Empirical speed tests:
- Device | Download | Upload
- U6-Lite | 284 | 170 Mbps
- U6-Pro | 447 | 439 Mbps
- U7-Pro | 933 | 845 Mbps
TLDR;
The backbone of my home LAN has been 1 Gbps wired Ethernet for decades. The wired backbone is the fastest part of the network while the WAN and WiFi have typically been a fraction the LAN speed. Because the wired network is faster, getting the wireless traffic onto the wires ASAP yields the best performance.
WiFi versions 5, 6, and 7 were released in 2013, 2021, and 2024 respectively. When WiFi 6 arrived, I upgraded the (3) old APs with the new U6-Lite model for a nice speed bump. WiFi 6 was finally “fast enough” and I can’t recall carrying a computer to the wired connection since.
On February 19th, I cross-graded my fiber internet from CenturyLink to Quantum’s 940Mbps service. An improvement is shedding the need for PPPoE. That timing coincided with WiFi 7 hardware availability so I also picked up a U7-Pro AP.
To capitalize on the new WAN and WiFi speed, my aged USG-3P router was going to be the slow link so I also upgraded it. When I plug my laptop into the wired Ethernet, my speedtest results are consistently within a couple percent of the 940 Mbps service cap. Today I carried my laptop around the house to measure the speed of each AP and was surprised to see that WiFi 7 can nearly saturate my WAN connection…when I’m sitting near the AP with no obstructions.