The common Wi-Fi wireless standards now are mainly IEEE 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4), 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) and 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6). Of course, WiFi 6 has only begun to gradually grow in the market in the past two years, but in fact, except for routers and mobile phones, most terminal devices are not equipped with WiFi 6 and still use WiFi 5 wireless networks. As for when WiFi 6 will become popular, we estimate that we will have to wait until next year at the earliest.
But what’s interesting is that technical things never follow the market. Wi-Fi 6 has only begun to enter the market steadily. Some routers and mobile phones have begun to support the enhanced version of Wi-Fi 6E, although there are no What are the necessary application scenarios and device support, but the technical aspect is indeed stronger. From now on, even if WiFi 6 will still take a long time to become popular, the next generation wireless network standard is already on the road, and the IEEE Standards Association has begun to promote Wi-Fi 7.
In fact, with the rapid popularity of 5G in the past two years, people do have new demands for WiFi speed, but WiFi 5, that is, 802.11 ac, can satisfy users most of the time. 802.11ax, also known as WiFi 6, takes the performance of wireless LAN a step further, and the speed is also significantly improved compared to the Wi-Fi 5 standard. The rate of Wi-Fi 5 is as high as 3.5 Gbps, while the rate of Wi-Fi 6 can reach 9.6 Gbps. Wi-Fi 6 not only greatly improves the speed, but also further enhances the coverage and stability of wireless signals, and significantly reduces power consumption. It also supports the latest WP3 security protocol.
As for Wi-Fi 6E, which came out in early 2020, it is actually an extended version of WiFi 6, mainly extending its functions to above the 6GHz frequency band. WiFi 6E provides more channel choices and supports more devices to be connected simultaneously. According to the current flagship products of some companies, the lowest rate of Wi-Fi 6E network can reach 5.4Gbps and support 6 Wi-Fi Streams, while the highest rate can be increased to 10.8 Gbps and 16 Wi-Fi Streams, and can support both Up to 2000 devices can be connected simultaneously.
At present, the most likely to become the next generation of Wi-Fi 7 should be the IEEE 802.11be standard under development. Among them, the biggest selling point of Wi-Fi 7 is its emphasis on Extremely High Throughput (EHT). The maximum single channel bandwidth has increased from 160 MHz of Wi-Fi 6 to 320 MHz. The signal modulation method has changed from the 1024QAM standard of 802.11ax. Upgrade to 4096QAM, so the transmission data of WiFi 7 can reach 30Gbps to 46Gbps.
Wi-Fi 7 supports more Wi-Fi Stream data streams and introduces CMU-MIMO. Compared with Wi-Fi 6’s maximum 8 Wi-Fi Streams, CMU-MIMO will reduce this number. By doubling the size, the device can support 16 Wi-Fi Streams, expanding the coverage of the Mesh Wi-Fi network. After increasing the number of access points, CMU-MIMO allows users to make full use of the extra access points and distribute 16 Wi-Fi Streams to different access points to work simultaneously.
Currently, Qualcomm is still the leading company in the field of WiFi 7 technology. Qualcomm’s vice president also said at the Taipei Computex that the mass production of Qualcomm’s WiFi 6 product line has been relatively stable in the past two years, including mobile phones, PCs, Routers, etc., have a wide product line, and the WiFi 6E product line has also begun mass production since the second half of last year. At the same time, Qualcomm also admitted that it is currently conducting research and development related to Wi-Fi 7. By then, the speed will be doubled compared to Wi-Fi 6. Wi-Fi 7 can also combine multiple spectrums to provide a higher quality experience. From a time perspective, it will take two years at the earliest to see specific products.
In addition to Qualcomm, rivals Broadcom and MediaTek have also launched Wi-Fi 7 chip research and development plans. At the application level, Wi-Fi 7 has a transmission speed of 30Gbps, which can bring users a smoother and faster wireless network experience. Wi-Fi 7 can also combine multiple spectrums to provide a higher video quality experience, which will help Promote the popularization of 8K products. However, for any wireless network technology, the most important thing is product support, not just mobile phones and routers.