The Wi-Fi standard, which allows hundreds of millions of devices to communicate wirelessly, is heading towards a major generational turning point: from now on, stability will be at the center of priorities.
If this is a true paradigm shift, it's because historically, new releases have almost always focused on increasing bandwidth. The objective was simply to respond to the continued increase in data consumption by Internet users, who have become accustomed to downloading faster and faster and watching video content in very high definition without loading time.
But we are now approaching a plateau at this level. With the democratization of Wi-Fi 6 (9.6 Gb/s) and the gradual arrival of Wi-Fi 7, which offers a theoretical maximum speed of 46 Gb/s, speed is simply no longer a constraint. Of course, the actual flow rates are obviously much lower, but the conclusion remains the same: even Internet users who have access to a professional fiber optic connection are no longer limited by the performance of this wireless communication protocol.
Stability over speed
In this context, is it really worth aiming even higher in terms of bandwidth? For theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the institution in charge of developing this technology, the answer seems to be “ non “. In any case, this is the conclusion that emerges when we look at the documentation recently published by MediaTek, a large Taiwanese chip manufacturer. According to PCWorldthere are in fact several comparative tables which explain that Wi-Fi 8, or 802.11bn for short, will be identical to its predecessor in terms of raw throughput.
Instead, it appears that manufacturers will now focus on the reliability and stability of these connections. We can cite Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR). This is an evolution of Spatial Reusea protocol introduced with the sixth generation of the Wi-Fi standard that allows all these devices to exchange data more efficiently in environments already very busy with wireless communications. This new iteration will ensure even closer coordination, and according to MediaTek, will allow “ to increase the overall throughput of the system by 15 to 25% ».
MediaTek also cites the Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF), another optimization technique that allows the signal to be directed more efficiently to a specific device on a network. In practice, this would increase the amount of data transmitted “by 20 to 50%”.
PCWorld also quotes Dynamic Sub-Channel Operation (DSO), which will allow bandwidth to be dynamically allocated based on the capabilities of the access point and device, or Refined Modulationa feature designed to improve connection stability with a moving device — for example, when the user moves from one room to another.
See you in 2028
However, it should be noted that this new standard will probably not be officially formalized for some time; some elements could change before 2028, the date Wi-Fi 8 is expected to arrive. And in any case, this new standard will inevitably take many years to establish itself, like its predecessors.
But regardless, the preview offered by MediaTek remains exciting. It points to a real step forward in terms of comfort of use — especially in very congested network environments or those that are not conducive to signal propagation. It will therefore be appropriate to monitor the development of this very promising new standard.
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