Qualcomm has launched its Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn) portfolio, introducing the FastConnect 8800 mobile connectivity system and five Dragonwing networking platforms for access points and routers. The FastConnect 8800 integrates Wi-Fi 8, Bluetooth 7, Ultra Wideband (UWB), and Thread support, while the Dragonwing lineup spans enterprise access points, fiber-to-the-home gateways, and fixed wireless access systems.
The FastConnect 8800 features a 4x4 Wi-Fi radio configuration with peak speeds of 11.6 Gbps, supporting channels up to 320 MHz (121.9 cm) wide and 4K QAM modulation. Qualcomm claims it delivers twice the performance and three times the gigabit wireless range compared to the previous-generation FastConnect 7900. The chip supports Bluetooth 7.0 with High Data Throughput (HDT) for speeds up to 7.5 Mbps, a significant jump from the 2 Mbps limit of earlier Bluetooth versions. Built on a 6 nm process, the platform includes UWB support with 1 transmit and 3 receive chains for precise ranging and radar capabilities.
The Dragonwing networking portfolio includes five platforms targeting different deployment scenarios. The Dragonwing NPro A8 Elite (IPQ96) features a penta-core processor running at up to 2.0 GHz, a Qualcomm Hexagon NPU for edge AI, and a 5x5 Wi-Fi 8 radio system with peak speeds of 33 Gbps. It supports up to 1,500 users and includes 2x 25 Gigabit Ethernet ports, 4x 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, and a 10 Gbps USXGMII-M interface. The Dragonwing FiberPro A8 Elite shares the same specifications but adds 10 Gbps Passive Optical Network (PON) support for ITU-T G.984.3 GPON, G.987.3 XG-PON, and G.9807.1 XGS-PON deployments.
The Dragonwing FWA Gen 5 Elite combines Wi-Fi 8 with the Qualcomm X85 5G Modem-RF System for fixed wireless access, delivering peak download speeds of 12.5 Gbps on combined FR1 and FR2 frequencies or 10.3 Gbps on FR1 alone. It supports tri-band Wi-Fi with up to 12 spatial streams and runs OpenWrt, RDK-B, or prplOS operating systems. The mainstream Dragonwing N8 and F8 (IPQ52) platforms use a quad-core processor at up to 1.4 GHz with tri-band Wi-Fi 8 supporting up to 750 users and peak speeds of 23 Gbps. The F8 variant adds the same 10 Gbps PON support found in the FiberPro A8 Elite.
Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn), also known as Ultra High Reliability (UHR) Wi-Fi, maintains the same maximum PHY rate as Wi-Fi 7 but focuses on improving reliability, network efficiency, and power consumption in dense IoT environments. Features like Coordinated Time Division Multiple Access (Co-TDMA), Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR), and Dynamic Bandwidth Expansion (DBE) aim to improve overall WLAN performance when many devices connect simultaneously. Qualcomm's FastConnect 8800 is expected to appear in premium smartphones, tablets, laptops, and robotics applications, while the Dragonwing platforms target enterprise access points, home routers, and fiber broadband customer premises equipment. Additional details are available in Qualcomm's press release.
