WiFi 6 has become the standard in the smartphone industry. This means the next generation of standards engineers are working on.
The question is, what are the advantages of WiFi 7 compared to its predecessor? According to Qualcomm, which is a leader in this field, WiFi 7 will double the capacity and speed compared to WiFi 6.
At the same time it also cuts latency by half. This is one of the best descriptions of the upcoming standard.
However, it will come with a lot of new features that will make it stand out. Say, WiFi 7 will introduce a powerful MLO feature. The latter will allow creating multiple links across multiple bands.
If you don't know what speed and performance Wi-Fi 6 brings, this is a good opportunity to understand how the world has changed. First, Wi-Fi 7 will double the maximum channel width (to 320 MHz) and introduce high-level modulation with 4kQAM.
Only WiFi 7 will have another key feature – the ability to manage. Therefore it can optimize the various spectrum bands available. This is called multi-link operation (MLO).
In general, says Giz China, MLO allows devices to use spectrum simultaneously on multiple links.
“The highest performance option (for Wi-Fi 7 MLO) is High Band Simultaneous Multi-Link. The device uses each band as it is available and can operate on both simultaneously, combining throughput in both. Because it can operate simultaneously on each band, even more good at avoiding congestion to lower latency,” said Andy Davidson, senior director of engineering at Qualcomm, according to Giz China.
MLO offers several useful functions. Say, it not only collects channels from different bands but also organizes multiple device links within the same band. For example, if the network doesn't support 6GHz allocation, they can still enjoy 320MHz WiFi channel speed (two 160MHz channels).
Among the regions lacking 6GHz spectrum, we must mention China. Moreover, this country has no plans to go that route. But via WiFi 7 and MLO, the provider can set up a 240MHz wide channel in the 5GHz band.
