WiFi 7 has been certified.

[RMerlin]

The ratio of real vs advertised speeds is getting worse.

That`s what is mentioned as the theorical limit by the standard however. The router you buy at Best Buy won't advertise to you the max link rate of 8 streams at 160 MHz when your router only support four streams. The fact that any standard can go much higher than what the average user uses is not a bad thing, it leaves things more open-ended for more specialized uses.

 

[barkmarkin]

Is it worth upgrading to a wifi 7 router now? I'm waiting on Asus to release a non-facehugger looking router to replace my ax88u pro, I have a 2 bedroom with gigabit but the wifi 7 routers out so far are underwhelming and Merlin support is a must so fingers crossed,

 

[RMerlin]

Is it worth upgrading to a wifi 7 router now?

What are your current needs?

If you don't need the extra performance right now and you don't have enough Wifi 7 clients to justify it, then I would wait. Prices will come down, and more options will become available over time.

 

[Tech9]

looking router to replace my ax88u pro

Your RT-AX88U Pro is good for as long as it's supported. This is minimum few years from now. In an apartment building you may not be able to use 160MHz wide channels on 5GHz, but even on 80MHz wide you can get up to about 800Mbps to your current AX clients. This is almost full ISP line speed for you. When upgrading don't count tablets and smart phones. They have nothing to do with high speeds. Don't look at router specs on paper. You are limited by your clients capabilities. Read the posts above.

 

[barkmarkin]

What are your current needs?

If you don't need the extra performance right now and you don't have enough Wifi 7 clients to justify it, then I would wait. Prices will come down, and more options will become available over time.

Battery life, efficiency etc, loading pages sooner receving that all important WhatsApp message on my pixel 8 pro instantly. Getting most signal from a single router while taking a dump in the master bedroom bathroom haha, Instagram pages loading faster etc. not having interference while on a video call solid and reliable signal is my aim and to me it seems like just as the next wifi standard announced the previous one is perfected, that's why I'll wait for wifi 7 to mature a bit like wifi 6 did. Or is it just me?

 

[Tech9]

Unlikely to get making difference better battery life, for that message few milliseconds faster arrival won't make any difference and 6GHz band has shorter range.

 

[RMerlin]

Battery life, efficiency etc, loading pages sooner receving that all important WhatsApp message on my pixel 8 pro instantly. Getting most signal from a single router while taking a dump in the master bedroom bathroom haha, Instagram pages loading faster etc. not having interference while on a video call solid and reliable signal is my aim and to me it seems like just as the next wifi standard announced the previous one is perfected, that's why I'll wait for wifi 7 to mature a bit like wifi 6 did. Or is it just me?

Those are mostly "improvements" and not needs. And both battery and performance difference won't really be measurable since you are probably bottlenecked by your ISP at those speeds, not by your router.

Certainly not worth spending $600.

 

[barkmarkin]

Those are mostly "improvements" and not needs. And both battery and performance difference won't really be measurable since you are probably bottlenecked by your ISP at those speeds, not by your router.

Certainly not worth spending $600.

You're more of an expert than I am, Im curious what you think of my point of view that switching to a wifi standard right before the next generation is released is a better practice? At least in my experience, Reason I got the ax88u pro is because wifi 6 has been optimized right before wifi 7 is released so I'm thinking of giving 7 time to mature, I know wifi 7 is certified but it'll still take time for manufacturers to iron out kinks. Or is it copium in your opinion? I'd like your perspective on this (getting best of current gen near end of life just as 7 is about to come out vs getting the next gen standard as soon as it's released)

 

[glens]

Not asked of me, but... By the way, WiFi7 hasn't been certified; rather, ratified.

Nothing whatsoever wrong with getting a great wifi6 kit at this point in time. Kind of what I've done. In largely the words (if you can believe it - I can't hardly) of a recent ad I've seen: I'm an advocate of promoting things I know work well. Man, that's painful to say that that way.

 

[L&LD]

While WiFi 6 has been out for a long time now, I don't believe it has been 'optimized' as much as possible, yet.

That will happen in WiFi 7 hardware, in some not-too-distant future.

With WiFi 7 getting certified by the end of this year, buying any WiFi 7 hardware today is just spending money on pure hope.

Even WiFi 6E isn't worth considering today, price-wise, when compared to what a good/great WiFi 6 router offers (GT-AX6000, or better, RT-AX88U Pro).

 

[RMerlin]

You're more of an expert than I am, Im curious what you think of my point of view that switching to a wifi standard right before the next generation is released is a better practice?

It always goes down to your current needs. Waiting ~4 years before getting a new router based on a newer technology might be too long. Giving it maybe a year would be sufficient, as by that time you might have at least one or two clients to take advantage of it, and that is plenty enough time for the software to have stabilized.

If we want to use Wifi 7 for this specific example, I'd say waiting for this summer would make sense, assuming of course you had at least one or two clients that would really benefit from it.

Of course if all you do is retrieve your emails from your cell phone, you don't need Wifi 7 for that, and saving money by going for an older router still makes sense.

 

[Piotrek]

Is it worth upgrading to a wifi 7 router now? [...] I have a 2 bedroom with gigabit

You must have an Internet connection speed of at least 5-10 Gbps and download a lot of data to see any difference.
Pages loading and video calls will not show any differences.

 

[askan7]

To me, the only two interesting things about wifi 7 are MLO and 320mhz channels.

MLO if implemented right will be the most interesting. Having full duplex like wifi will be really good. I think they call it STR mode.

 

[Tech9]

To me, the only two interesting things about wifi 7 are MLO and 320mhz channels.

Your chances finding working well together router and client with MLO in early Wi-Fi 7 days are slim.

 

[askan7]

Your chances finding working well together router and client with MLO in early Wi-Fi 7 days are slim.

Sadly...

These speeds are not useful for most people, but latency improvements are always welcome.

Also for VR, with 320mhz channels you might be able to use uncompressed video and not have to deal with compression/decompression delay.

 

[Tech9]

Most Wi-Fi 7 routers available today don't even support MLO. Manufacturers say with future firmware update. How it is going to work - unknown at the moment.

 

[sfx2000]

Most Wi-Fi 7 routers available today don't even support MLO. Manufacturers say with future firmware update. How it is going to work - unknown at the moment.

I agree - first gen chipsets will implement a sub-set of features, and then folks get off to testing...

MLO requires concurrent dual-band support on the client side, and Ap/Client coordination between those two radios will be rather "interesting" to say the least.

We're at a point with WiFi7 that the complexity of the scheduler is fast approaching that of a 5G small cell with all of the features and modes that need to be supported...

3GPP allows for that 5G small cell to be 5G only, and there it can support SA (Standalone) mode... so as complex as the 3GPP air interface is, it's actually less complex that what one has to deal with in WiFi 7

A WiFi7 AP chipset needs to basically support 802.11g/n/ac/ax for all clients that could attach - and multiple ciphering/security modes for the 2.4 and 5GHz radios - at least with 6GHz, it's a bit cleaner there with WPA3 only being supported (that and 6GHz is AX/BE only, whereas 2.4 has to support a lot more)

 

[PR3MIUM]

Wi-Fi 7(802.11BE) needs Windows 11 version 24H1/24H2 (Windows 12).

Microsoft may be planning to release Windows 11 23H2 Moment 5 update in February 2024. This is something that is widely believed by enthusiasts. But now Windows 11 Version 24H1, Windows 11 Version 24H2 and Windows 11 2024 have appeared in HP and Dell’s Documentations.

Windows 11 Version 24H2:​

HP’s documentation for its upcoming PCs mention Windows 11 version 24H2. The documentation claims that Windows 11 version 24H2 will bring support for Wi-Fi 7(802.11BE).

Windows 11 Version 24H1:​

Another interesting mention is of Windows 11 version 24H1. Dell XPS marketing and tech specs documents claim that Wi-Fi 7(802.11BE) needs Windows 11 version 24H1. It also claims that this version of Windows 11 won’t be available before April 2024.

Windows 11 2024:​

Finally one mention of Windows 11 2024 also appears. The documentation for the HP Spectre x360 16-inch lists Windows 11 2024 as the requirement for Wi-Fi 7 (802.11BE).

Source:

Windows 11 Version 24H1, 24H2 & 2024 appear in HP and Dell's Documentations - WinCentral

Windows 11 Version 24H1, 24H2 & 2024 appear in HP and Dell's Documentations - Read in Windows 11 News on WinCentral

thewincentral.com

 

[glens]

Wi-Fi 7(802.11BE) needs Windows 11 version 24H1/24H2 (Windows 12).

Damn! What would you recommend to Apple or GNU/Linux (etc.) users who would like to dabble with Wi-FI 7? Reckon there's any hope we'll ever catch up to Microsoft? Hahaha!

 

[L&LD]

When I first saw an Apple system in person over 40 years ago, I laughed at them. Very cartoonlike and Kool-Aid marketed.

Since then, they've barely changed.

And the usability is even more limited and just as frustrating.