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Forum Discussion
WIFI 8
You all see wifi 8 is now a thing and other companies promoting it. I thought the orbi 970 was future proofing ? with this new wifi 8 it seems like we are soon to be getting new hardware again for wi...
I thought the orbi 970 was future proofing ? with this new wifi 8 it seems like we are soon to be getting new hardware again for wifi 8?
Yes, this is exactly the case. WiFi networking products are built around WiFi chipsets. When a new WiFi technology is developed, the chip manufacturers design chips that implement the new capabilities and then WiFi vendors incorporate those new chips into actual products. It is simply not feasible to reprogram existing WiFi chips with the new features. And, the WiFi chips are always soldered onto the printed circuit board, so physically replacing them is not feasible.
The future proofing that the "very latest" network products provide is in terms of current vs. future devices on the network. I may have only WiFi5 products at this time, but in the near future I may purchase new products that support WiFi6 or WiFi7. If I am looking for a new WiFi system, is it better to purchase something that support only the products I have now? Or, is it better to anticipate that in the future I may have products that support newer features?