TP-Link Makes History With First Successful Wi-Fi 8 Connection (nerds.xyz)
- Reference: 0179772050
- News link: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/10/13/1813236/tp-link-makes-history-with-first-successful-wi-fi-8-connection
- Source link: https://nerds.xyz/2025/10/tp-link-wi-fi-8/
> TP-Link has officially [2]achieved the first successful Wi-Fi 8 connection using a prototype device built through an industry collaboration. The company confirmed that both the beacon and data throughput worked, marking a real-world validation of next-generation wireless tech. It's an early glimpse of what the next leap in speed and reliability could look like, even as the Wi-Fi 8 standard itself remains under development.
The Verge [3]adds :
> Like its predecessor, Wi-Fi 8 will utilize 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands with a theoretical maximum channel bandwidth of 320MHz and peak data rate of 23Gbps, but aims to improve real-world performance and connection reliability. The goal is to provide better performance in environments with low signal, or under high network loads, where an increasing number of devices are sharing the same connection.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~BrianFagioli
[2] https://nerds.xyz/2025/10/tp-link-wi-fi-8/
[3] https://www.theverge.com/news/798780/wi-fi-8-prototype-tp-link-test-explained
And TP-Link is being investigated for a ban.... (Score:5, Interesting)
We have a problem. We don't make shit in the US anymore. Which means that innovation is happening elsewhere. TP-Link is on the table for a potential ban by the US government, but they are also leading the way in Wi-Fi development. So.... do you ban TP-Link and screw yourself out of early wi-fi 8 adoption? Or do you find some way around that by certifying certain equipment from TP-Link?
Re: (Score:3)
The solution is easy. WiFi 6 is only just starting to come out in the marketplace. If TP-Link hijacks the standard development procedure, solidifies a workable WiFi 8 quickly, and manufacturers/users in Europe, Asia, and Oceana all start using WiFi 8, skipping WiFi 7 entirely, the US will be left with an inferior standard that only they have gear for, with no option to use WiFi 8 for many more years because the only manufacturers making it can't sell in the US.
Re: (Score:2)
WiFi 6 is pretty much default and has been for a while. WiFi 7 is the stuff that's been coming on to the market for the last year and is widely available, just not as common.
So it's a little late for TP-Link to do that.
That said, they seem to be playing ball with US and other regulators, they've opened a US subsidiary and I suspect are in a position to create non-Chinese devices, albeit from Chinese designs, as long as they can find a non-Chinese manufacturer. I don't think there's really a lot of risk that
Re: (Score:1)
> The solution is easy. WiFi 6 is only just starting to come out in the marketplace..
?? WiFi 6 has been widely available since 2020, WiFi 6E from 2022 (both with initial commercial availability the year before). It is WiFi 7 that is just now rolling out, more and more routers and devices supporting it.
Re: (Score:2)
My home has been on wifi 7 for over a year. I still have some older 6E devices, but they should all be replaced by EoY.
Re: (Score:3)
> My home has been on wifi 7 for over a year. I still have some older 6E devices, but they should all be replaced by EoY.
You probably know this but others might not -- very few current "WiFi 7 devices" are actually fully supporting the capabilities of WiFi 7. Even Apple's shiny iPhone 17 up to Pro Max only support 160 MHz channel widths, not WiFi7's full 320 MHz.
Re: (Score:2)
In the real world, I doubt 320Mhz is practical. Too much overlap. It's like trying to use 80Mhz on 2.4GHz. That's been available for a long time, but practically speaking it might as well not exist. It's just there so they can but a bigger theoretical max speed on the box.
Re: (Score:2)
I have 320mhz w7 hardware and I, by choice, run my AP at 160mhz. In my environment it's faster and more reliable. 320mhz may be useful in some edge cases where you live in a shoebox and don't have many neighbors interfering. But if you have many neighbors, or a sizable home, you get better performance from 160, or even 80, mhz widths.
Re: (Score:2)
> My home has been on wifi 7 for over a year.
Wicked flex, Bro. Do tell us what wasting your money on WiFi 7 in your home has gotten you? Your two Apple devices are able to negotiate a WiFi connection, before immediately downgrading to a WiFi 4 or 5 connection for actual stable use?
Re: (Score:1)
nah americans just steal it or force transferance of ownership
Re: (Score:2)
Oh do be quiet, Qualcomm has been the biggest bully in wireless communication standards for decades and everyone owes them patent royalties forever. You don't know anything about how this works, including the fact that all these standards need to be agreed upon internationally so the same standard works everywhere. So yelling "first" to some test chip of an internationally agreed upon standard is pointless when the difficult and money collecting part is always implementing the standards as cheaply material
Re: (Score:2)
Nice try, Ubiquiti.
TP-Link isn't going to be banned. Is NOT.
Spec not slated for approval until march 2028 (Score:2, Offtopic)
Seems very varporwarey since final approval not slated for another 3 years
[1]https://www.ieee802.org/11/Rep... [ieee802.org]
[1] https://www.ieee802.org/11/Reports/tgbn_update.htm
Re: (Score:2)
A real functioning prototype is the opposite of vapor. It may not be useful to know, but you can't have hardware ready to sell the moment standards are finalized by waiting.
Re: (Score:2)
That's how wifi standards work though. They'll establish 99% of spec years before it reaches final spec. They'll even put alpha/beta products on consumer shelves before the spec is finalized. Rather or not the pre-final hardware supports the post-final spec is in the air, and many devices get left in the dust or abandoned to a lack of firmware updates anyway.
Wow! Big tech will be able (Score:3)
to serve up advertisement and privacy-invadind SaaS at lightning speed. I can't wait!
Re: (Score:2)
You left out mind control!
But their Tapo cameras... (Score:2)
...still only support 2.4 GHz.
Re: (Score:3)
For the most part, 2.4GHz is the only practical WiFi band for smart devices due to wall penetration. But outdoor cameras with line of sight are a pretty good use case for higher bands. Though not many people have APs near exterior walls in every direction.
6GHz band (Score:1, Flamebait)
I'll be curious to see if the Trump grab-back of this spectrum ends up borking our wi-fi networks.