Why Upgrading to Wi-Fi 7 Isn't Recommended, Right Now

Wi-Fi 7 (the upcoming IEEE 802.11be standard) represents the cutting edge of wireless networking tech. It promises ultra-fast speeds, better efficiency, and the ability to handle more devices than ever. Sounds great, right? Not so fast. For the vast majority of home users and small businesses, upgrading to Wi-Fi 7 right now would be unnecessary, expensive, and yield little practical benefit. In this article, we’ll break down why holding off on Wi-Fi 7 is the smart move at the moment – from the lack of compatible devices to the sky-high costs – all while keeping things conversational and consumer-friendly.

Very Few Devices Support Wi-Fi 7 (Yet) 🙅‍♂️

One of the biggest reasons to pump the brakes on a Wi-Fi 7 router upgrade is the sheer lack of devices that can use it. Remember, a shiny new router can only work its magic if your phones, laptops, TVs, and gadgets also support the new standard. Right now, most of our everyday devices are still on Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 – Wi-Fi 7 compatibility is extremely rare in 2024-2025 devices.  In fact, you probably don’t own anything that can take full advantage of Wi-Fi 7’s features yet!

• Limited Compatibility: Upgrading your router alone won’t upgrade your devices. Without Wi-Fi 7 capable clients, your network will just fall back to the older standards those devices use (like Wi-Fi 6 or 5), meaning you’ll see no speed boost at all.  Your Wi-Fi will operate at the speed of the slowest device on the network – so a lone Wi-Fi 5 gadget can bottleneck everything to Wi-Fi 5 performance.

• “Future-Proof” Devices Are Scarce: As of early 2025, only a handful of high-end devices even have Wi-Fi 7 radios built-in. To put it in perspective, Google’s Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones (released late 2023) were among the first to advertise Wi-Fi 7 support.  Samsung joined in 2024 with the Galaxy S24 Ultra (their first phone to enable Wi-Fi 7).  A few niche gaming phones like the ASUS ROG Phone 7 series also tout Wi-Fi 7 readiness, and Samsungs latest flagship tablet (Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra) supports it as well, but beyond these early adoptors, almost no mainstream phones, tablets, or laptops can use Wi-Fi 7 today.

• Example Device List: To give you an idea of how short the list really is, here are some of the very few devices with Wi-Fi 7 capability in 2024–2025:

  • Google Pixel 8 / 8 Pro (2023): One of the first smartphones with Wi-Fi 7 on board​ wifinowglobal.com.

  • Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (2024): Samsung’s first Wi-Fi 7 phone (standard S24/S24+ only have Wi-Fi 6E)​ sammobile.com.

  • ASUS ROG Phone 7 (2023): Gaming phone that’s “Wi-Fi 7 ready” with Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 (though Wi-Fi 7 features may be in draft mode).

  • Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra (2024): High-end tablet with Wi-Fi 7 support​ sammobile.com.

  • New Laptops (2024 models): Some premium laptops launched in 2024 include Intel’s new Wi-Fi 7 cards. For example, the latest Razer Blade 16 has an Intel 802.11be adapter inside​.  These are exceptions, and most PCs don’t have Wi-Fi 7 yet.

If your current phone or PC isn’t on that short list, it means you won’t experience any of Wi-Fi 7’s benefits after upgrading your router. Your fancy Wi-Fi 7 router will happily talk to your devices, but it will do so using older Wi-Fi 6/6E/5 protocols. In other words, you’d be paying for capabilities you can’t use until you also replace your gadgets down the line. For now, Wi-Fi 7 is more of a luxury than a necessity for consumers​. (Checkout our reviews on wireless routers.)

Sticker Shock: Wi-Fi 7 Routers Cost a Fortune 💸

Early adopters always pay a premium, and Wi-Fi 7 is no exception. The first wave of Wi-Fi 7 routers hitting the market are crazy expensive. We’re talking hundreds of dollars for a single router, often $500 or more for cutting-edge models theverge.com

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• Early Adoption “Tax”: New technology comes at a high cost. When Wi-Fi 6 routers first launched, they were pricey, and Wi-Fi 7 is following that pattern​

  Right now, manufacturers are charging top dollar for the latest and greatest. For example, TP-Link’s top-tier Deco BE85 Wi-Fi 7 mesh bundle is about $1,000 for a two-pack, and even a single high-end Archer BE800 Wi-Fi 7 router sells around $600​. Those prices make even premium Wi-Fi 6E routers look cheap in comparison.

• Midrange Options Are Limited: As of now, there are very few “budget” Wi-Fi 7 routers. There are some mid-range units (e.g. a dual-band Eero 7 for around $180, or a tri-band Eero Pro 7 around $300) but remember – those are still quite expensive, and they trim features to hit a lower price

  The Eero Pro 7, for instance, is $300 per unit and still considered midrange​.  In short, you’ll pay a lot more money for Wi-Fi 7, and possibly end up with fewer features or a less mature product than if you bought a well-established Wi-Fi 6 router.
• Prices Will Fall (If You Wait): Just as Wi-Fi 6 routers eventually became affordable, Wi-Fi 7 gear will get cheaper over time​.  Right now, you’re paying the “early adopter tax.” If you hold off a year or two, competition and wider adoption will likely drive prices down. Unless you absolutely need Wi-Fi 7 immediately (which, as we’re exploring, is rare), waiting can save you a lot of money​

Why spend $600 now when a $200 router a year from now might do the same job?

Overkill for Typical Home Internet Speeds 🚀

Even if we ignore device compatibility and cost, there’s a simple truth: Wi-Fi 7’s speed is massive overkill for most people’s internet connections and usage. Wi-Fi 7 touts eye-popping theoretical speeds up to 46 Gbps (yes, 46 Gigabits per second) – about 5 times higher than Wi-Fi 6E’s max of 9.6 Gbps sammobile.com.  Impressive, but ask yourself: what is your internet speed, and what do you do that comes even close to needing that?

• Your ISP Can’t Feed Wi-Fi 7: Very few Internet Service Providers offer multi-gigabit home internet plans that would even approach Wi-Fi 6’s limits, let alone Wi-Fi 7​

  For context, Wi-Fi 6 can handle ~9 Gbps in theory (far above the 1 Gbps typical fiber plan), and Wi-Fi 7 raises that to 30-40+ Gbps. There are extremely few residential internet plans in the multi-gig range (2 Gbps, 5 Gbps, etc.), and even those are a fraction of Wi-Fi 7’s capacity. Most households have internet speeds under 1 Gbps, which Wi-Fi 6 and even Wi-Fi 5 can already handle with room to spare​.

• Real-World Speeds vs. Theoretical: Those headline Wi-Fi speeds (46 Gbps!) are like sports car top speeds on paper – real-world conditions will be much lower. In practice, current Wi-Fi 6/6E routers already deliver several hundred Mbps to a few Gbps in typical homes, which covers things like 4K streaming, video calls, online gaming, and large downloads just fine​ If you upgraded to a Wi-Fi 7 router today, you likely wouldn’t see any noticeable difference in these everyday activities compared to a good Wi-Fi 6 or 6E router. For normal tasks, Wi-Fi 6 is already more than enough bandwidth​

• When Wi-Fi 7 Might Matter: The scenarios where Wi-Fi 7 could shine are pretty niche at the moment. You’d need multi-gigabit internet (so that your Wi-Fi is the bottleneck, not your ISP) and you’d need applications that push huge amounts of data locally. Think of things like a media server streaming multiple 8K videos around the house, or experimental AR/VR setups needing ultra-low latency, or downloading enormous files over a 10 Gbps fiber line. And crucially, you’d need multiple Wi-Fi 7 capable devices doing all this simultaneously. This just doesn’t describe the typical home or small business environment right now. Unless you’re one of the rare users with both cutting-edge internet speeds and next-gen devices, Wi-Fi 7 won’t tangibly improve your experience at this time.

In short, Wi-Fi 7 is like a supercar on an urban road – the limits are so high that you’ll rarely, if ever, reach them under normal conditions. It’s fun to know your router has that horsepower, but if all you do is commute to work (or in this case, stream Netflix and join Zoom meetings), a “regular” car (Wi-Fi 6) already exceeds the needed performance by a wide margin. As one tech expert quipped, you might be tempted to ditch your old router for Wi-Fi 7 now that these routers are available, but you can save a bundle and still get speedy performance by opting for Wi-Fi 6 instead​ pcmag.com.

Heavy Bandwidth Needs? Multi-Gig Internet? (Do You Actually Have Those?) 🌐

Many of the advertised benefits of Wi-Fi 7 – like its ability to easily handle dozens of devices or deliver lag-free performance in busy networks – only matter if you actually push your network to those extremes. It’s worth doing a quick reality check on your own needs:

• Number of Devices: Wi-Fi 7 does improve how many devices can communicate at once (thanks to technologies like Multi-Link Operation and multi-user MIMO upgrades). But ask: do you have scores of Wi-Fi devices simultaneously active at home? Most households might have several phones, a couple of laptops, a smart TV, and some smart home gadgets. That might sound like a lot, but Wi-Fi 6 is already designed for high device density and can handle this load well in most cases.

  Unless you’re running a mini tech convention in your house daily, you likely won’t overwhelm a decent Wi-Fi 6/6E router. In fact, current Wi-Fi 5 and 6 routers capably support multiple 4K streams, gaming, and smart gadgets without hiccups​.

• Bandwidth Usage: Think about what you do that uses the most bandwidth. 4K streaming? That’s about 25 Mbps per stream. Zoom call in HD? A few Mbps. Cloud gaming or large file downloads? Potentially hundreds of Mbps at times. Now imagine you’re doing all of that at once on several devices – a heavy load, indeed. A good Wi-Fi 6 or 6E router with a gigabit internet plan can still juggle these tasks simultaneously with room to spare. The “excess” capacity Wi-Fi 7 provides simply wouldn’t come into play unless you had multiple devices each pulling gigabits of data at the same time. This is rare outside of power-user scenarios or enterprise environments.

• Multi-Gig Internet Pipes: Do you have a 2 Gbps or 5 Gbps fiber connection? If yes, first of all, lucky you! Secondly, you’re one of the few who could theoretically benefit from Wi-Fi 7’s higher wireless throughput – but even then, only if your devices can handle those speeds. And if you’re investing in multi-gig internet, you might also be connecting critical devices via Ethernet anyway for full speed. For the rest of us on more typical 100 Mbps, 300 Mbps, or 1 Gbps plans, Wi-Fi 7 won’t make your internet any faster. Your ISP plan is the cap, and Wi-Fi 6 can already hit that cap easily on a good day.

The bottom line is that Wi-Fi 7’s advantages will be largely invisible unless your usage is at an extreme that few consumers or small businesses hit. It’s akin to buying a professional racing bike when you only cycle to the corner store – great tech, but you won’t utilize its potential in daily life.

Beware Misleading Tech Hype 📢

It’s easy to get swept up in tech enthusiasm, especially when some reviews and marketing make it sound like Wi-Fi 7 will revolutionize your home network overnight. We’d advise reading the fine print and taking some claims with a grain of salt. In fact, let’s address a common misconception cropping up in some early Wi-Fi 7 reviews:

🚩 Don’t be fooled by “upgrades” from very old routers – If you see a review where someone gushes about how upgrading to Wi-Fi 7 dramatically improved their Wi-Fi speeds and range, pay attention to what they upgraded from. In one ZDNet article, for example, the writer replaced an outdated router with a new Wi-Fi 7 model and saw huge improvements in performance. Well, of course they did! If your old router was, say, a Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) unit from several years ago – or heaven forbid, a Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) box from a decade ago – any modern router will feel like a huge upgrade. The leap from an aging router to a current-gen router accounts for most of those gains, not the jump from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 7 specifically. Put simply: Wi-Fi 7 isn’t magic; it’s just new. If you swapped that old router for a good Wi-Fi 6 or 6E router, you’d likely see similar improvements in speed and reliability​ pcmag.com.

This is a classic case of a misleading comparison. It’s like comparing a brand-new sports car to a 20-year-old sedan and concluding the sports car is amazing because it has a new spoiler. In reality, the whole new car is better – engine, tires, suspension – not just that one feature. Similarly, Wi-Fi 7 routers also come with more powerful processors, better antennas, and improved software, all of which help performance. But you don’t need Wi-Fi 7 for those benefits; a Wi-Fi 6E router would also have modern hardware and software optimizations. So, when reading tech reviews, look for apples-to-apples comparisons. If a reviewer didn’t also test a Wi-Fi 6E router in the same environment, it’s hard to know if the “wow” result is due to Wi-Fi 7 or just the general upgrade from an older router.

⚠️ Evaluate Your Needs, Not the Hype: Some marketing materials will cite theoretical scenarios (“stream 8K to 10 devices at once!”) or edge-case features of Wi-Fi 7. While those are real capabilities, ask yourself if those scenarios match your reality. It’s easy for enthusiasm to build around the idea of having the newest tech, but the practical payoff may be zero if you’re not actually using those features. Tech reviewers sometimes get excited about maxing out specs in a test lab, but real-world homes are very different. Walls, interference from neighbors’ Wi-Fi, older client devices – all these factors mean your experience might not mirror the ideal conditions in a review. In fact, a solid Wi-Fi 6 mesh system could outperform a Wi-Fi 7 router in a large home simply because the mesh covers your home better, even if the single Wi-Fi 7 unit has higher peak speed on paper.

The takeaway here is: don’t upgrade based on one or two glowing reviews without considering the context. Many of Wi-Fi 7’s lauded improvements will only matter a couple of years from now when more devices can use them and internet speeds catch up. For now, stay grounded about what a new router will and won’t do for you.

Conclusion: Wi-Fi 6 Is Plenty – Wi-Fi 7 Can Wait 👍

We’re not here to bash Wi-Fi 7 as useless – it’s genuinely an impressive step forward for wireless tech. But it’s a step that’s a bit ahead of its time for 2025. Upgrading to Wi-Fi 7 right now is like installing studio-grade speakers in a car that you only drive to get groceries; the potential is there, but you probably won’t utilize it anytime soon.

Why stick with Wi-Fi 6/6E for now? Because it hits the sweet spot. Wi-Fi 6 and 6E routers are widely available, affordable, and fully capable of meeting modern networking needs for consumers and small businesses. They support all your current devices, offer great performance and stability, and cost a fraction of these first-gen Wi-Fi 7 units. In fact, experts note that you can “save a bundle and still get speedy performance by opting for a Wi-Fi 6 router” instead of feeling pressured to jump on Wi-Fi 7​ pcmag.com

Unless you have a very specific use case (for example, you know you have upcoming Wi-Fi 7 devices and multi-gig internet that you need to max out), there’s little harm in waiting. By the time Wi-Fi 7 truly matters for everyday users, you’ll have more device choices, router prices will be saner, and the technology will be mature and well-tested. In tech, being an early adopter can be fun, but it’s not always the wisest investment – especially when the benefits are mostly theoretical for now.

Bottom line: Don’t feel like you’re missing out by not upgrading to Wi-Fi 7 this year. Your Wi-Fi 6 or 6E network is probably doing a fantastic job already. Focus on getting the most out of your current setup – and maybe upgrade that old Wi-Fi 5 router to a solid Wi-Fi 6 model if you haven’t yet, which will already be a huge improvement. Wi-Fi 7 will be waiting when the time is right, and you’ll jump in when it actually makes a difference for you. Until then, rest easy and keep surfing on Wi-Fi 6, knowing you’re not behind the curve at all​ pcmag.com.

Whether you are using Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7 follow our "Secure Your Wifi" series, or if you need help "Setting Up or Upgrading Your Home Ofiice".

Sources:

• SamMobile – “Every Galaxy smartphone and tablet that supports Wi-Fi 7” (Jan 2025)​

  sammobile.com

• SamMobile – “Every Galaxy smartphone and tablet that supports Wi-Fi 7” (Jan 2025)​

  sammobile.com

• Claus Hetting, Wi-Fi NOW – “Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones support Wi-Fi 7”​

  wifinowglobal.com

• Wes Davis, The Verge – Early Wi-Fi 7 device certification and router pricing​

  theverge.com

• John R. Delaney, PCMag – Advice on sticking with Wi-Fi 6 vs Wi-Fi 7​

  pcmag.com