I didn’t think I needed a Wi-Fi 7 router until this happened

It’s rare for commentators like myself to publicly acknowledge changing their minds, but if you care about the truth, it’s important to stay honest and flexible. Facts shift, especially in the tech industry. Much of our news has to come from leaks, since companies aren’t willing to say much publicly — and trends that were once set in stone can suddenly swing the other way. Just ask Disney how confident it’s feeling about Disney+ subscriptions these days.

As the headline suggests, I’ve turned from recommending against Wi-Fi 7routers a little over a year ago into being a strong proponent today. It’s not the craziest shift — a year is a long time in terms of tech cycles — but I feel it’s important to get the word out there, since I don’t want anyone acting on my old advice when they’re looking to upgrade their home network. I’ll explain my rationale as best I can.

Why the change of heart on Wi-Fi 7?

A surprising push

As you’d expect, the main factor is price. A year ago, Wi-Fi 7 was only a few months old, and router makers were charging a premium that just wasn’t worth it for the number of compatible devices on the market. You could end up spending well over $200 for a standalone router, or frankly obscene amounts for a multi-unit mesh system. It was probably worth it for buyers with ample cash and a need for futureproofing, but there was no rush for the rest of us when Wi-Fi 6 and 6E were functioning just fine. In fact I’m still using a mesh system I bought in 2022 (the Eero Pro 6E) without any major complaints.

In recent times, the prices for WI-Fi 7 routers have dropped considerably. You still get what you pay for, but it’s not hard at all to find a decent standalone router for less than $200, or even $150. I’d recommend spending upwards of $500 if you’re going to pick up a mesh bundle, but that’s actually a pretty good deal for something that can blanket a three-story house. I paid a lot more for my own gear.

I’ve been genuinely surprised at how aggressive prices have become. You can already find a barebones Wi-Fi 7 router for less than $100, which may be fine if you’re in an apartment with just one or two people. By the time the holiday 2025 shopping season rolls around, I’d expect more routers to slip under that barrier, at least if high US tariffs don’t get in the way. Chalk it up to economies of scale — it’s probably increasingly cheap to manufacture Wi-Fi 7 components.

Simultaneously, phone, tablet, and computer makers have been ramping up the number of compatible products. Except for the 16e, all of Apple’s latest iPhones support Wi-Fi 7, and it’s likely that most Macs and iPads will follow suit the next time they get a refresh. Meanwhile, the tech has increasingly become de facto for Windows computers, to the point that I might automatically move on if I saw 6E mentioned in a new PC’s specs. As I hinted a moment ago, 6E remains fine to use in 2025 — but unless your budget is tight, there’s no sense limiting yourself with new purchases when better tech is so widely available. You may actually end up spending more in the end if your Wi-Fi starts holding you back.

Why Wi-Fi 7 matters so much

A fundamental leap forward

Although Wi-Fi 6 was a significant improvement over Wi-Fi 5 — particularly if you have a lot of smart home accessories — Wi-Fi 6E was an incremental advancement. It added a faster 6GHz radio, but that was about it. In many cases, the 6GHz band isn’t even that useful. Its range is so short that it might not extend far beyond the room a router is in. Most 6E traffic still operates over the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.

Wi-Fi 7 can potentially make a huge difference. For one thing, it expands the total bandwidth of your network from 9.6Gbps to a whopping 46Gbps. And thanks to improvements like Mult-Link Operation, individual devices can achieve speeds near 5.8Gbps. Over Wi-Fi 6E, you’re lucky if a device reaches 1 or 2Gbps. Real-world results tend to be much lower. Over my own 6E network, my iPhone 16 Pro gets about 440Mbps when connected to gigabit fiber internet, albeit with a streaming service or two running in the background.

Wi Fi 7 is so powerful that it’s actually overkill for most purposes. You don’t need that kind of throughput to browse the web, play games, or stream video — 50Mbps is plenty for a 4K movie. Most landline internet connections aren’t over the 1Gbps mark yet, so there’s rarely anything like 5.8Gbps to split over a network, let alone 46Gbps.

Where the tech really matters is with device-to-device connections in your own home. Consider that a 4K movie you’ve downloaded might consume anywhere between 5 and 60GB of storage, depending on its length and quality. At 1Gbps, transferring a 60GB file from one device to another would take about 8 minutes. But at 5.8Gbps, it would take a little less than a minute and a half, and without putting much of a dent in Wi-Fi 7’s overall capacity.

That kind of bandwidth could become increasingly important not just for local file sharing, but for augmented and virtual reality, which are poised to become more mainstream in the next few years thanks to glasses from Apple, Meta, and Google. It’s one thing to push 4K video to your laptop — it’s quite another to stream real-time 3D environments that blend in with the world around you, and often integrate other online services to boot. Already, Apple Vision Pro users can place persistent widgets around their home, and setup huge virtual screens for their Macs.

In the long run, multi-gigabit internet connections should become commonplace, at which point Wi-Fi 6 and 6E may turn into serious bottlenecks given overall network loads. There’s no rush to ditch your current router, but it’s definitely worth investing in Wi-Fi 7 today if you want a network that will hold up through 2030, regardless of which devices you’re lucky enough to own.

Coverage

2500 sq ft

Number of Devices Supported

200+

Speed

9.4 Gbps (wired), 4.3 Gbps (wireless)

Wi-Fi Protocols

Wi-Fi 7

Ports

2x 2.5GbE, 2x 10GbE

The Eero Max 7 is Amazon’s first mesh Wi-Fi system utilizing Wi-Fi 7 technology, delivering impressive speeds of up to 9.4 Gbps wired and 4.3 Gbps wirelessly, while supporting over 200 connected devices and covering homes up to 7,500 square feet with a three-pack setup. Additionally, the Eero Max 7 serves as a smart home hub compatible with Thread, Matter, and Zigbee devices.