Verizon Business targets enterprise customers with Wi-Fi 7 router, 5G receiver

Verizon Business has introduced two new networking devices, including a Wi-Fi 7-compatible business internet gateway device to capitalize on the faster speeds and higher bandwidth offered by the new Wi-Fi standard.

The Wi-Fi 7-compatible Verizon Business Internet Gateway, announced this week, will provide faster, more stable service for customers, said Vijay Paulrajan, vice president of devices and device services at Verizon Business. The router features external antenna support to boost signal strength in challenging locations within buildings, and offers accessories such as a battery backup, Paulrajan said in a press release.

The router will bring faster wireless broadband to enterprises, giving them a replacement for traditional wireline services, said Mike Leibovitz, a Gartner analyst covering enterprise networking. Still, it will take time for Wi-Fi 7 to offer significant benefits to enterprises, and there’s no need for companies to adopt Wi-Fi 7 immediately, he said.

Wi-Fi 7 “will require both device and infrastructure support to take advantage of key new features,” he added. “There are many exciting advancements in the protocol updates, however it will take two to three years to realize benefits in the real world.” 

 The Wi-Fi Alliance launched a Wi-Fi 7 certification program in January, and Wi-Fi 7 devices began to hit the market even before official certification. The Wi-Fi Alliance has predicted that 233 million Wi-Fi 7 devices will be sold this year, with the number growing to 2.1 billion by 2028.

Wi-Fi 7 uses the same three spectrum bands — 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz — as Wi-Fi 6E, but it has access to 320MHz of spectrum in the 6-GHz band, double that available to Wi-Fi 6E. Some experts predict network speeds to more than double from the 2.4Gbps available in Wi-Fi 6E.

In addition, Wi-Fi 7 offers multi-link operation, or MLO, meaning it can connect to multiple spectrum bands at the same time, unlike Wi-Fi 6, which has access to multiple bands, but can connect to only one at a time.

The MLO capability in Wi-Fi 7 will be its biggest advantage over Wi-Fi 6, Leibovitz said. Because it can use more than one spectrum band at a time, “Wi-Fi 7 offers features for more bandwidth, better latency, and overall performance,” he added.

With many devices potentially using the MLO feature, Wi-Fi 7 may add some challenges to running wireless networks, he added. “The capability to have many IT devices, like laptops, tablets, and phones, all using MLO – you can imagine this becomes very complex for all the software to perform correctly,” he said.

Wi-Fi 7 targets IT devices on a local area network (LAN), Leibovitz noted, and many enterprises will need more than a single access point as offered with the Verizon gateway. Enterprise Wi-Fi systems typically sold from enterprise infrastructure vendors are designed to deploy many access points supporting many devices.

Verizon’s fixed wireless access offering “leverages the most powerful wireless solutions in the market today, combining a range of LTE and 5G options with Wi-Fi7 for both WAN and LAN connectivity,” said Patrick Filkins, research manager for IoT and telecom infrastructure at IDC.

The wireless LAN device “is able to connect business sites on low-, mid-, or high-band spectrum, providing more options for business customers to align application needs with a connectivity offering,” Filkins said.

In addition to the Wi-Fi 7 router, Verizon introduced a 5G Business Receiver, offering tri-band support for 5G mmWave, C-Band and LTE CAT21. The receiver supports both indoor and outdoor uses and looks for the best coverage through a smart antenna that automatically toggles between Verizon networks.