A lot has changed recently when it comes to Wi-Fi. For example, last year WiFi 6 was officially launched, also known as 802.11ax. However, the organization behind the wireless standard has chosen to keep the name simple, so that everyone can quickly find out whether a device supports the new standard or not. Wifi 6 brings much more efficient to your home network, but what will WiFi 7 bring us in the future?
IEEE (Institute of Electrial and Electronics Engineers) has now started experimenting with a future version of WiFi. This is probably not the successor to Wi-Fi as we know it now; but what it will be is not yet clear. For the time being, the standard is called 802.11be and not WiFi 7. But, as is often the case in the tech industry, things can change quickly.
One of the things that is being experimented with is that the WiFi signals can follow you around the house. This can offer a number of advantages, because you do not have to place extra sensors to make your home smarter. If you have several WiFi points in your home and the network knows where you are walking, for example, the lamp in the bedroom can turn on when you walk in.
Wifi can save lives
But it can also potentially save lives, because the system is incredibly sensitive. For example, a researcher from the organization says that the signals can measure respiration. For example, if you have a 93-year-old grandmother who has difficulty walking, you can get a notification when the poor woman has fallen on the floor.
Another experiment is communication between vehicles. This is useful in the context of collisions. When vehicles know each other better where they are with each other – for example through a collaboration of the new WiFi standard and proximity sensors – a lot of collisions can be prevented between autonomous cars.
It does not stop there, of course. As with any new standard, you are meant to access higher speeds in the home (both download and upload), over even greater distances. The new WiFi standard must also become safer than its predecessor. Unfortunately, there are not yet details about the speeds for the home and what measures have been taken in the context of safety. The team is currently concentrating on the additional possibilities of WiFi in the future.
At the moment it is not yet known when the next version of WiFi will be available. We had to wait more than six years for the previous one, so within five years probably nothing will change.
.