Does BT have WiFi6 or 7 routers for regular customers

[TottenhamZeroFibre]

Does BT have WiFi6 or 7 routers for regular customers i think I have the wifi5 router by bt I was wondering if we'll be getting wifi6 router i dont want to purchase a third party router I'll be willing to pay if bt does have wifi6 router I know bts sister company ee has their WiFi6 router on the 1.6gb package  why don't we have a wifi6 router on the full fibre 900 package at least 

[naylor2006]

If you want really fast WIFI speeds you should really get your own gear, the reason I say that is because getting the fastest WIFI speed is not just about WIFI5,6,7 etc, its about many different factors such as MIMO, Interference, house material etc and channel bandwidth....and of course the band itself. In addition to that WIFI6/7 isnt suddenly going to give better speed along with coverage, the speed will still diminish over distance from the ISP router in the same way it always does in the home.

An ISP are not going to open up the config on the WIFI to such a point where you are going to be able to play with all those parameters to get the best out of the WIFI for a given scenario, an ISP needs to just ship one device that works and doesnt create 400,000 support calls. BT will likely add WIFI 6 to new routers but 7, I very much doubt, its not worth it yet.

I have a Unifi setup that can give me 850Mbps max from each AP, I have a few around the house because my walls are concrete and the moment I move to an adjacent room there is almost an 80% drop off in speed, so ive put multiple ones in. To achieve 850Mbps whether on WIFI 5 or 6 I have to use 80Mhz of channel bandwidth, this is bonding 4 wifi channels together on the 5Ghz and the client device is connecting with 2 spatial streams. And the problem with bonding 4 channels together, well that means that those 4 channels cannot be used nearby otherwise ill get interference which will eat into the top line available bandwidth from neighboring APs either in my house or next doors house. So dropping down to 40Hz will only bond 2 channels meaning its less likely to suffer from interference, allowing you as the admin to utilize more access points that can be on different channels that wont interfere with each other.

WIFI 7 is exciting for the fact it can utilize the new 6Ghz band which will be uncongested first off, I can use WIFI 7 at home and pretty much guarantee that no one near enough to me will be using it also. But I dont because I dont have any devices that support it.

ISP's wont worry too much about that they can provide 900Mbps Fibre and so they must then guarantee the same speed over WIFI, sure things have improved but the real world of WIFI is too complicated. It would be slightly negligent also if ISP's were pinging out wireless routers all using 80Mhz so everyone got fast speeds on the 5Ghz band because the interference that would all cause for everyone nearby would be **bleep**. 

It might be okay for you to stand an inch away from a new BT WIFI 6 router with 2x2 spatial streams and get 500 plus Mbps but thats not the real world scenario, we are rarely next to our ISP's router, so you'll need to get your own gear my friend!

[chrisjp]

"ISP's wont worry too much about that they can provide 900Mbps Fibre and so they must then guarantee the same speed over WIFI.."
I don't think any ISP guarantees any speed at all over WiFi - because this is outside their control. The only speed they guarantee is at the router and at stuff connected by ethernet cable.

[naylor2006]

Which is what I meant, just because they provide 900 doesnt mean they will try and provide WIFI equipment that will achieve that. 

It was in response to the OP asking 'why' isnt there a WIFI6 or 7 router considering the fibre speeds provided.

[TimCurtis]

 My Asus router is WiFi 5 and I'm on FF500 and on my 5gHZ channel on my iPhone 11 I can get very near that speed so don't see the need for the supposed extra speed from WiFi 6 and above.

I think that for many the main advantage of WiFi 6 or 7 would be the way it handles the transmission to the receiving device(s). I think that on 6/7 it's able to better handle multiple devices at the same time requiring the higher speeds.

I've used "think" twice as there's every chance I'm wrong as my knowledge in that area is a bit limited.

[WSH]

A lot will depend on if Wi-Fi 7 is actually full-duplex, based on separate send and receive frequencies, as has been rumoured.  That will make a very big difference to through-put.

Unfortunately, Wi-Fi 6 was also rumoured to be, but I think it turned out to be urban myth.  As far as I know, it is still half-duplex.

Edit:  Just to clarify that for the non-IT people out there:

A half-duplex system sends than waits for a reply then sends some more etc.  Wireless has to do this because when it is transmitting it is so loud it can’t hear anything incoming.  Think of films where they talk on the radio then wait for the reply then talk some more.  For this reason, when a manufacturer quotes, say, 1.2Gb/s they usually mean 600Mb/s send + 600Mb/s receive.  Perfectly legal marketing as it is technically true that this adds up to 1.2Gb/s.

In a full duplex system, it can send and receive simultaneously.  For example, ethernet has separate send and receive wires and can do both at the same time.  Here, a 1Gb/s connection is 1Gb/s send + 1Gb/s receive.  This is why wired connections are always superior to wireless.

[TottenhamZeroFibre]

Could you recommend me wifi 6  devices simlar to bt halo3  I just need extender or mesh for the room that my router doesn't reach even if its third party I guess I haven't got choice for better equipment its third party then  ineed 2 devices either wifi 6 router and  extender  or 2 mesh devices  I'll take any recommendations  budget £200

[naylor2006]

Halo 3 is a service package rather than a device isnt it?

Do you have the Router with the SIM in it also incase internet goes down there is the mobile backup?

You could get the BT Wholehome Premium which is in fact a 3rd party MESH kit, does WIFI 6, perhaps have a look at the TP-Link DECO stuff, thatll probably do the job, plenty of my friends use DECO to either MESH their house or use them as WIFI access points where they have a direct ethernet connect back to the router, one always does of course but the others can either MESH or be connected.

My recommendation is to switch off the WIFI on the BT Hub and use the WIFI with whatever kit you choose, in fact for 200 you could get a couple Unifi AP's but then you have to screw around with POE and the rest of that.