Maybe I’m misunderstanding what the newer WiFi standards are supposed to improve. I’m in a pretty dense apartment building and recently upgraded to a WiFi 7 router. On paper it should be way better than my old setup, but gaming over WiFi is still kind of a mess in the evenings.
Ethernet is perfect. WiFi isn’t.
Ping jumps around, I get occasional packet loss, and 5 GHz is absolutely packed with neighboring networks. So is WiFi 7 mostly just about higher speeds, or is WiFi 8 actually supposed to improve this kind of real-world congestion?
Not planning to upgrade again tomorrow obviously, just curious what the newer standards are actually fixing.
Higher peak speed is the least interesting part IMO. WiFi 6/7 already added a bunch of stuff aimed at handling multiple clients and using airtime more efficiently. WiFi 8 seems to be pushing even harder toward reliability, coordination and performance in ugly RF environments instead of just another giant number on the box. That doesn’t mean it can magically make 40 neighboring APs disappear though.
This is also why “I have WiFi 7” doesn’t tell us much.
What band are you actually using? If you’re still on a crowded 5 GHz channel, the shiny WiFi 7 logo doesn’t give you private spectrum. 6 GHz is probably the more interesting part of 6E/7 for apartment living because there are more channels and usually fewer neighbors there.
And then you discover the other side of 6 GHz: walls. It’s cleaner partly because it doesn’t travel as far. Great when the AP is nearby. Less great when there’s two rooms and a concrete wall between you and it.
Before worrying about WiFi 8 I’d actually look at what your current environment is doing. I use NetSpot. Check the 5 and 6 GHz channel graphs, see how many networks are actually overlapping yours and how strong they are. There’s a huge difference between “I can see 20 networks” and “I have six strong APs occupying the same chunk of spectrum as me”. That’ll tell you whether you’re fighting congestion, weak signal, or both.
Also don’t assume wider = better. People buy WiFi 7, see 160/320 MHz in the settings and go full send. In a crowded building, eating a massive chunk of spectrum can make things worse. A narrower channel with consistent latency can be way more useful than an impressive speed test screenshot.
The funniest part of every new WiFi standard is that Ethernet continues to sit in the corner going: “have you tried a cable?” Use the newer WiFi features for phones/laptops/portable stuff. If your gaming PC hasn’t moved in three years, wire it.
Basically: WiFi 7 can absolutely be better than older WiFi, especially with 6 GHz and compatible clients. WiFi 8 may improve reliability and coordination even further. Neither one repeals physics or your neighbors. I’d fix the RF environment you have now before treating the next standard as the solution.