While Wi-Fi 6 and 6E are still unknown to many people, echoes of what will be the next standard for this wireless technology, Wi-Fi 7, are beginning to arrive in Spain.
This is what the next Wi-Fi 7 will look like: faster speed, lower latency, and capable of detecting motion
With a quick survey around it is easy to realize how unfamiliar users are with the different generations of Wi-Fi and the improvements each one has brought. The proper functioning of homes, offices and public spaces depends on the evolution of this technology that is used on a daily basis.
As the use of online services and the number of devices connected to the network grows, the workload on routers and the wireless network increases. For this reason, over the years, leaps such as the one that will involve moving from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 7 in the next few years are required.
Up to 30 Gbps
Although its official launch is not expected until 2024, some reports show the improvements that Wi-Fi 7 will integrate. The name of this new protocol will be 802.11be. Although with the new nomenclature it is easier to remember it and to know which devices are compatible with Wi-Fi 7.
It will reach up to 30 gigabytes per second (Gbps). A data transmission speed well above the 10 Gbps that Wi-Fi 6 is starting to offer. According to Intel‘s estimates, this bandwidth will reach a theoretical 48 Gbps.
To put these figures in context, the wireless network in homes and offices would approach the speed achieved by other non-wireless standards. Such as USB 4 which reaches 40 Gbps.
Connection
With the advent of Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, the standards currently being deployed in the market, the first improvement of the multiple connection protocol appeared. For years, Wi-Fi 4 and 5 integrated MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output), but in the new wireless network generations MU-MIMO (Multiple-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) has been integrated.
Detecting motion
Wi-Fi 7 will be based on the IEEE 802.11be Extremely High Throughput (EHT) protocol with a focus on significantly improving the performance of wireless networks over current standards. However, these improvements are not the only ones on the horizon.
A new, even more modern, standard is framed within a new spectrum of capabilities unthinkable until now, the detection of the movement and location of devices. This is known as Wi-Fi Sensing (802.11bf).
Using the interference of the Wi-Fi signal, the SENS technology will be able to measure the range, speed, direction, movement, presence and proximity of people and different objects connected or not.
