Cisco CTO Matt MacPherson says 2026 could mark a turning point for Wi-Fi 7
Wi-Fi 7 has been on the roadmap for years, but widespread adoption has lagged behind expectations (most notably in the U.S.). Now, though, Cisco believes the timing has finally aligned. According to Cisco CTO Matt MacPherson, 2026 could mark a turning point for the technology as market conditions, deployment readiness, and customer demand begin to converge.
Device readiness. Reason number one, MacPherson told RCR Wireless News, is that devices are ready. In 2025, he explained, top-of-the-line phones from OEMs like Apple and Samsung had Wi-Fi 7 compatibility. “But now it’s going across everything,” he said. “If you buy a laptop now, it’s more likely to have Wi-Fi 7 than not.”
A much-needed refresh after some “6E confusion.” Cisco is starting to see a “refresh alignment,” where enough Access Points (APs) are finally available, and with so many (more than 40%!) of the company’s customers still on Wi-Fi 5, an update is long overdue. “From a refresh cycle standpoint, these guys are really ready to go to the next technology,” MacPherson said, adding that the launch of 6E also added some confusion in the market. Customers were wondering what exactly this update meant and if it made sense to upgrade to 6E at all or wait until the next full generation. “But Wi-Fi 7 makes it clear,” he said.
Use case expansion. Finally, Wi-Fi 7 is packed with features that make it the most reliable generation yet. These include Multi-Link Operation (MLO), which allows devices to use multiple bands simultaneously, dynamically choosing the best path, and enhanced OFDMA and MU-MIMO for more efficient resource allocation to handle more devices and data. “I don’t want to throw a bunch of acronyms at you, but if you look at most features coming out in 7, it really is about being able to do a very deterministic and reliable connection… Now you can achieve these new sets of applications and services that we couldn’t before,” said MacPherson. The result is material market expansion for Wi-Fi. “In other words, the set of use cases it can address has grown,” he continued. “I see Wi-Fi 7 being able to handle the demand growth that’s coming… And… the market is really aligned for a big boom this year.”
As we continue into 2026, Cisco sees device availability removing the adoption barrier, refresh demand unlocking scale, and new architectural features redefining what Wi-Fi can realistically support.
