Ookla Finds a Slow Global Shift to Advanced Wi-Fi

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2026 – The future of connectivity belongs to Wi-Fi 7 and 6 GigaHertz spectrum band Wi-Fi. Still, advanced Wi-Fi has yet to take off globally, says Ookla, an internet metrics and network diagnostics company, in a Q1 findings report released Monday

The company, under CEO Stephen Bye , used Ookla Speedtest data to track different generations of Wi-Fi and found that North America leads the globe in 6 GHz Wi-Fi use. In the region, 13.8% of users connect to the band. This is a large increase compared to the 2.2% of users that were connecting on the band in 2024.

See Breakfast Club Membership Options!

                        See Breakfast Club Membership Options
                    

“In North America the newly available 6 GHz spectrum band resulted in the Wi-Fi router industry making substantial investments in Wi-Fi chipsets and access points that incorporated the new spectrum band,” said Mark Giles , head of Oola research, and Sue Marek , analyst and director of Ookla’s editorial team, in the report. The region has invested in upgrading and advocating for advanced Wi-Fi speeds.

The 6 GHz Wi-Fi has seen progress, but 5 GHz remains the most used Wi-Fi band. The 6 GHz band Wi-Fi has seen growth in certain areas of the world, but only 1.7% of users globally rely on it. Sixty percent of global users still connect to Wi-Fi 5 because the lower portion of the 5 GHz band is available for unlicensed use in most countries.

European markets have low 6 GHz use, with the continent's band utilization capped at 1.6%. Internet quality varies across European countries, with Switzerland leading the region at a 58.7% modern Wi-Fi share.

Wi-Fi 7 is still emerging in most markets but is showing potential. Slightly less than 2% of data shows Wi-Fi 7 usage, with Singapore having the highest percentage of users. The Singaporean government has pushed to upgrade home broadband speeds to 10 Gbps through educating users about Wi-Fi speeds and bundling Wi-Fi 7 hardware with 10 Gbps broadband subscriptions.

Most smartphones can support Wi-Fi 6 or newer generations. However, advanced routers that can support newer Wi-Fi are lagging due to inflated semiconductor supply chain costs. There is a demand for more advanced routers to allow an increase in internet speeds.