What exactly is the difference between WiFi 6 and WiFi 7? I had gigabit broadband at home, and before I switched phones, I calculated this debt clearly

Xiaomi AX3000T at home has been used for over two years, and recently I saw that WiFi 7 routers have dropped to around 300 yuan, which makes me itch to get excited. But I didn't rush to place an order. I borrowed a friend's BE3600 to try it out for a week, then dug out my old AX6000 for comparison. Finally, I figured out the difference between WiFi 6 and WiFi 7, and who is worth switching to. First, here's the conclusion for impatient people: your home has broadband within gigabit and your phone isn't a new flagship, switching to WiFi 7 basically doesn't make a difference; Only when broadband is upgraded above 2000M, or if your device already supports WiFi 7, is it true that you upgrade . Below are all the notes I've spent this week messing around.

clarify the names first: AX stands for WiFi 6, BE stands for WiFi7

buy a router, you can tell the generation by looking at the model prefix. AX3000 and AX6000 are WiFi 6 (also called 802.11ax), while BE3600, BE6500, and BE7200 are WiFi 7 (802.11be). The number is the sum of the theoretical speeds of 2.4G and 5G (WiFi 7 and 6G) bands combined. Note that this is "theory"; the actual speed you can get is considered a good deal at half price.

WiFi7 compared to WiFi 6, there are only four truly valuable changes. Let me explain each one plainly:

• bandwidth doubling : WiFi 6 supports a maximum width of 160MHz per channel in the 5G band, while WiFi 7 supports 320MHz. Changing from four lanes to eight lanes is the biggest hurdle for acceleration. But domestically, 320MHz is only available for use in the 6GHz band, and we haven't allocated 6GHz for residential WiFi yet. So if you buy a domestic WiFi 7 router now, you're still running 5G at 160MHz, which means the lane hasn't widened. Keep that in mind.
• 4096-QAM: Modulation order increased from 1024 to 4096, with more data per frame and about 20% increase in close-range peak value. This one really works. I switched phones at the same spot to test, and it did get a bit faster at close range.
• MLO multi-link aggregation : The phone can simultaneously connect to both 2.4G and 5G bands for transmission and reception, with one blocking the other. This is the most noticeable feature of WiFi 7's improved experience: stable latency for gaming, no disconnections when driving far, and more practical than the speed on paper. But note, phones must also support WiFi 7 MLO. I only have one new flagship that supports it, so older phones have no chance.
• finer resource scheduling : Channels are more fragmented and allocated as needed, making queueing smoother when there are many devices. I have forty devices at home, which is somewhat useful; Even with seven or eight devices, the perception is zero.

the numbers I tested: How much faster is switching to WiFi 7

no hype, no criticism, just go straight to my own data. Broadband is a gigabit telecom modem, optical modem bridge, speed test phones placed in the same location, spaced one meter apart without walls, and averaged by three rounds of measurements for each digit:

see now, right? Under the premise of gigabit broadband, the improvement of WiFi 7 routers over ordinary WiFi 6 phones is on the scale of 620 to 640, which is on the margin of error. The real gap is the flagship phone supporting WiFi 7, which is over 100 Mbps faster and visibly stable latency. So what decides whether you should replace it is never the router alone; it's the shortest board in the "router plus terminal plus broadband" chain. By the way, WiFi 7 phones can also use some MLO features even with WiFi 6 routers, but 320MHz and 4096-QAM are gone, so to get the full benefits, both sides need to upgrade.

there's another pitfall: don't take speed testing websites as truth. If you want to see real capabilities, connect with your phone and check the negotiated speed (click on WiFi details and there's a section on connection speed), then use local iperf3 to load data. At first, I was tricked by a speed testing site and thought I had switched to a fake WiFi 7, but later I found out the speed test node itself only has 500 Mbps. Additionally AX3000T these models share antennas between 2.4G and 5G. I previously wrote an article about channel interference mentioned that when frequency bands crowd each other, the next generation of machines does have stronger anti-interference resistance.

broadband and network ports catch up first, otherwise switching is wasted

this is the one I've tried to dissuade most people. The ceiling for wireless speed is your wired entry point: broadband 100 Mbps, router WAN port 1 gigabit. No matter how fast wireless is, it's no faster than 1 gigabit. The advantages of WiFi 7 on paper are all empty talk. I drew a line for 'Is it worth exchanging?' :

• Broadband within 500M: Don't talk about WiFi 7—WiFi 5 is enough, don't spend that money.
• broadband gigabit and up to ten devices: WiFi 6 at the AX3000 level is sufficient; upgrading phones is more consumeristic.
• Broadband 2000M or above: Must have WiFi 7 with a 2.5G port, otherwise the broadband fee will be wasted. Check the specs page—some BE3600WAN ports are still gigabit. These are 'fake WiFi 7 speed boosts'—even if you buy them, they're still stuck at gigabit.

one more word about the network port. I've seen many people with 2000 Mbps broadband, but the optical modem still shows a 100 Mbps cable, or the router's WAN port plugged into the 100 Mbps port. After a long struggle, they measure over 90 Mbps, thinking the router is faulty—this troubleshooting idea was fully covered in the article speed test failed: first check the network port and cable, then check the device. Similarly, for the 2.5G port of a WiFi 7 router to be effective, the optical modem, switch, and network cable (at least at Category 5 super maximum) must all keep up. If any link is gigabit, the entire link is capped at gigabit.

the wall-penetrating issue, WiFi 7 has no magic

must be poured cold water on it. The physical laws of wireless wall penetration remain unchanged: 2.4G is good but slow, 5G is fast but poor, and WiFi 7 still can't escape it. I tested it on a load-bearing wall this week, and WiFi 7 is indeed a notch above WiFi 6, thanks to 4096-QAM and advanced modulation. But to turn the signal from weak coverage to full bars is unrealistic by switching to a WiFi 7 router.

large apartments still need to solve coverage issues: Mesh networking, wired backhaul, AP panels—solutions are more important than generational solutions. At my own home, I have two AX3000T Mesh, but the signal in the corner of the bathroom in the master bedroom was always off. Even switching to a BE3600 single unit couldn't save it, so in the end, I had to rely on sub-nodes to fix it. For the pitfalls of networking and placement, you can refer to my previous posts on wired backhaul and router placement— much more practical than worrying about WiFi 6 or WiFi 7. In short: poor signal is a coverage issue; slow internet speed is a generational problem. Don't use phone replacement as a cure-all.

buy now, I suggest choosing the following

final decision on your purchase. The Chinese WiFi 7 currently faces a special awkwardness: the 320MHz bandwidth relies on the 6GHz band, while the domestic 6GHz spectrum is mainly allocated to mobile communications. How much WiFi can be used is still undecided, so the current acceleration of Chinese devices mainly relies on 4096-QAM and MLO to sustain the speed. This isn't a brand issue; it's the same for all Chinese versions. Don't believe customer service about 'full-power WiFi 7.'

are specifically divided into three types:

• broadband within gigabit or mobile phones from two or three years ago: do not replace. AX3000T. WDR3020 WiFi 6 can be used for another three years, so it's more worthwhile to spend money on broadband upgrades.
• flagship phone with 2000M broadband and WiFi 7 support: Switch, just look for BE6500 or above with 2.5G x2 Ethernet ports, or BE3600 for 300 yuan, but pay attention to WAN port specifications.
• planning to renovate a new home with a brand-new network: you can get WiFi 7 in one go. Since you're buying a new one, it's a one-to-two hundred yuan price difference for compatibility for the next three to five years—it's a great deal.

model list for reference, I've personally touched it or helped friends with it: BE3600 models like Xiaomi, TP-LINK, and H3C all cost around 300 yuan. Just focus on the "2.5G network port" spec; ZTE Xuntian series and TP-LINK's XDR series above BE6500 are stable, priced between 600 and 1,000 yuan. Oh, and remember to upgrade the firmware to the latest after buying. There were quite a few early bugs in WiFi 7's MLO compatibility, but after upgrading the firmware once on my BE3600, the disconnection issue with my old WiFi 5 device was fixed—the key points for firmware upgrades were mentioned in the of the flashing article: back up your configuration before upgrading, and this applies equally to branded phones.

summarize the order: first check the bandwidth bandwidth amount, then check if your phone supports WiFi 7, and finally it's your turn to choose a router. If you don't replace the shortest plate on the chain, no matter how long you replace it, it's a waste. In the end, I returned the BE3600 to a friend and kept two AX3000T for myself—gigabit broadband plus a bunch of WiFi 6 devices. I'll use this setup for another two years, and once the dust settles on 6GHz and 2.5G ports become widespread, it's not too late to upgrade.