WiFi 6E is only just launching in Australia, but hold on, because its replacement could arrive as early as this year, as well.
You probably know all too well that network performance around your home can always be improved, and the more phones and computers and smart gadgets you add, the worse the wireless network performance is going to be.
There are ways to fix that, but it almost always means you’re going to have to buy a new wireless system to upgrade the tech inside your home.
At the moment, we’re seeing a bit of a transition for technology, and if you end up buying the latest and greatest, you’ll likely end up with either WiFi 6’s 802.11ax which has been floating around for a while, or maybe even WiFi 5’s 802.11ac.
In Australia, WiFi 6E has only just launched, and adds an extra band to the WiFi 6 setup, but only works with WiFi 6E devices, of which there aren’t a whole heap right now.
And yet something else lurks on the horizon, making networking upgrades a little interesting at the moment.
While Netgear is offering the first WiFi 6E router in Australia, the next version of wireless networking could be arriving later this year, offering backwards compatibility and yet more range and speed, as Qualcomm hints that WiFi 7 gear is on the way, mostly because it’s providing WiFi 7 chips to manufacturers.
Earlier in the month, Qualcomm launched WiFi 7 a networking platform for manufacturers to make routers, “Networking Pro Series Gen 3”, alongside its “FastConnect 7800” chip for phones, tablets, computers and such. While the announcement was very much not about network products you can buy and more about the chips they use, Qualcomm told Pickr that:
You can expect to see products using the FastConnect 7800 later this year and the Networking Pro next year.
Qualcomm isn’t alone, either. This week, MediaTek announced two platforms were ready for manufacturers, the Filogic 380 and Filogic 880, providing yet more WiFi 7 options for network gear makers to make WiFi 7 routers with.
With WiFi 7 set to provide boosts of wireless bandwidth on more than one set of 5 and 6GHz bands, plus backwards compatibility for existing WiFi network tech, it’s good news for folks looking to boost their network at home and work, and also provide some sense of future proofing at least for a few years.
Now we just need to wait for the devices to arrive, which sounds like they’ll be in phones and computers at the end of the year, while routers will see WiFi 7 next year, possibly in time for CES 2023.
That may mean if you need an upgrade of your network now, WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E are possibly the things that will hold you down for the next few years, but if you can wait or hold on, you might see even more power from WiFi 7 routers in 2023.
