Qualcomm has new Wi-Fi 7-capable chipsets that are part of its new “Immersive Home Platform” — built for home networking manufacturers that are ready to integrate the upcoming IEEE 802.11BE specification into its devices.
The new Qualcomm chips are currently being sampled to companies that make home routers and mesh Wi-Fi devices and are expected to be available in the second half of 2023. Once it is, you can expect to see far more Wi-Fi 7 routers to choose from — at more affordable price points — than the current options of TP-Link’s BE900 or Deco BE-series mesh routers.
Lots of routers today already use Qualcomm’s Wi-Fi chips, whether they’re Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E, including models like the Netgear Nighthawk, some Orbi mesh systems, and Google’s Nest Wifi Pro. Qualcomm claims the new platform shares architecture with its enterprise-grade “Pro Series” networking products but is designed for home use.
Qualcomm’s chips leverage Wi-Fi 7 features like higher-capacity 320MHz channels (compared to 160MHz on Wi-Fi 6E) that helps reduce latency. It also includes Multi-Link Operation (MLO), which lets capable devices connect to two spectrums at the same time (for instance, 5GHz and 6GHz).
“With the new Immersive Home Platform, Qualcomm has made this both cost effective and power efficient, and it will deliver tangible performance improvements for both new and legacy devices,” Qualcomm’s SVP and GM of wireless infrastructure and networking, Nick Kucharewski, stated.
Qualcomm’s new platform also has a built-in mesh networking tech it calls Multi-Link Mesh. The company says it can reduce real-time latency by 75 percent for lag-free gaming experiences. It can avoid congested home environments using Adaptive Interference Puncturing and uses avoidance algorithms to dodge interference from other networks.
