Remote & Hybrid Working For Netgear, launching new networking products is about meeting


consumer trends with new ideas for connected devices, such as improved 5G mobile routers, or mesh WiFi products that use satellites to extend signals around buildings more effectively. But it’s also about transitioning to the newest, fastest networking


standards as they’re adopted by the wider industry. And one of those transitions is taking place right now, with the launch of WiFi 7.


How will the launch of WiFi 7 affect vendors and resellers? WiFi 7 is a huge generational leap over WiFi 6, and in time, will become the go-to WiFi standard found on all laptops, mobile and desktop computers. Although this shiſt may take a while, WiFi 7 will certainly become


a major new feature that customers will expect in all forthcoming computing devices, across every market segment, contributing to an uptick in overall demand for technology products. Once more devices support the standard, users will seek upgrades


for their laptops and mobile devices as well as their home networks to achieve faster speeds. We’re incredibly proud that with our latest WiFi routers, we’re able


to give users all that high-performance right now, while their kit will also be future-proofed so they can be sure any forthcoming laptop or phone purchase will take full advantage of the faster standard.


What applications are most likely to benefit from WiFi 7? Bandwidth requirements are rapidly increasing over time, as the number of connected gadgets in an average household continues to rise, as well as the volume of data they require, with higher resolution video and larger file sizes. Take gaming as one example. Some of the most popular games


now require downloads well over 100GB, with updates that can be 20GB or more. In a typical family with young people, it’s quite feasible that someone will be streaming high resolution video at the same time, while there still needs to be bandwidth to spare for other devices, as well as smart home devices such as audio streaming and smart speakers, IP security cameras and lighting. For all that connected kit to work properly, it’s essential to have


great performing WiFi that covers the entire floor space of a home. With older WiFi standards, those speeds might severely drop


for a device in a back room, with a few walls between it and the router. WiFi 7, particularly over a mesh network, means those gadgets shouldn’t be left out anymore, and will see fantastic data transfer speed.


Can you outline the technical changes with WiFi 7? Anyone using WiFi 6 or earlier will see an immediate benefit from the inclusion of a new 6GHz wireless frequency, which was first introduced with the WiFi 6E standard. This is an entirely new WiFi frequency that is currently not utilised by too many devices, so will be less congested in a busy area where lots of wireless networks are in range, something people who live in cities must deal with all the time. WiFi 7 also offers greater overall capacity. WiFi 7 delivers 2.4x


faster speeds than WiFi 6 and is fully backward compatible with older WiFi devices. We’re beginning to see faster broadband connections being offered by ISPs in the UK, with a few services


www.pcr-online.biz


now offering speeds in excess of 1Gbps. Te greater capacity of WiFi 7 ensures users will be able to make full use of those faster connections. Tere are a few reasons WiFi 7 is so much faster. It transmits more


data per device, thanks to a doubling of channel bandwidth. Each channel can now go to 320MHz, twice that of WiFi 6. It also means increased data density, since the encoding now squeezes more bits into the radio signal, from 10 bits to 12 bits per channel. Tere are also some clever unique features of WiFi 7 that will


further improve connectivity. One is MLO, or multi-link operation. Until now, routers have supported 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi frequencies, and your device connects using just one of these. Now with WiFi 7, routers are able to connect across two different bands to a client device. Tis feature also makes it easy to switch from one band to the


other on your mobile device without losing the connection. If you are on a Zoom call and walk from the centre of the house to the garden, WiFi 7 lets your device switch from 6GHz to 5GHz to 2.4GHz without the call dropping or buffering.


Who are likely to be the first users to adopt WiFi 7? While everyone can benefit from faster WiFi, those with the highest bandwidth requirements are obviously more likely to be the first to see the benefit of the faster speeds offered by WiFi 7. So as mentioned above, the high data requirements of gaming and


video streaming are applications that will get an immediate benefit. Across age groups, 18–24-year-old Gen Z adults are more likely to


want faster WiFi across their home - the generation that has grown up in the digital age. And for people who work from home, faster WiFi means more


flexibility to work in any room, wherever someone chooses, without having to put up with Zoom calls dropping out or file transfers falling over. Tat means better comfort - you’re not stuck in the home office for hours at a time sitting at your desk because it’s the only place where the WiFi works. Instead, you can work on the sofa, in the kitchen or even in the garden.


You’ve talked a lot about families and home users but are there benefits of WiFi 7 for businesses as well? For sure. WiFi 7 is an entirely new standard that will see adoption across all technology market segments, not limited to the examples I’ve mentioned. So in offices for example, more WiFi bandwidth means better productivity, especially as workers are eventually given new personal devices that support the faster speeds. In businesses, security, upgradeability, ease of deployment and


administration are all additional factors that govern when managers decide to upgrade technology environments. Adoption may therefore be slightly slower in businesses than


among consumers. But now WiFi 7 is here, and the certification has been finalised, the faster speeds, greater coverage and reduced congestion over 6GHz, as well the future proofing of the new standard, is likely to sway managers to upgrade. And just as smart home technology matters for consumers,


industrial hardware, wireless security devices, access points, IoT gadgets, and more are all likely to benefit from WiFi 7 in typical workplaces.


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