By Claus Hetting, WiFi NOW CEO & Chairman
Cisco petitions the FCC to allow 6 GHz Wi-Fi on cruise ships
Cisco is appealing to the FCC to allow 6 GHz low-power indoor Wi-Fi operations aboard cruise ships. The US cruise industry transports 19 million passengers per year and is growing at a rate of 4.5% per year, Cisco says. The message was delivered earlier this week at a meeting between Cisco and the FCC (see Cisco’s presentation here). The original 6 GHz prohibition on ships was put in place to protect so-called EESS remote sensing measurements over the oceans but EESS has since moved away from the 6 GHz band, which makes the restriction superfluous today.
And if you think Cisco might have bigger fish to fry than the cruise industry (sorry!) – that’s not entirely true: A typical cruise liner carries more than 4,000 APs and supports more than 10,000 Wi-Fi devices as well as connectivity for ship operations, Cisco says. The 6 GHz case for cruise ships is arguable important to deliver the right high-density connectivity onboard vessels that are literally packed with guests. Cruises are a US$3.7 billion industry in the US.
IDC reports 10.6% WLAN market growth for 1Q2025 year-on-year
The enterprise Wi-Fi growth spree continues, says the market analysts from IDC. The latest IDC WLAN tracker reveals 10.6% year-on-year market growth for 1Q2025 with Wi-Fi 6E making up nearly 32% of the market. Wi-Fi 7 represents 11.8% of the market, up from about 10% in the previous quarter. The US WLAN market grew 21% while EMEA grew about half that. Market shares are mostly unchanged with Cisco still the undisputed leader at 39.5% and HPE in second place.
RUCKUS Networks introduces AI-based Wi-Fi 7 solutions for all hospitality tiers
RUCKSUS is arguably the market leader in Wi-Fi solutions for hospitality – and now the company is launching a range of new Wi-F 7connectivity options for full-service, mid-scale, and limited-service hotels, the company says this week in a press release. The purpose is to deliver ‘customised guest-Wi-Fi experiences’ supported by RUCKUS One Hospitality Edition management, a new Brand 360 Dashboard, an AI onboarding assistant, plus new RUCKUS H670 (tri-band) and RUCKUS R370 (dual-band) Wi-Fi 7 indoor APs. RUCKUS says the new portfolio meets the demands of all hospitality segments – from budget hotels to luxury brands – and has dubbed their new solutions ‘AI-driven’.
Ookla (Speedtest): New Wi-Fi generations deliver huge NPS boost
Thus far the use of Wi-Fi 7 among US service providers is less than 2% – even though the new Wi-Fi 7 (and Wi-Fi 6E) on average us multiples faster than previous generations, Ookla says in a new report. On average for all providers Wi-Fi 7 speeds have been tested to above 764 (download) Mbps with Frontier Fiber taking pole position at 1010 Gbps (download) while all of Spectrum, Cox, and Xfinity test well above 800 Mbps (download). On the upload side the fiber operators vastly outperform cable. Perhaps most remarkably, Ookla has documented the immense importance of Wi-Fi generations in customer loyalty, or NPS (Net Promoter Score): Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 more than triple and quadruple previous NPS scores.
/Claus.
