TheWi-Fi Alliance just announcedthat it has begun certifying Wi-Fi 7 devices, but that’s not the whole story.
And they’re pretty compelling.
Wi-Fi 7 has two big tricks.
Family Using Wi-Fi Network.MoMo Productions / Getty Images
One is that it now uses the 6GHz band in addition to the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands.
The advantage here is not just for home users.
Wi-Fi 7 is also very well suited for public Wi-Fi, office networks, and so on.
More people will be able to connect at once and get more reliable and faster connections.
Another trick is that Wi-Fi 7 can use different bands simultaneously.
Imagine an Olympic sprinter.
MoMo Productions / Getty Images
Local Hero
The benefits are mostly going to be seen locally.
That is, your existing Wi-Fi setup is probably already way faster than your connection to the internet.
It’s your router that’s the bottleneck for pure speed.
So, should you consider fitting your home with new Wi-Fi 7 routers?
For a start, you might want to wait for more choices.
Now that official certification has begun, more manufacturers will launch new products.
And third, there’s the security angle.
Anything new can potentially harbor new weaknesses.
“From a cybersecurity perspective, I advise users and businesses to carefully evaluate their need for Wi-Fi 7.
So, you should probably wait and see.
