The first certified Wi-Fi 7 devices will be available before the end of Q1 2024, the alliance confirms, paving the way for much faster speeds, lower latency, better reliability, and more.

The timing of the official launch was confirmed in a statement to Tom's Hardware.

- "Wi-Fi Certified 7, based on IEEE 802.11be technology, will be available before the end of Q1 2024," the Wi-Fi Alliance said. "Wi-Fi 7 devices are entering the market today, and Wi-Fi Certified 7 will facilitate worldwide interoperability and bring advanced Wi-Fi performance to the next era of connected devices."

As you may have noticed, there are already Wi-Fi 7 devices in the wild, but these are based on the draft specification. As soon as the final specification is locked and certification starts, adoption in the consumer space should start to accelerate dramatically. An estimated 84 million Wi-Fi 7 devices will ship in 2024.


As fast as HDMI 2.1, in theory
Wi-Fi 7 has been called a true replacement for Ethernet cables, but its speed depends on who you ask. The official word is that maximum throughput is at least 30 Gbps and up to 40 Gbps, while Intel and others claim up to 46 Gbps.

On paper, this is almost as fast as HDMI 2.1's 48 Gbps bandwidth, but obviously Wi-Fi's bandwidth is more theoretical – you will not hit those numbers at home.

As reported by FlatpanelsHD in January 2022, WiFi 7 leverages Multi-Link Operation (MLO) technology, designed to minimize latency to below 5 ms and enhance stability with, for example, 4K/8K networking streaming‚ game streaming, and AR/VR. By aggregating multiple channels across frequency bands, MLO should deliver an uninterrupted data flow, resilient to interference or network congestion. This should improve both reliability and bandwidth.

The much-improved latency should also enable more robust wireless surround sound at home.



What comes first?
Wi-Fi 7 is fully backwards compatible, but you obviously need devices with Wi-Fi 7 support to take advantage of the new features.

We do not expect Smart TVs at large to be the first device category to embrace Wi-Fi 7. We may start to see a few compatible TV models in 2024, as Samsung has typically been an early adopter of new Wi-Fi standards in TVs.

We expect to get some answers next month at CES 2024. FlatpanelsHD will be at the scene in Las Vegas to report home on the latest news.

- Source (launch timing): Tom's Hardware