Summary Bullets:
• Wi-Fi 7 is getting attention and old, false arguments about 5G vs Wi-Fi are resurfacing
• Wireless in the enterprise should be based on business use case
In 2024, there will be a deluge of new Wi-Fi 7 products, starting at the access point (AP) for enterprises and consumers, followed later in the year and into 2025 by Wi-Fi 7 client devices. Still, enterprises today are largely installing Wi-Fi 6/6E, a trend that is likely to continue through 2024 – most of these decisions and installations were planned and budgeted before Wi-Fi 7 Aps were even available. That, combined with the lack of client devices that use Wi-Fi 7 in 2024, means the benefits of being a first mover into Wi-Fi 7 are largely down the road.
The largest segment of customers who are candidates to adopt Wi-Fi 7 are those that have hung onto Wi-Fi 5. Embracing Wi-Fi 6/6E or Wi-Fi 7 requires more than just the replacement of APs. It requires considerably more bandwidth between the APs and the campus aggregation/core layer. This means a considerable effort to re-architect the campus network, using multiple technologies and a replacement of not only the APs, but of the switching infrastructure. That’s a big job and there are still those that would point to 5G instead as a solution. This is an old idea and one without real merit. Wi-Fi and 5G are complementary – they serve different use cases with some overlap. A combination of use cases and existing circumstances is why neither technology is a replacement for the other. Yet we still see “Wi-Fi vs. 5G” kinds of discussions out in the wild.
The first thing to understand is that 5G is always an additive network. It does not replace Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is embedded in the enterprise and that’s not likely to change any time soon. This incumbent status isn’t about preferences or technological superiority, it’s about existing systems and costs. Enterprises are filled with standard business devices that use Wi-Fi as their main connectivity. This includes devices such as printers, tablets, phones, projectors, laptops, and IoT devices – the list goes on and on. Replacing all these devices is a non-starter in terms of time spent and costs involved. Wi-Fi with 5G across an enterprise is an unrealistic scenario brought up more out of shock value and ignorance than good business sense.
Business use cases are the driver for technology, or at least should be. Just as there are business uses cases for continued Wi-Fi, there are business use cases for 5G. 5G’s range, speed, and low latency make it the right choice in some cases, particularly in verticals like manufacturing and mining. But the business use case needs to come first, then the technology decision. Anyone who suggests picking wireless technology before having a business use case is simply giving bad advice.
There will be great innovation in enterprise wireless in the next five years. Automation driven by AI should increase reliability of wireless technologies and new use cases will drive the need for even higher bandwidth and lower latency. A vision of a single standard that can cover the spectrum and use cases of both 5G and Wi-Fi may be on the table one day, but for now an iterative and evolutionary strategy is the correct course of action for enterprises.