Wi-Fi 7

Wi-Fi 7 is the newest generation of the technology that lets phones, laptops, and TVs get online without cables. To do this, the router in your home sends out radio waves, devices receive them and transmit back themselves. Every few years, the industry agrees on a new common standard, meaning a fixed set of rules that all manufacturers adhere to. Wi-Fi 7 is the successor to Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E and began appearing widely in devices starting in 2024. The technical name for the standard is IEEE 802.11be, but retail packaging almost always shows only the simpler number. Important to note: Wi-Fi 7 doesn’t make your internet connection faster, it only improves the last stretch between the router and the device.

What actually changes for users

Advertising likes to tout the maximum speed. Theoretically, Wi-Fi 7 can reach around 46 gigabits per second, several times more than Wi-Fi 6. In practice, nobody achieves this figure. It applies to laboratory conditions with perfect equipment and no walls in between. A typical household also usually has an internet connection of 100 to 1000 megabits, and nothing will ever be faster than that connection.

The real progress lies elsewhere: in latency. This refers to the delay before a response arrives. In online gaming, it determines whether a movement is executed instantly. In video calls, high latency causes dropouts and stuttering. Wi-Fi 7 keeps this delay significantly more consistent, even when many devices are transmitting at the same time.

This is exactly the typical situation in an apartment building. Dozens of routers in neighboring apartments use the same frequencies and interfere with each other. Older standards become noticeably slow in such situations. Wi-Fi 7 distributes traffic more cleverly and thus remains more stable.

Multiple frequencies at once instead of one after another

A router transmits on different frequency bands, comparable to different radio stations. The 2.4 gigahertz band has a long range but is slow and crowded. The 5 gigahertz band is faster but penetrates walls less well. Since Wi-Fi 6E, there’s also been the 6 gigahertz band, which is still largely empty. Until now, a device had to pick one of these bands.

The most important innovation in Wi-Fi 7 is called Multi-Link Operation, or MLO for short. With this, a device uses two bands simultaneously instead of switching between them. It works like a second lane on a highway: if one lane is jammed, traffic keeps flowing through the other. If one connection briefly fails, the second one takes over without interruption.

Two more changes come along with this. The radio channels are up to 320 megahertz wide, twice as wide as before, which creates more room for data. And Wi-Fi 7 packs more information into each individual radio signal using a method called 4096-QAM. However, this only works with very good reception, meaning close to the router.

Wi-Fi 7 in stores and in practice

The number now appears prominently on packaging for routers, phones, and laptops. Most high-end smartphones from 2024 onward support Wi-Fi 7, while mid-range devices often still don’t. Many internet providers are also installing the standard in their new rental routers. Prices for basic Wi-Fi 7 routers are now around 100 euros.

The benefit only materializes if both sides participate. A Wi-Fi 7 router provides no extra benefit to an old laptop. Conversely, a new phone works fine with an old router, just using the older standard. All Wi-Fi generations are backward compatible, so nothing ever breaks.

A common misconception is that a new router will fix slow internet. If the connection coming into the house delivers 50 megabits, Wi-Fi 7 won’t change that. Upgrading makes sense when many devices are used simultaneously, when streaming in high resolution, or for applications using VR headsets, which depend on minimal delay.