Wi-Fi 7 products have slowly started gaining market traction, particularly in the residential market (home consumer segment). The SMB / SME / enterprise market is traditionally a few quarters behind this, given the longer validation cycles. Earlier this year, Ubiquiti Networks introduced their first Wi-Fi 7 access point - the U7 Pro. Today, NETGEAR Business is launching the WBE750 Wi-Fi 7 Access Point (AP) in the Pro Wi-Fi lineup for businesses with heavy wireless Internet use.
The benefits of Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) have been covered in multiple pieces earlier. The presence of a relatively interference-free 6 GHz band, wider channels (up to 320 MHz wide), and technical improvements to address interference and latency make the new standard an attractive upgrade for Wi-Fi users.
Unlike the Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro's entry-level focus (with 2x2 configurations in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands), the WBE750 opts for 4x4 configurations in each of the three bands. Correspondingly, the AP is able to support more concurrent connected clients (600 vs. 300), and obviously provide more bandwidth (18.4 Gbps vs. 9.2 Gbps theoretical). The pricing is also correspondingly higher ($700 vs. $190). The WBE750 also incorporates a NBASE-T (10 GbE / 5 GbE / 2.5 GbE / 1 GbE) RJ-45 uplink port with PoE++ support. Eight SSIDs are supported per channel.
Similar to other networking equipment vendors in this space, NETGEAR is also pushing for recurring subscription-based revenue with the product. A 1-year subscription to the single-pane cloud-based management interface (NETGEAR Insight) is included in the $700 purchase price.
NETGEAR Insight is particularly useful for professional installers who can manage multiple sites on the go, even from a mobile device.
The WBE750 joins a number of other Wi-Fi 6 / 6E APs in the Pro Wi-Fi line serving a wide range of deployment requirements. NETGEAR has been introducing multiple products in their Insight-manageable line over the last few quarters. As a result, they are able to offer a total network solution (gateways / routers / switches / APs) that can be managed from a single pane. As part of its Pro focus, NETGEAR is offering free site design services to installers along with expert technical support. NETGEAR's Pro WiFi Design Services (network design, product selection guide, troubleshooting, and training support) aims to be a key differentiation aspect compared to other similar offerings in the SMB / SME market.
The WBE750 is powered by a Qualcomm solution - the Waikiki Wi-Fi 7 chipset incorporated in the Networking Pro 1220 platform.
The new WBE750 AP is available for purchase today for $700.
