Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7™ Features Graphics

Wi-Fi Alliance® introduces Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7™

Advanced Wi-Fi® capabilities fast-track the future of connectivity across home, enterprise, and industrial environments

Austin, Texas, - January 8, 2024 – Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7™ is here, introducing powerful new features that boost Wi-Fi® performance and improve connectivity across a variety of environments. Cutting-edge capabilities in Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 enable innovations that rely on high throughput, deterministic latency, and greater reliability for critical traffic. New use cases – including multi-user AR/VR/XR, immersive 3-D training, electronic gaming, hybrid work, industrial IoT, and automotive – will advance as a result of the latest Wi-Fi generation. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 represents the culmination of extensive collaboration and innovation within Wi-Fi Alliance®, facilitating worldwide product interoperability and a robust, sophisticated device ecosystem.

Wi-Fi 7 will see rapid adoption across a broad ecosystem with more than 233 million devices expected to enter the market in 2024, growing to 2.1 billion devices by 2028. Smartphones, PCs, tablets, and access points (APs) will be the earliest adopters of Wi-Fi 7, and customer premises equipment (CPE) and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) equipment will continue to gain early market traction[1]. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 pushes the boundaries of today’s wireless connectivity, and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ helps ensure advanced features are deployed in a consistent way to deliver high-quality user experiences. Advanced features include: 

  • 320 MHz channels: available in countries that make the 6 GHz band available to 
    Wi-Fi, ultra-wide channels double today’s widest channel size to facilitate multigigabit device speeds and high throughput
  • Multi-Link Operation (MLO): allows devices to transmit and receive data simultaneously over multiple links for increased throughput, reduced latency, and improved reliability
  • 4K QAM: achieves 20% higher transmission rates than 1024 QAM 
  • 512 Compressed block-ack: improves efficiency and reduces overhead 
  • Multiple RUs to a single STA: improves flexibility for spectrum resource scheduling to enhance spectrum efficiency 
  • Triggered Uplink Access: optimizes Wi-Fi 6 defined triggered uplink access to accommodate latency sensitive streams and satisfy QoS requirements
  • Emergency Preparedness Communication Services (EPCS): provides a seamless National Security & Emergency Preparedness (NSEP) service experience to users while maintaining the priority and quality of service in Wi-Fi access networks

 

"The introduction of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 marks the emergence of the latest generation of Wi-Fi and will be an accelerant to mass adoption of Wi-Fi 7. This certification underscores our relentless commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology that redefines the way users experience Wi-Fi, providing faster speeds, improved efficiency, and increased reliability which expand the horizons of what is possible through Wi-Fi." – Kevin Robinson, president and CEO, Wi-Fi Alliance 

Companies including Broadcom, CommScope RUCKUS Networks, Intel, MaxLinear, MediaTek, and Qualcomm form the test bed for certification and are among the first Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 devices. 

Industry support for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7™

“Airties looks forward to supporting broadband service providers’ plans to launch new Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 devices to their subscribers. Wi-Fi 7 provides unprecedented capacity and spectrum efficiency to support far more connections and immersive applications. By embracing Smart Wi-Fi software that is truly standards-based, open-source, and hardware agnostic, ISPs can gain maximum flexibility and control over subscribers’ home broadband experience. With Airties’ Smart Wi-Fi, ISPs will be positioned to optimize the performance of both Wi-Fi 7 and legacy devices to improve QoE, drive incremental revenue, reduce customer support costs, reduce churn, and serve as a platform for future innovation.” – Metin Taskin, Co-CEO, Airties

“Boingo has been a Wi-Fi leader for over two decades, and this leadership will continue as we pioneer Wi-Fi 7 deployments and leverage Wi-Fi 7 CERTIFIED equipment. Wi-Fi 7 promises to usher connectivity into the next phase of digital innovation, delivering unprecedented speeds and capacity. Together with 5G, Wi-Fi 7 will drive digital transformation for Boingo’s customers at military bases, airports, transit hubs, stadiums, hospitals, hotels and enterprises worldwide.” – Dr. Derek Peterson, Chief Technology Officer, Boingo Wireless

“Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 has arrived, bringing lower latency, blazing fast speeds, determinism and high capacity to homes, enterprises and large public venues. Built for our ultra-connected world, Broadcom's Wi-Fi 7 solutions deliver reliable multi-gigabit broadband connectivity to where it is needed most. We are honored to once again participate in the test bed and collaborate with industry peers to revolutionize the wireless experience by launching features like Multi-Link Operation (MLO), which avoids congestion and significantly lowers latency, laying the foundation for a digitally immersive and connected world.” – Vijay Nagarajan, Vice President of Marketing, Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division, Broadcom Inc.

“RUCKUS Networks has always been at the forefront of enterprise Wi-Fi innovation. We are honored to be the only commercial Wi-Fi AP vendor selected to be included in the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 AP test bed. RUCKUS, a longtime collaborator of Wi-Fi Alliance, is proud to have actively participated in multiple Wi-Fi 7 plug fests to ensure interoperability with a variety of Wi-Fi 7 client devices and to accelerate Wi-Fi 7 market adoption. RUCKUS looks forward to working with Wi-Fi Alliance in the future to continue delivering Wi-Fi technology innovations.” – Bart Giordano, SVP & President, Networking, Intelligent Cellular and Security Solutions, CommScope

"Over the past two and a half decades, Wi-Fi has revolutionized the way we interact and function as a society. It stands as the foremost technology for daily connectivity. We are still at the dawn of the 6 GHz era, heralded by Wi-Fi 6E and we are poised to unlock unprecedented wireless user experiences. Wi-Fi 7, which is the next step of this evolution, signifies more than an incremental upgrade—it's a leap into a realm where speed, capacity, and reliability converge to meet the insatiable demands of our connected world." – David Coleman, Director of Wireless in the Office of the CTO, Extreme Networks

“Congratulations to Wi-Fi Alliance for the launch of the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7™.  Intel-powered PCs and IOT products with Wi-Fi 7 will enable multi-gigabit speeds with wired-like responsiveness and new extreme levels of connection reliability. Ecosystem collaboration and interoperability are essential to help deliver on these expectations. We are delighted that our new Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 solution has been officially certified and included in the program test bed to help make great user experiences possible with other Wi-Fi 7 devices.” – Eric A. McLaughlin, VP & GM Wireless Solutions Group, Intel Corporation

"MaxLinear is spearheading the advancement of Wi-Fi technology, in strategic partnership with Wi-Fi Alliance. Our focus extends beyond mere support; we're actively defining the future of Wi-Fi access points. Our pivotal role in the Wi-Fi 7 certification test bed underscores our dedication to elevating user experiences with unparalleled speeds, enhanced capacity, and lower latency. Our innovative tri-band single chip Wi-Fi solution exemplifies our leadership in carrier-grade Wi-Fi. We're not just participants; we are the architects of a new era in wireless communication, enabling diverse applications across consumer, enterprise, and industrial sectors." – Will Torgerson, VP/GM Broadband Group, MaxLinear

“It’s impressive to see how quickly the Wi-Fi 7 certification program has progressed. As one of the first adopters of Wi-Fi 7 technology, MediaTek has worked closely with Wi-Fi Alliance to develop and test our Filogic portfolio. Now brands can be confident that devices powered by MediaTek Filogic Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 chipsets take full advantage of Wi-Fi 7’s enhancements to deliver fast, reliable, and always-on connected experiences.” – Alan Hsu, Corporate Vice President, MediaTek

“Wi-Fi 7 is a game-changing evolution of Wi-Fi, elevating wireless connectivity to unprecedented heights of performance. The Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 and Networking Pro Series Platforms are powering millions of Wi-Fi 7 smartphones, PCs, and access points today, and we are honored that both are included in the certification test bed. We are thrilled our customers are experiencing our full-featured Wi-Fi 7 implementations across our product portfolio, including 320 MHz channels, Multi-Link Operation maximized for robust performance at range, and improvements to enhance manageability of platforms. Together, we are racing forward, ushering in a broad ecosystem of Wi-Fi 7 networks, devices and use cases that will help redefine the world in which we live, work, and connect.” – Rahul Patel, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Connectivity, Broadband and Networking, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc 

“Wi-Fi 7 significantly increases performance for both consumers and businesses. With new technologies such as Multi-Link Operation, 4K QAM, and 320 MHz channels, Wi-Fi 7 will enable new applications and ecosystems and dramatically improve user experience for existing ones.” – James Kimery, VP of Product Management, Spirent Communications 

For a new video, technology highlights, technology overview and more information, please visit https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-certified-7.

 

About Wi-Fi Alliance®  |  www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance® is the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi®. Members of our collaboration forum come together from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem with the shared vision to connect everyone and everything, everywhere, while providing the best possible user experience. Since 2000, Wi-Fi Alliance has completed more than 80,000 Wi-Fi certifications. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, backward compatibility, and the highest industry-standard security protections in place. Today, Wi-Fi carries more than half of the Internet’s traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications. Wi-Fi Alliance continues to drive the adoption and evolution of Wi-Fi, which billions of people rely on every day.

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Media Contact: 
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[1] Source: IDC, Worldwide Wi-Fi Technology Forecast, January 2024

Press Release
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7™ Highlights

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In order to manage your company’s membership in Wi-Fi Alliance and participate in Wi-Fi Alliance’s activities, we will need your basic business contact information, such as your name, title, company, business e-mail address and business telephone number. Under EEA and Swiss laws, that information constitutes personal data that is protected by privacy laws, including the GDPR in the EEA. If you are located in the EEA or Switzerland, please click here for our GDPR Privacy Notice, which explains how we process your personal information.

We request your consent to transfer to the USA the information that you provide to us. Wi-Fi Alliance is based in the USA and that’s where we process the personal information of Member Representatives. The USA does not have an adequacy decision from the European Commission, which means that the Commission has not determined that the laws of the USA provide adequate protection for personal information. Although the laws of the USA do not provide legal protection that is equivalent to EU data protection laws, we nonetheless treat the personal information of Member Representatives in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We use appropriate security measures to protection personal information. We also enter into contracts with our data processors that require them to treat personal information in a manner that is consistent with this Notice.

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Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7™ Technology Overview (2024)

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 delivers an unprecedented level of connectivity through an impressive list of new features to support a wide variety of cutting-edge use cases. Among these key features is 320 MHz channel widths, which increases capacity by enabling a higher number of simultaneous transmissions at the fastest possible speeds, and MLO, which increases throughput and lowers latency by enabling devices to combine different channels across frequency bands together. In countries with 6 GHz access, native 6 GHz support allows Wi-Fi 7 to take full advantage of the 1200 MHz of unlicensed spectrum being made globally available. 

Both home and industrial settings will be able to use Wi-Fi 7 to maximize user experiences and productivity by leveraging Wi-Fi 7’s high throughput, high bandwidth, and low latency features. Video use cases, in particular, require high performance connectivity, which Wi-Fi 7 provides in abundance to allow for ultra-high definition streaming, video conferencing, and AR/VR/XR connections.

The future of Wi-Fi through Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 is extremely promising and time will show the various ways its 
high-speed potential will be leveraged to better interconnect our world.

Consent to Transfer of Data to USA

In order to manage your company’s membership in Wi-Fi Alliance and participate in Wi-Fi Alliance’s activities, we will need your basic business contact information, such as your name, title, company, business e-mail address and business telephone number. Under EEA and Swiss laws, that information constitutes personal data that is protected by privacy laws, including the GDPR in the EEA. If you are located in the EEA or Switzerland, please click here for our GDPR Privacy Notice, which explains how we process your personal information.

We request your consent to transfer to the USA the information that you provide to us. Wi-Fi Alliance is based in the USA and that’s where we process the personal information of Member Representatives. The USA does not have an adequacy decision from the European Commission, which means that the Commission has not determined that the laws of the USA provide adequate protection for personal information. Although the laws of the USA do not provide legal protection that is equivalent to EU data protection laws, we nonetheless treat the personal information of Member Representatives in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We use appropriate security measures to protection personal information. We also enter into contracts with our data processors that require them to treat personal information in a manner that is consistent with this Notice.

Please fill out this form to download your file. If you work for a Wi-Fi Alliance member company you may request members-only access.

Wi-Fi Alliance Insider – December 2023

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In order to manage your company’s membership in Wi-Fi Alliance and participate in Wi-Fi Alliance’s activities, we will need your basic business contact information, such as your name, title, company, business e-mail address and business telephone number. Under EEA and Swiss laws, that information constitutes personal data that is protected by privacy laws, including the GDPR in the EEA. If you are located in the EEA or Switzerland, please click here for our GDPR Privacy Notice, which explains how we process your personal information.

We request your consent to transfer to the USA the information that you provide to us. Wi-Fi Alliance is based in the USA and that’s where we process the personal information of Member Representatives. The USA does not have an adequacy decision from the European Commission, which means that the Commission has not determined that the laws of the USA provide adequate protection for personal information. Although the laws of the USA do not provide legal protection that is equivalent to EU data protection laws, we nonetheless treat the personal information of Member Representatives in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We use appropriate security measures to protection personal information. We also enter into contracts with our data processors that require them to treat personal information in a manner that is consistent with this Notice.

Please fill out this form to download your file. If you work for a Wi-Fi Alliance member company you may request members-only access.

Blog December 19, 2023

Using Wi-Fi® to advance Home Internet of Things technology

IoT
by

Home Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the network of smart devices inside a private residence that connect to the Internet and each other but extend beyond traditional computing and entertainment products that use Wi-Fi®, such as computers, smartphones, TVs, and game consoles. Some common Home IoT devices include security cameras, lighting, and appliances. The key component of Home IoT is interoperability, as devices produced by different manufacturers need to work together in order to provide a great user experience. Wi-Fi is the natural connectivity choice for Home IoT systems because it is designed specifically for interoperability by adhering to IEEE standards. Wi-Fi also provides safe transference of personal data thanks to its robust WPA3™ security protocol.

Wi-Fi connectivity protocols enhance Internet of Things functionality

Core Wi-Fi certifications are based on IEEE connectivity standards, the latest of which is called Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6®. The key upgrades offered by Wi-Fi 6 over its predecessors include greater capacity, multi-gigabit data rates, better power efficiency, and high performance even in densely populated environments. Wi-Fi 6 also includes the Wi-Fi 6E certification, which extends connectivity into the 6 gigahertz (GHz) band, offering faster speeds using larger channel widths and bringing extra capacity to the Wi-Fi universe with relatively low interference and congestion. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® is also an essential ingredient for Matter certification, which further ensures device compatibility.

Wi-Fi 6 includes a number of features that have significant benefits for Home IoT, including:

  • Target wake time (TWT) – Allows devices to “sleep” for long periods of time between connections to the network, extending battery life
  • Multi-user multiple-input and multiple-output (MU-MIMO) – Allows APs to connect to more IoT devices simultaneously
  • Orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) – Shares channels to increase network efficiency and lower latency for both uplink and downlink traffic
  • Beamforming – Allows better connections to devices in distant part of the home or garden
  • BSS coloring – A method of identifying and managing overlaps between “basic service sets,” the term for a combination of an access point (AP) and at least one connected client device, reducing interference due to congestion and ensuring consistent service to multiple devices in a busy wireless environment

In addition to Wi-Fi 6, another important generational Wi-Fi technology is Wi-Fi CERTIFIED HaLow™. This technology, specifically designed for the IoT marketplace, offers long range, low power connectivity by operating in the sub-1 GHz spectrum. This allows it to reach devices up to 1 kilometer (km) away from the AP, which is particularly useful for enterprises, agriculture settings, and smart cities.

In a Home IoT context, Wi-Fi HaLow’s ability to penetrate walls and other barriers better than 2.4 GHz technologies is an important consideration. Wi-Fi HaLow implements new sleep and management modes (using the same TWT protocol as Wi-Fi 6 above) to deliver energy-efficient, multi-year battery operation. This makes it suitable for connecting devices such as door locks, lighting, cameras, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) components. It can also link appliances to each other or to internet resources without running additional signaling wires. Home doorbells or multi-dwelling unit (MDU) access control systems can use Wi-Fi HaLow’s higher data rates to support real-time video and biometric authentication schemes. 

Home Internet of Things use cases multiply thanks to Wi-Fi

Home IoT captures a wide range of technologies that work together to support convenient living, provide security, and even monitor health. In general, Home IoT products are beginning to emerge with more screens and video capabilities. These require high bandwidth in order to provide real-time viewership and interactivity with low latency. Whole-home coverage is also necessary, as mobile Home IoT products that experience lapses in coverage will stop working immediately, unable to recover and move to a better connected area. Due to the variety of use cases and multitude of devices on a Home IoT network, it is imperative to use the latest Wi-Fi connectivity technology.

Home IoT use cases most relevant for Wi-Fi today and in the future include: 

  • Home control and lighting – This includes products primarily related to heat, light, power, and cooling, including smart plugs, light bulbs, air conditioning, and window blinds. These devices often span the entire home and extend into the garden or yard, benefitting from the range offered by Wi-Fi 6
  • Consumer electronics and appliances – These products include connected versions of standard consumer products, covering everything from robotic vacuum cleaners to ovens, fridges, garden sprinklers, and even pet feeding machines. These are purchased by homeowners and rental tenants and typically work on a standalone basis rather than being deeply integrated into home automation, although they will often connect to smartphone applications or a voice control platform
  • Entertainment and smart speakers – Smart speakers and home entertainment are probably the most well known Home IoT use cases, including solutions such as Amazon’s Alexa. These devices rely on Wi-Fi for high-quality audio streaming and access to the cloud. Many vendors have added screens to their speaker devices, which act as terminals for video calls and video-entry doorbells. These screens use significant bandwidth, therefore high-performance Wi-Fi is a requirement 
  • Security and access products – Compared to categories such as kitchen appliances, there is far greater need for security products to work together to protect the home from risks and threats. An alarm system may involve multiple cameras, door sensors, smoke alarms, and other products as well as the ability to link to remote cloud-based storage systems and connect to monitoring and alarm management services. This puts a premium on interoperability and WPA3 security
  • Health and fitness – Health and fitness describes a group of products ranging from fitness bands and watches to connected telemedicine devices such as blood-pressure cuffs and eldercare alarms. There is a growing need for real-time connectivity to the cloud, two-way communications, instant analytics and feedback, and remote management. While many devices are standalone today, we can expect greater levels of coordination and correlation between products in the future, which will put a premium on interoperability and Wi-Fi certification

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED testing and certification is one of the most effective ways to optimize Home IoT device performance because IoT is so dependent on both Wi-Fi and interoperability. As these products become more and more sophisticated and incorporate features and applications that require higher bandwidth, it becomes increasingly important to access the benefits of the latest Wi-Fi certifications. When it comes to connectivity, reliability, and security, there is no standard more stringent yet easy to attain than Wi-Fi CERTIFIED.

For more information on Wi-Fi and Home IoT, please read the following papers:

Optimizing Home IoT with Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™

Leveraging Wi-Fi® for Home IoT use cases

The statements and opinions by each Wi-Fi Alliance member and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions or views of Wi-Fi Alliance or any other member. Wi-Fi Alliance is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information provided by any member in posting to or commenting on this blog. Concerns should be directed to info@wi-fi.org.

XR Use Cases Highlights

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In order to manage your company’s membership in Wi-Fi Alliance and participate in Wi-Fi Alliance’s activities, we will need your basic business contact information, such as your name, title, company, business e-mail address and business telephone number. Under EEA and Swiss laws, that information constitutes personal data that is protected by privacy laws, including the GDPR in the EEA. If you are located in the EEA or Switzerland, please click here for our GDPR Privacy Notice, which explains how we process your personal information.

We request your consent to transfer to the USA the information that you provide to us. Wi-Fi Alliance is based in the USA and that’s where we process the personal information of Member Representatives. The USA does not have an adequacy decision from the European Commission, which means that the Commission has not determined that the laws of the USA provide adequate protection for personal information. Although the laws of the USA do not provide legal protection that is equivalent to EU data protection laws, we nonetheless treat the personal information of Member Representatives in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We use appropriate security measures to protection personal information. We also enter into contracts with our data processors that require them to treat personal information in a manner that is consistent with this Notice.

Please fill out this form to download your file. If you work for a Wi-Fi Alliance member company you may request members-only access.

Social VR Highlights

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In order to manage your company’s membership in Wi-Fi Alliance and participate in Wi-Fi Alliance’s activities, we will need your basic business contact information, such as your name, title, company, business e-mail address and business telephone number. Under EEA and Swiss laws, that information constitutes personal data that is protected by privacy laws, including the GDPR in the EEA. If you are located in the EEA or Switzerland, please click here for our GDPR Privacy Notice, which explains how we process your personal information.

We request your consent to transfer to the USA the information that you provide to us. Wi-Fi Alliance is based in the USA and that’s where we process the personal information of Member Representatives. The USA does not have an adequacy decision from the European Commission, which means that the Commission has not determined that the laws of the USA provide adequate protection for personal information. Although the laws of the USA do not provide legal protection that is equivalent to EU data protection laws, we nonetheless treat the personal information of Member Representatives in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We use appropriate security measures to protection personal information. We also enter into contracts with our data processors that require them to treat personal information in a manner that is consistent with this Notice.

Please fill out this form to download your file. If you work for a Wi-Fi Alliance member company you may request members-only access.

XR in Enterprise Highlights

Consent to Transfer of Data to USA

In order to manage your company’s membership in Wi-Fi Alliance and participate in Wi-Fi Alliance’s activities, we will need your basic business contact information, such as your name, title, company, business e-mail address and business telephone number. Under EEA and Swiss laws, that information constitutes personal data that is protected by privacy laws, including the GDPR in the EEA. If you are located in the EEA or Switzerland, please click here for our GDPR Privacy Notice, which explains how we process your personal information.

We request your consent to transfer to the USA the information that you provide to us. Wi-Fi Alliance is based in the USA and that’s where we process the personal information of Member Representatives. The USA does not have an adequacy decision from the European Commission, which means that the Commission has not determined that the laws of the USA provide adequate protection for personal information. Although the laws of the USA do not provide legal protection that is equivalent to EU data protection laws, we nonetheless treat the personal information of Member Representatives in accordance with our Privacy Policy. We use appropriate security measures to protection personal information. We also enter into contracts with our data processors that require them to treat personal information in a manner that is consistent with this Notice.

Please fill out this form to download your file. If you work for a Wi-Fi Alliance member company you may request members-only access.

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