While Wifi 7 has only just been officially approved, the first outlines of its successor are already appearing on the horizon. Wi-Fi 8, based on the upcoming 802.11bn standard, is not intended to be faster than its predecessor, but rather smarter and more stable.
This is according to an announcement by Qualcomm. Wifi 8 focuses on reliability and consistency, even under less-than-ideal conditions. In doing so, it responds to new needs in both business and home networks.
Wifi 7 is primarily designed to maximize speed and bandwidth out of the wireless network. In laboratory conditions, this delivers impressive figures. In realistic environments, such as busy office buildings, residential complexes, or factories, however, this speed can be difficult to achieve in practice. Wifi 8 aims to deliver on that promise by focusing on performance that remains stable in the face of congestion, interference, or multiple devices in motion.
No handover interruption
One of the most important innovations is the concept of Single Mobility Domains. This allows devices to move between different access points without the connection being interrupted or faltering. The traditional handover process, in which short interruptions are normal, is thus replaced by continuous, uninterrupted connectivity. This is particularly important in multi-story buildings or large installations where users or devices are constantly on the move.
Wifi 8 also brings improvements to the edges of the network, where the signal is typically weaker. Instead of simply increasing the transmission power, the standard focuses on optimizations in the physical layer of the protocol. These technical adjustments should ensure more stable performance at low signal strengths without the need for brute force.
Wifi 8 also introduces coordination between multiple access points. Instead of each access point working separately, they can share information and coordinate their behavior within a single network. This should reduce conflicts on the radio frequencies and make the sharing of transmission time more efficient. The result is a smoother network in environments with many users or devices, such as apartment complexes, schools, or stadiums.
Better cooperation with Bluetooth
Within devices themselves, research is also being conducted into how radio systems such as Bluetooth, Wifi, and ultra-wideband can work together better without interfering with each other. This is becoming increasingly important as devices often use multiple wireless technologies simultaneously and need to share hardware components such as antennas.