4 Disadvantages of Wi-Fi 7 Routers You Should Know About

Wi-Fi 7 is the next iteration of the wireless standard, officially called IEEE 802.11be Extremely High Throughput. As the name suggests, it promises to improve Wi-Fi connectivity primarily by enabling more stable connections and faster speeds. Multi-Link Operation (MLO) is an important part of this upgrade, allowing simultaneous use of the three main bands, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, which you are probably familiar with, and the 6 GHz band. But instead of using these bands separately and treating them as exclusive channels, Wi-Fi 7 devices can use all bands to significantly improve the experience, in theory. Real-world applications may turn out a little different, and we’ll explore why in a moment.

Using multiple bands simultaneously could improve performance. Applications affected by high bandwidth and latency, such as media streaming or gaming, will benefit from increased capabilities, with more bandwidth to work with. Additionally, large uploads and downloads should perform better and see a speed increase. And on networks with many devices connected via the usual 2.4 GHz band, congestion should be less of a concern with the other available bands. This all sounds fantastic, and we should be looking at significantly improved performance across the board if it works as promised. However, the technology has some drawbacks that you will want to know about. Before upgrading to a Wi-Fi 7 router this year, you need to understand these drawbacks.

Wi-Fi 7, like Wi-Fi 6 before it, requires compatible devices to take advantage of new protocols and features. In other words, not only do you need a Wi-Fi 7 router, but you also need Wi-Fi 7 compatible devices or clients, including phones, media players, smart home technology and more. Your standard devices will continue to work properly because the 2.4GHz band required by most devices is still available with Wi-Fi 7. So if you upgrade, you won’t lose any features you already have because the routers are backwards compatible. However, you won’t realize the increase in speeds and performance because your devices weren’t designed to use the standard. Most devices aren’t and won’t be for a while.

Client devices are made with the Wi-Fi 7 standard, so it’s not like they don’t exist. But with new technologies like this, it simply takes time for the market as a whole to adopt the new solutions. Additionally, Wi-Fi 7’s theoretical and advertised speed of up to 46 Gbps will not be possible for most devices. You’ll see much lower daily speeds, and even then they’ll be capped by your Internet service provider’s limits.

Not to mention there is a wave of bans on foreign-made routers that could interfere with future software support. Popular brand Netgear received an exemption from the FCC and the US government overturned the ban on firmware support for routers and drones. The expiration is now set at 2028, but it’s still something to consider when considering an upgrade.

MLO should allow devices to simultaneously leverage all available bands to increase throughput, increase bandwidth, reduce latency, release congestion, and generally provide a much more streamlined experience. “Should” is the key word here. To meet the Wi-Fi 7 specification, device manufacturers must support MLO in some way, but that doesn’t always equate to verifiable speed changes. Thanks to rigorous testing, as reported by sites like RTINGs and Tom’s Hardware, MLO is frequently announced but rarely supported in full.

In the real world, Wi-Fi 7 routers are not configured for Enhanced Multi-Link Multi-Radio (EMLMR), which is true simultaneous use of all bands. Instead, most use alternating MLO, which involves quickly switching between bands with only one active at a time, choosing the best band as needed. In short, the current iteration of Wi-Fi 7 routers available on the market don’t leverage the latest technologies as they should, resulting in lower real-world performance for network users.

Wi-Fi 6E routers use the new 6 GHz band and thus offer increased speeds. Although its theoretical maximum speed is 9.6 Gbps, the same as standard Wi-Fi 6, these routers and subsequent client devices can achieve higher daily speeds thanks to the new frequency band and smart features.

The speed increase is more than enough for the average home network, and with most home internet plans seeing caps of around 1Gbps, an early upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 if you already have a Wi-Fi 6E router would be absurd. Honestly, if your router supports the basic Wi-Fi 6 standard, you might even want to wait for an upgrade. The difference between base Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E is that the latter addresses some of the biggest problems with the original standard, and it’s a big enough jump in performance to warrant an upgrade. Wi-Fi 7 isn’t here yet. Of course, if you’re coming from a system older than Wi-Fi 6, you’ll definitely see speed increases as the technology has improved a lot.

From a cost perspective, Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E routers are on equal footing, even more so if you can find great deals and discounts. But Wi-Fi 7 mesh routers are much more expensive, which means a budget option might be the better choice, especially since you won’t see a performance increase.

Wi-Fi 6 gave way to Wi-Fi 6E, which led to Wi-Fi 7. It’s a natural progression of technology, and Wi-Fi 8 is already on the way, promising measurable improvements over everything else available. That’s not to say it’s an absolute game-changer, but it’s also designed to provide new features designed to solve modern networking problems. It fixes some of Wi-Fi 7’s biggest problems before they become widespread. For example, Wi-Fi 8 should handle network congestion much better thanks to the new protocols. It will also significantly increase performance at the edge of a network, hopefully allowing you to get better range throughout your home or property where you may not have had it before.

Since the new Wi-Fi standards are backwards compatible, when they arrive, Wi-Fi 8 should work fine with all your existing equipment. The same performance issues will apply there – you’ll need Wi-Fi 8 ready clients – but by then many Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 devices will be operating at higher speeds. Basically, the world of consumer products will have caught up by the time Wi-Fi 8 is readily available. We’re really not that far from final ratification, so it might be worth waiting for an upgrade, unless you’re still living in the Dark Ages.