Wi-Fi 6E versus Wi-Fi 7: Which type of router is a better buy?

[Admin]

Wi-Fi 7 routers are available at a slight to significant premium over Wi-Fi 6E, depending on what you’re looking for.

Wi-Fi 6E versus Wi-Fi 7: Which type of router is a better buy? : Read more

 

[kanewolf]

If you have a WIFI6 (AX) router, you will probably see little benefit except in the room with the router. 6Ghz penetrates walls worse than 5Ghz. Unless you live in an apartment or other area where the 5Ghz spectrum is saturated with competing WIFI, 6Ghz provides minimal benefit to most people. The marketing hype causes extreme expectations and when there is little to no change, disappointment.

 

[bill001g]

I wish the author was more detailed on how he tested this. Not that it really means much since it is unlikely he tested in some controlled lab and even if he did it doesn't relate to how it will work in some random house.

The key issue is what exact end device was use for testing. For a very long time routers have had things like 4x4 mimo but client devices are very rare that have this feature.

He talks about MLO (bonding the different radio bands together). I have not even seen a add in nic card that has this feature, maybe someone makes one? I suspect no actual motherboard chipset will support it and it is highly unlikely any cell phone will ever support it.

To use this feature you would need 3 actual radio chips on the device. This will greatly increase the price and will likely never be used on a cell phone both because of the increased board space needed for the chips as well as the added battery power they will need.

The only way I can see to test some of these features is to use a unrealistic install using a router as a client bridge on the client end.

 

[The5thCacophony]

I just replaced two wifi access points which were using two old AC-1800 routers by a single Asus RT-AX86U Pro, bought on a clearance sale. Placed in the middle of the house, it is better in every way, using a single 5Ghz radio. Stability, speed. And better security with WPA3. The stock Asus firmware surprisingly has quite convenient cool features. Multiple guest networks, Wireguard VPN client.

In short I am very happy since 3 weeks since the switch from Wifi 5 to 6. Now I read Wifi 7 is better!?!? Checking the price, a full featured Wifi 7 Asus router is at least double the sale price of the RT-AX86U Pro. I am going to pass as I have no need of increase speed.

 

[bill001g]

I just replaced two wifi access points which were using two old AC-1800 routers by a single Asus RT-AX86U Pro, bought on a clearance sale. Placed in the middle of the house, it is better in every way, using a single 5Ghz radio. Stability, speed. And better security with WPA3. The stock Asus firmware surprisingly has quite convenient cool features. Multiple guest networks, Wireguard VPN client.

In short I am very happy since 3 weeks since the switch from Wifi 5 to 6. Now I read Wifi 7 is better!?!? Checking the price, a full featured Wifi 7 Asus router is at least double the sale price of the RT-AX86U Pro. I am going to pass as I have no need of increase speed.

If more people were like you the router manufacture could not con people that think a router with a bigger number "7" somehow magically is better. They seem to forget that their end device needs to be upgraded also.

Asus has much better factory software than many other vendors. Part of the reason you pay a premium for the devices.

Wifi6e does actually run better for people that live in wifi congested area. The 6ghz band allows much more bandwidth to choose from. Problem is all the hogs that now attempt to use every channel on the new 6ghz band. You get people with huge numbers of mesh/routers in their house rather than just a single router. And now you have wifi7 that is attempting to use 320mhz of bandwidth for every mesh unit. So it won't be long until 6ghz is just as over utilized as 5ghz.

Note WPA3 only is more secure if every device you have can run it. If you run mixed wpa2/wpa3 mode it provides no benefit. In addition WPA3 now prevent WPS (which is massively insecure) from being used. Many of the so called "smart" device in people houses are dependent on WPS to connect. So for your average stupid consumer WPA3 will never be a thing.

 

[VizzieTheViz]

basically wifi6 and 7 and any letters added are just another marketing hoax (looking at you too hdmi and usb) instead of a standard.

You still have to do a massive amount of research to be able to actually compare devices if your looking to buy something, no guarantee what features are implemented or how if you look at the number 7 (yes this is an hyperbole, but not by much).

Most people are using client devices that can’t even use the advanced features of the fully featured routers and again you have to do your homework to find out.

And even if you do all that and get everything figured out you probably still won’t notice much difference day to day between 6, 6e and 7.

Sorry for the rant, I just really dislike standards that are actually marketing terms.

 

[das_stig]

I just replaced two wifi access points which were using two old AC-1800 routers by a single Asus RT-AX86U Pro, bought on a clearance sale. Placed in the middle of the house, it is better in every way, using a single 5Ghz radio. Stability, speed. And better security with WPA3. The stock Asus firmware surprisingly has quite convenient cool features. Multiple guest networks, Wireguard VPN client.

In short I am very happy since 3 weeks since the switch from Wifi 5 to 6. Now I read Wifi 7 is better!?!? Checking the price, a full featured Wifi 7 Asus router is at least double the sale price of the RT-AX86U Pro. I am going to pass as I have no need of increase speed.

I have the RT-AX86U as an AP and so long as it can max out my broadband on 5Ghz anywhere in the house, why would I need to upgrade? 6E/7 is like most things in the PC industry, little real-world gain and all marketing fluff to make you upgrade.