Consumers are experiencing a quantum leap in wireless performance thanks to NETGEAR and WiFi 7. From 8K streaming video to immersive virtual reality and whole-home mesh systems, WiFi users around the world are enjoying increased speed, reduced latency, and heightened security - all part of the NETGEAR wireless revolution.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Full Speed Ahead with WiFi 7
WiFi has helped keep the world informed, entertained, and productive for decades. WiFi advances are ongoing, overseen by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) industry standards and the WFA (WiFi Alliance). The latest industry standard IEEE P802.11be, or WiFi 7, takes WiFi performance to the next level for a superior connected experience. WiFi 7 offers faster speeds, improved responsiveness, and the opportunity to explore the future of sophisticated technologies, and NETGEAR WiFi 7 is leading the way.
What is WiFi 7?
WiFi 7 is the latest WiFi standard, succeeding WiFi 5, WiFi 6, and WiFi 6E. Also called Extremely High Throughput (EFT) WiFi, the new WiFi 7 standard employs a variety of cutting-edge technologies and protocols that boost efficiency, increase network capacity, and reduce latency. NETGEAR WiFi 7 products offer blazing-fast connections for a superior user experience. In fact, the latest NETGEAR Orbi 970 Series Quad-Band Mesh System can support 200+ connected devices simultaneously without compromising speed.
WiFi 7 Use Cases
The benefits of WiFi 7 manifest in a variety of ways. For instance, higher throughput and lower latency will facilitate high-definition gaming, video streaming, and sophisticated virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). WiFi 7 also mitigates interference and network congestion. It delivers a better connected experience, particularly in areas with high device density and overlapping networks such as busy shopping areas, office buildings, airports, and large venues.
WiFi 7 Bands
WiFi 7 operates on the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz radio bands. In addition, the WiFi 7 standard doubles the number of MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) streams to 16, enabling the standard to handle more throughput than its predecessors. WiFi 7 also uses Multi-Link Operation (MLO) which mitigates network interference and traffic congestion. This improves throughput and reduces latency by enabling devices to send and receive data over multiple radio bands simultaneously as though they were a single connection. Another special feature, Target Wake Time (TWT), enables routers to reserve bandwidth for specific transmissions which will optimise network resources and conserve device battery life.
How Fast Is WiFi 7?
While each new WiFi standard offered incremental speed increases, NETGEAR Orbi WiFi 7 is a huge leap forward toward lightning-fast connections, with peak data rates reaching over 40 Gbps. In other words, WiFi 7 is around four times faster than WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E, and six times faster than WiFi 5. In addition, WiFi 7 employs a variety of state-of-the-art technologies and protocols that reduce latency, increase network capacity, and improve efficiency. For example, while OFDMA enables WiFi 6 to optimise upload and download data transmissions at the router, WiFi 7 can coordinate data transmissions across multiple points in a whole-home mesh system such as the NETGEAR Orbi 970 Series Quad-Band WiFi 7 Mesh System.
What Is the Difference Between WiFi 7 and WiFi 6?
For starters, WiFi 7 is at least four times faster than WiFi 6. Moreover, it offers reduced latency, increased capacity, more efficiency, and better stability. This is accomplished in several ways.
CMU-MIMO
WiFi 7 introduces users to Coordinated Multi-User MIMO (Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output), or simply MU-MIMO. This new feature is tailor-made for mesh networking in which a single synchronized network has multiple access points. MU-MIMO allows your device network to divert data streams to different access points simultaneously.
The 6 GHz Frequency Band
As with WiFi 6, the latest WiFi 7 standard utilises the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz frequency band. In addition, WiFi 7 also taps into the 6 GHz band, and can even divide, split, and combine bands to secure the fastest available network connections.
More data streams
WiFi 7 supports 16 data streams to WiFi 6’s 8 data streams.
Does WiFi 7 Differ From WiFi 6E?
WiFi 7 delivers many of the same advantages as WiFi 6E, with some significant differences. These include wider WiFi 7 channels, higher Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), and Multi-Link Operation (MLO). Let’s take a look at five of the most significant ways that WiFi 7 is improving the user experience.
1. Wider Channels Than WiFi 6E
WiFi frequency bands are typically split into multiple 20 MHz channels. The 2.4 GHz band is composed of 11 channels, while the 5 GHz band has 45 channels. These channels can even be combined, as in the 5 GHz band, which can support 40 MHz and 80 MHz channels.
However, it’s in the 6 GHz band that WiFi 7 makes a huge difference compared to WiFi 6E. The 6GHz band is composed of 60 x 20 MHz channels, and while WiFi 6E supports channels as wide as 160 MHz, its successor can support 320 MHz channels.
The wider the channel, the more data it can transmit. In simple terms, it is like comparing the amount of road traffic that can be supported by a three-lane highway compared to a six-lane highway.
2. Higher Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)
Orbi 970 WiFi 7 supports 4K QAM, up from the 1024 QAM offered by WiFi 6E. The higher the QAM, the more information that can be transmitted. At peak performance, WiFi 7 offers data rates 20% higher than WiFi 6E.
3. Multi-Link Operation
Multi-Link Operation (MLO) is a huge WiFi 7 advantage of the Orbi 970. All previous WiFi standards, including those with tri-band WiFi 6E routers, use single-band connections between devices. MLO allows WiFi 7 to combine several frequencies into a single connection. MLO optimises speed and efficiency by enabling WiFi 7 routers to address congestion and interference issues while maintaining stable connections with low latency.
4. Multi Resource Units (RU) and Puncturing
With earlier WiFi versions, a high-speed channel becomes unavailable if any part of the channel is being used by another device. With Multi-RU Puncturing, WiFi 7 will allocate other parts of the same high-speed channel that are not in use so your devices can continue to function optimally.
5. Target Wake Time
This new WiFi 7 feature allows the router to reserve bandwidth for specific types of data. For example, you can guarantee bandwidth for important video conferencing, even while other people are hooked up to the NETGEAR Orbi system for streaming, gaming, or browsing. You can prioritise activities such as video conferencing or control smart home IoT-connected devices with guaranteed bandwidth.
The Need for WiFi 7
More than ever before, we need reliable internet connectivity. Multi-gigabit broadband capability is driving demand, and NETGEAR WiFi 7 is meeting the needs of consumers. Spending on data-hungry gaming applications has dramatically increased, and users are getting a taste for virtual reality and augmented reality immersion. This transformation in usage is accommodated only with WiFi 7s blazing-fast speeds and low latency across the entire network. WiFi 7 is perfect for connected homes and the Internet of Things (IoT), where smart home appliances and gadgets are simultaneously connected.
The NETGEAR Orbi 970 Series Quad-Band WiFi 7 Mesh System
NETGEAR Orbi is a superior class of WiFi 7. The Orbi 970 Series unlocks the extraordinary power of WiFi 7 for your whole home, delivering unprecedented WiFi speeds from the front door to the back garden and the basement to the rooftop. Orbi eliminates WiFi dead zones and allows everyone under one roof to get on with their online activities uninterrupted.
The enhanced dedicated backhaul facilitates multi-gig speeds across all devices, and you can enjoy 360-degree whole-home coverage without buffering thanks to the innovative high-performance antenna design. The next-gen Orbi mesh router system allows you to connect up to 200 devices concurrently.
Standout features of the Orbi 970 include much faster download speeds, preamble puncturing for stronger connections, high throughput with multi-link operation, and significantly lower latency for real-time immersive online experiences. Orbi uses patented quad-band WiFi 7 technology to create a superhighway between the router and satellites for smooth and seamless WiFi across your entire property.
In addition, the 10 Gig internet port unlocks the fastest available internet speeds of today and tomorrow. The Orbi 970 offers ultimate flexibility with both 10 Gig wired LAN port connectivity and unparalleled 10G WiFi.
Easy Orbi Setup
The Orbi app makes it easy to install your Orbi and get it up and running in a matter of minutes. You can even use the Orbi app on your Apple iPhone or Android smartphone to manage your home network when you are away from home. Orbi is compatible with any internet service provider (ISP). you can create up to 3 separate guest networks and calibrate smart home (IoT) devices to optimise overall network traffic flow.
The Orbi 970 whole-home mesh system includes NETGEAR Armor software that provides an automatic shield of security for your WiFi and connected devices for real-time protection. NETGEAR Orbi also promotes healthy Internet habits and fosters responsibility with NETGEAR Smart Parental Controls.
The NETGEAR Orbi 970 Series in a Nutshell
The future of WiFi is here, and it is called the NETGEAR Orbi 970 Series. This amazing WiFi system delivers maximum speeds and lower latency for all your connected devices and networks. Here is the best of the new Orbi 970 in a nutshell.
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- WiFi 7 speeds up to 27Gbps for unparalleled performance and WiFi coverage for your whole home.
- 2.4x faster speeds than WiFi 6 and fully backward compatible with all your older WiFi legacy devices.
- 8K streaming, video conferencing, gaming, virtual reality, and more, for all your family simultaneously.
- Quad-band technology with unique dedicated backhaul for superfast WiFi across all your devices.
- Elegant design and high-performance antennas for 360° WiFi coverage across every corner of your home.
- The fastest speeds available for today and tomorrow with 10Gbps and 2.5 Gbps Ethernet ports for wired connections such as gaming consoles and media storage.
- NETGEAR Orbi works with any ISP. The Orbi app makes it a breeze to set up and manage your entire WiFi home network.
- NETGEAR Armor software provides a shield of security against hackers for your WiFi and all your connected devices.
The main Orbi router contains a 10Gbps Ethernet port, four 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports, and a 10Gig Internet port. The Orbi satellites contain a 10Gbps Ethernet port and 2 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports.
A Word from the WiFi Alliance
“Based on the developing IEEE 802.11be standard, WiFi 7 is a major generational WiFi technology evolution. WiFi 7 focuses on improvements capable of supporting a maximum throughput of at least 30Gbps to increase performance, enable WiFi innovations, and expand use cases. Additional WiFi 7 enhancements support reduced latency and buffering for time-sensitive networking applications. These include AR/VR, 4K and 8K video streaming, automotive, cloud computing, gaming, video applications, and industrial applications. In addition, WiFi 7 is backward compatible with legacy devices in the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz spectrum bands.”
WiFi 7 can handle the networking needs of 200 devices simultaneously. If channels become congested, data throughput for devices is instantly shifted to another channel. WiFi 7 can choose the best available frequencies and channels at any time and can also prioritize specific uses.
Explore more great NETGEAR Orbi and Nighthawk products at NETGEAR/UK and take a quantum leap into the future of the Internet.
