Intel has announced a release date for Wi-Fi 7 PCs, promising more stable and significantly faster connections for more wireless devices. Several other companies are already experimenting with Wi-Fi 7, despite the fact that final specifications are not yet available.
Intel announced this week that Wi-Fi 7-capable desktops and laptops should be available by 2024 or 2025. The latest wireless connectivity standard, known as 802.11be, may provide connections twice as fast as Wi-Fi 6 and 6E.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) anticipates that Wi-Fi 7 specifications will be finalized in 2024, but some manufacturers are currently working with draft specifications.
Intel wireless solutions VP Eric McLaughlin confirmed the company’s plans during a press conference. “[Wi-Fi 7] will be installed in PC products such as laptops by 2024 … we expect it to appear in major markets in 2025,” he said.
Wi-Fi 7 speeds could reach up to 5.8Gbps. It achieves faster connections that can carry devices with less interference by simultaneously utilizing the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and newer 6GHz frequency bands.
Wi-Fi 7 can use 320MHz in addition to 20, 40, 80, and 160MHz channel bandwidths. Compatible devices should be able to intelligently switch between bands in order to better manage traffic.
“With 320 MHz channels, we’re likely to see new uses for Wi-Fi where you can do things like figure out if someone is in the room, how many people are there, and whether or not they’re moving or static,” McLaughlin said. “With the right technology, you can even determine whether or not someone is breathing.”
The current Wi-Fi 6 standard is only about two years old. It began by using the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands to improve accessibility over Wi-Fi 5, but Wi-Fi 6E later added 6GHz compatibility to help with traffic congestion.
Unfortunately, the release of Wi-Fi 6E was ill-timed, as pandemic supply chain shocks made manufacturing the necessary hardware difficult. H3C, a Chinese networking company, released the Magic BE18000 Wi-Fi 7 router last month. It could be the standard’s first available modem. Its maximum PHY rate varies by frequency band and ranges from 1148Mbps to an impressive 11530Mbps.
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