Consumer Wi-Fi 7 devices have only been around for a couple of years at this point, but as we all know, technological progress doesn’t stand still. There’s always a push for making hardware faster, more secure, and more reliable. Wireless technologies are no exception, which means that the organizing bodies behind Wi-Fi are already looking forward to the next generation: Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn).
Although details at this point are relatively light, TP-Link announced today that it has conducted its first successful trials of Wi-Fi 8 hardware using a prototype device. The company didn’t specify the hardware it used to achieve its Wi-Fi 8 milestone, referring only to a “joint industry partnership.” However, there are several big names in the Wi-Fi chip market, including Broadcom, Qualcomm, Intel, MediaTek, and Marvell. TP-Link has been known to work closely with Qualcomm to supply chipsets for its Wi-Fi 7 portfolio, so it’s plausible to assume that the partnership could extend to Wi-Fi 8 hardware.
