Testing with a WiFi 5 client device (iPhone SE 1st gen), I'm seeing only 240Mbps down and 122Mbps up, which is far closer to what I would expect from WiFi 5.
I don't know how a WiFi 6 client (like your phone) might work around the limitations of a WiFi 5 access point, but I'm not seeing anywhere near 500Mbps out of WiFi 5 from a normal client device.
But in this case, I am still getting what I'd consider great performance out of my wifi 5 AP while using an almost 2 year old device. Moving to a wifi 6/6E/7 AP is not going to appreciably make my Internet experience on my phone any better or faster. I felt this was relevant because the article is about wifi 7 access points.
I agree your comment was relevant. The person I was responding to said they weren’t using WiFi 6 at all, which I interpreted to mean that all of their client devices were also still WiFi 5, but my interpretation could have been wrong.
If you can run docker somewhere in your network, you could consider running an OpenSpeedTest server and browse to that from your iPhone. This would let you remove your ISP from the equation and see just how fast your WiFi 5 connection can go.
I’m also mildly skeptical that your access point is WiFi 5, but instead might actually support WiFi 6, since you’re already close to the maximum speeds I was seeing out of a WiFi 6 access point and WiFi 6 client device before I upgraded my network. Maybe WiFi 6 clients can do some serious magic with WiFi 5 access points, but it just seems… unlikely. But if you’re sure, then the numbers are what the numbers are. It just doesn’t make much sense to me.
>but I'm not seeing anywhere near 500Mbps out of WiFi 5 from a normal client device.
Not sure what you mean by "normal client device", but I've gotten approximately 500Mb/s on my laptop under optimal conditions (ie. direct line of sight to router and connecting to a wired device on the same LAN). The "top" speed for 2x2 80mhz under wifi 5 is 867Mb/s[1] so that roughly tracks. Under more realistic conditions (eg. wall between router and device, or transferring files between two wireless devices), you'd expect less.
Are you sure that the 2016 iphone se can do wide channels and multiple streams? Those are wifi5 features, but devices do not have to support them. Highend ones often do.
I don't know how a WiFi 6 client (like your phone) might work around the limitations of a WiFi 5 access point, but I'm not seeing anywhere near 500Mbps out of WiFi 5 from a normal client device.