Whether for personal device constellations or industrial automation, reliability has become as important as throughput. This is what Wi-Fi 8 will deliver.
While Wi-Fi 7-enabled technologies are gaining adoption in the consumer and enterprise segments (and delivering tangible benefits attributed to significant increases in performance across all dimensions ), work on Wi-Fi 8 is already under way. The forthcoming generation is all about delivering ultra-high reliability (UHR), and IEEE is expected to finalize the supporting 802.11bn standard in the 2028 timeframe.
Although 2028 may seem distant, here’s why it’s important to start developing a Wi-Fi 8 strategy today: the pace of change and adoption in the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem is unlike anything we’ve seen before. The directional signals are clear — AI will permeate consumer experiences and industrial processes. In this emerging paradigm, connectivity cannot be the weak link.
Qualcomm’s Rolf de Vegt, vice president of technical standards, considered the not-too-distant future where multi-billion dollar investments into AI, cloud, edge computing and, more broadly, digital transformation, coalesce into a unified platform for innovation. “If your connectivity is sub-optimal, then the experiences may not be good. Wi-Fi is currently delivering the throughput and latency users need. In the segments that Wi-Fi enables, the applications are becoming more and more critical which is why the focus is shifting to delivering ultra-high reliability.”
See the below table for a comparison of Wi-Fi 7 KPIs and the associated outlook for Wi-Fi 8.
“These enhancements are designed to support both isolated and overlapping network deployments, with a focus on environments characterized by congestion, interference, user mobility and coverage boundaries,” de Vegt wrote in a recent blog post. “The standard also introduces improvements in power efficiency, peer-to-peer communication and mobility — all critical for emerging applications.”
Consider the connectivity needs in a home: beyond smartphones and PCs, consumers rely on Wi-Fi for entertainment — gaming and streaming — and for controlling everything from lighting and security to music and personal assistants. Wi-Fi 8 is being designed to support this existing paradigm and the AI-enabled near future where connected, intelligent devices are pervasive.
Shifting to the service provider perspective, the end user’s quality of experience is the most important proxy for network performance — device-based experiences are how customers measure the quality of their service provider. Wi-Fi 8 will help broadband providers deliver on customers’ expectations in complex residential radio environments.
In the world of heavy industry, digital transformation is a gradual process but all signs point to technology-enabled productivity augmentation — things like remote assistance, multi-modal chatbots and real-time human/machine interfaces — and, ultimately, pervasive autonomous robotic systems. Connectivity will support business- and mission-critical applications where safety is a paramount concern. In this paradigm, ultra-high reliability is non-negotiable.
Embedded AI and connected AI link the consumer and industrial technological outlook. Responsive AI inference hinges on high throughput, low latency and increasingly reliable connectivity. And interaction with these systems will become a defining feature of how we live and work. As de Vegt put it: “Wi-Fi 8 is being defined to serve as a foundational connectivity fabric that enables these ecosystems to thrive.”
For a deeper dive, join us on Sept. 30, for a webinar titled, “Wi-Fi 8: What you need to know about the next generation of wireless.”
| Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 8 | |
| Standard | 802.11be | 802.11bn |
| Spectrum | 2.4/5/6 GHz | 2.4/5/6 GHz |
| Channel width | Up to 320 megahertz | Up to 320 megahertz |
| Modulation | Up to 4096 QAM | Up to 4096 QAM |
| Signature features | Multi-link Operation (MLO) and preamble puncturing | Seamless Roaming, Coordinated TDMA, Enhanced Long Range |
| Latency/reliability targets | Deterministic latency improvements delivered by MLO; approximately sub-10 millisecond and packet loss rate below 0.1% | Up to 25% higher throughput in challenging radio conditions; 25% lower latency at the 95th percentile of latency distribution; 25% fewer dropped packets especially in multi-AP roaming |
| Headline use cases | XR, 8K video, cloud gaming, real-time collaboration | AI-driven systems and autonomous machines, enhanced gaming and immersive media, industrial automation, robotics, multi-dwelling units, and high-density venues |
Editor’s note: Wi-Fi 6E was the first Wi-Fi generation to expand spectrum into the 5.925-7.125 GHz frequency range. In the United States, the full 1200 megahertz is available for unlicensed use, although the band has been split for unlicensed and licensed use in some global markets.
