{"id":3743,"date":"2022-02-22T05:49:55","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T05:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tantraanalyst.com\/ta\/?p=3743"},"modified":"2022-12-28T04:36:57","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T04:36:57","slug":"are-you-ready-for-wi-fi-7-the-next-generation-of-wi-fi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tantraanalyst.com\/ta\/are-you-ready-for-wi-fi-7-the-next-generation-of-wi-fi\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you ready for Wi-Fi 7\u2014the next generation of Wi-Fi"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Wi-Fi<\/a>
RCR Wireless News, February 22, 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
If you think the successive generations of Wi-Fi are coming far more quickly than before, you are not wrong. While Wi-Fi 6E is relatively new, and Wi-Fi 6 devices are ramping up now, the industry is already readying the next step, Wi-Fi 7. There are indeed good reasons for this accelerated development. Consumers and enterprises were consuming Wi-Fi at a feverish pace, to begin with, and the pandemic added more fuel to the fire. At the same time, new concepts such as metaverse require even higher performance and quality of experience. So, Wi-Fi 7 is coming at the right time. Let\u2019s look at what it is and why you have to be ready for it.<\/span><\/h6>\n

Why do you need the next generation?<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n
Three dimensions necessitate the next generation of Wi-Fi. First, continuously increasing data consumption and demand. Thanks to the pandemic, everybody knows that simply getting connected to the network is not enough. You need enough speeds and lower latency for a smooth user experience, adequate capacity to handle many users being online simultaneously, and good coverage everywhere. These needs will only increase with content getting richer, working from home becoming a norm,\u00a0 gaming getting social, more interactive, cloud-based, and more.<\/span><\/h6>\n
The second dimension is new experiences and architectures with demanding performance needs. The much-hyped metaverse promises unparalleled immersive experiences with augmented reality, virtual reality, and extended reality. As the cloud evolves from its centralized approach to a distributed architecture, the value moves toward the edge, creating edge cloud. Edge cloud seems to have almost unlimited possibilities, many of which are even yet to be imagined.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n
These new trends and experiences need extreme speeds and capacity, with extremely low latency that the current generation can not support.\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n
The third dimension is the spectrum. Thanks to the relentless effort of the industry, Wi-Fi now has large swaths of the spectrum: The good old 2.4 GHz band with about 80 megahertz of bandwidth and good range; the 5 GHz band divided into two parts totaling close to 500 megahertz; the latest 6 GHz band, with a whopping up to 1200 megahertz of bandwidth. The challenge is to utilize all these bands for the best possible performance.<\/span><\/h6>\n
When you put all these dimensions together, it is clear that developing a new generation of Wi-Fi is not an option but a necessity.\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n

How will Wi-Fi 7 solve today\u2019s and future challenges?<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n
Wi-Fi 7 is based on IEEE 802.11be specifications. As with any generation, the specifications have lots of features. But usually, only a subset of them will be commercialized, depending on the vendor interest and market demand. Based on the folks I have spoken to across the industry, there seems to be unanimous support for some key features that effectively address the challenges I have outlined in the previous section. Let\u2019s look at some of those features and their benefits.<\/span><\/h6>\n

Up to 320 megahertz of channel bandwidth providing higher speeds and capacity<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n
Using wider bandwidth is the simplest way to increase performance for any wireless technology. Wi-Fi 7 supports channel bandwidth of up to 320 megahertz, offering more than 10 Gbps theoretical peak speeds. The 6 GHz band with 1200 megahertz of the available spectrum allows up to 5 contiguous 320 megahertz bands. If the contiguous spectrum is unavailable, one can aggregate two 160 megahertz channels to achieve the full bandwidth. That\u2019s where the next feature comes in handy.<\/span><\/h6>\n