MediaTek recently released the 5G mobile chip Dimensity 9200 flagship product. The latter not only supports 5G networks, but also supports future WiFi 7 wireless connections. So this is a WiFi 7 ready chip. Ordinary users have no idea what the advantages of new technology are. For example, how many people know the difference between WiFi 7 and previous standards? To clarify this, we need to understand some terminology.

What is WiFi protocol

First, there are different WiFi protocols. In this regard, WiFi 7’s WiFi protocol has undergone significant changes. Most people have heard of protocols such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ax, even if they don't know what they are. We realize that the average user does not know what these numbers and letters mean.

In 2018, the WiFi Alliance designated the 802.11ax standard as the sixth generation WiFi technology. Additionally, it makes naming WiFi protocols simpler. 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

Therefore, looking at the names of WiFi protocols, users will realize which one is fresher and theoretically better. We will cover the key specifications of the above WiFi protocols.

Wi-Fi 4

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

There are many advantages to 5GHz signals, and they cover many aspects. They include fewer sources of interference and fast transmission rates. But the 2.4GHz signal can still "penetrate walls" better. The 5GHz signal has nothing to show off in this regard.

In comparison, 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.

WiFi 4 transmission speed can reach 600Mbit/s (600mbps). Simply put, its download speed is 600 Mbps broadband. As you guessed, 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. At the same time, the transmission speed is up to 1.73Gbps.

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

In other words, 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.

WiFi 6

Compared with WiFi 5, WiFi 6 has achieved 4 times the network bandwidth increase and 4 times the number of users. Furthermore, it can work freely on 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands.

In terms of Internet speed, the impact on ordinary home users will not be significant. Today, home broadband is capped at 1,000 megabytes in most cities. WiFi 5 is also fast enough to control gigabit broadband speeds.

At the same time, the number of users has a certain impact on home users, but the impact is not significant. Overall performance can be worsened by the number of smart home controllers, and the number of smart home appliances is growing every day. The number of smart home appliances is growing every day. If before, 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 smart homes don’t necessarily need WiFi 6.

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

We can't say the same for enterprise users. They require high transfer rates and have many simultaneous users. Many enterprises have real 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 to WiFi 6. The new frequency band has less interference and is faster.

WiFi 7

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

The goal of the WiFi 7 protocol is to increase the throughput rate of WLAN networks to 30Gbps or even 40Gbps and provide low-latency access. To achieve this goal, the entire protocol was modified at the PHY layer and MAC layer. Thanks to the many changes, the protocol will support 500+ simultaneous users per channel and provide download speeds twice as fast as WiFi 6, allowing users to download a 25GB 4K Blu-ray movie in seconds.

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