WiFi 6 vs WiFi 7 for file transfers: how much faster is a big copy?

How they differ

The gap comes from WiFi 7's wider 320 MHz channels, denser 4096-QAM modulation, and Multi-Link Operation, which lets a device use two bands at once. In a clean environment near the access point, WiFi 7 clients sustain 4-5 Gbps in practice against WiFi 6's 1.5-2 Gbps. In a congested apartment, MLO is the bigger win because it keeps the link stable when the 5 GHz band fills up, so a long copy doesn't stall. The catch is that both the router and the client device must be WiFi 7, and your internet plan is irrelevant here - this is local network speed, so LAN file copies, NAS backups, and device-to-device transfers are what improve, not your download speed from the web.

Verdict

Real single-device throughput is the honest number: about 1.5-2 Gbps on WiFi 6 against 4-5 Gbps on WiFi 7, a 2-3x gap driven by 320 MHz channels, 4096-QAM, and Multi-Link Operation. That turns a 100 GB local copy from roughly 7 minutes into about 2 minutes. The honest limits are that both router and client must be WiFi 7 to see it, and none of this touches your internet speed - the win is confined to local transfers, NAS backups, and device-to-device copies.