802.11bn – Wi-Fi 8 is coming, and it’s thinking way ahead

802.11bn is the official name of what the world will soon know as **Wi-Fi 8**. no, it’s not done yet – it’s **in progress**. the work started in 2023, and if all goes well, the standard will wrap up around **2027**. but here’s the kicker: even before it’s done, hardware makers are already prepping for it.

it’s built on the foundations of 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7), but it aims higher. way higher. this isn’t just about more throughput – it’s about **deterministic performance**, **AI integration**, **extreme reliability**, and **low-power precision networking**.

task group: yep – this time it’s Task Group bn. formed under IEEE 802.11 Working Group to define the next-gen standard for WLANs beyond 802.11be.

so what’s the plan?

• Goal: improve efficiency, latency, reliability, and energy use **beyond Wi-Fi 7** – not just more speed
• Frequencies: continues to operate across **2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz** – full tri-band support
• AI-assisted optimization: includes hooks for machine learning to improve performance, client steering, interference mitigation, and power tuning
• Super deterministic latency: aiming at applications like **industrial control**, **tactile internet**, **real-time robotics**, and **AR/VR at scale**
• Even better MLO: Multi-Link Operation gets smarter – e.g. improved link pairing, load prediction, and fast failover
• Precision Scheduling: resource allocation and transmission timing gets tighter and smarter – goodbye jitter
• Uplink gets real attention: more balanced performance for two-way traffic, not just fast downloads
• Power Efficiency: critical for smart sensors, wearables, and mobile devices – building on lessons from 802.11bi and 802.11ah

and yes – expect even **higher-order modulation**, **more streams**, and **clever spectrum reuse tricks**. but honestly, 802.11bn is less about raw Gbps and more about **being the Wi-Fi you can trust to not screw up your critical application**.

802.11bn will be the smartest, sharpest, most **reliable Wi-Fi ever**. it’ll serve up real-time, power-aware, multi-link, high-density, AI-tuned wireless like it’s nothing. it's what you'll want when Wi-Fi becomes the backbone of everything – from factories to smart cities to your next AR glasses.