So this whole Wi-Fi 7 era has really snuck up on me. I’ve never really had any kind of involvement with wireless network tech throughout the time I’ve run TechNuovo. We’ve seen a router or two, but that’s really about it. Well, until Acer got in touch and asked if we wanted to see one of their Predator Connect T7 Wi-Fi MESH routers. However, I will say now that I only have one, which Acer kindly provided, and I have connected it to my Virgin Hub 4 router, and honestly, have I noticed a real difference myself when using Wi-Fi 7 capabilities? Well no, not really. But that’s probably because I’ve not got anything capable of Wi-Fi 7 in my home, yet.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing either, because with something like the Acer Predator Connect T7, you could begin to future-proof your home once Wi-Fi 7 devices become more prevalent on the market. Right now, you’re currently looking at an iPhone 16, Google Pixel 9, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro in terms of mobile phones, and maybe a handful of laptops, which unfortunately doesn’t give you much choice. However, Wi-Fi is backwards compatible, so you can still use it, and yes, I have still noticed a difference with my Google Pixel 7 Pro. Connecting to my Vigin Hub 4 to the 5GHz bandwidth, I was typically getting between 250 to 300Mbps download. However, connecting to the T7 on the 6GHz bandwidth, I was getting double that. However, because of the UK and its laws around 6GHz bandwidths that Ofcom are exploring at the time of making this video, you’re only connecting to the lower 6GHz bands.
The T7 does have some Wi-Fi 7 functionality that you should know about, such as the inclusion of 320MHz channels and what’s called Multi-Link Operation, or MLO for short. MLO does something interesting by aggregating multiple channels across various bands at once, which cuts latency and increases reliability in your wireless connection. And this is really what Wi-Fi 7 aims to do as you increase the number of wireless devices in the home.
It does look good though, being a nice simple white box with a small Acer Predator logo and status light at the bottom. On top is a grill with some flashy status lights, making the Acer Predator T7 actually look quite tasteful in the home, and although yes, it’s aimed at gamers, it doesn’t have any RGB or gamery type aesthetic. A big thing though, I did want to bring up is what feels like a lack of ports on the back. From top to bottom, you’ve got a WPS button for easy connection, a 2.5Gbps WAN/LAN port, two 1Gbps LAN ports and a USB Type-C 2.0 port for storage. But still, I’m unsure if this is really enough, when Wi-Fi 7 is boasting silly wireless speeds. So if I’ve got my gaming PC connected to the T7 in the MESH network, it’ll never achieve the maximum speed it’s capable of because that LAN port is only a gig port. Makes no real sense, and I cannot really recommend this if you’re going to be using it on a wired connection at any point, especially if you’ve got gaming PCs in the house.
There’s a partner app, which can be downloaded from the Android or iOS stores called Predator Connect, and it’s really just a way to be able to change the settings of Acer products using your phone. It was a simple setup, and really the only major options I had to choose from outside of connecting to the thing was to decide if I wanted Band Steering switched on, which is a method of auto-switching between bandwidths depending on signal and distance, as well as switching on a dedicated MLO channel, which I didn’t do because I’ve got nothing in my home that is capable of taking advantage of it anyway. I also had the choice of setting the T7 to DHCP, a static IP or PPPoE. Though unfortunately, as you can see from the images below (take note of the time in the corner, I waited from 23:00 to around 08:30 the following day, and the app still would not load.
However, one major issue I have faced with the Predator Connect app is the fact that I can no longer log in with my credentials, even after successfully changing my password. It just won’t accept them and says either my username or password is wrong. So no more accessing my settings on the router.
I mean, look. I love the idea of Wi-Fi 7, I really do, but I also must admit that I feel like we’re a bit too early for it, especially in the sense of wireless devices. If you’ve got one extender in a bedroom with a PS5 hooked up to it using a cable, talking to the centre unit sitting with your ISP’s router, then maybe it warrants having that extra speed that Wi-Fi 7 is capable of transmitting. However, we’re in the UK and our fastest broadband is still sitting at what, 8Gbps? FTTP broadband is becoming more prevalent, of course, but you’ve still got to have the Wi-Fi 7 compatible devices in your home to take advantage. It’s not bad, but it’s too soon for sure.
