Wifi 7 performance is more than just marketing...

[RMerlin]

I finally went ahead, and upgraded my laptop with an Intel BE200 wifi card, and did a few file copy tests.

This is a file copy done from another room (so, with one wall between my laptop and my router proving that you don't need to be in the same room as some are claiming), and also without MLO - just a regular 6 GHz connection, at 320 MHz channel width:

I am now bottlenecked by the 2.5 Gbps interface on my NAS, so I don't even know what the real capability of the connection is. My link rate was around 3400 Mbps at the time, so it's probably just slightly above that. That means I can't test MLO's actual capabilities since I don't have anything else faster than 2.5 Gbps on my network to test against.

With the previous Wifi 6e card, I was previously hitting between 150 and 200 MB/s, depending on circunstances.

 

[ExtremeFiretop]

Im happy to see you make the jump personally. Chow on the dog food so to speak.

I have a very similar experience on my network setup; although I am using a Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 instead of an Intel BE200
I had shared this photo in the WireGuard benchmark thread but to give a reference point again; the link speed even through walls is nuts on WiFi 7.

(Same as you; no MLO regular 6 GHz connection, at 320 MHz channel width)

I can't put wires or cables in the walls due to renting. But with WiFi 7; I don't really miss it...
Sure it would be better for latency if I did run cable; but by how much?

Not enough for me to justify running cables, or in my case; doing Powerline Network Adapters or MoCA.

 

[Poul Bak]

Yeah, the future is WIFI 7 with 6 GHz support, glad that you can test that now. I am hoping my next router will be RT-BE92U, which supports both.

 

[Tech9]

you don't need to be in the same room as some are claiming

Define "wall"... because what we have here between the rooms is this:

In my younger years in Europe I was thinking breaking walls with hand in Hollywood movies is just dramatic enhancement, but when I moved to North America I found it's a real thing and one doesn't have to be Schwarzenegger to achieve similar effect without CGI.

 

[jerry6]

Define "wall"... because what we have here between the rooms is this:

View attachment 64279

In my younger years in Europe I was thinking breaking walls with hand in Hollywood movies is just dramatic enhancement, but when I moved to North America I found it's a real thing and one doesn't have to be Schwarzenegger to achieve similar effect without CGI.

just don't hit a stud Arnie

 

[kjoshj]

I am hoping my next router will be RT-BE92U, which supports both.

@Poul Bak The BE92U is only 2x2 6ghz(& 5ghz), which a single BE200 or QCNCM865 can saturate. The best set-up going forward looks to be a Merlin supported BE router and a dedicated 6ghz AP. I've got a BE200 on the way for my Intel laptop and a QCNCM865 for my AMD computer. I'm luckily not in a congested Wi-Fi area, so still eyeing a BE86U for future me. 6ghz is not a priority as 160mhz channels are more than enough for me at the moment, but I'll have capable adapters when the time comes.

Note to those looking at going Wi-Fi 7: I'm not aware that the BE200 & AM5 issues are resolved yet, so the FastConnect 7800 (QCNCM865) that @ExtremeFiretop mentions is probably best available for the current AMD platforms, (solid on Intel too, it just costs more than the BE200). YMMV on the MediaTek offering, I've no experience with that one.

 

[Poul Bak]

It all depends on your need. I don't need 20 Wifi devices or 10 wired devices. I just need my laptop to perform great, my other devices don't need a lot of bandwith.
I see many nice posts about that unit, like:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-be92u-observations.93933/
Not to mention the price, which I really like.