2014
Versions and generations

Generation	IEEE standard	Adopted
Wi-Fi 6	802.11ax	2019
Wi-Fi 5	802.11ac	2014
Wi-Fi 4	802.11n	2008
(Wi-Fi 3)*	802.11g	2003

Networking Protocols Chart

Generation/IEEE Standard	Frequency	Year
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)	2.4/5 GHz	2019
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)	5 GHz	2014
Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n)	2.4/5 GHz	2009

January 8, 2024

Wi-Fi 7 release date

Wi-Fi 7 was officially released on January 8, 2024, when the Wi-Fi Alliance released its Wi-Fi Certified 7 program, though it'll still take years for a significant amount of people to adapt to it.

Is WiFi 5 still good : In real-world scenarios, the actual speeds may be lower, but WiFi 5 still provides decent performance for most home and office use cases. While WiFi 6 takes wireless speeds to a new level. It offers a maximum theoretical speed of up to 9.6 Gbps, more than twice as fast as WiFi 5.

Is WiFi 5 old

Wi-Fi 5 was released in 2014 and brought several upgrades from the previously used Wi-Fi 4. Wi-Fi 5, while a wonderful innovation, has pros and cons. The pros include: Wireless data transmission in Wi-Fi 5 occurs on the less congested 5GHz band frequency.

Is Wi-Fi 7 out : There are dozens of Wi-Fi 7 routers already available, but they're still relatively rare — particularly with devices like phones, laptops and smart home gadgets. The Wi-Fi Alliance predicts that 233 million Wi-Fi 7 devices will enter the market in 2024, and grow to 2.1 billion devices by 2028.

Yes. Wi-Fi 7 is designed to maintain full backward compatibility, ensuring seamless compatibility between the latest Wi-Fi 7 devices and legacy devices from earlier generations.

IEEE 802.11n™, or Wi-Fi 4, was introduced in 2009 to support the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz frequency bands, with up to 600 Mbit/s data rates, multiple channels within each frequency band, and other features.

Is there WiFi 8

Wi-Fi 8 is the next generation of Wi-Fi and a successor to the IEEE 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) standard. In line with all previous Wi-Fi standards, Wi-Fi 8 will aim to improve wireless performance in general along with introducing new and innovative features to further advance Wi-Fi technology.WiFi 6 enabled devices are readily available today from laptops on the market using Intel's 10th-gen chips to the latest and greatest smartphones such as Samsung's Galaxy S10 & Note 10, and Apple's iPhone 11.For gaming, home theater, and home office applications that depend on a lot of voice and video calls, using the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands is recommended. 2.4 GHz is the “best effort” network for Wi-Fi, ideal for sending small amounts of data over longer distances.

Some of the technical details for Wi-Fi 8 are expected to be finalized by 2024. Over the course of its evolution, Wi-Fi standards have played a critical role in providing seamless wireless connectivity within indoor and office environments.

Is WiFi 8 out : Some of the technical details for Wi-Fi 8 are expected to be finalized by 2024. Over the course of its evolution, Wi-Fi standards have played a critical role in providing seamless wireless connectivity within indoor and office environments.

How fast is WiFi 7 : What's Different from the Previous Generations

	WiFi 7	WiFi 6
Max data rate	46 Gbps	9.6 Gbps
Bands	2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz	2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
Channel size	Up to 320 MHz	20, 40, 80, 80+80, 160 MHz
Modulation	4096-QAM OFDMA (with extensions)	1024-QAM OFDMA

Is WiFi 6 the future

WiFi 6 is designed to handle the increasing demands of modern networks. This also makes WiFi 6 a future-proof investment that can support the growing number of connected devices and bandwidth-intensive applications in homes and businesses.

WiFi 7 makes giant strides in throughput — 480% more than previous generations. Thanks to backward compatibility a WiFi 7 router opens up your entire home to the latest online experiences.What's Different from the Previous Generations

	WiFi 7	WiFi 6
Max data rate	46 Gbps	9.6 Gbps
Bands	2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz	2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
Channel size	Up to 320 MHz	20, 40, 80, 80+80, 160 MHz
Modulation	4096-QAM OFDMA (with extensions)	1024-QAM OFDMA

Is 6G Wi-Fi good : WiFi 6 provides the fastest real-world speeds and range

In WiFi technology, each frequency band (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) is made of component streams. It is on these streams that our WiFi data travels. WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 carry the highest number of streams, thus allowing for gigabit WiFi speeds.