REAL OR MARKETING HYPE? The question becomes, which of these features actually work (outside of a lab) and which of them will help improve wireless network performance in specialized premises like industrial plants, healthcare facilities, educational campuses, and high-density public spaces? Here is the reality: • 320 MHz Channels – 320 MHz channel widths can substantially increase Wi-Fi network throughput, but there are a few challenges: º Depending on the region of the world, it may only have enough space in the 6 GHz band for one 320 MHz channel. Because of the limited number of channels available, 320 MHz channels should not be used in specialized environments or premises. º APs using smaller channel widths could interfere with networks using 320 MHz channels, which will lower network throughput. Access point manufacturers could work around this issue by using multi RU and puncturing, making 320 MHz channels usable in more specialized environments (Figure 9).
• 4K QAM – This feature likely will not work in most specialized premises. The problem is that a Wi-Fi 7 device will need an SNR of 41 dBm or higher to be able to use 4K QAM, which means the client device will need to be in very close proximity to the AP. Because of this, 4K QAM modulation is expected to work well in home environments if Wi-Fi 7 devices are close enough to the home router. • Multi-Link Operations – Multi-link operations is one of the most promising enhancements introduced by Wi-Fi 7, as it has the potential to increase network speeds in specialized environments by not only aggregating data, but also by lowering network latency and increasing reliability. However, even though support for MLSR, EMLSR, and STR is mandatory for all Wi-Fi 7 APs, STR and EMLSR are optional for client devices. Because of this, Wi-Fi 7 network performance will depend on the versions of MLO supported by the devices. Additional MLO capabilities for devices could be unlocked via firmware updates. It will take time for the full benefits of MLO to reach most premises.
Using the highway analogy, multi resource units are like taking a wide highway that only allows one vehicle to drive through it at a time and then dividing that highway into multiple lanes so more vehicles can drive through it simultaneously. Puncturing (blocking) would be if an accident happened in one of the highway lanes, rather than stopping traffic on the entire highway, only the lane in which the accident happened would be blocked, while traffic continued moving in other lanes. 16×16 MU-MIMO Wi-Fi 6 introduced support for 8×8 MU-MIMO to increase the number of devices that can connect at the same time and help improve communications efficiency, and now Wi-Fi 7 is promising to add support for up to 16×16 spatial streams (Figure 8). This means that APs could use up to 16 antennas to communicate with multiple client devices at the same time or to aggregate data and increase throughput. This is potentially very helpful for environments with many connected devices. Imagine taking a 16-lane highway (8 lanes each way) and adding 16 more lanes (16 lanes each way), allowing many more cars to drive through the highway at the same time.
Using the highway analogy, multi resource units are like taking a wide highway that only allows one vehicle to drive through it at a time and then dividing that highway into multiple lanes so more vehicles can drive through it simultaneously. ...
FIGURE 8: A 16x16 MU-MIMO router efficiently connects to and simultaneously serves 16 devices, showcasing its capacity for multi-user, high-throughput wireless communication. Source: NetAlly
FIGURE 9: Spectrum analysis illustrating primary and secondary channel overlap within the UNII-5 band, showing a 40 MHz channel using channel 45 as primary and a 160 MHz channel using PSC channel 37 as primary. Source: NetAlly
I
I
10
ICT TODAY
October/November/December 2025
11
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs