Revolution in connectivity. Wi‑Fi 7's to arrive in 2024, promising a boosted reality experience

The Wi-Fi Alliance, the organization in charge of wireless connectivity technology, has confirmed the full specifications of the latest generation - Wi-Fi 7 - will be released in the first quarter of 2024. This means we can expect an influx of compatible components and devices throughout the year.

Wi-Fi 7, also known as IEEE 802.11be, will offer substantial improvements over previous versions. It is projected to achieve a maximum data transfer speed of 46 Gb/s, which is five times faster than the Wi-Fi 6 standard.

This impressive speed can be attributed to a feature that permits seamless switching among three available frequencies: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz. The last of these also grants access to 320 MHz channels, essentially doubling bandwidth capabilities.

The evolution to Wi-Fi 7 also brings a modulation update: upping the limit to 4096-QAM from the previous 1024-QAM found in Wi-Fi 6, and carrying support for 16 streams via MIMO technology, doubling Wi-Fi 6's eight. Even with these enhancements, the current range, reaching 98 feet indoors and 394 feet outdoors, is expected to stay the same.

Further, Wi-Fi 7 promises greater stability in its connections. Seamless band-switching and improved device handling ensure a reliable connection. These improvements not only make Wi-Fi 7 ideal for regular usage but also for tasks linked with augmented and virtual reality.