What is WiFi 7, and should I upgrade to it?

WiFi 7 is an exciting development in the world of home internet, bringing a range of improvements over WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E that will benefit your local network. That being said, these technologies are often complex to understand, with explanations laden with terminologies and acronyms that the average person can’t parse.

We're keen to demystify the most complex technology terms, and in this article we’ve got our sights set on WiFi 7. We’re going to compare WiFi 7 to WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E, and talk about why you should be excited for WiFi 7, and why you should consider shifting your home internet to WiFi 7 enabled router like the Optus Ultra WiFi 5G Modem With WiFi 7.

What is WiFi 7?

WiFi 7, sometimes written as Wi-Fi 7, is the seventh generation of ‘WiFi’ wireless internet technology typically associated with routers. It’s an international standard more technically recognised as “802.11be-2024”.

When we talk about WiFi, we’re explicitly considering the wireless aspect of your home or business internet service, where it communicates with your phones, laptops, computers and other technologies over the air, rather than the broader internet service. Fun fact: WiFi is an Australian invention created by CSIRO researchers.

At its most basic level, WiFi 7 offers improved reliability and throughput over WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E. This comes down to, as noted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Spectrum magazine, the addition of new technologies and widened WiFi channel sizes that ultimately lead to a better end-user experience.

What this essentially means for you is a more consistent home WiFi experience, with greater capacity for devices on your local network downloading at the same time, while also offering latency reductions, leading to theoretically quicker load times and better experiences in latency-dependent situations, such as online gaming or content streaming.

The Optus Ultra WiFi 5G Modem With WiFi 7 offers faster WiFi speeds than the Optus 5G WiFi modem with WiFi 6(1). In an optimal environment, you can expect reduced latency, greater stability, and improved network capacity compared to a WiFi 6 device.

Can my devices use WiFi 7?

One thing to keep in mind about WiFi 7 is that, because it’s a relatively new technology, support for it may be limited in your household – this doesn’t just include the modem-router, but also all the devices that connect to the router. Your devices should connect to a WiFi 7 modem-router just fine under normal circumstances – but your devices will need support for WiFi 7 to get the best from a WiFi 7 router.

As an example, the Samsung Galaxy S26 range of smartphones offer WiFi 7 support. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra was the first Galaxy handset to have WiFi7, while the standard Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ were limited to WiFi 6E, with earlier generations also not receiving WiFi 7 support.

Over time, newer devices will likely adopt WiFi 7, just like how devices in the past adopted WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E, but you may still have some gadgets in the home lacking WiFi 7 support. When considering buying a new piece of technology, look into whether it has WiFi 7 support if getting a stronger internet experience is front of mind for you.

Additionally, for the sake of future proofing, it may be worth considering a WiFi 7 router.

Is WiFi 7 faster than WiFi 6?

Because of the new technologies that the WiFi 7 standard incorporates, you can typically expect a more consistent home and business internet experience than with WiFi 6.

Disclaimers

^{1 Based on comparison with Optus 5G WiFi modem with WiFi 6. Actual speeds may vary and are limited by the plan speed. 5G available in selected areas.}

^{WiFi 7 technology has been available to new services only from 24/2/25.}