Wi-Fi 7
Icon used by the Wi-Fi Alliance for Wi-Fi 7 |
| Gen. | IEEE standard |
Adopt. | Link rate (Mbit/s) |
RF (GHz) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.4 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Wi‑Fi 1 | 802.11 | 1997 | 1–2 | |||
| Wi‑Fi 2 | 802.11b | 1999 | 1–11 | |||
| Wi‑Fi 2G | 802.11a | 6–54 | ||||
| Wi‑Fi 3 | 802.11g | 2003 | ||||
| Wi‑Fi 4 | 802.11n | 2009 | 6.5–600 | |||
| Wi‑Fi 5 | 802.11ac | 2013 | 6.5–6,933 | |||
| Wi‑Fi 6 | 802.11ax | 2021 | 0.4–9,608 | |||
| Wi‑Fi 6E | ||||||
| Wi‑Fi 7 | 802.11be | 2024 | 0.4–23,059 | |||
| Wi‑Fi 8 | 802.11bn | TBA | ||||
IEEE 802.11be-2024 or 802.11be, dubbed Extremely High Throughput (EHT), is a wireless networking standard in the IEEE 802.11 set of protocols which is designated Wi-Fi 7 by the Wi-Fi Alliance. It is built upon 802.11ax, focusing on WLAN indoor and outdoor operation with stationary and pedestrian speeds in the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz frequency bands.
In a single band, throughput reaches a theoretical maximum of 23 Gbit/s, although actual results are much lower.
Development of the 802.11be amendment began with an initial draft in March 2021 and the final version was published on 22 July 2025. Despite this, numerous products were announced in 2022 based on draft standards, with retail availability in early 2023. On 8 January 2024, the Wi-Fi Alliance introduced its Wi-Fi Certified 7 program to certify Wi-Fi 7 devices as the technical requirements were essentially complete.