Wi-Fi 7 is the next wireless connectivity standard that will take over our homes. Operating on three frequency bands and ultra-wide channels, this technology offers speeds far superior to those of Wi-Fi 6, while reducing latency and multiplying network capacity. And thanks to TP-Link, the prowess of Wi-Fi 7 is now available to the general public.
The manufacturer specializing in network equipment TP-Link proves once again that it is at the cutting edge of technology by being the first to market consumer routers supporting the Wi-Fi 7 standard, also called 802.11be for intimate. This will greatly improve the experience of wireless internet connection in the home of users, whose needs are constantly growing, between streaming 4K videos, online gaming, cloud gaming, home automation or even file downloads. . Discover in this article what are the advantages of Wi-Fi 7 and the first compatible products.
Huge performance boost
Wi-Fi 6 can be considered a generation of transition, which brought interesting features to the standard, in particular to improve stability, but which does not represent a performance gap compared to its predecessor. Wi-Fi 7 has the mission of exploding speeds. It has the potential to reach up to 46 Gb/s, which is 4.8 times more than Wi-Fi 5 is capable of.
In addition to this surge in speeds, Wi-Fi 7 is distinguished by the use of three frequency bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz. Devices can switch between them on the fly to get the best performance depending on the situation. For example, the 2.4 GHz band holds up very well over distance, while the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands rely more on very high speeds at short range.
Channel sizes are also changing and extending up to 320 MHz in the 6 GHz band, avoiding the effects of channel congestion and overload. With such an extension of their width, it becomes possible to transmit more data to and from more devices, and all more quickly. Wi-Fi 7 offers up to 5 times more network capacity than Wi-Fi 6.
More stable and without latency
MU-MIMO technology has proven itself on previous standards, it returns even more impressive with Wi-Fi 7, which offers 16×16 MU-MIMO, which doubles the number of spatial streams compared to Wi-Fi 6. This process ensures sufficient bandwidth for all devices in the home, even when they are operating at the same time.
This version also features a more efficient modulation scheme. While the 1024-QAM of Wi-Fi 6 allowed each symbol to carry 10 bits of data, the 4096-QAM of Wi-Fi 7 is more efficient by around 20%, a symbol being able to carry 12 bits of information. The higher transmission rate enabled by Wi-Fi 7 helps reduce latency, especially in online games, and limits buffering effects when streaming 4K or 8K video.
Wi-Fi 7 also introduces Multi-RU. This feature improves spectral efficiency, by assigning multiple resource units (RU) to a single user and combining them to gain transmission performance, where Wi-Fi 6 only allows one resource unit per user. , even when one or more RUs are available and waiting.
Multi-Link Operation is another great feature of Wi-Fi 7. Thanks to this technology, devices are able to simultaneously send and receive data on different frequency bands and channels. Consequence: speeds increase, latency decreases and experiences such as augmented and virtual reality, cloud computing or online gaming and games benefit from greater reliability.
The first Wi-Fi 7 routers
TP-Link is the first to bring the benefits of Wi-Fi 7 to consumers. The manufacturer is launching two Mesh systems supporting Wi-Fi 7, backward compatible with all previous WiFi generations, and designed to provide a quality connection in the entire household, even large surfaces with floors.
The TP-Link Deco BE65 is offered in a pack containing one, two or three Deco BE65 devices. It provides mesh WiFi coverage up to 725 m² (in the case of a three-unit mesh system). This equipment works on the tri-band principle and can deliver performances reaching up to 9 Gb/s: 5,760 Mb/s on 6 GHz, 2,880 Mb/s on 5 GHz and 574 Mb/s on 2, 4GHz. The connection consists of four 2.5 Gb/s Ethernet ports for even greater stability.
The TP-Link Deco BE85 is also available in three versions, including a choice of one, two or three mesh devices (router and satellites). This model benefits from a particularly high-end hardware interface since there is a USB 3.0 port, a combined Ethernet/fiber 10 Gb/s WAN/LAN port, a 10 Gb/s WAN/LAN port, as well as two 2.5 Gbps ports. The Deco BE85 mesh system can connect more than 200 devices to the home network and cover up to 1400 m² of surface. Its 12-stream tri-band Wi-Fi 7 is capable of delivering speeds of up to 19 Gb/s, distributed as follows: 11,520 Mb/s on the 6 GHz band, 5,760 Mb/s on the 5 GHz band and 1 376 Mb/s in 2.4 GHz. The icing on the cake, the TP-Link Deco BE85 is compatible with the Google Home and Amazon Alexa ecosystems.
Both products include the TP-Link HomeShield option, a complete network protection offering robust parental controls functions and real-time security of home connected objects connected to the home wireless network. HomeShield examines the network by analyzing and identifying potential threats, then stops threats before they have time to damage the network.
The TP-Link Deco BE65 and TP-Link Deco BE85 Wi-Fi 7 mesh routers are available exclusively at Boulanger.
