Solved Looking for feedback from people who have actually used WiFi 7

hsehestedt · Jul 3, 2024

I've been hearing a lot of good things about WiFi 7, but I was wondering if anyone could share their real-world experiences with it.

I just got my first tiny whiff off it today.

Lately, whenever I setup a new system, I add WiFi adapters to those systems. I've been using WiFi 6e adapters for a while and have had nothing but good results so far. Today I setup a new Mini PC. Part of what I always do with a new Mini PC is to upgrade 3 things:

1) Memory
2) Storage
3) WiFi

This system came with WiFi 5 (yuck!) and I was initially planning on going to WiFi 6e but there is virtually no price difference between a WiFi 6e module and a WiFi 7 module, so I dropped in an Intel BE200 WiFi 7 adapter.

Bear in mind that my entire WiFi infrastructure is WiFi 6e and not 7, but even in that scenario I could swear that I am getting slightly better speed with the WiFi 7 module even though I have no WiFi 7 router or access point anywhere. I am getting stone cold reliable throughput of about 160 MB / Sec over this WiFi connection. That is better than Gigabit Ethernet will give you.

However, this has me curious; are any of you running a full WiFi 7 config with WiFi 7 adapters and a WiFi 7 router? If so, care to share your experience?

Yes, I would love to know what kind of performance you are seeing, but even more important to me is reliability. Any glitches or hiccups or is it all smooth sailing for those who have tried it?

BamaInArk · Jul 3, 2024

I'd love to upgrade to try but would have to buy new router(s) that support it. And they ain't cheap.

hsehestedt · Jul 3, 2024

I have a small bit of incentive to make the switch.

I currently have 1Gb up/down from my ISP but they are offering a really attractive deal for 2G up/down that includes WiFi 7 so the justification node in my brain is working overtime at this time

Winuser · Jul 4, 2024

I would like to upgrade but I have to wait for Xfinity to offer a WiFi 7 Modem - Router - VoIP device.

BamaInArk · Jul 4, 2024

Winuser said:
I would like to upgrade but I have to wait for Xfinity to offer a WiFi 7 Modem - Router - VoIP device.

You could just put your Xfinity Gateway in Bridge mode and use your own Router.

Winuser · Jul 4, 2024

BamaInArk said:
You could just put your Xfinity Gateway in Bridge mode and use your own Router.

It's not something I have to have so I'll just wait for Xfinity to offer the upgrade.

cereberus · Jul 4, 2024

Again, no experience but I used WiFI 6E using a non ISP router piggybacked of my ISP router etherner port, and got very little wifi improvement (about 570 mbps off wifi - using ethernet I get close to 900 mbps- max speed of ISP).

Using just ISP router that can only do wifi 6, I get around 550 mbps i.e. gain with wifi 6E is only 20 mbps.

So I seriously doubt wifi 7 will make any improvement until base internet speed significantly increases beyond wifi 6E capacity.

hsehestedt · Jul 4, 2024

cereberus said:
Again, no experience but I used WiFI 6E using a non ISP router piggybacked of my ISP router etherner port, and got very little wifi improvement (about 570 mbps off wifi - using ethernet I get close to 900 mbps- max speed of ISP).

Using just ISP router that can only do wifi 6, I get around 550 mbps i.e. gain with wifi 6E is only 20 mbps.

So I seriously doubt wifi 7 will make any improvement until base internet speed significantly increases beyond wifi 6E capacity.

Thanks, cereberus. I guess that I should clarify something. I am more interested in speed internally on my network rather than Internet access speed. I frequently move a few TB of data around between machines so fast networking and SSDs are my friends

TraderGary · Jul 4, 2024

I pay for only a base XFinity Internet connection.
My house is 3,000 sq ft.
My hardware:
NetGear CM1000 cable modem
NetGear RBR840 Mesh Router with 2 Satellites

My direct connection speed at the router is 943 Mbps.
My mesh WiFi 6 speed averages 850 Mbps anywhere in the house.
This is more than enough speed and capability for anything I do.

I currently have 33 devices connected to my system.
I've had as many as 50 devices connected at holiday time.
My system will handle up to 127 2.4Ghz and 127 5Ghz devices.

TraderGary · Jul 4, 2024

hsehestedt said:
Thanks, cereberus. I guess that I should clarify something. I am more interested in speed internally on my network rather than Internet access speed. I frequently move a few TB of data around between machines so fast networking and SSDs are my friends

I should add that I have no need to move data between machines as all my data is kept in OneDrive and all my machines are connected to the same OneDrive data.

cereberus · Jul 4, 2024

hsehestedt said:
Thanks, cereberus. I guess that I should clarify something. I am more interested in speed internally on my network rather than Internet access speed. I frequently move a few TB of data around between machines so fast networking and SSDs are my friends

Fair enough but you need to upgrade all devices to have a wifi 7 adaptor. Having said that the bottleneck will probably be the CPUs ability to process the wifi data.

BamaInArk · Jul 4, 2024

I had originally thought I'd build a new system using a 14th gen processor and using a new motherboard with Wifi 7 support. In the end I decided to hold off. Currently I have Zero devices that support Wifi 7. I do have a few devices that support 6E however both of my routers only support 6 only. I'd have to check more closely but I think my phone supports 6E. But my house it wired for ethernet so my need for wireless is less demanding. Currently multi-gig switches so getting over 1 gig transfers.

hsehestedt · Jul 4, 2024

My wired network is all 2.5 Gbps, but I also use wireless a lot. Wireless is all 6e but as I noted, sometimes I get a new system that ships with something else like WiFi 5 and I always upgrade those. Because there is virtually no price difference between a 6e and 7 module, I've just started using WiFi 7 modules.

badrobot · Jul 4, 2024

I don't think you will benefit too much on wifi 7 hardware unless your connection itself is wifi 7. I know they are tempting. I am happy with my wifi 6.

IrvSp · Jul 7, 2024

I've got the Intel BE200 as well, popped out an Intel AX1650i and the base speed improvement with a WiFi 6 router was minimal...

My ISP speed is 1Gbps/40Mbps by the way.

I have 2 WiFi 7 routers that I tested on. One is a 'true' Wifi7 router in that it is a Tri-band and on the 6Ghz band I get 1.14Gbps, which is as fast or better than Ethernet (I can do either on my PC).

The other is a Wifi7 but only does 'Wifi 7' features and only has a 2.4 and 5Ghz band. I does Multi-RU's and MLO that is part of Wifi7 spec. My speed it in the mid 900Mbps with it.

That said, MLO does not work 'fully'. When I'm connected to it, ONLY the 5Ghz SSID is listed. I am on W11 Home, but if you are on the MS InSider Canary release, it has the Wifi7 update in and that same adapter will show both bands being used.

Wifi7 6Ghz band does have a smaller power at distance. The Wifi 7 router I have is a 3 Deco Unit, and I do have better coverage (power wise) with the Deco's vs. a single normal router.

One thing though, a LAN Analyzer shows NO OTHER 6Ghz SSID's near me, unlike the crowded 2.4Ghz band. So one would expect less possible interference, especially at distances from the router's SSID.

I suspect, once MS puts the Wifi7 code into the retail channel, one would not get the full benefit of Wifi7.

Winuser · Jul 7, 2024

I think I either have a misunderstanding of the speed differences between WiFi 5,6 and 7 or I'm misunderstanding some of the post. Isn't the speed difference only between the device and the router or does it also change the upload and download speeds from the internet?

hsehestedt · Jul 7, 2024

Winuser said:
I think I either have a misunderstanding of the speed differences between WiFi 5,6 and 7 or I'm misunderstanding some of the post. Isn't the speed difference only between the device and the router or does it also change the upload and download speeds from the internet?

Assuming you have really fast Internet access, it can make a difference, but typically it will not. So long as your WiFi is as fast or faster than the Internet access speed, increasing the WiFi speed won't buy you anything.

Where I am, I can get up to 5Gbps up and down. But that is not my concern. My main concern, as noted earlier, is performance within my internal network because I often transfer TBs of data at a time and gigabit speeds are simply WAAAY too slow

BamaInArk · Jul 7, 2024

Winuser said:
I think I either have a misunderstanding of the speed differences between WiFi 5,6 and 7 or I'm misunderstanding some of the post. Isn't the speed difference only between the device and the router or does it also change the upload and download speeds from the internet?

Think of it this way...if one is running a fiber network within their home you'll have VERY fast speeds between devices, within the same network. However if your internet connection, from your ISP, is a 500 Mbps connection, that same fiber internet inside your home will not increase the connection provided my your ISP.
By the same comparison if your ISP is providing you with a 2 GB symmetrical connection but your devices are only using 1 Gb ethernet ports your ethernet ports will be limiting the internet speeds offered by your provider since they won't pass more than approx 940 Mbps.

Winuser · Jul 7, 2024

So basically unless there is a bottle neck when using WiFi I was right about internet speeds not being effected. When I switched from WiFi 5 to WiFi 6 my transfer speeds between my devices increased by a little over double the speeds I was getting. My reason for wanting WiFi 7 is because even though my WiFi transfer speeds increased with WiFi 6 it is still on the slow side. It was suggested that if my router wasn't on a different floor than my computers I would get transfer speeds closer to the same transfer speeds when copying from drive to drive.

hsehestedt · Jul 7, 2024

You make a good point. The further away from the router you get, the slower the WiFi speed becomes. So, if you start with a faster speed, your "lower" speeds at distance will still be faster than with previous gen WiFi.