The future of Wi-Fi 7 adoption in enterprises

Wi-Fi 7 capabilities and benefits

Wi-Fi 7 offers a number of improved features and new benefits over previous generations of Wi-Fi. According to Frey, Wi-Fi 7 capabilities include the following:

• Faster speeds. Wi-Fi 7 can reach maximum theoretical speeds of up to 46 Gbps. This is four times faster than Wi-Fi 6 and six times faster than Wi-Fi 5, Frey said. He added that, while most enterprises won't need these speeds, the increase in bandwidth and capacity will raise the average connection speed.
• Multilink operation. Wi-Fi 7 enables the use of multiple channels on one endpoint, Frey said. If one of the frequency ranges malfunctions, the device remains connected because it switches to one of the other available channels.
• Preamble puncturing. Wi-Fi 7 enables a new form of static preamble puncturing, a feature that disables interfered radio frequency ranges and enables the connection to use the functional ranges. This feature is useful in crowded environments where multiple devices can cause interference.

Drivers of Wi-Fi 7

Wi-Fi 7's primary use case is its ability to bring more efficiency through higher bandwidth, lower latency and improved reliability. But some specific factors are more likely to drive Wi-Fi 7 adoption. According to Frey, the following use cases could sway enterprises to shift to Wi-Fi 7:

• Support for high-bandwidth applications.
• Improved reliability.
• Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).

Support for high-bandwidth applications

Wi-Fi 7's link aggregation capabilities means it can combine multiple channels to a single link. It combines channels of the same or different spectrum bands, so it can use multiple or a combination of 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz. Because Wi-Fi 7 can operate multiple channels simultaneously, this increases bandwidth and reduces latency.

Support for high-bandwidth applications is a strong driving factor of Wi-Fi 7 adoption, Frey said. He added that, while most organizations will wait to transition to Wi-Fi 7 as part of their natural upgrade cycles, many enterprises will adopt Wi-Fi 7 to enable high-bandwidth use cases, such as high-quality video conferencing, 3D modeling, medical imaging, AI and machine learning.

Improved resiliency

Wi-Fi 7's capabilities, such as multilink operation and preamble puncturing, support network reliability. These features ensure that connectivity remains operational in the event of malfunction or interference, which, in turn, makes the network more resilient.

"Occasional spikes will be less disruptive than they are in current Wi-Fi standards," Frey said. "[Wi-Fi 7 provides] more resiliency and better reliability of connection."

AR and VR

One of the most compelling capabilities of Wi-Fi 7 is its ability to enable AR and VR technologies, Frey said. AR and VR provide real-time immersive experiences through enhanced or simulated environments. AR and VR typically enhance gaming and entertainment experiences, but businesses can also use AR and VR to support customer experience and other use cases.

Traditional wireless technologies can't offer the high speeds and capacity needed to enable AR and VR, so they typically rely on wired connectivity options, Frey said. Now that Wi-Fi 7 can support processes that require higher speed and greater capacity, it can enable real-time technology, like AR and VR.

"Wi-Fi hasn't been sufficient or appropriate for these kind of technologies," he said. "Wi-Fi 7 has enough redundancy, reliability and performance where you could start to do this."

What's the status of Wi-Fi 7?

Wi-Fi 7 capabilities have been available in draft versions since as early as 2022, according to Frey. Early vendors released Wi-Fi 7-compatible routers, adapters, access points (APs) and chipsets since then to take advantage of the standard's new features. However, despite its availability, the technology hasn't been deployed in large numbers.

In May 2023, Wi-Fi Alliance predicted Wi-Fi 7 devices would account for only 0.4% of device shipments that year. The organization predicted the percentage will increase to 5.7% by the end of 2024, with a total of 231 million Wi-Fi 7 device shipments. Wi-Fi Alliance also expects over 23 million Wi-Fi 7 APs to ship in 2024.

These numbers seem to show significant progress in Wi-Fi 7 adoption, but Wi-Fi 7 still trails behind other Wi-Fi standards. The number of expected Wi-Fi 7 AP shipments, for example, is 84% fewer than the 147 million Wi-Fi 6E APs expected to ship this year. Wi-Fi 6 and 6E still account for the majority of the market.

Roadblocks to Wi-Fi 7 adoption

A few factors have hindered Wi-Fi 7 adoption, including the following:

• Older Wi-Fi standards still in use.
• Limited device compatibility.
• Wi-Fi 7 complexities.

Older Wi-Fi standards still in use

One reason why organizations aren't likely to jump to Wi-Fi 7 immediately is because they're still taking advantage of older standards, notably Wi-Fi 6E, Frey said. Wi-Fi 6E, which released in 2021 as an extension of Wi-Fi 6, improves the speeds, capacity and coverage of its predecessor. The standard is a few years old, but its capabilities are still sufficient for most organizations.

"If 6E is meeting their needs, they probably [won't adopt Wi-Fi 7] other than when they get around to a refresh cycle," he said.

Some organizations have yet to take full advantage of the capabilities Wi-Fi 6E offers, so it might be more feasible for them to remain on Wi-Fi 6E until they need to upgrade.

Limited device compatibility

Another challenge to Wi-Fi 7 is the lack of compatible devices available. Most endpoint devices currently on the market don't yet support Wi-Fi 7, so even if organizations wanted to transition to Wi-Fi 7, they don't have access to devices with Wi-Fi 7 capability. This could also contribute to Wi-Fi 7's slower adoption, Frey said.

Compatibility could change soon, though, as Wi-Fi Alliance predicted millions of Wi-Fi 7 devices will enter the market by the end of the year. Moreover, Wi-Fi 7 devices are backward-compatible, which means they can also use previous generations of wireless connectivity with newer APs.

"You can buy and deploy a Wi-Fi 7 access point, which will also have support for the older standards," Frey said. "You can deploy a Wi-Fi 7 access point now, but clients that can only connect at [Wi-Fi] 5 or 6 can still connect."

Wi-Fi 7 complexities

The newness of Wi-Fi 7 has led to complexities related to its deployment. These complexities are more factors likely to delay adoption, Frey said.

For one, deployment methods have changed with Wi-Fi 7. According to Frey, Wi-Fi 7 uses a different broadcast technique from previous generations of Wi-Fi. Indoor applications -- which Frey said are where most of Wi-Fi 7 adoption will occur -- also use the new encrypted beacon technique. This change could create a learning curve for network engineers as they must learn to deploy the new encryption method.

"[It's] not simple to understand or deploy, and a lot of people have to learn how to do that," Frey said. "That's going to take some time for adoption, too, just to get familiar with this new technique for authentication and the systems required."

Additionally, Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E both use the 6 GHz range, which can cause interference between devices on the same spectrum band. Outdoor applications also use 6 GHz, but because users must access the spectrum through a registry, they need to reserve bandwidth before use. Devices also need to recertify their spectrum every few hours or risk losing connectivity.

Wi-Fi 7 adoption will pick up over time

As Wi-Fi 7 has yet to be fully ratified, it's not likely to take off until at least the end of the year. Once Wi-Fi 7 fully develops, vendors will have more Wi-Fi 7 products available for businesses. However, Wi-Fi 7 won't make sense for every organization.

While many organizations will likely jump to the latest version when they need to upgrade, Frey said he expects most organizations to at least start with Wi-Fi 6 if they haven't already. Because Wi-Fi 7 APs are compatible with previous generations, they can deploy them, start with an older Wi-Fi standard and move up to Wi-Fi 7. Whichever option organizations choose, Frey said, will be based upon the organization's technology needs and requirements.

"It depends on the organization, where they are in their investment refresh cycles and whether or not they have any needs they're trying to accommodate along the way."

Deanna Darah is site editor for TechTarget's Networking site. She began editing and writing at TechTarget after graduating from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2021.