Wi-Fi 6 Vs. Wi-Fi 6E Vs. Wi-Fi 7: What Are The Differences?
Search Networking, Monday, March 24th, 2025
Wi-Fi standards continue to evolve. The three most recent standards -- Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 -- build on each other's capabilities, but all have their own unique features.
Wi-Fi has always been a numbers game. Every Wi-Fi standard derives from the IEEE 802.11 working group, each with a different suffix that corresponds to its respective shorthand name. Today's most common Wi-Fi standards include Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7.
Wireless networking vendors tout the huge throughput numbers each standard can enable. However, those who work in wireless networking, specifically Wi-Fi, know the reality tells a different story. Each standard differs from the last, even if they share the same working group. It's sometimes difficult to keep them all straight, but it's a good start to define the basics.