We are near the end of 2022 and at a very good time to review the year from the viewpoint of the Wi-Fi industry. Wi-Fi played a crucial role in the digital transformation in the last decade. Latest and greatest Wi-Fi tech trends continued in 2022 and revolutionized virtually every aspect of life, including business, commerce, healthcare, education, and government.
Wi-Fi trends in 2022
- With the de-licensing of a good part of the spectrum from 5925 to 7125 MHz in many countries, “WiFi 6E” APs will take off in 2022. It is interesting to note that more devices are announced in the Consumer segment (Home, Gaming, and Home Mesh). The enterprise market is slow to adapt to this…probably because many employees do not work full-time from their offices. The EU has opened up only a limited spectrum from 5925 to 6425 MHz. India and China appear to have missed the bus.
- Airline traffic has increased to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. This is good news for the Wi-Fi industry as there is even more demand for Wi-Fi connectivity in the sky now. There is now a premium or free membership option with ads offered by most airlines.
- In 2022, efforts to standardize the new version of WiFi standard, 802.11be, made significant strides. There is a convergence that 4K QAM & Multi-Link Operation (MLO) would be the key features in WiFi 7. Enhanced MLO (Single Radio) is probably the foremost that would be implemented in real devices.
- In September 2022. WiFi Alliance has released a draft version of WiFi Device metrics that provides a framework for measuring performance. It is interesting that AR/VR Gaming traffic is part of this specification. The industry is rallying around AR/VR and gaming traffic as a key driver for showcasing WiFi 7’s high throughput and low latency features.
What can we expect in 2023
- More triband routers with 6Ghz support and more WiFi 6E client devices
- Launch of “WiFi 7” pre-certified devices in the latter half of the year and certified devices towards the end of the year.
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Wishing you a happy and prosperous new year!
