The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has announced the results of Wi-Fi 7 industry trials in Enterprise Scenarios, conducted in collaboration with AT&T, CommScope (RUCKUS Networks), and Intel.

The trials, designed to evaluate Wi-Fi 7’s real-world performance, demonstrated significant improvements in throughput, efficiency and latency, highlighting Wi-Fi 7’s ability to support enterprise applications such as XR, AI, cloud computing, and industrial IoT.

The WBA Wi-Fi 7 trials focused on assessing rate vs. range performance in enterprise settings, comparing Wi-Fi 7 with Wi-Fi 6E across the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands. The tests which were conducted in live enterprise environments, revealed that Wi-Fi 7 delivers:

Nearly double the throughput of Wi-Fi 6E at 5 GHz using 40 MHz channels
Sustained 1 Gbps+ throughput up to 40 feet away from the access point (AP) in the 6 GHz band with 160 MHz channels
Lower latency and improved efficiency, supporting next-gen applications such as AR/VR, video conferencing, and automation
Greater network reliability, helping enterprises manage high-density environments with thousands of connected devices
The trials assessed Wi-Fi 7’s capabilities in both controlled and real-world enterprise environments, focusing on throughput, latency, and signal range across different frequencies and channel widths.

At 6 GHz with 160 MHz channels, Wi-Fi 7 achieved nearly 2 Gbps downlink throughput at close range, maintaining over 1 Gbps up to 40 feet away.

In high-density enterprise settings, where APs must support thousands of simultaneous connections, Wi-Fi 7’s enhanced spectral efficiency and Multi-Link Operation (MLO) provided more stable, reliable connectivity, mitigating network congestion even in heavily loaded conditions.

These findings demonstrate Wi-Fi 7’s ability to address key connectivity challenges in smart offices, manufacturing, healthcare, and immersive digital environments. Enterprises that rely on real-time collaboration, video conferencing, AI-driven automation, and AR/VR applications will benefit from Wi-Fi 7’s lower latency and higher throughput, ensuring seamless user experiences without performance bottlenecks.

The trials also confirmed that Wi-Fi 7 delivers significant improvements in 5 GHz networks, where many legacy devices still operate, ensuring backward compatibility and an easier transition for enterprises upgrading their infrastructure.

While This trial focused on 160 MHz channels in the 6 GHz band which would be typical for high-density commercial Wi-Fi 7 network deployments requiring many access points.

However, most of today’s Wi-Fi 7 devices also support 320 MHz channels which would be more common for smaller networks, and enable even higher levels of performance for hybrid work and consumer experiences as documented in the WBA Wi-Fi 7 Trial report for residential settings.