2023 Smartphones To Get Wifi 7 Support. TP-Link Announces Wifi 7 Routers

[RTWZ80]

Looks like the 2023 flagship smartphones using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip will get Wifi 7 support.

https://www.financialexpress.com/life/technology-qualcomm-snapdragon-8-gen-2-launched-with-ray-tracing-wifi-7-support-and-more-everything-to-know-2818485/

Ditto for those 2023 phones that have a Mediatek chip.

Wi-Fi 7-Capable Phones Are Coming by End of 2022, Powered by a MediaTek Chip

The Wi-Fi 7 standard hasn't even been established yet, but phones coming out before 2023 will support it.

www.cnet.com

And TP-Link's beaten Asus and Netgear to the punch in announcing their first Wifi 7 routers. Given the super-delayed launch of their Wifi 6E routers though, I'd take this with a pinch of salt.

TP-Link Tips Pricey Wi-Fi 7 Routers for Q1

Among the upcoming products is the Archer BE900 Wi-Fi 7 Router, which will cost $699.99. A separate mesh system will go for $1,199.99.

www.pcmag.com

 

[RMerlin]

And TP-Link's beaten Asus and Netgear to the punch in announcing their first Wifi 7 routers. Given the super-delayed launch of their Wifi 6E routers though, I'd take this with a pinch of salt.

Paper launches are kinda meaningless. We all knew that TP-Link would be eventually launching a Wifi 7 product, as we also know that Asus and Netgear will as well. What remains to be seen is who will have products available when, and that includes clients as well as APs and routers. And we have yet to see the actual real world performance of Wifi 7 as well. Considering that the 6 GHz band is only available in a handful of regions, and very few manufactuers even car about that yet in 2022 (with companies like Dell going as far as DISABLING the 6 GHz band despite their Wifi SoC supporting it), I don`t see anything really exciting yet.

 

[RTWZ80]

Paper launches are kinda meaningless. We all knew that TP-Link would be eventually launching a Wifi 7 product, as we also know that Asus and Netgear will as well. What remains to be seen is who will have products available when, and that includes clients as well as APs and routers. And we have yet to see the actual real world performance of Wifi 7 as well. Considering that the 6 GHz band is only available in a handful of regions, and very few manufactuers even car about that yet in 2022 (with companies like Dell going as far as DISABLING the 6 GHz band despite their Wifi SoC supporting it), I don`t see anything really exciting yet.

Thanks for the reply and agree on most counts. That's why I said to take TP-Link's announcement with a pinch of salt. I'm thinking that these developments will accelerate the release schedule of Wifi 7-supported devices and routers in 2023-2024 though, as manufacturers love the 'first to market with any cutting edge products' strategy for its ability to move more products in the early adopters crowd (me included).

As per the previous Wifi 6E standard's timeline, smartphones are set to lead the first wave of Wifi 7 device adoption and router makers will follow suit with product releases. As for the 6Ghz band, I think there was an article from Qualcomm which mentioned regions such as China where the band isn't approved can still make use of part of the new standard.

Pushing the limits of Wi-Fi performance with Wi-Fi 7

Over the last year, we’ve seen how Wi-Fi can rise, adapt, and evolve to meet new and unforeseen connectivity challenges. This story is ready for its next chapter with Wi-Fi 7...

www.qualcomm.com

"In China, High Band Simultaneous Multi-Link enables a 240 MHz effective channel, fulfilling the Extremely High Throughput promise of Wi-Fi 7, even without the availability of 6 GHz spectrum allocation."

 

[Tech9]

And we have yet to see the actual real world performance of Wifi 7 as well.

Not happy with 9.6Gbps on Wi-Fi 6 or what?

 

[RMerlin]

Not happy with 9.6Gbps on Wi-Fi 6 or what?

Eh. Is there anything on the market that can support 8 streams, even as an AP device? I think Quantenna had something, for a while Asus was looking at using it in a product, but the project seems to have died.

 

[RMerlin]

"In China, High Band Simultaneous Multi-Link enables a 240 MHz effective channel, fulfilling the Extremely High Throughput promise of Wi-Fi 7, even without the availability of 6 GHz spectrum allocation."

I suspect that a major problem with wifi in China is the very high population density, which probably means plenty of neighbour interference. For them, opening up more of the 6 GHz channels would have helped a lot.

 

[cloudfire]

Eh. Is there anything on the market that can support 8 streams, even as an AP device? I think Quantenna had something, for a while Asus was looking at using it in a product, but the project seems to have died.

Cisco 9136 does 8 steams: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/produ...nts/nb-06-cat9136-access-point-ds-cte-en.html

● 8x8 uplink/downlink MU-MIMO with eight spatial streams (5-GHz)
● 4x4 uplink/downlink MU-MIMO with four spatial streams (2.4 and 6-GHz)

 

[RTWZ80]

I suspect that a major problem with wifi in China is the very high population density, which probably means plenty of neighbour interference. For them, opening up more of the 6 GHz channels would have helped a lot.

Indeed. Their maximum wifi transmission power is also capped by regulation at 100mW whereas North America's (US and Canada) is 1000mW.

 

[RMerlin]

Indeed. Their maximum wifi transmission power is also capped by regulation at 100mW whereas North America's (US and Canada) is 1000mW.

Reducing max power is actually a good thing in their case, it reduces interference from neighbours.

 

[Tech9]

Cisco 9136 does 8 steams

Just saw the "discounted" price in my suppliers lists. No way José. It needs 8 credit cards. This thing must have gold traces on the PCB.

 

[RTWZ80]

and very few manufactuers even car about that yet in 2022 (with companies like Dell going as far as DISABLING the 6 GHz band despite their Wifi SoC supporting it), I don`t see anything really exciting yet.

As far as I know, most PC makers have already incorporated WiFi 6E into their 2022 product lines. Samsung, MSI, Asus, Dell's Alienware, HP, Lenovo. And with Apple, which is notoriously slow in upgrading its WiFi modules, now supporting the 6Ghz band in its latest Ipad Pro, these developments will surely boost interest in WiFi 7 as well. Gaming PC makers are nearly always the first to adopt the latest in wireless tech.

 

[RMerlin]

As far as I know, most PC makers have already incorporated WiFi 6E into their 2022 product lines. Samsung, MSI, Asus, Dell's Alienware, HP, Lenovo.

Be careful, because sometimes they have compatible hardware, but they disable it at the firmware level. Like the XPS 15 I just mentioned. I also recently read about an MSI computer that also had Wifi 6e hardware, but it was disabled in the firmware - someone managed to re-enable it by going into the hidden service menu.

 

[RTWZ80]

Merry Christmas and hope everyone's having a wonderful time with their families and loved ones~

Missed this piece of news out earlier in the month due to the holidays.

Consumer electronics maker Xiaomi launched its latest flagship smartphone with Qualcomm's FastConnect 7800 Wifi 7 chipset and a 10G router equipped with Qualcomm's Networking Pro Series 1220 platform to utilize the new wireless standard on. But just in its home market of China at the moment.

Wonder why PRC manufacturers like Xiaomi and TP-Link launch bleeding edge products in their home market first before making them available to the rest of the world...

Xiaomi Surprises With New Phone And Router Launch Featuring Qualcomm Wi-Fi 7 Chipsets

Senior Analyst, Mobility & VR, Anshel Sag, covers Xiaomi's new Xiaomi Mi13 series of phones, featuring the 13, 13 Limited Edition, and 13 Pro.

www.forbes.com

 

[L&LD]

Because it's cheaper to do so, and find/fix any problems that will come up.

 

[tgl]

Wonder why PRC manufacturers like Xiaomi and TP-Link launch bleeding edge products in their home market first before making them available to the rest of the world...

In addition to @L&LD's points, it's entirely likely that they face a shorter chain of regulatory approvals in their home market than elsewhere.

 

[RTWZ80]

Good points from both. I appreciate the irony that they've launched the world's so-called first Wifi 7 device and router in a market that hasn't even opened up the 6Ghz band. TP-Link did the same, with 2-3 Wifi 6E routers out in PRC (later rebranded as Wifi 6 with an additional 5Ghz band), a year before before the AXE300 hit the shelves worldwide.

 

[RTWZ80]

In addition to @L&LD's points, it's entirely likely that they face a shorter chain of regulatory approvals in their home market than elsewhere.

I see that Xiaomi kept to their release schedule for their Wifi 7-enabled Mi Router 10000.

Xiaomi Router 10000: A Great Premium 10GbE Speedster

Xiaomi Router AX10000 Review, Specifications, Features, and Product highlights. Maybe you missed it? Redmi AX5400 Review Xiaomi Router 10000 Have you been working from home a lot these past few years?

www.androidpimp.com

It features Qualcomm's Tri-band Wifi 7 Networking Pro 1220 Platform.

Xiaomi Router 10000

The Xiaomi Router 10000 is powered by a Qualcomm Networking Pro 1220 platform. Explore features, read device specs, and learn where to buy.

www.qualcomm.com

Networking Pro 1220 Platform | Qualcomm

Fully-integrated tri-band, 12 stream Wi-Fi 7 networking platform (chipset/SoC). Ideal architecture for highly-congested enterprise, small-to-medium business, and prosumer home environment access points, gateways, and mesh Wi-Fi.

www.qualcomm.com

And has been on sale since January this year.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804895494802.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000014.1.7cff386avtqLSG&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40000.320564.0&scm_id=1007.40000.320564.0&scm-url=1007.40000.320564.0&pvid=632bf38f-8ef3-44dc-bfbe-56efae526423&_t=gps-id%3ApcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller%2Cscm-url%3A1007.40000.320564.0%2Cpvid%3A632bf38f-8ef3-44dc-bfbe-56efae526423%2Ctpp_buckets%3A668%232846%238116%23967&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000031571565399%22%2C%22sceneId%22%3A%2230050%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21SGD%21684.4%21472.24%21%21%21%21%21%40210323a716756710187516279ee8a5%2112000031571565399%21rec&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US

Seems that they based their firmware off OpenWRT.

Their Mi 13 Pro smartphone with the SD8Gen2 that supports Wifi 7 is also on sale.

Xiaomi Mi 13 Pro 5G 6.73"OLED 120Hz Leica 50MP Snapdragon8Gen2 4820mAh CN FSHIP | eBay

DISPLAYType LTPO OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 1200 nits (HBM), 1900 nits (peak). - Xiaomi Mi 13 Pro 5G Phone. Features Leica lens, Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR, panorama. NETWORKTechnology GSM / CDMA / HSPA / CDMA2000 / LTE / 5G.

www.ebay.com

However, they'll only enable the Wifi 7 modem via an update when the 6Ghz band is certified in mainland China.

It became clear why Wi-Fi 7 support was never mentioned when the Xiaomi 13 was introduced. - TechnoPixel

Xiaomi has recently introduced its new flagship smartphones based on Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. But during the launch, the company remained silent about an important feature of the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro. Wi-Fi 7 wireless connection ...

www.technopixel.org

Lei Jun Confirms that Mi 13 Pro Supports Wi-Fi 7: Open after Domestic Certification

According to the configuration information of Mi 13 Pro, the WLAN protocol of Mi 13 Pro supports Wi-Fi 6 enhanced version

www.igeekphone.com

 

[iwod]

I am more worried about what type of WiFI 7 will we get? Which features are mandatory? Or they are in Spec but in reality wont be be shipped or turned on? ( Much like what happened in 802.11ac and 802.11ax ).

Multi-Link Operation.

 

[drinkingbird]

I am more worried about what type of WiFI 7 will we get? Which features are mandatory? Or they are in Spec but in reality wont be be shipped or turned on? ( Much like what happened in 802.11ac and 802.11ax ).

Multi-Link Operation.

I'm more concerned with what the heck people are doing on their phones that needs that kind of throughput

 

[Tech9]

The less people know the more successful the BS marketing. The whole consumer industry relies on less knowledge possible.