WiFi 6 vs. 6E vs. WiFi 7: detailed comparison and differences
The key features of Wi-Fi 6 and 6E are the same, with the addition of the 6GHz band in 6E to help navigate crowded networks with ease.

Wi-Fi 7 doubles the bandwidth, triples the throughput, superior amplitude modulation and doubles the number of spatial streams, making the wireless experience comparable to the wired experience.

WiFi 6, 6E and WiFi 7: Introduction

1.What is WiFi 6?

In 2019, Wi-Fi 6 announced huge improvements with the introduction of ODFMA, power consumption improvements, and two-way MU-MIMO. Operating at 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies, efficiency delivers a considerable throughput increase of over 30% over the previous generation.

2.What is WiFi 6E?

Released in 2020 as an extension of Wi-Fi 6, 6E extends all capabilities to the third band, 6 GHz.

Features such as OFDMA, target wake time and low latency operating in three simultaneous bands become significant advantages in improving area per square foot, especially in highly congested environments.

With the introduction of the 6E wireless standard, network companies implemented 6GHz band network equipment. You can find my top picks here.

3.What is WiFi 7?

The latest WiFi technology, Wi-Fi 7, will be available in 2024 and has been undergoing extensive modifications since 2021. 802.11be, aka WiFi 7, doubles the bandwidth with a channel frequency of 320Hz. With a fourfold increase in QAM and the addition of spatial streams, speed throughput reaches 30 Gbps while operating on all three frequency bands of 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz.
WiFi 6 vs 6E vs 7: detailed comparison

Speed and availability

When comparing WiFi 6 and 6E in terms of speed capabilities, it offers a throughput of 9.6 Gbps, which is a huge leap over the speeds offered by the Wi-Fi 5 standard, which is capped at 6.9 Gbps.

To take advantage of the efficiencies of Gen 6 wireless standards, you'll need OEMs to integrate them into the latest client devices, such as smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and more.

The upcoming WiFi 7 standard triples theoretical speed capacity to up to 30 Gbps. WiFi 7 speeds will require a new set of manufacturing standards for high-performance gadgets and IoT devices designed to operate at multiple frequencies.

Frequency band

Wi-Fi 6 primarily operates at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. As wireless devices increase, these two frequency bands become crowded.

Wi-Fi 6E extends all operating efficiencies into an additional 6 GHz band to circumvent network interference and congestion issues. Including the 6 GHz band will increase the speeds achieved over shorter ranges.

WiFi 7 operates primarily on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz, similar to 6E, and improves efficiency in other areas.

This will enable next-generation WiFi technology to accommodate more gadgets in an area and provide better performance.

Channel width
While the second wave of 802.11ac saw the use of wider 80 MHz channels, a huge leap overall was achieved with the introduction of 160 MHz channels in WiFi 6 routers.

Wi-Fi 6E extended versions are taking full advantage of wider 160 MHz channels, resulting in higher throughput on WiFi 6E routers.

There are further improvements coming as the WiFi 7 release date approaches. The next generation of wireless devices will take advantage of the wider 320 MHz channel to achieve superior efficiency and throughput levels.

QAM modulation

QAM modulation determines how data is packaged and transmitted over radio frequencies. The denser the modulation, the greater the amount of data that can be transmitted easily. The rise of high-quality 4K streaming and AR/VR content is testing the limits of Wi-Fi 5 running at 256-QAM.

Wi-Fi 6 and 6E propose higher modulation, operating at 1024-QAM. Wi-Fi 7 goes a step further, bringing greater efficiency with denser modulation of 4096-QAM. This effectively reflects the throughput speed and enables higher speeds such as 30 Gbps.

Data flow

The 6th generation wireless standard brings two-way MU-MIMO to practical applications and doubles the number of spatial streams to eight, surpassing Wi-Fi 5’s 4×4 MU-MIMO. Will allow up to 8 simultaneous connections to access the internet without losing speed throughput.

Wi-Fi 6 and 6E feature two-way 8 x 8 MU-MIMO. WiFi 7 increases the number of spatial streams to 16. Will allow up to 16 devices to boot data at high speed.

The next generation of IoT devices will take advantage of this efficiency brought by the latest wireless technologies.

Access Point

In Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, client devices can only use one band at a time, 2.4/5/6 GHz. Smart Connect allows devices to automatically switch bands based on signal quality and interference.

With Wi-Fi 7, the introduction of MLO (Multi-Link Operation) allows client devices to send and receive data across different frequency bands and channels. Communication delays will be reduced to a minimum, giving users a wireless experience similar to wired Internet.

Improved reliability when using AR applications and online gaming.
 

WiFi security

WiFi 6 and 6E see the superior security encryption standard WPA 3, which uses the Protected Management Framework and 4-way handshake authentication protocol to keep your connection secure from any offline attacks that WPA2 is vulnerable to.

We expect that when WiFi 7 routers hit the market, they will come with the more advanced WPA4 encryption standard.

Is WiFi 6 suitable for gaming?

The Wi-Fi 6 standard is fast enough to provide a great gaming experience. If you're switching to VR/AR based gaming, that extra 6 GHz band will be valuable for a solid gaming experience.

Is Wi-Fi 6 or 6E better?

Wi-Fi 6E provides an additional frequency band with other benefits of the Wi-Fi 6 standard. This gives it a huge advantage in circumventing network congestion and interference.

Will Wi-Fi 7 have better coverage?

The performance efficiency of Wi-Fi 7 will directly affect signal quality. Additional frequency bands, wider channels and double the number of spatial streams will result in better long-range performance.

How fast is Wi-Fi 7?

While theoretical speeds of up to 30 Gbps are touted, achieving these speeds in a real-world environment will be challenging. However, Internet throughput from personal client devices is expected to be close to 5Gbps, more than twice the speed of the Wi-Fi 6 standard.

in conclusion

A router with the Wi-Fi 6 standard is sufficient for the average home user. The majority of client devices in use are Wi-Fi 5, which will remain relevant for the foreseeable future. If you're in a smart home and have more than 40 devices, it makes more sense to go with the 6E.

WiFi 7's speeds are much higher than what's available to home users, making it overkill. It will be more suitable for commercial spaces and mid-sized offices