Over the years it has been clearly seen how WiFi has gone from being a second-hand technology to becoming a service as essential as electricity or water.
With each new generation, advances have focused above all on increasing connection speeds. However, that is about to change. The arrival of the new WiFi 8 does not so much seek to be faster than WiFi 7, but rather more intelligent, stable and efficient.
This new wireless standard, technically called IEEE 802.11bn, promises to completely change the way devices connect with each other. Its real focus is on having a good connection even in places saturated with devices, such as stadiums or airports.
Manufacturers such as Qualcomm, MediaTek or TP-Link are already working on their first chips compatible with this protocoland some successful tests have even already been reported since mid-2025. However, the final version of the WiFi 8 standard will not be officially approved until 2028, and mass adoption is not expected until well into the next decade.
What is WiFi 8 and what will it be used for?
WiFi 8—also known by its technical name 802.11bn Ultra High Reliability—is the next generation of the wireless standard designed by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). Its main objective is to improve the reliability, stability and energy efficiency of WiFi networks, maintaining the same theoretical speeds as WiFi 7, which reach up to 46 Gbps.
In other words, What changes is not the speed figure, but how that speed is maintained and distributed. The focus has shifted towards ensuring powerful, continuous connections with lower latency.
WiFi 8 will focus on solving problems in environments with high device density, such as smart buildings, factories, large offices or technology fairs. Also in applications where milliseconds matter, such as augmented reality, telemedicine, or industrial automation.
Thanks to the new features it comes with, it will be possible to reduce latency peaks by up to 25%, increase performance and reduce connection losses on the move, something key for continuous connectivity in homes or public spaces.
These are the new features that WiFi 8 will bring
Although WiFi 8 will maintain the same frequency bands as its predecessor – 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz – the big changes come in its physical layer (PHY) and control layer (MAC), where new mechanisms have been added to improve the signal and avoid interference.
1. Coordinated Spatial Coordination (Co-SR): This technique allows multiple access points, multiple routers, to coordinate with each other to improve spectrum usage. Instead of competing, the routers talk to each other and adjust their power and frequency so as not to interfere, a kind of intelligent air traffic. With this, up to 25% higher performance is achieved.
2. Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF): Imagine that a router can direct its signal directly to a specific device instead of broadcasting it diffusely. Well, that’s beamforming, and WiFi 8 takes the concept to the next level: multiple access points collaborate to send the signal perfectly, avoiding interference and maximizing coverage.
3. Dynamic Subchannel Operation (DSO): With this technology, the system can automatically divide the main channel into subchannels and assign them according to the needs of each device. For example, an 8K TV will receive more bandwidth than a smartwatch that only sends data occasionally.
4. Roaming intelligent and perfect connectivity: another advance in WiFi 8 is intelligent roaming, which will allow you to move between different access points without noticing cuts or delays. Until now, devices would temporarily lose connection when moving from one router to another. With WiFi 8, this process will be practically imperceptible.
Additionally, the system will feature distributed Multi-Link Operation (MLO), a new and improved version of the one already present in WiFi 7. This means that a single device can simultaneously connect to multiple routers or frequency bands.
Differences between WiFi 7 and WiFi 8
1. Speed. WiFi 7 (802.11be): Reaches speeds of up to 46 Gbps thanks to 320 MHz channels and 4096-QAM modulation. WiFi 8 (802.11bn): maintains the same maximum theoretical speed, but improves the consistency of this speed.
2. Frequency bands. WiFi 7: Operates on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz. WiFi 8: Uses the same bands, but adds millimeter wave (mmWave) support in some implementations, perfect for ultra-fast short-range communications.
3. Signal management. WiFi 7: is based on Multi-Link Operation (MLO) technology, which allows bands to be combined for greater performance. WiFi 8: Improve this technology with Coordinated MLO, where multiple routers collaborate with each other to better manage the network and avoid interference.
4. Stability and reliability. WiFi 7: offers great speed, but its performance may vary if there are many devices or interference. WiFi 8 comes with three new features that improve stability: Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR): routers coordinate so as not to interfere with each other. Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF): Multiple access points direct the signal together to the devices. Dynamic Subchannel Operation (DSO): Automatically divides the channel into subchannels to adjust the signal according to the needs of each device.
5. Latency. WiFi 7: has an average latency of less than 25 milliseconds. WiFi 8: reduces it to around 10 milliseconds, with much lower peaks for online games, video calls or real-time applications.
6. Energy efficiency. WiFi 7: still consumes quite a bit of power, especially on powerful routers or IoT devices. WiFi 8: introduces an adaptive transmission mode, which reduces the transmission power when there is no traffic, extending the autonomy of connected devices.
7. Reliability in saturated environments. WiFi 7: suffers in places with many simultaneous connections such as shopping centers or stadiums. WiFi 8: Improves performance in saturated environments by up to 25%, maintaining the same speed without loss.
8. Main applications. WiFi 7: focused on homes, massive downloads or high-speed networks. WiFi 8: aimed at industry 4.0, smart homes, robotics and artificial intelligence applications.
When will it arrive?
The first tests of WiFi 8 have already been carried out successfully by TP-Link, which managed to establish a complete connection between a router and a device during the summer of 2025.
Even so, the standardization process is long and goes slowly. IEEE 802.11bn draft 1.0 is expected in late 2025, but the final standard won’t be approved before 2028. This means you won’t see commercial routers and devices with WiFi 8 until 2029..
In the meantime, manufacturers will continue to refine their prototypes, and some high-end chips will already include pre-WiFi 8 features in 2027, just as they were seen before the launch of WiFi 7.
Therefore, you have to go slow, since there is still some time until this technology becomes standard.