US TP-Link Router Ban Gains Steam: What You Should Do with Your Hardware and the Alternatives
The reasons on the surface behind why the US government consider banning TP-Link routers.
A router is the heart of a local network. Each network needs one router, and preferably no more than one.
At a minimum, a router includes a WAN port to connect to an Internet source and a few LAN ports for connecting local wired devices. Technically, a router is a layer 3 network switch.
Nowadays, the term “router” is often used to refer to a “Wi-Fi router” — one that has a built-in Wi-Fi access point. Consequently, we use “non-Wi-Fi” to refer to a standard router that lacks built-in Wi-Fi capability.
The reasons on the surface behind why the US government consider banning TP-Link routers.
The TUF Gaming BE6500 Wi-Fi 7 router (model TUF-BE6500) is the fourth dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router from ASUS, and the first officially designated as a gaming router. In a way, it’s the Wi-Fi 7 version of the Wi-Fi 6 TUF-AX5400 I reviewed a few years ago. Short for “The Ultimate …
The ASUS ROG STRIX GS-BE18000 tri-band Wi-Fi 7 gaming router was first available at select retailers on May 20, 2025, together with the TUF-BE9400. However, it wasn’t what it was intended to be at launch due to various reasons. Among those, the support for Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC), the 6GHz …
The RT-BE58U—a.k.a. RT-BE3600 for those who shop at Best Buy—is ASUS’s third dual-band Wi-Fi 7 standalone router, and the most modest out of the pack, compared to the previous RT-BE88U and RT-BE86U. However, it has enough for a home with Gigabit-class broadband. Here’s the bottom line: The ASUS RT-BE58U is …
TP-Link today announced the availability of the TL-WR3602BE travel router. First announced at the beginning of the year, this mobile router allows users Wi-Fi 7 connectivity while on the go, the first of its kind to do so for now, until others from competing vendors, such as the ASUS RT-BE58 …
If you’re looking to improve your Wi-Fi but on a budget, TP-Link is generally a good brand to consider. That is, if you can wade through the increasing myriad hardware variants that are close to identical to one another. This post will help. Below are the top five affordable TP-Link …
The Archer BE700 is another confusing option among TP-Link’s existing soup of Wi-Fi 7 routers. It’s a BE15000 router, which means, according to the way TP-Link has released its hardware, there’s a chance you’ll find an Archer BE15000, which would be the same hardware with a different model name. In …