Wi-Fi 7
Wi-Fi · 10 specs
Direct Answer
Wi-Fi 7 (IEEE 802.11be, Extremely High Throughput) was approved by IEEE-SA in 2024, operating across 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands. It features 320 MHz channel bandwidth, 4096-QAM modulation, 8x8 MU-MIMO (an early draft's 16 spatial streams was dropped before finalization), and Multi-Link Operation (MLO), achieving theoretical speeds up to about 23 Gbps in a single band.
Source: IEEE 802.11be / Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 7 · Last reviewed Aug 28, 2026
Specs
| IEEE Standard | IEEE 802.11be (Extremely High Throughput) |
| Wi-Fi Generation | Wi-Fi 7 |
| Ratification Year | 2024 |
| Frequency Bands | 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz (Tri-Band) |
| Max Channel Width | 320 MHz |
| Max Theoretical PHY Rate | 23.06 Gbps |
| Typical Client PHY Rate (2x2) | 5.76 Gbps |
| Modulation Standard | 4096-QAM (4K-QAM) |
| Spatial Streams (MIMO) | 8x8 |
| Key Capabilities | Multi-Link Operation (MLO), Multi-RU Preamble Puncturing |
Multi-Link Operation (MLO)
The most transformative capability of Wi-Fi 7 is Multi-Link Operation (MLO). In all previous generations, a client could only associate and transmit on a single frequency band at any given time (e.g. 5 GHz or 6 GHz).
MLO allows a Wi-Fi 7 client to aggregate multiple bands simultaneously (e.g. transmit packet chunks over 5 GHz and 6 GHz concurrently) or switch instantly between them, dramatically lowering latency to sub-5ms levels and eliminating packet drops.
320 MHz Channels and 4K-QAM
Wi-Fi 7 doubles maximum channel width to 320 MHz (available in the 6 GHz band) and upgrades modulation from 1024-QAM to 4096-QAM (4K-QAM), encoding 12 bits per symbol rather than 10 bits. Preamble Puncturing also prevents a small sliver of localized interference from disabling an entire 160 MHz or 320 MHz channel.