Intel launches its first WiFi 7 adapters. This marks the beginning of the new Wi-Fi era, although it will probably be a while before you have a Wi-Fi 7 compatible laptop.

Intel plans to begin rolling out WiFi 7 this quarter. The chip manufacturer has expanded its first WiFi 7 series with two adapters under the product numbers BE200 and BE202. Intel is gradually showing itself ready to usher in a new era of Wi-Fi.

5Gbps

In the specifications we read that the adapters have two TX and RX ports. The maximum speed of 5 Gbit/s remains well below expectations of what is theoretically possible with WiFi 7. The new WiFi standard uses three frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz) to distribute data packets better and send them faster. Theoretically, speeds of up to 46 Gbit/s can be achieved, but theory does not always equal practice.

There is good news for those who still use Windows 10, as Windows 10 is one of the supported operating systems alongside Windows 11 and Linux. Intel therefore rejects rumors that Windows 10 would be exempt from the latest WLAN standard.

Red carpet

The tech industry is preparing at full speed for the introduction of WiFi 7. The first compatible routers are already available and Qualcomm already has chips for smartphones in production. Now that Intel is also ready, the red carpet seems to have been rolled out. However, we cannot start yet because the supervisory organization IEEE has not yet officially certified the standard. This is expected to happen over the next year or even as late as 2025.