Wi-Fi 7 has been available for more than a year and many fixed-wire internet providers are offering compatible routers, but adoption is less than 2% in the United States, according to a new report from Ookla.
The study relied on Speedtest user data from the first quarter of 2025. In addition to tracking Wi-Fi standards, it compared upload speeds, download speeds, and latency for a list of top fixed internet providers.
Frontier Fiber had the fastest average Wi-Fi 7 download speeds of those covered in the report, clocking in at more than a gigabit (1,010.81 Mbps). That was almost 400 Mbps faster than its average speeds on Wi-Fi 6E and more than 600 Mbps faster than its Wi-Fi 6 speeds.
Cable and fiber providers also posted fast Wi-Fi 7 download speeds. Spectrum, one of the few cable companies offering Wi-Fi 7 routers to its customers, saw averages of 826Mbps. Google Fiber, Metronet, Frontier, and AT&T also offer Wi-Fi 7 equipment and posted average Wi-Fi 7 download speeds north of 650 Mbps, the report said.
Upload Speeds and Latency
Unsurprisingly, the report showed fewer speed gains when it came to uplink speeds on Wi-Fi 7. Pureplay fiber providers had averages as fast as 866.65 Mbps (again from Frontier) but cable providers including Spectrum and Xfinity had upload speeds closer to 40 Mbps.
Even with the latest upgrades, cable internet can’t offer symmetrical speeds so it’s unlikely it will ever see upload speeds that rival those of fiber internet, regardless of Wi-Fi standard. Median multi-server latency scores were a different story — they didn’t show much improvement on Wi-Fi 7 compared to Wi-Fi 5 and 6. However, there was a big gap between Wi-Fi 4 and later generations.
Provider Takeaways
Consumers may be slow to upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 because providers don’t promote it, according to the report. By better educating customers, providers could highlight the power of their networks.
“Given that the vast majority of a consumers’ mobile traffic is via Wi-Fi — and basically all of the home internet — this is an opportunity for the industry to align the network capability with the service plan with the router with the end device,” the report said.
Providing Wi-Fi 7 routers may also be a way for providers to improve their reputations, according to the report. It based its finding on data showing an 83-point gap in net promoter scores (NPS) between Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 7 customers.
In other words, the customers using Wi-Fi 4 equipment were likely to steer other customers away from their provider, while customers using Wi-Fi 7 were likely to recommend their provider highly.
Wi-Fi 7 can support ultra-fast speeds and advanced online activities like multi-user AR/VR/XR, immersive 3-D, and industrial IoT. However, many consumers don’t yet have devices that can support the standard. Even the latest phones that have the hardware to support Wi-Fi 7 may not have it enabled in default firmware.
Laptops, smart TVs, gaming consoles and other Wi-Fi devices may be even slower to adopt Wi-Fi 7.
