Mediatek x Quectel at UTS: A Look at the Next Wave of 5G & Wi-Fi 7
Mediatek x Quectel at UTS: A Look at the Next Wave of 5G & Wi-Fi 7
I recently attended a joint event by Mediatek and Quectel, hosted at the University of Technology Sydney. The session focused on the latest developments in 5G, Wi-Fi 7, and next-generation wireless platforms — all highly relevant to anyone building connected devices, autonomy stacks, or industrial systems that depend on reliable communication in unpredictable environments.
Unlike typical vendor showcases, this event was a genuinely engineering-focused look at where high-performance wireless modules are heading and how chipset and module vendors are thinking about real-world deployment constraints.
Key Takeaways
1. 5G is finally becoming a practical engineering tool
The move toward higher-bandwidth, lower-latency 5G NR platforms is starting to meet real demand in:
- autonomous and semi-autonomous systems
- robotics and inspection platforms
- industrial remote operations
- edge video analytics and sensing
The capability is real — but the system-level challenge remains the same:
how do we build autonomy and connectivity stacks that remain reliable under fluctuating RF conditions?
2. Wi-Fi 7 introduces meaningful architectural improvements
Wi-Fi 7 isn’t just “faster Wi-Fi.”
Features like:
- multi-link operation
- improved latency characteristics
- more flexible spectrum utilisation
…open doors to more robust local-network architectures:
- redundant comms paths
- hybrid Wi-Fi/5G fallbacks
- high-throughput sensing and vision flows
- short-range multi-robot coordination
For robotics teams juggling multiple network interfaces, this is particularly interesting.
3. Mediatek + Quectel ecosystem alignment is strengthening
One clear theme was how chipset and module vendors are coordinating on:
- reference hardware designs
- antenna and RF flexibility
- performance vs. power tradeoffs
- long-term product lifecycle expectations
This matters for engineers who need consistent behaviour across generations — especially in industrial or autonomous systems where redesigns are expensive.
Industry Themes That Resonated
Several verticals featured prominently in discussions:
- Healthcare: high-reliability telemetry and control links
- Autonomous systems: offboard compute and redundant comms
- Precision agriculture: wide-area coverage with tight power budgets
These challenges map directly to the work I do in connected robotics and embedded Linux systems — dealing with constrained hardware, real-world RF variability, and autonomy that depends on resilient communications.
Why This Matters for NB Embedded
For the kinds of systems I help build — embedded Linux devices, field-ready connectivity, and resilient robotics communication — understanding where wireless vendors are heading is critical.
Good engineering outcomes depend on more than just selecting a module. They depend on:
- protocol behaviour under loss
- transport and routing design
- fallback logic
- real-time diagnostics
- field-ready observability
- long-term maintainability
Events like this help ground those decisions in what’s actually possible today — and what’s coming next.
Looking Ahead
It was a valuable event with solid technical content and some excellent conversations with engineers from robotics, telecom, and industrial sectors.
Thanks to Mediatek, Quectel, and UTS for organising the session. I’m looking forward to seeing how these platforms evolve — and how they’ll shape the next generation of connected and autonomous systems.
NB Embedded is a consulting practice focused on embedded Linux, wireless networking, and robotics autonomy infrastructure, helping teams build reliable systems for real-world environments.