What’s the difference between wifi 6/6E and wifi 7?

difference between wifi 6 and wifi 7

Get the best comparison of wifi 6/6E and 7

In the IT industry, Wi-Fi has always been regarded as a “black magic” specialty. It was huge that Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E, and Wi-Fi 7 were released within 24 months of each other. Those who aren’t familiar with wireless will undoubtedly become confused as they choose one after the other. Hopefully, after reading this article, you will learn the difference between wifi 6, wifi 6e and wifi 7

It’s understandable if you are curious about the differences between Wi-Fi 7 and WiFi 6E. They promise roughly the same advantages over previous standards by opening the 6-GHz band. Especially considering that Wi-Fi 7 will make use of the same three bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz. Here are some of the few upgradations and differences you will feel. 

 

  • Expanded Channels:

Channels separate each band. There are 11 channels with 20 MHz each in the 2.4 GHz band. There are 45 channels in the 5-GHz band. They can be combined to form 40- or 80-MHz channels, and their width is not limited to 20 MHz. 

60 channels are available in the 6-GHz band, and they can be as wide as 160 MHz with Wi-Fi 6E. Channels up to 320 MHz in width are supported by Wi-Fi 7. The more data that can be transmitted, the wider the channel. Imagine how much traffic a one-lane road can handle. This is a straightforward analogy. This contrasts with a highway with three lanes or a superhighway with six lanes.

 

  • Greater QAM:

A technique for radio-frequency wave data transmission and reception is known as quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). You can pack in more information the higher it is. 4K QAM is supported by Wi-Fi 7, 1024 QAM by Wi-Fi 6, and 256 QAM by Wi-Fi 5.

The signal strength, background noise, and interference make it harder to get the benefits that could come from it. As a result, the range decreases as QAM increases, necessitating a more powerful signal. Therefore, the switch to 1024-QAM in Wi-Fi 6 resulted in a data rate increase of approximately 25% over Wi-Fi 5. In Wi-Fi 7, upgrading to 4K-QAM results in a 20% increase in peak performance.

 

  • Operation with Many Links:

The Multi-Link Operation (MLO) feature in Wi-Fi 7 is perhaps the most exciting innovation. A single band is used to connect two devices in every previous Wi-Fi standard. Even a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router uses a fixed channel to connect two devices using a single band. The router chooses whether to connect on the 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, or 6-GHz band. 

MLO can connect multiple frequencies from different bands together. A Wi-Fi 7 router can connect to a Wi-Fi 7 device simultaneously over two or more channels in various bands. MLO could potentially make it possible to transmit more data through wider channels. In keeping with our highway analogy, you can simultaneously send traffic on both the highway and the superhighway.

MLO also makes it possible for more effective performance, so speed isn’t always the most important thing. A Wi-Fi 7 router can transmit on the optimal channel to avoid congestion and other interference. Changing this to maintain a low latency and stable connection. We can reduce the short range of the 6-GHz band by MLO. Click here to learn more about “what is Wifi 7” in details.

 Difference Between wifi 6, wifi 6E and wifi 7 In The Form Of Table-

 

 

Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi 6E /Wi-Fi 7
IEEE standard 802.11ax 802.11ax 802.11be
Spectrum used, GHz /2.4, 5 2.4, 5, 6 2.4, 5, 6
Spatial streams max 8 8 16
MLO No No Yes
Data rate max (theoretical) 9.6 9.6 30+
Required security WPA3 WPA3 /WPA3

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