Wi-Fi 7: The Future of High Speed Wireless Networking is Here

Enterprises are under pressure to meet and exceed the challenges of rapidly increasing bandwidth requirements, including AR/VR (augmented reality/virtual reality) applications, streaming multimedia, IoT proliferation, video applications and high density deployments.

To meet today’s demands, Wi-Fi 7, the latest Wi-Fi standard, 802.11be, builds on top of the 6 GHz spectrum to make Wi-Fi more efficient and reliable while providing higher bandwidth with lower latency.  

Arista is taking the next step in the evolution of Wi-Fi by introducing a Wi-Fi 7 access point, the C-460. The C-460 is Arista’s flagship AP, built on the Qualcomm Networking Pro 1220 platform, and supports Wi-Fi 7. It is ideal for heavy 2.4 and 5 Ghz Wi-Fi channel congestion environments and offers wider channels for greater bandwidth and faster performance. The C-460 features three 4x4 access radios, all with Wi-Fi 7 capabilities, a dedicated tri-band multifunctional Wi-Fi radio, dual 10GbE PHYs with dual PoE, HADM enabled BLE IoT radio and a built-in L1+L5 capable GNSS module.

“Arista Networks and Qualcomm Technologies have a long history of collaboration, and we applaud the integration of Wi-Fi 7 to the Arista portfolio to expand the performance boundaries and offer massive capacity and wire-like reliability for enterprise applications,” said Ganesh Swaminathan, Vice President and General Manager, Wireless Infrastructure and Networking, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Figure 1. Connect Enterprise Sites to AWS Cloud

The C-460 is ‘IoT ready’ and integrates with third-party applications to support use cases like patient tracking, asset tracking, nurse duress, spatial analytics, wayfinding, electronic shelf labels, environment sensors, smart building devices, etc. With the GNSS module, the APs can acquire accurate GPS coordinates for AFC and enable next-generation location-based applications.

As newer generation Wi-Fi 7 access points get hungrier for power and bandwidth, the underlying wired infrastructure should be capable of meeting these new demands. The Arista 720XP switching platform provides 90W of power and 10G connectivity and is specifically designed to support the growing bandwidth needs of Wi-Fi 7 access points. For high density deployment use cases needing multiple PoE connections from a single access pod, the 750 modular chassis can provide simultaneous 60W power on all its ports, ensuring seamless connectivity.

Arista’s tunnel architecture with VXLAN terminating on an Arista switch running Arista EOS can easily scale to keep up with the increased capacity requirements of Wi-Fi 7 deployments without needing a controller appliance and support higher network throughput without bottlenecks. Features like Hitless AP Upgrades, Dual PoE with hitless failover, resilient control plane, etc., help customers build a highly resilient network for business-critical applications. 

CloudVision CUE management platform, with AI/ML driven Application Quality of Experience dashboard, root cause analysis, automated network troubleshooting, and client visibility, including Wi-Fi 7 parameters, provides deep visibility of client experience in the network and helps drastically reduce the mean time to resolve issues. The Multi-Function Radio provides digital experience monitoring by proactively testing network services and applications, identifying issues and isolating problem domains for faster issue resolution.

With Arista’s next generation identity solution and CloudVision AGNI, customers can enable UPSK (Unique Pre Shared Key) on top of WPA3 and 6 GHz Wi-Fi networks, allowing secure onboarding and segmentation of student devices in K-12 schools and universities, IoMT devices in healthcare environments and employee BYOD devices in enterprise settings. 

"As one of the largest public higher education campuses in the country, Arizona State University boasts an extensive WiFi network. We are currently overseeing its upgrade to Wi-Fi 6/6E while also anticipating the benefits of WiFi 7 for targeted applications. This includes the potential increase in application bandwidth and reliability applicable in professional media deployments, public arenas, meeting venues, scientific research, technology operations, and supporting our critical senior leadership teams." said Jorge De Cossio, Senior Director, Digital Infrastructure, Enterprise Technology, Arizona State University.

Availability

The C-460 will come in two models: the C-460 with an internal omnidirectional antenna and the C-460E with external antenna connectors. The C-460 & C-460E will be generally available by the summer of 2024.

To learn more about Wi-Fi 7 and the C-460,  join us for a webinar on May 16, 2024 - register here.

References

C-460 Access Point Product Information 

Wi-Fi 7 White Paper

Qualcomm is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Qualcomm Networking Pro Series Platforms are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.