- Sercomm begins first phase towards consumer-ready Wi-Fi 8 routers
- Reliability is main focus of Wi-Fi 8 as Broadcom and Sercomm reveal their first platform
- The new router marks the transition from theoretical design to functional hardware
Wi-Fi 8 is starting to move beyond lab testing, offering the first glimpse of what the next generation of wireless connectivity will look like.
In an industry that is often obsessed with top speed, Wi-Fi 8’s focus is on reliability, aiming to improve stability, reduce latency, and deliver better performance in environments with many connected devices.
In essence, Wi-Fi 8 will continue to use familiar frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz), but with wider 320 MHz channels and new improvements to the physical layer. The theoretical ceiling is around 46 Gbps, although most of the focus is on maintaining performance rather than chasing record numbers.
Fundamental pivot
Features like enhanced long-range and distributed resource units are designed to keep signals stable even when multiple devices compete for bandwidth or when users move further away from their routers.
Qualcomm has described Wi-Fi 8 as a “fundamental pivot” in the way wireless systems are designed, emphasizing reliability and low latency under conditions of congestion or mobility.
While major players like TP-Link and Qualcomm have demonstrated early versions of the 802.11bn standard, a lesser-known manufacturer has become the first to announce physical hardware built around it.
Sercomm, a Taiwanese broadband and telecommunications equipment manufacturer, has announced its first Wi-Fi 8 platform in partnership with Broadcom.
The platform is based on Broadcom’s newest chipset and combines deterministic latency, multi-gigabit performance and intelligent spectrum management.
It also includes built-in machine learning features that can dynamically adjust performance.
“Wi-Fi 8 is a strategic enabler for operators looking to differentiate themselves on experience, not just bandwidth,” said Derek Elder, president of Sercomm’s service provider business group.
“We are proud to be among the first OEMs to partner with Broadcom to introduce Wi-Fi 8 connectivity solutions. Together, we provide operators with a turnkey platform that unifies next-generation connectivity, smart home orchestration and edge intelligence, all within a single device,” added Elder.
The hardware, which will be shown at the upcoming Network X 2025 event in Paris, France, also supports Matter’s smart home standards and fiber-to-the-room networks.
Wi-Fi 8 certification is still years away, but Sercomm’s prototype is the first tangible sign that the next generation of Wi-Fi has begun to emerge from laboratories and become physical products.
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