{"id":514196,"date":"2026-03-02T16:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/514196\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T16:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:33:12","slug":"the-future-of-wi-fi-is-here-and-its-fixing-7s-biggest-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/514196\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future Of Wi-Fi Is Here And It’s Fixing 7’s Biggest Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"


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New consumer devices, like the Honor Magic V6 foldable phone<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the Honor MagicPad 4 tablet<\/a>, aren’t the only new innovations announced at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC 2026) event in Barcelona, Spain. Lenovo announced several new laptop and tablet models early on Monday, including a few exciting concept devices, like a foldable Legion handheld gaming console<\/a>. Later, Qualcomm unveiled some of the next-generation chips that will power upcoming AI-ready wearables, 6G connectivity, and Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn). The latter is especially interesting, as Qualcomm said its upcoming FastConnect 8800 chip will\u00a0deliver the world’s fastest Wi-Fi connection and the longest Wi-Fi range. That should be great news to anyone still having Wi-Fi issues with their devices, including products that support Wi-Fi 7 connectivity.<\/p>\n

Wi-Fi 8 support in phones and other consumer products is just the first step. Routers that can support Wi-Fi 8 connectivity will be needed in homes, offices, and public spaces to offer the speed and range improvements Qualcomm mentioned. Qualcomm hasn’t shared a precise roadmap for the FastConnect 8800 rollout, but the company said the FastConnect 8800 and other Wi-Fi 8 chips are being tested by customers, with commercial products expected in late 2026. The FastConnect 7800 chip, which supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and UWB, is available in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra flagship that Samsung released last year. A few days ago, Samsung launched the Galaxy S26 series. The Galaxy S26 Ultra runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, which is paired with the FastConnect 7900 chip, which also supports Wi-Fi 7 connectivity.<\/p>\n

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What Qualcomm’s Wi-Fi 8 chip will offer<\/p>\n


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Qualcomm detailed the FastConnect 8800 chip in a briefing with reporters before MWC 2026 kicked off, explaining that the chip will integrate several wireless technologies in addition to Wi-Fi 8 connectivity. The chip will also support Bluetooth 7 (speeds up to 7.5 Mbps), and the latest versions of Ultra Wide Band\u00a0802.15.4ab (UWB) and Thread 1.5 wireless standards. In addition, the Wi-Fi chip will feature on-board AI support that may improve functionality and offer additional features. Qualcomm said the AI may be involved in determining proximity measurements for all the various built-in connectivity options to improve tracking. Finally, the FastConnect 8800 will be the first mobile chip to support 4×4 Wi-Fi architecture (compared to 2×2 for previous versions).<\/p>\n

Speaking of speed, the FastConnect 8800 chip will support data speeds of up to 11.6 Gbit\/s, which is about twice as fast as the previous FastConnect generation and twice as fast as competitors. The chip may be four times faster than the iPhone 17’s Wi-Fi chip. When it comes to range, the Wi-Fi 8 chip should offer up to three times longer range than the previous FastConnect chip. Also, Qualcomm said that the new chip will be able to sustain 1 Gbit\/s speeds at a signal that’s 20 dB weaker than the previous generation, depending on the environment.<\/p>\n

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Wi-Fi issues will not go away immediately<\/p>\n


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In a blog post last July, Qualcomm<\/a> explained that “Wi-Fi 8 marks a fundamental pivot \u2014 moving beyond peak speeds to prioritize reliable performance in challenging real-world conditions.” The new standard should deliver “consistent, low-latency, and near-lossless connectivity even in highly congested, interference-prone, and mobile environments,” Qualcomm added. However, the 802.11bn standard won’t be finalized until 2028, according to the same blog post. Separately, TP-Link<\/a> announced the first Wi-Fi 8 connection in October. “This technology is poised to deliver the ultra-reliable wireless performance that the industry will require as more devices and bandwidth-intensive applications come online,” the company said at the time.<\/p>\n

In other words, it may take time before we see the first consumer devices with FastConnect 8800 chips. It’s unclear if the Wi-Fi 8 routers will be ready by then. Qualcomm’s new chip should still work with the current Wi-Fi standards, including Wi-Fi 7 (and earlier), which means it will offer the same speeds, reliability, and potential issues. Some Wi-Fi 7 users have encountered range and speed issues with their setups. Others explained that Wi-Fi 7 routers may suffer from firmware bugs that can impact performance. There’s also the matter of 6 GHz support, a band some countries may not support. It’s a band you need for Multi-Link Operation (MLO), the ability to connect to multiple bands. MLO can also fail in some devices.<\/p>\n


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