Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. pioneered the foundational technologies for modern Wi-Fi mesh networks, and our platforms have powered most commercial systems across multiple generations. With Qualcomm Multi-Link Mesh and Wi-Fi 7, we are raising the bar again for mesh Wi-Fi innovations: dynamic link selection, intelligent link assignment, and powerful link aggregation.
Today, mesh total units sold as part of a router system constitute the overwhelming majority of U.S. Wi-Fi router retail sales, with 71% of total units sold being part of a mesh system1. The preference for mesh Wi-Fi is easy to understand. Today’s families use Wi-Fi to stream everything, make video calls, conduct business meetings, and play their favorite online games in every corner of the home. A single gateway or router might not provide a uniformly strong Wi-Fi signal throughout the home. However trends in home connectivity point to a much broader set of drivers for mesh Wi-Fi popularity.
From smart light bulbs to advanced VR headsets and everything in between, today’s hyper-connected homes have surged to hold an average of 22 connected devices2. While all kinds of devices are connected, multimedia and gaming actually drive the most network traffic. In fact, video streaming and online gaming together account for 82% of peak network traffic3. Applications like high-resolution (4K/8K) video streaming and immersive augmented reality/virtual reality are popular with rapid growth forecasted. These applications not only require high throughput but also low-deterministic latency to guarantee the best possible user experience.
Tri-band mesh systems unlock significant performance gains by isolating backhaul connections to a dedicated high-speed channel (in either the 5 GHz or 6 GHz frequency bands) while providing separate channels for slow legacy and IoT devices (in the 2.4 GHz frequency band), as well as high-speed devices (in the 5GHz frequency band), thereby reducing the impact of contention.
Qualcomm Multi-Link Mesh transforms how backhaul and fronthaul mesh connections are managed, by replacing these dedicated connections with dynamically managed links on a tri-band mesh system. Through a process of selecting, aggregating, or alternating links based on network conditions, Qualcomm Multi-Link Mesh ushers in a new era of extremely high throughput and real-time responsiveness, enabling increased performance for both legacy and the newest Wi-Fi 7 connected devices.
