Wi-Fi 6, 6E or 7: what a Belgian office, shop or practice should buy in 2026

Three labels, explained

Wi-Fi 6, 6E and 7 are names from the Wi-Fi Alliance, the industry group that certifies Wi-Fi equipment. Spec sheets often show the technical name too: Wi-Fi 6 is based on the IEEE 802.11ax standard (Wi-Fi Alliance).

• Wi-Fi 6 works in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. It was built for networks with many devices: OFDMA shares a channel between several devices, MU-MIMO lets an access point send data to more devices at once, and Target Wake Time lets devices sleep longer, which saves battery (Wi-Fi Alliance).
• Wi-Fi 6E is Wi-Fi 6 that can also use a third band, 6 GHz. It is certified within the same Wi-Fi 6 programme (Wi-Fi Alliance).
• Wi-Fi 7 works in all three bands. The Wi-Fi Alliance started certifying it on 8 January 2024. It adds 320 MHz channels in countries that open the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi, double the widest channel before it, and Multi-Link Operation (MLO), which lets a device send and receive over several links at the same time. It also brings a denser modulation (4K QAM) and more flexible scheduling of the spectrum (Wi-Fi Alliance).

Brochures quote a top speed for each generation. Those are theoretical maxima under ideal conditions, so we leave them out.

What 6 GHz means in Belgium

The EU opened the band from 5945 to 6425 MHz to Wi-Fi with Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1067, and Member States had to make those 480 MHz available by 1 December 2021 (EUR-Lex). The BIPT set the Belgian conditions in October 2021 (BIPT). The band is on the BIPT list of general authorisations: you need no individual licence and pay no fee, as long as the equipment meets the technical conditions (BIPT).

The EU updated those conditions with Decision (EU) 2025/913 of 20 May 2025 (EUR-Lex), and the BIPT followed with a decision of 21 October 2025 (BIPT). The points that matter for a business:

• Access points in this band are low power indoor (LPI) devices, for indoor use only (trains with metal-coated windows and aircraft count as indoors). Outdoor use, road vehicles included, is not permitted.
• An LPI access point is powered through a wired connection, has an integrated antenna and does not run on a battery.
• Its maximum mean transmit power (EIRP) is 23 dBm, with at most 10 dBm per MHz.
• Very low power (VLP) portable devices may use the band indoors and outdoors, at up to 14 dBm and 1 dBm per MHz, but not on drones.

So a terrace, car park or yard cannot get a 6 GHz access point; outside you stay on 2.4 and 5 GHz. This is a plain summary, not legal advice; the BIPT and EU texts above are the reference.

The upper 6 GHz band stays closed for now

You may read about 1200 MHz of spectrum in the 6 GHz band: that is what the FCC opened in the United States (Wi-Fi Alliance). Europe has not opened the upper part, 6425 to 7125 MHz. In its opinion of 12 November 2025, the Radio Spectrum Policy Group, which advises the European Commission, gave 6585 to 7125 MHz priority for mobile networks. It keeps 6425 to 6585 MHz as a guard band protecting lower 6 GHz Wi-Fi until the World Radiocommunication Conference of 2027, released for neither mobile networks nor Wi-Fi (RSPG). On 31 October 2026 the Commission's list of radio spectrum decisions held no decision on the upper band (European Commission), and the 2025 BIPT decision covers only the lower band.

So buy for 480 MHz: room for one 320 MHz channel, or three 160 MHz channels side by side. With several access points in one building, wide channels soon overlap, and narrower channels, one per access point, often work better.

Your devices must speak 6 GHz too

A new access point does not upgrade your laptops and phones. A device only uses the 6 GHz band if it is a Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 device that supports 6 GHz, and Wi-Fi 7 features such as MLO need a Wi-Fi 7 device on the other end. Older devices still connect over the bands and standard they know; certified products are tested for backward compatibility (Wi-Fi Alliance).

So list what really connects (laptops, phones, tablets, the card terminal, printers, cameras) and look up each one's Wi-Fi generation and bands. If most are a few years old, a 6 GHz radio carries little traffic on day one and more as devices are replaced.

Cabling and placement matter more than the label

The generation on the box usually matters less than where the access points hang and how they are connected.

• Give every access point its own network cable to a switch. Wireless mesh links are a fallback for spots where no cable can go.
• Check the power. Access points normally take their power over the network cable (Power over Ethernet, PoE). Compare each access point's need, on its datasheet, with the switch's total PoE budget and with the class each port delivers. The higher classes come from IEEE 802.3bt, which uses all four wire pairs (IEEE).
• Use multigig only where it matters. Multigigabit ports run at 2.5 or 5 gigabit (2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T, approved as IEEE 802.3bz in 2016) (IEEE 802.3). They only help when one access point serves many busy users and the switch uplink, the internet line or the server behind it can also deliver more than one gigabit. Put them on the access points in your busiest rooms, not on every port.
• Hang access points where people work: on the ceiling of the rooms in use, not in a cupboard, a meter cupboard or behind a metal rack. Measure room by room after installation, before you add access points or turn up their power.
• If your own access points take over from the provider router, switch off the Wi-Fi of that router, so two networks do not compete for the same channels.

What to buy in 2026

If you will keep the new access points for several years, choose ones with a 6 GHz radio, Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7. Between the two, Wi-Fi 7 adds MLO and wider channels, and those pay off once your laptops and phones are Wi-Fi 7 too. Outdoors, an access point on 2.4 and 5 GHz remains the answer. Whatever you choose, ask for a unit sold for the European market and certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance for the generation it claims.

Buying checklist

1. List the devices that use Wi-Fi and note the generation and bands of each.
2. Mark the rooms where people work and where the Wi-Fi is weak today.
3. Check that every planned access point spot has a network cable, or can get one.
4. Add up the PoE power the access points need and compare it with the switch budget.
5. Decide where multigig is worth it, and whether the switch uplink and internet line behind it can use it.
6. Plan outdoor spots on 2.4 and 5 GHz only.
7. Ask the supplier for the European version and the Wi-Fi Alliance certification.
8. Book a measurement after installation, before anything is added.

If you are about to replace your access points or the Wi-Fi of your provider router, read how we approach Wi-Fi for businesses and what our IT and Wi-Fi service covers. We look at your building, your cabling and your devices first, and then tell you which generation fits.