Wi-Fi 7, the IEEE 802.11be standard also known as Extremely High Throughput, is the next-gen wireless networking standard after Wi-Fi 6 and 6E. It is designed to dramatically improve speed, latency, efficiency, and reliability, especially in areas with many connected devices or demanding use cases like AR/VR or 8K multimedia streaming.
Key features of Wi-Fi 7
Improvements over Wi-Fi 6 are detailed in Table 1.
Doubling the channel width up to 320 MHz provides a massive increase in bandwidth providing a huge boost to data throughput. Simultaneously, having higher 4K QAM modulation allows more data to be packed into each transmission, further increasing the throughput by another ~25%.
Multi-Link Operation (MLO) means that devices can now connect over multiple bands simultaneously, providing a faster and more reliable link with seamless switching should one of those bands become congested. Wi-Fi 7 also has the ability to use a partially-free channel instead of waiting for a complete channel to become available. This feature, known as Multi-Resource Unit Puncturing, will provide better performance in noisy spectrum environments.
Wi-Fi 7 also provides Multi-AP Coordination which allows multiple routers/APs to collaborate providing smarter mesh performance and better network efficiency.
The big question: Is it time to upgrade?
Currently, adopting the Wi-Fi 7 standard is a very expensive exercise. Hardware is still very expensive compared to Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 installations. Secondly, most client devices do not yet support Wi-Fi 7 and to obtain a real benefit from the standard requires both ends to support it.
Upgrading to Wi-Fi 7 expecting an increase in the signal range is fool’s gold. Higher frequencies have lower penetration power so improvements to throughput will be limited to the user’s immediate surroundings.
For most users (web-browsing, streaming Netflix, online video meetings, etc.), the improvements will not be noticeable. Unless users are already on a multi-gigabit fibre link or are accessing local high-speed networking devices (transferring large volumes of data, for example), the experience will be the same as using a Wi-Fi 6 link.
So, upgrading should only be considered if your use-case is cloud gaming, AR/VR applications, or you are adding more devices to a network that already hosts 30+ devices. For other uses, Wi-Fi 6 will be more than sufficient.
Lastly, spectrum allocation is a sore point in South Africa. The government has been promising to make spectrum available ever since the country’s broadcast digital migration was announced and was initially set for November 2011. Fourteen years on and the country is still dragging its feet even though, in May 2023, ICASA amended its regulations to allow use of the lower 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi applications, specifically from 5925 – 6425 MHz.
Although certain local stakeholders have requested that ICASA extend the spectrum allocation to allow the full benefit of Wi-Fi 7’s capabilities, there is considerable push-back from mobile operators wishing to use it for mobile/5G/6G communication. The latest Draft National Radio Frequency Plan 2025 was published in April 2025 for public consultation with industry and advocacy groups continuing to push for the upper 6 GHz band to be opened for license-exempt use.
For now, the upper portion of the 6 GHz band from 6425 – 7125 MHz remains unavailable, which limits how many wide 320 MHz channels can be formed.
The partial opening of the 6 GHz band is a positive step, but until the full spectrum is made available, the theoretical gains of implementing a Wi-Fi 7 network will be hampered in South Africa. Holding off on upgrading networking infrastructure may be prudent in the short term until such time as the full spectrum is available, and hopefully by then Wi-Fi 7 equipment will demand a lower price point.
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