WiFI 7 marks a generational leap in wireless technology but its impact on Africa will depend on how the industry and service providers transform its capability into accessibility, writes Craig Blignaut, product manager: WiFI at Vox.
There have been six generations of WiFI, until now. The new, seventh generation has been labelled a revolution and is a response to the bandwidth-hungry modern world. Its official standard, IEE 802.11be, delivers extremely high throughput and brings capabilities that move wireless connectivity from speed to intelligent orchestration.
WiFI 7 combines multiple technologies that together redefine performance. Multi-Link Operation (MLO), which allows a device to transmit and receive data simultaneously over several frequency bands, reducing latency and congestion, is one of them.
The other is 4096-QAM (4k0-QAM) modulation which increases data density by around 20% compared with WiFI 6. Add in channel bandwidths of up to 320 MHz, which is double that of its predecessor, and the theoretical throughput rises to nearly 30 Gbps under ideal conditions.
However, in practical terms, WiFI 7 needs to do more than draw a long list of features. It needs to deliver on connectivity. It needs to connect hundreds of people in one office and ensure they all have a good experience because that is the metric that matters.
Fortunately, part of the reason why WiFI 7 is such a strong contender in the race for the ultimate connection is because it can handle demand. Earlier versions of WiFI were built around single connections and sequential traffic but WiFI7 introduces the ability to send and receive data across multiple frequency bands at the same time.
The technology allows devices to travel between the 2.4GHz, 5GHz and new 6GHz bands depending on congestion, creating a simultaneous conversation between devices and the router. The result is faster data transfer and fewer interruptions within an invisible layer of intelligence that keeps connections alive, even when one channel falters.
The other advance is how networks now think about power. Every generation since WiFI 4 has improved on energy use, but WiFI 7 takes it further. The system is using less power to deliver faster, well, everything.
The new modulation systems amplify the signal more efficiently while consuming less energy. It’s a detail that matters in a country where loadshedding and voltage dips are part of everyday connectivity.
From a consumer perspective, the upgrade will be largely invisible. Modern laptops and smartphones are already shipping with WiFI 7 capability and most new routers already support the standard.
Backward-compatible by design, WiFI 7 also sidesteps many of the issues that have affected moving from one standard to another in the past. It ensures older devices still function optimally while new ones extract more value from the same network.
The goal of the new design is to take the stress out – people don’t need to manage the transition.
The seamlessness has been decades in the making. From the soon-to-end-forever scream of dial-up of the early 2000s to today’s low-latency, multi-device environments, the network and its technology have evolved into the nervous system of modern life.
WiFI 7 makes it possible to sustain 8K streaming, real-time VR gaming and enterprise-grade video conferencing on wireless alone. It is also, for gamers and tech enthusiasts, the first real step towards a wireless experience that can compete with LAN.
Still, the biggest leap may be in WiFI’s brand. For many, it has long been a source of invisible and temperamental frustration which was easy to blame when performance dipped.
WiFI 7 aims to change the story by embedding intelligence deep within the architecture itself. It is capable of automatically selecting cleaner channels, balancing connections across frequencies and self-correcting interference. The effect is subtle, but users will experience fewer glitches, steadier calls and smoother video.
Adoption, however, isn’t going to happen immediately. WiFI relies on standards on both sides of the ecosystem to mature. While access points may already support the technology, end-user devices need to catch up before its full potential can be felt. It’s an ecosystem which relies on full adoption only once every part of it speaks the same language. This could take up to another two years although early adopters will find themselves futureproofed when the next wave of hardware arrives.
As WiFI 7 becomes increasingly available across South Africa, companies can benefit from its performance and predictability almost immediately. The key is to collaborate with a company that already sits at the intersection of these technologies, balancing new standards against the realities of South African power and requirements. As networking continues to empower companies, they need a partner that can empower their transition to the new, new era of connectivity.