Wi-Fi 7 Picks Up Speed: New Devices Accelerate Enterprise Adoption

In the wake of the Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi 7 certification program earlier this year, a growing list of chip, access point, and router vendor makers have launched compliant products for enterprises and service providers.

Most recently, Apple announced Wi-Fi 7 support across its entire new iPhone 16 line of devices, which could help advance upgrades by tilting the legacy versus new tech devices in enterprise networks.

“The recently announced support of Wi-Fi 7 on all of Apple’s new iPhone 16 models is yet another reason for enterprises to choose Wi-Fi 7 when they upgrade their networks,” explained Siân Morgan, CPA and Research Director for Dell’Oro Group, a market research and intelligence firm. “Over the first half of 2024, we have seen a rapid acceleration in shipments of Wi-Fi 7 Access Points, and we expect the adoption of this technology to exceed Wi-Fi 6E adoption in the second half of the year.”

Wi-Fi 7: Apple Advances

With Wi-Fi 7, the new iPhones can send and receive data over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands simultaneously for faster Wi-Fi speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 offers peak theoretical download speeds of more than 40Gb/s, four times more than the prior Wi-Fi 6E standard.

‌iPhone 16‌ users should see improved latency and better performance in dense environments with the Wi-Fi 7 standard.

Samsung decided to bring Wi-Fi 7 connectivity to the Galaxy S24 Ultra device in March while deciding to keep the Galaxy S24, and S24+ limited to Wi-Fi 6E, as the Exynos 2400 that powers them in most countries is limited to Wi-Fi 6E as well.

Wi-Fi 7 6 GHz Spectrum Land Grab

But the largest single allure of Wi-Fi 7 devices is their ability to rise beyond congested radio frequency bands such as 5 GHz and 6 GHz. Devices can already use multiple bands in previous Wi-Fi concurrently to send traffic, but now Wi-Fi 7's Multi-Link Operation (MLO) can include 6 GHz. And the devices can tap into the pristine 6 GHz band that the FCC has opened.

Access to the new 6 GHz frequency will be a game changer for enterprises currently on Wi-Fi 6 and who are upgrading to Wi-Fi 7. Enterprises planning this upgrade should consider making use of AIOps features to optimize radio resource management and minimize Interference,” advised Morgan. Also, Wi-Fi 7 Access Points that have a radio that is configurable to support either 5 GHz or 6 GHz will allow an organization to switch to the newer frequency once the penetration of compatible devices is high enough.

Wi-Fi 6E vs. Wi-Fi 7

Many may be unclear on the speed difference between 6E and the newer Wi-Fi 7. The newer version will be more than four times faster than Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, which can hit maximum data rates of 9.6 Gbps, and close to six times faster than Wi-Fi 5, which maxes out at 6.9 Gbps.

Management Challenges

How enterprises manage their Wi-Fi devices can dictate how a network, including Wi-Fi 7 devices, is handled. The two main approaches are cloud-managed and premises-managed approaches. Businesses need to check with vendors if they provide one or both, as it will dictate network architecture. With the evolution of Wi-Fi 7, vendors will look to accommodate both approaches. HPE offers a cloud-managed architecture option, so users do not have to switch architectures to use Wi-Fi 7.

Security Issues

Those organizations need to be wary of limitations when it comes to Wi-Fi 7 and wireless security. For starters, Wi-Fi 7 with its WPA3 is not backward compatible with older devices using WPA2.

However, most modern devices and routers are being manufactured with support for both WPA3 and WPA2, allowing networks to operate in mixed mode to accommodate older devices, according to Portnox.

Does AI Apply?

While the opening of the 6 GHz spectrum band will attract a vast number of users, it will “make radio management more complex, explained Morgan. “Users should consider AI apps to help manage large radio networks.”

Surging Wi-Fi 7 Vendor Support

A lengthy list of vendors has announced Wi-Fi 7 products to date. A list of certified ones is available from the Wi-Fi Alliance. But there’s confusion in the industry as to Cisco Systems Inc.’s commitment when it comes to delivering a Wi-Fi 7 router, which it has yet to unveil. Some think Cisco, a heavy backer of 6E, might skip version 7. Dell Oro’s Morgan just wants to know if/when we will see a Wi-Fi 7 router from the internetworking giant.

“We are excited to bring Wi-Fi 7 innovation to our customers in the near future,” said a Cisco spokesperson, who declined to comment on plans for a Wi-Fi 7 router.

The Road Ahead

It is expected that most Wi-Fi 7 APs will be certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance program, and that volume shipments will begin next year. Enterprise interest in Wi-Fi 7 is growing because it delivers more bandwidth and can support more users in a given space.