What’s the difference between Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6 (and how to unlock its extra speed)

The latest generation of Wi-Fi is here, and you can start using it immediately. That’s because it’s not only “here,” Wi-Fi 7 launched in 2024, and is already available in routers, smartphones, and other Wi-Fi connected devices.

What matters, though, is how you can actually make use of Wi-Fi 7, and whether you should upgrade from your Wi-Fi 6/6E setup.

Why Wi-Fi 7 is better

What’s actually new?

Before diving into the details, it helps to understand what “Wi-Fi 7” actually means.

Each Wi-Fi generation builds on the last, introducing new technologies to improve speed, efficiency, and reliability. Wi-Fi 6 (known technically as 802.11ax) brought huge gains over Wi-Fi 5, introducing OFDMA (so routers can talk to multiple devices simultaneously), MU-MIMO for multi-user connections, and better power efficiency.

Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) doesn’t rip up the guide on what to expect from Wi-Fi, but it does bring some really useful upgrades in key areas (outside of its significant speed increase to a theoretical maximum speed of up to 46 Gbps compared to Wi-Fi 6’s 9.6 Gbps).

For example, wider channels: you can now use 320MHz channels on the 6GHz band, which doubles the width available to Wi-Fi 6E’s 160MHz. When a client has a clean slice of spectrum, doubling the channel width unlocks far higher throughput for local file transfers and multi-gigabit internet plans.

The second big change is 4K-QAM (4096-QAM), a denser modulation scheme that packs more data into the same air time. The trade-off is that it needs a strong, clean signal. If your devices can maintain signal quality, the speed bump over Wi-Fi 6/6E’s 1024-QAM is noticeable.

The other Wi-Fi 7 that’s actually worth upgrading for is Multi-Link Operation (MLO). Instead of a device choosing either 5GHz or 6GHz, MLO lets it use multiple links at once, bonding them for higher throughput or allowing the device to hop between links to cut latency and avoid interference. In practice, that means fewer stutters when someone starts microwaving lunch or the neighbour’s router gets busy; traffic can slide to the “cleaner” link without dropping the connection.

And who doesn’t want more efficient Wi-Fi?

Specs are nice, but how do you actually use Wi-Fi 7?

How to unlock Wi-Fi 7

There is only one way to use Wi-Fi 7’s amazing sounding upgrades, and that’s to a buy Wi-Fi 7 router. There isn’t a sneaky backdoor firmware upgrade you can apply to your existing router because Wi-Fi 7 requires specific hardware, and your older router likely doesn’t fit the bill.

However, once you have a Wi-Fi 7 router, there are a few steps you should take to make sure your network is actually up to speed. Note that only devices that are compatible with Wi-Fi 7 can use all of these features, just as only devices compatible with Wi-Fi 6E+ can use the newer 6GHz Wi-Fi band.

Use 6GHz Wi-Fi and 320MHz channels

First up, make sure you’ve enabled the 6GHz band. That’s the biggest upgrade to Wi-Fi in years, and is one of the main reasons you should consider upgrading to Wi-Fi 7.

You can also adjust your channel widths. On older Wi-Fi, the Wi-Fi channel width is limited to 20, 40, 80, or 160MHz. Whereas on Wi-Fi 7, you can use ultra-wide 320MHz channels to enable much greater data throughput. Now, this won’t necessarily “speed up” your connection, but it does allow more data to flow to more devices simultaneously, which is a huge bonus.

Combine 5GHz and 6GHz bands

Another Wi-Fi 7 feature you should start using immediately is Multi-Link Operation (MLO). This basically enables you to create a Wi-Fi band that uses both 5GHz and 6GHz in a single network.

Your devices can then send and receive data across all of the frequency bands. However, this doesn’t mean older devices suddenly become Wi-Fi 7 compatible. Like the router, most devices won’t suddenly receive a firmware update that enables shiny new Wi-Fi tech.

Still, it’s worth enabling, as compatible devices can bond or intelligently hop links to cut latency and avoid interference. As we modernize our home networks and devices, mixed band operations like this are going to be really important. No-one is heading out and upgrading everything all at once, and that’s where MLO comes in.

Enable WPA3

6GHz requires WPA3. If you mix WPA2/WPA3 on the same SSID, some clients will misbehave and skip 6GHz entirely. WPA3 is the latest Wi-Fi security standard, and to make the most of Wi-Fi 7’s 6GHz connectivity, you’ll need it enabled.

Check your devices and internet connection

Finally, does your device actually support Wi-Fi 7? I know, it seems like a basic question and you’ve probably already thought about this, but it’s worth checking.

If your device doesn’t support Wi-Fi 7, it’s no good tweaking you router settings. It just won’t work (on Wi-Fi 7). You may see some tangential benefits from your router, as it’s likely to be very modern and likely powerful, but you won’t be using MLO, 4K-QAM, etc.

And yes, Wi-Fi is theoretically much faster than Wi-Fi 6/6E. But if you’re only paying for a 1Gbps connection, that’s all you’re going to get, even if you have a Wi-Fi 7 router.

Wi-Fi 7 is more than a numbers game

But you need the matching tech

Wi-Fi 7 has the potential to be faster than Wi-Fi 6/6E. But Wi-Fi 7 isn’t just a numbers game; it’s all about the other techy acronyms, too. It’s 320MHz channels, 4K-QAM, and MLO are all designed as part of the package to deliver smoother, faster internet.

You just need to line your devices and router up nicely, and it’ll all fall into place.