Qualcomm Introduces Wi-Fi 7 Chips With Peak Speeds Up To 10Gbit/s Per Channel

Qualcomm has announced new Wi-Fi 7 chips for enterprise access points, mesh systems and premium routers. According to the manufacturer, these throughputs reach up to 10Gbit/s on a single channel. Products with the chips will appear in ‘the coming quarters’.

Qualcomm recently provided samples of its new Wi-Fi 7 chips to network product manufacturers. The company is introducing four new Wi-Fi 7 platforms in its Networking Pro series. Qualcomm states that those chips achieve peak speeds of up to 10Gbit/s on a single 320MHz channel and the 6Ghz band. The chips also support the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.

The Qualcomm Networking Pro 1620 is the highest ranked model, with quadband support, up to 16 streams and up to 2000 clients. Divided over all channels, the chip achieves PHY rates of up to 33Gbit/s, Qualcomm claims. The company also comes with lower-ranked models, which support fewer streams.

The new Networking Pro chips are intended for enterprise access points and mesh systems, according to Qualcomm, although they will also be used in high-end networking products for home users. Anandtech writes that the first products with these chips will be released in the coming quarters. Among others, WiFi router maker Eero, which is owned by Amazon, would come with products based on the chips.

Wi-Fi 7 will be the successor to Wi-Fi 6E, which was introduced in 2020, but for now the specification for Wi-Fi 7, or 802.11be, is still a draft. Manufacturers are already developing products based on the new Wi-Fi generation. Broadcom, for example, introduced a number of 802.11be chips last month. Qualcomm previously showed FastConnect adapters with Wi-Fi 7, which are intended for smartphones and laptops. The full Wi-Fi 7 specification is expected to be released in 2024.