intelligent

• Emergency preparedness communication services ( EPCS ): During emergencies , Wi-Fi networks will prioritise official communications , keeping those channels clear and reliable .

Why are businesses so keen ?

According to The Annual Industry Report 2023 , over half of enterprises , service providers and technology vendors had already adopted Wi-Fi 6 in 2023 . An additional 44 % said they were working to adopt Wi-Fi 6E in the next 12-18 months , and a further 33 % of those respondents said they already had plans to deploy Wi-Fi 7 by the end of 2024 .

However , this was before the January 2024 announcement of the Wi-Fi 7 certification .

The somewhat sudden certification and the expected arrival of more than 233 million devices in 2024 ( increasing to 2.1 billion by 2028 ) have combined to create unprecedented momentum , further fuelling the market ’ s appetite for a network infrastructure to support its data-intensive , low-latency applications , devices and use cases .

This is further compounded by the market ’ s renewed focus on the quality of experience ( QoE ). In the abovementioned report , 90 % of service providers , equipment manufacturers and enterprises ranked QoE for end-users as a key differentiator in monetising their Wi-Fi services .

To say that Wi-Fi 7 is driving technological development and innovation is no understatement , either . The transition to the promised land of Augmented Reality ( AR ), Virtual Reality ( VR ), and Industry 4.0 has long been stuck in third gear due to insufficient network infrastructures , but with Wi-Fi 7 , it ’ s likely that will change .

But what about 5G ? with the emergence of Wi-Fi 6E and 7 , things have changed .

The reality is that neither will replace the other .

Both technologies have different strengths and weaknesses , and 70 % of the 2023 Annual Industry Report ’ s respondents said that Wi-Fi and 5G must coexist to create a seamless user experience . In other words , enterprises , service providers and manufacturers already know that their Smart buildings and other use cases will need a converged environment to succeed .

The takeaway ?

Wi-Fi has revolutionised how our society communicates and operates for the last two and a half decades . It is , without a doubt , the foremost technology for daily connectivity . And we are still at the very start of the 6 GHz era , heralded by Wi-Fi 6E and the availability of the 6 GHz frequency band . Wi-Fi has become a way of life , and 6 GHz is our latest avenue for seamless and secure Wi-Fi user experiences .

Wi-Fi 7 represents the next phase in the evolution that will further propel the new era of 6 GHz Wi-Fi connectivity . The move to 6 GHz signifies more than an incremental upgrade ; it is a leap into a realm where speed , capacity and reliability converge to meet the insatiable demands of our digital world . �

IT IS , WITHOUT A DOUBT , THE FOREMOST TECHNOLOGY FOR DAILY CONNECTIVITY .

David Coleman , Director of Wireless Networking at the Office of the CTO , Extreme Networks

Wi-Fi isn ’ t the only network technology making strides , public 5G and private 5G have long been hyped by marketing teams across the technology industry . At first , some even predicted this next-generation cellular would replace Wi-Fi altogether . But