What’s the difference between Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6 (and how to unlock its extra speed)

The most recent era of Wi-Fi is right here, and you can begin utilizing it instantly. That is as a result of it is not solely “right here,” Wi-Fi 7 launched in 2024, and is already obtainable in routers, smartphones, and different Wi-Fi related gadgets.

What issues, although, is how one can truly make use of Wi-Fi 7, and whether or not it’s best to improve out of your Wi-Fi 6/6E setup.

Why Wi-Fi 7 is healthier

What’s truly new?

Credit score: Gavin Phillips / MakeUseOf

Earlier than diving into the small print, it helps to grasp what “Wi-Fi 7” truly means.

Every Wi-Fi era builds on the final, introducing new applied sciences to enhance velocity, effectivity, and reliability. Wi-Fi 6 (identified technically as 802.11ax) introduced large positive factors over Wi-Fi 5, introducing OFDMA (so routers can discuss to a number of gadgets concurrently), MU-MIMO for multi-user connections, and higher energy effectivity.

Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) does not rip up the information on what to anticipate from Wi-Fi, however it does carry some actually helpful upgrades in key areas (outdoors of its vital velocity enhance to a theoretical most velocity of as much as 46 Gbps in comparison with Wi-Fi 6’s 9.6 Gbps).

For instance, wider channels: now you can use 320MHz channels on the 6GHz band, which doubles the width obtainable to Wi-Fi 6E’s 160MHz. When a shopper has a clear slice of spectrum, doubling the channel width unlocks far larger throughput for native file transfers and multi-gigabit web plans.

The second massive change is 4K-QAM (4096-QAM), a denser modulation scheme that packs extra information into the identical air time. The trade-off is that it wants a powerful, clear sign. In case your gadgets can keep sign high quality, the velocity bump over Wi-Fi 6/6E’s 1024-QAM is noticeable.

The opposite Wi-Fi 7 that is truly value upgrading for is Multi-Hyperlink Operation (MLO). As an alternative of a tool selecting both 5GHz or 6GHz, MLO lets it use a number of hyperlinks without delay, bonding them for larger throughput or permitting the machine to hop between hyperlinks to chop latency and keep away from interference. In follow, meaning fewer stutters when somebody begins microwaving lunch or the neighbour’s router will get busy; visitors can slide to the “cleaner” hyperlink with out dropping the connection.

And who does not need extra environment friendly Wi-Fi?

Specs are good, however how do you truly use Wi-Fi 7?

Find out how to unlock Wi-Fi 7

There is just one manner to make use of Wi-Fi 7’s wonderful sounding upgrades, and that is to a purchase Wi-Fi 7 router. There is not a sneaky backdoor firmware improve you’ll be able to apply to your current router as a result of Wi-Fi 7 requires particular {hardware}, and your older router doubtless does not match the invoice.

Nonetheless, upon getting a Wi-Fi 7 router, there are a couple of steps it’s best to take to ensure your community is definitely on top of things. Word that solely gadgets which can be suitable with Wi-Fi 7 can use all of those options, simply as solely gadgets suitable with Wi-Fi 6E+ can use the newer 6GHz Wi-Fi band.

Use 6GHz Wi-Fi and 320MHz channels

First up, be sure you’ve enabled the 6GHz band. That is the largest improve to Wi-Fi in years, and is without doubt one of the primary reasons you should consider upgrading to Wi-Fi 7.

You too can alter your channel widths. On older Wi-Fi, the Wi-Fi channel width is restricted to twenty, 40, 80, or 160MHz. Whereas on Wi-Fi 7, you should utilize ultra-wide 320MHz channels to allow a lot larger information throughput. Now, this would possibly not essentially “velocity up” your connection, however it does enable extra information to move to extra gadgets concurrently, which is a large bonus.

Mix 5GHz and 6GHz bands

One other Wi-Fi 7 characteristic it’s best to begin utilizing instantly is Multi-Hyperlink Operation (MLO). This principally lets you create a Wi-Fi band that makes use of each 5GHz and 6GHz in a single community.

Your gadgets can then ship and obtain information throughout the entire frequency bands. Nonetheless, this does not imply older gadgets all of a sudden turn into Wi-Fi 7 suitable. Just like the router, most gadgets will not all of a sudden obtain a firmware replace that permits shiny new Wi-Fi tech.

Nonetheless, it is value enabling, as suitable gadgets can bond or intelligently hop hyperlinks to chop latency and keep away from interference. As we modernize our residence networks and gadgets, blended band operations like this are going to be actually necessary. No-one is heading out and upgrading every thing unexpectedly, and that is the place MLO is available in.

Allow WPA3

6GHz requires WPA3. Should you combine WPA2/WPA3 on the identical SSID, some shoppers will misbehave and skip 6GHz totally. WPA3 is the latest Wi-Fi security standard, and to profit from Wi-Fi 7’s 6GHz connectivity, you may want it enabled.

Verify your gadgets and web connection

Lastly, does your machine truly help Wi-Fi 7? I do know, it looks like a fundamental query and you’ve got in all probability already thought of this, however it’s value checking.

In case your machine does not help Wi-Fi 7, it is no good tweaking you router settings. It simply will not work (on Wi-Fi 7). You might even see some tangential advantages out of your router, because it’s prone to be very fashionable and sure highly effective, however you will not be utilizing MLO, 4K-QAM, and many others.

And sure, Wi-Fi is theoretically a lot sooner than Wi-Fi 6/6E. However in the event you’re solely paying for a 1Gbps connection, that is all you are going to get, even you probably have a Wi-Fi 7 router.

Wi-Fi 7 is greater than a numbers sport

However you want the matching tech

Wi-Fi 7 has the potential to be sooner than Wi-Fi 6/6E. However Wi-Fi 7 is not only a numbers sport; it is all concerning the different techy acronyms, too. It is 320MHz channels, 4K-QAM, and MLO are all designed as a part of the bundle to ship smoother, sooner web.

You simply must line your gadgets and router up properly, and it will all fall into place.