By Claus Hetting, Wi-Fi NOW CEO & Chairman
A comprehensive new white paper – sponsored by eero and authored by Maravedis – presents a compelling case for why Wi-Fi 7 is critical for ISPs to support gigabit+ services. The paper includes some of the best presented market data and clearest Wi-Fi 7 technical overviews we’ve seen. Even if you’re not new to Wi-Fi 7 we recommend having a concerted look at this paper for information and – not least – for thought-leadership inspiration.
If you’re an ISP and you’re still not sure Wi-Fi 7 is for you, this paper should lay your concerns to rest. As we’ve already reported the race is on for ISPs to deliver market-changing Wi-Fi 7 services and a handful have already done so. The new paper expands on the need for Wi-Fi 7 with reference to key market drivers: DOCSIS 4.0 and XGS-PON access infrastructure deployments are on the rise and more than 200 client-side Wi-Fi 7 devices are already in development, the paper says. Some have already been released.
Drivers for Wi-Fi 7 adoption
Conferencing apps and video are still driving the market need for low-latency home connectivity but one new data point says that gamers spend up to 40% more time on gaming than any other media. And then there’s AI. Will AI drive up Wi-Fi connectivity needs? The answer is that it probably will as AI may require more bandwidth and faster access to more low-latency data, for example for automated network fault detection, better home automation, extended use of personal assistants, and more.
And then there’s the technology itself: As a starting point Wi-Fi 7 single stream connections are capable of delivering twice the speeds of Wi-Fi 6 links and a maximum theoretical throughput of 4.3 Gbps to a Wi-Fi 7 client device. With Multi-Link Operation (MLO) a Wi-Fi 7 two-stream client can support up to 6.4 Gbps using both 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands, Maravedis says. Speeds are no doubt important. But how does this translate into compelling and profitable home Wi-Fi services delivered by ISPs?
‘TrueMesh’ intelligent mesh leads the way
The goal of eero’s solution is to deliver the right Wi-Fi service to all devices in all corners in your home while making sure the solution can be deployed and managed effectively by the ISP. The company has a unique approach to this called TrueMesh, which dynamically routes data through the fastest path in the network while limiting interference. The latest eero mesh router (called eero Max 7) allows subscribers to “take advantage of internet plans of up to 10 Gbps,” the white paper says. This makes Wi-Fi 7 essential especially for DOCSIS 4.0 and new fibre deployments.
Here’s what is arguably even more remarkable: The white paper documents that users on average can expect 2.6 Gbps of real throughput (with coding scheme MCS6) in 90% of scenarios in a typical 2,500-square-foot (about 230 square meter) home or business (when following the eero deployment guide). That’s almost three times the current average throughput of Wi-Fi 6-based solutions, Maravedis says. For more details on how TrueMesh dynamically manages both user and backhaul traffic as well as circumvents interference, download the paper below.
Our take: “Why Wi-Fi 7 is critical for ISPs in the gigabit+ era” is crisply written and features a good selection of market data as well as the most important technology information on Wi-Fi 7 and on eero’s TrueMesh solution. The paper is highly recommended and available for download here.
/Claus.
