WiFi 7 Guide: Everything You Need to Know About the New Standard
By James Park
WiFi 7, officially known as IEEE 802.11be, is the latest wireless networking standard that promises theoretical speeds up to 46Gbps — nearly five times faster than WiFi 6. The key innovation is Multi-Link Operation (MLO), which allows devices to simultaneously connect across multiple bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz) for increased throughput, lower latency, and improved reliability.
In practical terms, WiFi 7 enables smoother 8K streaming, lag-free cloud gaming, and faster large-file transfers. Several internet providers are already including WiFi 7 routers with their high-speed plans. Frontier includes an Eero WiFi 7 router with its 500Mbps+ fiber plans, and Xfinity's latest xFi gateway supports WiFi 7 on gigabit tiers.
Should you upgrade? If you have a gigabit or multi-gig internet plan, WiFi 7 will help you actually use those speeds over WiFi. Most users on sub-gigabit plans will see minimal real-world improvement over WiFi 6 or WiFi 6E. We recommend waiting until WiFi 7 devices become more mainstream and prices drop before upgrading your entire home network.