Even as the world is still settling into Wi-Fi 7, the next generation is already moving from concept to test bench
In sum— what to know:
LitePoint validates Qualcomm’s Wi-Fi 8 hardware: LitePoint achieves PHY level validation of Qualcomm’s Wi-Fi 8 hardware on its IQxel-MX platform
Platform of choice: Released in Sept, 2025, the IQxel-MX offers system-level characterization and validation of all Wi-Fi 8 and Wi-Fi 7 applications.
We have barely embraced Wi-Fi 7 — some of us are still on Wi-Fi 6 — but Wi-Fi 8 is already upon us. The new generation of Wi-Fi was one of the show highlights at Consumer Technology Association (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas where Broadcom and MediaTek previewed their respective Wi-Fi 8 chip families, and Asus unveiled its concept router ROG NeoCore Wi-Fi 8 — which my college Catherine Sbeglia Nin covered in detail. Even Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gave it a nod while receiving a Medal of Honor from IEEE at the event.
“You have to think about IEEE when you think about 802.11,” Huang quipped.
And with any new generation of Wi-Fi comes fresh rounds of hardware testing and validation. LitePoint, known for its wireless test solutions, announced it has achieved PHY-level validation of Qualcomm’s W-Fi 8 solution which, word is, will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona in March.
Although the Teradyne company is light on details of the test and Qualcomm is yet to announce on its end, so far it’s revealed that the IQxel-MX platform was used for the trial.
The validation and performance testing was conducted on key features, such as advanced error correction, MIMO modulation, optimized rate adaptation, extended range and spectrum efficiency. These capabilities will be critical to power next-generation applications, like AR/VR, intelligent IoT, and enterprise and home applications, the company said.
LitePoint announced the IQxel-MX in September last year, positioning it as an all-in-one test solution for Wi-Fi 8 applications. The IQxel-MX comes loaded with capabilities like improved RF performance, 6GHz band support, wide instrument bandwidth, and 4K QAM — and is designed to handle system-level characterization and validation of both Wi-Fi 8 and Wi-Fi 7 standards.
John Lukez, President of LitePoint, said, “Wi-Fi 8 is a transformational leap forward, and LitePoint is proud to play a critical role in accelerating its adoption. By validating Qualcomm Technologies’ cutting-edge solutions with our IQxel-MX platform, we’re helping ensure that customers can confidently prepare for the next generation of wireless connectivity.”
The announcement comes after rival Rohde & Schwarz partnered up with Broadcom to validate the tech giant’s Wi-Fi 8 chipsets on its testing platform in Nov, last year.
Wi-Fi 8 is less about raw speed and more about reliability. The new generation retains the high-end Wi-Fi 7 setups’ speed (maximum 46 Gbps), spectrum bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) and channel width (320 MHz) — but promises to offer consistent, more reliable performance, fitting for AI applications. The new generation’s strength is its ability to adapt intelligently to local conditions which will amount to fewer drops, less congestion, and lower latency even when the network is overloaded.
News of trials started to emerge late in 2025 when TP-Link announced conducting first successful trials for Wi-Fi 8 hardware using prototype devices. Since then, several companies besides Qualcomm, like Broadcom, Intel, MediaTek and Marvell have thrown their weight behind the technology.
Speaking in an RCR Wireless News webinar back in Sept, Rolf de Vegt, VP of Technical Standards, who leads Qualcomm’s workgroup for Wi-Fi 8 predicted the new generation will follow the same trajectory as the previous two, “starting with progressive higher-end mobile devices, forward-leaning home access point vendors,” before eventually gaining traction with enterprise, phone and PC manufacturers and automotive companies.