-Fi 7 technology, MediaTek has worked closely with Wi-Fi Alliance to develop and test our Filogic portfolio. Now brands can be confident that devices powered by MediaTek Filogic Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 chipsets take full advantage of Wi-Fi 7's enhancements to deliver fast, reliable, and always-on connected experiences." - Alan Hsu, Corporate Vice President, MediaTek
"Wi-Fi 7 is a game-changing evolution of Wi-Fi, elevating wireless connectivity to unprecedented heights of performance. The Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 and Networking Pro Series Platforms are powering millions of Wi-Fi 7 smartphones, PCs, and access points today, and we are honored that both are included in the certification test bed. We are thrilled our customers are experiencing our full-featured Wi-Fi 7 implementations across our product portfolio, including 320 MHz channels, Multi-Link Operation maximized for robust performance at range, and improvements to enhance manageability of platforms. Together, we are racing forward, ushering in a broad ecosystem of Wi-Fi 7 networks, devices and use cases that will help redefine the world in which we live, work, and connect." - Rahul Patel, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Connectivity, Broadband and Networking, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc
"Wi-Fi 7 significantly increases performance for both consumers and businesses. With new technologies such as Multi-Link Operation, 4K QAM, and 320 MHz channels, Wi-Fi 7 will enable new applications and ecosystems and dramatically improve user experience for existing ones." - James Kimery, VP of Product Management, Spirent Communications
Source:
Wi-Fi Alliance
Wi-Fi 7 will see rapid adoption across a broad ecosystem with more than 233 million devices expected to enter the market in 2024, growing to 2.1 billion devices by 2028. Smartphones, PCs, tablets, and access points (APs) will be the earliest adopters of Wi-Fi 7, and customer premises equipment (CPE) and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) equipment will continue to gain early market traction. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 pushes the boundaries of today's wireless connectivity, and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED helps ensure advanced features are deployed in a consistent way to deliver high-quality user experiences.
- 320 MHz channels: available in countries that make the 6 GHz band available to
- Wi-Fi, ultra-wide channels double today's widest channel size to facilitate multigigabit device speeds and high throughput
- Multi-Link Operation (MLO): allows devices to transmit and receive data simultaneously over multiple links for increased throughput, reduced latency, and improved reliability
- 4K QAM: achieves 20% higher transmission rates than 1024 QAM
- 512 Compressed block-ack: improves efficiency and reduces overhead
- Multiple RUs to a single STA: improves flexibility for spectrum resource scheduling to enhance spectrum efficiency
- Triggered Uplink Access: optimizes Wi-Fi 6 defined triggered uplink access to accommodate latency sensitive streams and satisfy QoS requirements
- Emergency Preparedness Communication Services (EPCS): provides a seamless National Security & Emergency Preparedness (NSEP) service experience to users while maintaining the priority and quality of service in Wi-Fi access networks
Companies including Broadcom, CommScope RUCKUS Networks, Intel, MaxLinear, MediaTek, and Qualcomm form the test bed for certification and are among the first Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 devices.
Industry support for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7
"Airties looks forward to supporting broadband service providers' plans to launch new Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 devices to their subscribers. Wi-Fi 7 provides unprecedented capacity and spectrum efficiency to support far more connections and immersive applications. By embracing Smart Wi-Fi software that is truly standards-based, open-source, and hardware agnostic, ISPs can gain maximum flexibility and control over subscribers' home broadband experience. With Airties' Smart Wi-Fi, ISPs will be positioned to optimize the performance of both Wi-Fi 7 and legacy devices to improve QoE, drive incremental revenue, reduce customer support costs, reduce churn, and serve as a platform for future innovation." - Metin Taskin, Co-CEO, Airties
"Boingo has been a Wi-Fi leader for over two decades, and this leadership will continue as we pioneer Wi-Fi 7 deployments and leverage Wi-Fi 7 CERTIFIED equipment. Wi-Fi 7 promises to usher connectivity into the next phase of digital innovation, delivering unprecedented speeds and capacity. Together with 5G, Wi-Fi 7 will drive digital transformation for Boingo's customers at military bases, airports, transit hubs, stadiums, hospitals, hotels and enterprises worldwide." - Dr. Derek Peterson, Chief Technology Officer, Boingo Wireless
"Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 has arrived, bringing lower latency, blazing fast speeds, determinism and high capacity to homes, enterprises and large public venues. Built for our ultra-connected world, Broadcom's Wi-Fi 7 solutions deliver reliable multi-gigabit broadband connectivity to where it is needed most. We are honored to once again participate in the test bed and collaborate with industry peers to revolutionize the wireless experience by launching features like Multi-Link Operation (MLO), which avoids congestion and significantly lowers latency, laying the foundation for a digitally immersive and connected world." - Vijay Nagarajan, Vice President of Marketing, Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division, Broadcom Inc.
"RUCKUS Networks has always been at the forefront of enterprise Wi-Fi innovation. We are honored to be the only commercial Wi-Fi AP vendor selected to be included in the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 AP test bed. RUCKUS, a longtime collaborator of Wi-Fi Alliance, is proud to have actively participated in multiple Wi-Fi 7 plug fests to ensure interoperability with a variety of Wi-Fi 7 client devices and to accelerate Wi-Fi 7 market adoption. RUCKUS looks forward to working with Wi-Fi Alliance in the future to continue delivering Wi-Fi technology innovations." - Bart Giordano, SVP & President, Networking, Intelligent Cellular and Security Solutions, CommScope
"Over the past two and a half decades, Wi-Fi has revolutionized the way we interact and function as a society. It stands as the foremost technology for daily connectivity. We are still at the dawn of the 6 GHz era, heralded by Wi-Fi 6E and we are poised to unlock unprecedented wireless user experiences. Wi-Fi 7, which is the next step of this evolution, signifies more than an incremental upgrade—it's a leap into a realm where speed, capacity, and reliability converge to meet the insatiable demands of our connected world." - David Coleman, Director of Wireless in the Office of the CTO, Extreme Networks
"Congratulations to Wi-Fi Alliance for the launch of the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7. Intel-powered PCs and IOT products with Wi-Fi 7 will enable multi-gigabit speeds with wired-like responsiveness and new extreme levels of connection reliability. Ecosystem collaboration and interoperability are essential to help deliver on these expectations. We are delighted that our new Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 solution has been officially certified and included in the program test bed to help make great user experiences possible with other Wi-Fi 7 devices." - Eric A. McLaughlin, VP & GM Wireless Solutions Group, Intel Corporation
"MaxLinear is spearheading the advancement of Wi-Fi technology, in strategic partnership with Wi-Fi Alliance. Our focus extends beyond mere support; we're actively defining the future of Wi-Fi access points. Our pivotal role in the Wi-Fi 7 certification test bed underscores our dedication to elevating user experiences with unparalleled speeds, enhanced capacity, and lower latency. Our innovative tri-band single chip Wi-Fi solution exemplifies our leadership in carrier-grade Wi-Fi. We're not just participants; we are the architects of a new era in wireless communication, enabling diverse applications across consumer, enterprise, and industrial sectors." - Will Torgerson, VP/GM Broadband Group, MaxLinear
"It's impressive to see how quickly the Wi-Fi 7 certification program has progressed. As one of the first adopters of Wi-Fi 7 technology, MediaTek has worked closely with Wi-Fi Alliance to develop and test our Filogic portfolio. Now brands can be confident that devices powered by MediaTek Filogic Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 chipsets take full advantage of Wi-Fi 7's enhancements to deliver fast, reliable, and always-on connected experiences." - Alan Hsu, Corporate Vice President, MediaTek
"Wi-Fi 7 is a game-changing evolution of Wi-Fi, elevating wireless connectivity to unprecedented heights of performance. The Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 and Networking Pro Series Platforms are powering millions of Wi-Fi 7 smartphones, PCs, and access points today, and we are honored that both are included in the certification test bed. We are thrilled our customers are experiencing our full-featured Wi-Fi 7 implementations across our product portfolio, including 320 MHz channels, Multi-Link Operation maximized for robust performance at range, and improvements to enhance manageability of platforms. Together, we are racing forward, ushering in a broad ecosystem of Wi-Fi 7 networks, devices and use cases that will help redefine the world in which we live, work, and connect." - Rahul Patel, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Connectivity, Broadband and Networking, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc
"Wi-Fi 7 significantly increases performance for both consumers and businesses. With new technologies such as Multi-Link Operation, 4K QAM, and 320 MHz channels, Wi-Fi 7 will enable new applications and ecosystems and dramatically improve user experience for existing ones." - James Kimery, VP of Product Management, Spirent Communications
6 Comments on The Wi-Fi Alliance Introduces Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7
In general because the companies that sell WiFi hardware wants you to buy their new, shiny, fastest ever toy that you may or may not benefit from.
There are some benefits of WiFi 7 if you want to push a lot of data over the airwaves, such as MLO which allows the use of all three bands concurrently as a single wide data stream, but it obviously has limitations like the range of the 6 GHz bands. Most of the WiFi 7 features are of more use to corporate installations or for public WiFi rather than home users though.
I don't think we've been posting excessive news about it and this one is kind of important as it means that the standard is finally ratified and things should largely be interoperable, even if they never fully are when it comes to WiFi, since there are always some weird issues between different manufacturers of WiFi hardware. Mostly because someone figured out a "better" way of doing things...
But yeah, 4k QAM is absurd. There's no way that's going to be used except in the cleanest and closest of transmission distances. Still, that's the kind of environment that same-room VR / broadcasting of wireless video requires. So there's practical applications here. Just don't be stupid and think that all of these specs apply to your router on the other side of your house blocked by 5 walls.
The non-contiguous channels might be useful in some scenarios for a few consumers as well, if they can figure out how to use it.
4K QAM is also a bit of a marketing ploy, since it's a move from 10- to 12-bit per symbol, hence the 20% increase in performance and not a for fold increase, which 4096 vs 1024 sounds like.
Oh, latency is said to be vastly improve as well, but that's only if MLO is used, so again, let's see some real tests.
Other things like up to 16 spatial streams will never end up in consumer hardware.