Picture this: It's movie night, your teenager is gaming upstairs, and your smart doorbell just triggered - but your WiFi can't handle it all. Something’s got to give with the demands of 4K/8K streaming, competitive gaming, dozens of smart devices, and video calls all competing for bandwidth. Introducing WiFi 7, the evolution of WiFi designed to solve these challenges and deliver next generation, future-proofed, home WiFi.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Every new generation of WiFi technology offers significant advancements over its predecessors, but WiFi 7 is a quantum leap into the future of networking. WiFi 7 is here to revolutionize connectivity, and NETGEAR is leading the way. Designed to eliminate congestion, buffering, lag, dead zones, and dropped connections, our cutting-edge WiFi 7 routers and mesh systems ensure seamless performance in even the most device-heavy homes. Experience the future of connectivity with NETGEAR and unlock the full potential of your smart home. These everyday frustrations highlight the growing demands on home networks, which WiFi 7 is uniquely designed to tackle.
To overcome these challenges, WiFi 7 introduces groundbreaking upgrades that redefine connectivity standards.
WiFi 7, also known as IEEE 802.11be Extremely High Throughput, is the latest standard from the WiFi Alliance, designed to meet the growing demand for ultra-fast, low-latency, and high-capacity connectivity. At NETGEAR, we not only embrace this new standard but enhance it, delivering performance and features that go above and beyond the baseline requirements. Key upgrades in WiFi 7 include:
The 320 MHz channels on the 6Ghz band widen the “highway” channel width compared to WiFi 6 with its maximum of 160 MHz channels, allowing for much faster speeds for individual devices. Learn More – What is 320 Mhz WiFi?
4096 QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) allows more data to be packed into every transmission, ensuring the highway isn’t congested with traffic. WiFi 7 boosts potential peak speeds up to 46 Gbps—a massive jump from WiFi 6’s 9.6 Gbps and 1024 QAM.
With MLO, devices can now use multiple frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands) simultaneously or choose the most appropriate bandwidth. MLO is your WiFi 7 router’s GPS, dynamically redirecting the signal to a less congested highway to avoid traffic and eliminate buffering. Ethernet port aggregation is also available with NETGEAR routers. Note: MLO is available on WiFi 7 Orbi Systems.
These technologies are optimized in high-speed WiFi 7 for simultaneous users and the latest WiFi devices with better resource allocation. Preamble puncturing is another innovative feature, where a single wireless channel can be split into usable portions when channel interference is detected.
Every superhighway needs proactive policing. The best NETGEAR WiFi 7 routers and mesh systems come with robust NETGEAR Armor security with WPA3 encryption and VPN. In today’s connected world, the security protection that comes with your legacy web browser may not be enough to deter cybercriminals. NETGEAR Armor keeps the traffic flowing and the road ahead safe.
Now that we’ve explored the core innovations of WiFi 7, let’s see how it stacks up against its predecessors.
Wireless technology has advanced rapidly over the past decade. While WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E gave users a glimpse of the wireless “superhighway,” WiFi 7 is the first standard engineered to unlock its full potential. With next-gen features like Multi-Link Operation (MLO), 4K-QAM, and 320 MHz channels, WiFi 7 offers more than just a performance upgrade—it’s a future-proof investment. As more advanced laptops, phones, and VR headsets become available, upgrading to WiFi 7 ensures your home network is ready to support the devices of tomorrow and secure your investment in a connected future.
If you are slowing down and stuck in web traffic, it could be time for an upgrade to WiFi 7 to experience faster, more reliable connectivity that meets the demands of modern technology.
Use cases for a WiFi 7 upgrade include:
Once you’ve identified your need for WiFi 7, choosing the right hardware is the next step—and that’s where NETGEAR excels.
The best technology needs the best hardware to truly shine. This is where NETGEAR’s core pillars come into the picture. The NETGEAR reputation stands on decades of innovation in engineering, a commitment to performance, and the trust earned from millions of users. NETGEAR solutions take WiFi standards to the next level of excellence.
This is the solution for larger home WiFi networks or homes with tricky layouts. The quad-band Orbi 970 Series Mesh WiFi 7 System offers seamless, powerful WiFi 7 access points in every room, with no dead zones. Orbi 970 routers and satellites are elegant. Setting up a NETGEAR WiFi 7 system is straightforward, the app provides step-by-step instructions, ensuring a seamless setup process in just minutes.
The tri-band Nighthawk RS700S WiFi 7 Router is the solution for gamers, tech enthusiasts, and users who demand a rock-solid WiFi connection and the absolute peak of performance in smaller spaces. The RS700S offers ultra-low latency, 10 Gig internet readiness, and advanced customization for a better user experience for all connected devices.
NETGEAR’s WiFi 7 systems not only deliver cutting-edge performance but also ensure a hassle-free setup experience. Both the Orbi and Nighthawk apps provide step-by-step instructions, making the process seamless and quick.
Yes, absolutely. Your WiFi 6, WiFi 5, and older connected devices are backwards compatible with NETGEAR WiFi 7 routers and mesh systems.
WiFi 7 will optimize your local network speed and capacity regardless of your plan. However, to take full advantage of multi-gig speeds, you’ll benefit from a gigabit or multi-gig internet plan and a compatible modem like a NETGEAR DOCSIS 3.1 modem.
The latest generation of flagship smartphones, laptops, and other home networking electronics are being released with WiFi 7 support. The list is growing every day, and a WiFi 7 router ensures you’re ready for them.
Not at all. Both the Orbi and Nighthawk apps provide simple, step-by-step instructions that guide you through the entire WiFi router setup process in just a few minutes. This includes trusted NETGEAR Armor security with enhanced privacy and protection features.
