WiFi 6 or 7 adapter for PC/Laptop/MacBook

[dazzlr]

I am currently on BT with a Smart Hub 2 and considering upgrading my router to an EE Smart Hub Pro Router Tri-Band 6GHz 5GHz 2.4GHz (from eBay). 

When using this router, does upgrading your PC or laptop WiFi hardware to 6 (or 7) via a plug-in USB adapter have a noticeable effect on speed? I currently use a TP-Link Archer T4U AC1300 Dual Band Wi-Fi Adaptor and may be looking to replace it with  something that has the additional 6Ghz speed - if it's worth it. 

Advice welcome. Seem to be lots of 802.11ax devices on Amazon, but no 802.11be USB (that I can see). 

[Northerner]

Hi @dazzlr 

Yes you will see a difference if you have a better frequency router.

Just make sure the router is compatible with your service. 

Thanks 

[Mustrum]

@dazzlr   which broadband service /speed do you have, and which BT router.

If it is the BT Smart Hub 2, that should be capable of giving you the maximum speeds BT offer, so a WiFi6 or 7 rouer is not going to be any faster.

[JimM11]

@dazzlr Out off interest what speed's are you getting with your current hardware?

[dazzlr]

So I appreciate that a Wi-Fi 6 or 7 capable router will not give me faster broadband speed but should give me faster/stronger Wi-Fi signal with compatible devices. Correct?

[dazzlr]

So I'm on Full Fibre 100. 
I get 150Mbps with wired and also with WiFi 5 GHz, when in close proximity to the router.
I get around 75 GHz in my office a couple of rooms away. 

I'm out of contract so looking to upgrade to 300 or 500 soon. 

[JimM11]

@dazzlr So do your upgrade, and don't waste your money on anything else.

[dazzlr]

So upgrading to a WiFi 6 or 7 router is a waste? OK interested to know more. 

[JimM11]

@dazzlr Link to a document for you. Save as and read at your leisure they have stopped downloads off it.

www.wiisfi.com

[bobpullen]

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@dazzlr wrote:

I am currently on BT with a Smart Hub 2 and considering upgrading my router to an EE Smart Hub Pro Router Tri-Band 6GHz 5GHz 2.4GHz (from eBay). 

When using this router, does upgrading your PC or laptop WiFi hardware to 6 (or 7) via a plug-in USB adapter have a noticeable effect on speed?

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WiFi 6/7 comes with quite a few improvements, not all speed related. How this translates to noticeable 'real-life' improvement kind of depends on your circumstances though.

The Smart Hub 2 is Wi-Fi 5 and doesn't support 160MHz channel widths on 5GHz. The Pro is Wi-Fi 7, supports 160MHz on 5GHz and 320MHz on 6GHz. Using a typical 2x2 Wi-Fi adapter (and assuming it supports the wider channel widths) underoptimal conditions i.e. right next to the hub with little interference: -

Smart Hub 2 = maximum link speed of 867Mbps regardless of Wi-Fi 5, 6 or 7 adapter
Smart Hub Pro w./ Wi-Fi 5 adapter = maximum link speed of 1733Mbps
Smart Hub Pro w./ Wi-Fi 6/6E adapter = maximum link speed of 2401Mbps
Smart Hub Pro w./ Wi-Fi 7 adapter = maximum link speed of 5764Mbps

Note that the link speed is not the same as the actual throughput you can get. As a very rough approximation, reduce it by ~40%.

Also note if you're looking at sourcing a new Wi-Fi adapter: Wi-Fi 6 does not support the 6GHz band. For that you need Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7. You also need to consider the speed of your USB port e.g. USB-2 will only support transfer speeds of ~500mbps or so.

There are BE USB adapters available by the looks of things e.g. this one, although it doesn't look like it supports 320MHz.

Personally, I'd steer clear of USB adapters and look at upgrading the internal Wi-Fi card instead if it's a viable option. Whether it's all worth the hassle though? 🤷

If using Wi-Fi 7 on Windows, you also want to be running a recent build of Windows 11 (24H2) as 'proper' support was only introduced fairly recently.