MediaTek released the 5G mobile chip Dimensity 9200 flagship not long ago. The latter supports not only 5G networks, but also future WiFi 7 wireless connections. So, this is a WiFi 7 ready chip. Ordinary users are unaware of the advantages of the new technology. For example, how many people know the difference between WiFi 7 and the previous standard? To clarify this, we need to understand some terminology.

What is the WiFi protocol

First, there are different WiFi protocols. In this regard, the WiFi protocol of WiFi 7 has undergone significant changes. Most people have heard of protocols like 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ax, even if they don't know what they are. We realize that the average user has no idea what these numbers and letters mean.

In 2018, the WiFi Alliance designated the 802.11ax standard as the sixth generation of WiFi technology. Also, it makes the naming of WiFi protocols easier. In other words, they decided to let ordinary users understand the WiFi protocol in seconds:

• 11n becomes WiFi 4
• 11ac becomes WiFi 5
• 11ax becomes WiFi 6

So, looking at the name of the WiFi protocol, the user will realize which is fresher and theoretically better. We will introduce the key specifications of the aforementioned WiFi protocols.

WiFi 4

It was released in 2009. WiFi 4 is a vastly improved version of the WiFi protocol compared to previous versions. WiFi 4 is the first WiFi technology to work on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously. Its transmission speed can reach 600Mbit/s.

5GHz signals have many advantages, and they touch many aspects. They include few sources of interference and fast transfer rates. But the 2.4GHz signal can still "pass through walls" better. The 5GHz signal has nothing to show for it in this regard.

In contrast, 2.4GHz terminal equipment is cheaper. So when you need a router or other device that doesn't require high transfer speeds, you already know what to choose.

The transmission speed of WiFi 4 can reach 600Mbit/s (600mbps). Simply put, its download speed is 600 megabytes of broadband. As you might guess, this is the theoretical speed. In fact, no wifi 4 device can achieve this effect.

WiFi 5

WiFi 5 was released in 2013. It introduces wider RF bandwidth and higher order modulation techniques. Meanwhile, the transfer speed is up to 1.73Gbps.

Subsequently, the 802.11ac wave2 standard was released in 2015. They made beamforming and MU-MIMO features even more popular. It should be noted that WiFi 5 only supports terminals in the 5GHz frequency band.

That is to say, this version of the WiFi protocol further improves the transmission rate of WiFi, providing higher download speeds for multiple users. Note that it only optimizes the downlink and not the uplink.

Wi-Fi 6

Compared with WiFi 5, WiFi 6 has achieved a 4-fold increase in network bandwidth and a 4-fold increase in the number of users. Also, it can work freely on 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.

In terms of Internet speed, the impact on ordinary home users is not great. Today, the home broadband cap in most cities is 1,000 megabytes. WiFi 5 is also fast enough to handle gigabit broadband speeds.

The number of simultaneous users has a certain impact on home users, but not much. Overall performance can be worsened by the number of smart home controllers, which are growing every day. The number of smart home appliances is growing every day. If before this, only a few smartphones and PCs were connected to the home network, now there are ten or even twenty more lighting controllers in the home. But a smart home doesn't necessarily need WiFi 6.

In addition, many smart home appliances are connected to a so-called "master controller". The latter is then connected to the home network. If so, the wireless router can only see a device that is directly connected to the network.

We cannot say the same for enterprise users. They require high transfer rates and have many simultaneous users. Many enterprises have actual needs for Gigabit networks or even higher-standard networks. The number of devices connected to corporate WiFi networks is much higher than that of home users. WiFi 5 cannot meet these needs.

In addition to the WiFi 6 protocol, there is also a WiFi 6E protocol. WiFi 6E adds a 6GHz frequency band on the basis of WiFi 6. The new frequency band has little interference and fast speed.

WiFi 7

WiFi 7 is still in development. But some early versions of the devices are starting to hit the market.

The goal of the WiFi 7 protocol is to increase the throughput rate of the WLAN network to 30Gbps or even 40Gbps and provide low-latency access. In order to achieve this goal, the entire protocol has been modified at the PHY layer and MAC layer. Thanks to many changes, the protocol will support 500+ simultaneous users per channel and provide download speeds twice as fast as WiFi6, allowing users to download a 25GB 4K Blu-ray movie in seconds.

It appears that the first users of this technology will be businesses. For home users, this transfer rate is only needed when playing VR games or using some Metaverse apps.