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The future of Wi-Fi has been unveiled at the CES technology tradeshow in Las Vegas earlier this month.
The next generation of wireless connectivity, dubbed Wi-Fi 8, is designed to make connections more stable, reliable, and smoother — especially in busier homes or farther away from your router. It can reduce lag, interruptions, and signals through smarter signal sharing and better coordination between access points.
Asus, a Taiwanese-based tech company, is behind this most recent unveiling with its brand-new ROG NeoCore Wi-Fi 8 router. It's designed to handle the growing demands of AI technology. It's also built to help give gamers the ultra-low latency and rapid speeds they need to play through games requiring faster connection speeds.
Tenlong Deng, general manager of Asus's wireless and networking department, said: "Wi-Fi 8 is not just about chasing peak speed, it's about making every connection smarter and more reliable."
Asus says its new router will arrive sometime in 2026. However, British internet users are unlikely to see the launch of Wi-Fi 8 routers for years, according to US chipmaker Qualcomm.
Good news? UK broadband companies have now embraced Wi-Fi 7 routers, with several brands offering this improved standard across their Wi-Fi kit. If you haven't switched broadband suppliers for some time, have a home packed with smart home gadgets all vying for the same bandwidth, or want the most reliable and speediest wireless connection, it's worth looking into a broadband contract that offers Wi-Fi 7.
Upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 as standard with EE broadband — now at its lowest price
EE will pay £300 to cover your costs when you switchIf you're currently in a contract, EE will pay £300 to cover any early termination fees and switching costs. If you already have an EE phone plan, you'll be upgraded to unlimited 5G data when you add broadband to your account. EE's full-fibre 150 has returned to its lowest ever price yet. With these speeds, you can stream TV and movies in 4K, take part in online gaming and work from home.
If you need even faster speeds, EE is also offering Full-Fibre 900 at its lowest price of only £34.99 — an ideal choice for busier households.
EE Full-Fibre 150
$27.99
Switch to Vodafone's fastest full-fibre broadband and upgrade to its Wi-Fi 7 router
You can enjoy Vodafone's premium Pro Broadband package that ships with its latest (and fastest) Wi-Fi 7 router. You'll also benefit from a backup internet connection, powered by Vodafone's 4G network, if there's a broadband outage in your area. Until now, the fastest router offered by Vodafone shipped with Wi-Fi 6E.
Vodafone Broadband Pro
$39
Upgrade to Sky broadband's fastest full-fibre speeds
Sky is offering ultra-fast broadband to the 4.5 million homes on its full-fibre network. These will be the fastest broadband speeds offered by any nationwide provider in the UK, with downloads up to 5Gbps — that's 22x speedier than the average household speed of 223Mbps, as measured by Ofcom. These speeds will be beamed throughout your home with the all-new Sky Gigafast+ hub with Wi-Fi 7 technology
Full Fibre 2.5 Gigafast+
$70
While development is in the works, the complete Wi-Fi 8 standard isn't expected to be finalised until March 2028, giving Wi-Fi router manufacturers some time to breathe after the recently-released Wi-Fi 7.
This timeline is pretty standard, too. From inception to final approvals, it took developers nearly seven years to complete the development of Wi-Fi 7, which was only released at the beginning of 2024.
Full-fibre internet offers faster download speeds and more reliable connections, perfect to stream live television in 4K Ultra HD, wireless web browsing, play video games | EE PRESS OFFICE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Wi-Fi 7 is designed to deliver faster speeds, lower latency, and greater capacity than Wi-Fi 6, enabling smoother 4K/8K streaming, lag-free gaming, and more reliable connections across multiple devices.
Several companies have recently rolled out Wi-Fi 7-compatible routers since the new release, including EE, Vodafone, and Sky. At the moment, Wi-Fi 7 connection is mostly reserved for the pricier full-fibre plans, with the fastest download speeds.
However, EE is the first broadband company to offer Wi-Fi 7 as a standard setup, meaning you can get access to these faster speeds on all of its full-fibre plans.
According to EE, UK households now average over 25 devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Five years ago, most of us had just seven devices connected to our Wi-Fi network.
This increase shows the explosion in smart home gadgets (video doorbells, smart thermostats, wireless speakers, Smart TVs, to name just a few) in recent years, placing more strain on ageing Wi-Fi setups.
On the other hand, Vodafone and Sky don't offer Wi-Fi 7 across all of their plans yet. This could be due to not every home having access to Wi-Fi 7 capabilities.
For instance, Vodafone offers Wi-Fi 7 access exclusively through its Pro 3 full-fibre broadband plan, where it comes with the new Ultra Hub 7 router for lightning-fast, reliable speeds.
Sky only offers Wi-Fi 7 through its Gigafast+ plan, which is its premium new advanced WiFi 7 hub — so you can browse, stream, and game all at the same time with little to no lag.
You can check on Vodafone's website and Sky's online site to see if you're eligible for these specific plans.
There could be plans to extend this top-tier router to more packages. Many British households haven't yet upgraded to Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7, so now may present as the perfect opportunity.
With the Eero 7, you can upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 in your household, offering better device coverage and handling | EERO PRESS OFFICE If you don't want to upgrade your broadband plans quite yet, the Eero 7 Wi-Fi 7 router for a flat fee of £169.99 can give your current set-up a boost.
In this set-up, the routers communicate with one another to boost signal — eliminating dead zones and ensuring strong signals to all of your devices. As you move around, your devices will be handed off to the closest node — or the one with the least congestion — ensuring you always have the best wireless connection.
Instead of having to stretch the wireless signal from a single box, your gadgets will be distributed to the node closest to them (or the one with the fewest number of devices already connected) to almost guarantee full bars of signal.
When Wi-Fi 8 does finally arrive, there are a few standout features it plans to bring to the table. In comparison to Wi-Fi 7, you're looking at latency that's six times lower – that's the delay between your device sending a request and getting a response.
This comes from cleverer handling of multiple access points and devices working together. Your mid-range speeds will double, too, and the coverage for all those smart home gadgets expands significantly.
If you happen to be living in a flat or close quarters with a neighbour, Wi-Fi 8 uses intelligent spectrum coordination, which means your router won't clash with your neighbours' equipment like older systems tend to do.
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