Verizon Business has introduced two new networking devices, including a Wi-Fi 7 compatible business internet gateway device, to take advantage of the faster speeds and higher bandwidth offered by the new Wi-Fi standard.
The Wi-Fi 7 compatible Verizon Business Internet Gateway announced this week will provide faster and more reliable service to customers, said Vijay Paulrajan, vice president of devices and device services at Verizon Business. Paul Rajan said in a press release that the router features support for external antennas to increase signal strength in difficult locations within buildings, and also offers accessories such as battery backup.
Gartner enterprise networking analyst Mike Leibovitz said the routers will bring high-speed wireless broadband to businesses and replace traditional wired services. Still, he said it will take time for Wi-Fi 7 to bring significant benefits to businesses, and businesses don’t need to deploy Wi-Fi 7 right away.
Wi-Fi 7 “will require both device and infrastructure support to take advantage of major new features,” he added. “There are a lot of interesting advances in protocol updates, but he said it will take two to three years before the benefits are felt in the real world.”
The Wi-Fi Alliance launched the Wi-Fi 7 certification program in January, and Wi-Fi 7 devices started hitting the market even before formal certification. The Wi-Fi Alliance predicts that 233 million Wi-Fi 7 devices will be sold this year, and that number will rise to 2.1 billion by 2028.
Wi-Fi 7 uses the same three spectrum bands as Wi-Fi 6E (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz), but with 320 GHz bands in the 6 GHz band, twice the bands available in Wi-Fi 6E. MHz of spectrum is accessible. Some experts predict network speeds will be more than double the 2.4Gbps available with Wi-Fi 6E.
Additionally, Wi-Fi 7 offers Multi-Link Operation (MLO). This means you can connect to multiple spectrum bands at the same time, unlike Wi-Fi 6, which has access to multiple bands but can only connect to one band at a time. time.
Wi-Fi 7’s MLO capabilities will be its biggest advantage over Wi-Fi 6, Leibovitz said. By being able to use multiple spectrum bands at once, “Wi-Fi 7 provides features for more bandwidth, better latency, and overall performance,” he added.
He added that Wi-Fi 7 may add some challenges to running wireless networks, as many devices may use MLO functionality. “Many IT devices, such as laptops, tablets, and phones, all need to be available using MLO. You can imagine how complex this can become for all the software to work properly. “Sho,” he said.
Wi-Fi 7 targets IT devices on local area networks (LANs), and many businesses will need more than a single access point like the one offered by Verizon gateways, Leibovitz said. pointed out. Enterprise Wi-Fi systems sold by enterprise infrastructure vendors are typically designed to deploy large numbers of access points supporting large numbers of devices.
Verizon’s fixed wireless access products “leverage the most powerful wireless solutions on the market today, combining Wi-Fi7 with a wide range of LTE and 5G options for both WAN and LAN connectivity,” according to IDC’s IoT and Communications said Patrick Filkins, Research Manager, Infrastructure. .
The WLAN device “can connect business sites in low-, mid-band, or high-band spectrum, giving business customers more options to tailor connectivity services to their application needs,” Filkins said. says Mr.
In addition to Wi-Fi 7 routers, Verizon is introducing 5G Business Receivers, offering tri-band support for 5G mmWave, C-band, and LTE CAT21. This receiver supports both indoor and outdoor use, finding the best coverage through a smart antenna that automatically switches between Verizon networks.
