FEATURE: Wi-Fi 7 arrives, but will you need it?

Four years after the arrival of Wi-Fi 6, the new generation has finally arrived with the aptly named Wi-Fi 7.

Aiming to increase speeds and reliability of local connections, this new standard could be a godsend to certain users, but its place in the average home isn’t quite so simple.

What is Wi-Fi 7?
Like most of the recent versions of Wi-Fi, the seventh generation will be more of an expansion of existing possibilities rather than a complete overhaul of wireless potential.

Essentially, these forms of Wi-Fi are the ones you use in a static home or business internet connection.

This is opposed to the mobile 4G and 5G connections, which connect to wider exterior broadcast tower systems.

At its base, Wi-Fi usually connects a person to a cabled network via a local wireless signal.

If you use a fibre connection in Nantwich, you might have your desktop computer connected to the internet via a LAN cable.

At the same time, your TV, smartphone, laptop, and tablet could use the same connection wirelessly over your home Wi-Fi.

While both of these options will connect to the world through the fibre connection, the desktop can connect directly through a solid and reliable cable connection.

The other options using Wi-Fi can experience many more challenges thanks to the complications of transmitting data over the air, which is why Wi-Fi sees such continual updates and upgrades.

Wi-Fi 7 looks to improve on its predecessors by offering higher potential speeds and more channels on which to transmit.

Each Wi-Fi connection can only transmit at a certain speed and on a certain number of devices, and Wi-Fi 7’s upgrades enhance both of these components over the prior generation.

In many ways, this is analogous to the 4G to 5G mobile connection upgrade, with similar implications to its usefulness.

Where Will Wi-Fi 7 Help?
Wi-Fi 7 will be the most helpful for people or businesses that provide and require high speeds while also catering to many different devices at once.

If you operate an older network and you notice constant connection drops and low speed despite a strong connection, the limits of older Wi-Fi could be the culprit.

Consider if you have multiple users on your network, and you only use your system for low data requirement services like checking out new online casinos.

Even cutting-edge digital casinos like Bet MGM and Mr Vegas require little in the way of data, operating fine on below 10 Mbps connections.

This applies as much to playing games as it does to collecting bonuses like free spins and deposit matches, which shouldn’t be a problem no matter your connection, right?

If you have an older router, even with a fast fibre connection, then even one person might accidentally use so much Wi-Fi bandwidth that other users can’t use the system smoothly.

This is a common problem that plagues hotels that haven’t updated their infrastructure in years, and it’s only going to grow more pronounced.

Each year more devices connect to networks, and bandwidth demands on many systems become higher, and failing to keep up can cause frustrating connection issues.

When Should You Stick with Older Wi-Fi?
The adage still stays true: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

If you don’t experience connection issues with your old router, and you never experience slowdown, then there simply isn’t a reason to rush out and invest in a fancy new router.

Older Wi-Fi generations can still work just fine, even if they’re infamously slow in hotels here or worldwide, and as long as security systems are kept up to date, they could continue to function perfectly for years to come.

Just remember to password-protect your network, and run regular malware scans on your internet-connected devices.

We should also touch on a practice that we’ve seen common in Nantwich, and in every other country where we’ve dealt with home internet installations.

Over time, the cost of internet plans will tend to decrease.

Better infrastructure and more competition will mean there could be higher speed plans available with more or unlimited bandwidth that cost substantially less than what you pay now.

As internet service providers expand their plans, they’re quite happy to keep dedicated customers using slower and more expensive plans without telling them.

Next time you get your internet bill, be sure to check it against other plans and costs available in Nantwich, and you could save serious money.

As a bonus, newer plans could come with newer routers built on more modern Wi-Fi generations, so you’ll end up seeing improvements all around.

You probably won’t need to rush out and buy a Wi-Fi 7 router right now, but if you can get one for free with a new internet plan, then you have nothing to lose.

(pic free to use https://pixabay.com/photos/office-secretary-business-woman-624749/)