Friday, February 7, 2025 • Welcome to the 💯 Nonsense-Free Zone!
🛍️ Today’s 🔥 Deals on An image of Amazon logo🛒

TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Hardware Unveiled: Archer Routers, Deco Systems, and Omada APs

Share what you're reading!

Since late 2021 and especially during 2022, Wi-Fi 7 has been the talk of the networking town. And while you likely won’t be able to experience it until late 2023 or even early 2024, you can get your home partially ready for it in a few short months.

Indeed, determined to be the first on the market, TP-Link today, in a special event aptly called “Hi, Wi-Fi 7“, announced an extensive collection of Wi-Fi 7 broadcasters (routers/access points) encompassing its multiple business segments.

A bit of a PTSD: TP-Link’s announcements today remind me of its enthusiasm toward Wi-Fi 6E back in early 2021, of which the then products eventually turned vaporware.

TP-Link cited the pandemic as the reason for missing its original deadlines and eventually managed to keep most of its subsequent Wi-Fi 6E promises by late 2022.

With the pandemic now on the way out, there’s a chance the networking vendor will soon turn Wi-Fi 7 into a reality, albeit only on the broadcasting end.

And that’s exciting.

TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Hardware: The Archer GE800 BE19000 Wi-Fi 7 gaming router has a radical design.
TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Hardware: The Archer GE800 BE19000 Wi-Fi 7 gaming router has a radical design.

TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 hardware: The new standard is now (almost) a reality

TP-Link doesn’t hold back when it comes to the latest Wi-Fi standard. The company today debuted not one, not five, but nine new consumer products that support Wi-Fi 7, including four Archer routers, three Deco mesh systems, and two Omada business access points.

It’s important to note that the new products are all on the broadcasting side and are just half of the requirements for an actual Wi-Fi 7 experience. The other half is on the receiving end – devices/clients that support this standard. And for those, you’ll need to wait a year or so longer.

In the meantime, these new broadcasters support existing Wi-Fi clients—they will not be useless, far from it. In other words, you can get them even when you don’t have any Wi-Fi 7 devices yet.

Wi-Fi 7 devices, when available, will also support existing broadcasters. So if you’re happy with your current Wi-Fi 6 or 6E performance, Wi-Fi 7 is not a must-have and will be so for years.

If you’re new to the latest Wi-Fi standard, this primer post on Wi-Fi 7 will offer all the details, or you can open the drawer below for quick highlights.

Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) in brief

Four key improvements of Wi-Fi 7

The new Wi-Fi standard, technically known as 802.11be, encompasses all previous Wi-Fi revisions with many new features—some still being worked out. However, you can remember four essential items below.

1. The all-new 320MHz channel width

The first thing to note about Wi-Fi 7 is the new and much wider channel width, up to 320MHz, or double that of Wi-Fi 6/6E.

This new channel width is generally available on the 6GHz band, with up to three 320MHz channels. However, Wi-Fi 7 can also combine portions of the 6GHz and 5GHz bands to create this new bandwidth—more in the Multi-Link Operation section below.

Details of Wi-Fi channels can be found here, but the new channel width generally means Wi-Fi 7 can double the base speed, from 1.2Gbps per stream (160MHz) to 2.4Gbps per stream (320MHz).

So, in theory, just from the width alone, a 4×4 broadcaster 6GHz Wi-Fi 7 can have up to 9.6 Gbps of bandwidth—or 10Gbps when rounded up. But there’s more to Wi-Fi 7’s bandwidth below.

Wi-Fi 7 also supports double the partial streams, up to 16. As a result, technically, a 16-stream (16×16) Wi-Fi 7 6GHz band can deliver up to over 40Gbps of bandwidth, especially when considering the new QAM support below.

Like Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, initially, Wi-Fi 7 will be available as dual-stream (2×2) and quad-stream (4×4) broadcasters and dual-stream clients. In the future, the standard might have 8×8 broadcasters and single-stream or quad-stream clients.

Again, you need a compatible client to use the new 320MHz channel width. Existing clients will connect using 160MHz at best. In reality, the 160MHz will likely be the realistic sweet-spot bandwidth of Wi-Fi 7, just like the 80MHz in the case of Wi-Fi 6.

2. The 4K-QAM

QAM, short for quadrature amplitude modulation, manipulates the radio wave to pack more information in the Hertz.

Wi-Fi 6 supports 1024-QAM, which itself is already impressive. However, Wi-Fi 7 will have four times that, or 4096-QAM. Greater QAM means better performance for the same channel width.

As a result, Wi-Fi 7 will be much faster and more efficient than previous standards when working with supported clients.

Wi-F 7 vs. Wi-Fi 6/6E: The realistic real-world speeds

With the support for the wider channel width and higher QAM, Wi-Fi 7 is set to be much faster than previous standards on paper.

Tip

A network link, be it a Wi-Fi or wired connection, between two parties is always as fast as the slowest party involved.

You might have read somewhere that Wi-Fi 7 is “up to 4.8 times faster than Wi-Fi 6,” and hardware vendors will continue to combine the theoretical bandwidth of a broadcaster’s all bands into a single colossal number—such as BE19000, BE22000, or BE33000—which is excellent for advertising.

As always, these numbers don’t mean much, and things are not that simple. In reality, a Wi-Fi connection generally happens on a single band at a time—that’s always true for Wi-Fi 6E and older clients—and is also limited by the client’s specs.

The table below summarizes what you can expect from Wi-Fi 7’s real-world organic performance compared to Wi-Fi 6E when working on the 6GHz.

Wi-Fi 6EWi-Fi 7
Max Channel Bandwidth
(theoretical/top-tier equipment)
160MHz320MHz
Channel Bandwidth
(widely implemented)
80MHz160MHz
Number of Available Channels7x 160MHz, or 14x 80MHz channels3x 320MHz, or
7x 160MHz channels, or
14x 80MHz channels
Highest Modulation 1024-QAM4096-QAM
Max Number
of Spatial Streams
(theoretical on paper / commercially implemented)
8 / 416 / 4
Max Bandwidth
Per Stream
(theoretical)
1.2Gbps (at 160MHz)
600Mbps (at 80MHz)
2.9Gbps (at 320MHz)
1.45Gbps (at 160MHz)
Max Band Bandwidth
(theoretical on paper)
9.6Gbps
(8×8)
46.1Gbps
(16×16)
Commercial Max Band Bandwidth Per Band
(commercially implemented)
4.8Gbps
(4×4)
11.5Gbps
(4×4)
Available Max Real-word Negotiated Speeds(*)2.4Gbps (via a 2×2 160MHz client)
1.2Gbps (via a 2×2 80MHz client)
11.5Gbps (via a 4×4 320MHz client)
5.8Gbps (via a 2×2 320MHz client or a 4×4 160MHz client)
2.9Gbps (via a single stream 320MHz client or a 2×2 160MHz client)
1.45Gbps (via a single stream 160MHz client or a 2×2 80MHz client)
Available Clients
(examples)
2×2
(Intel AX210)
2×2
(Intel BE200 / Qualcomm NCM865)
Wi-Fi 6 vs. Wi-Fi 7: Theoretical data rates on the 6GHz band
(*) The actual negotiated speed depends on the client, Wi-Fi 7 specs, and environment. Real-world sustained rates are generally much lower than negotiated speeds—capping at about two-thirds at best. Wi-Fi 6/6E has had only 2×2 clients. Wi-Fi 7 will also use 2×2 clients primarily, but it might have 4×4 and even single-stream (1×1) clients.

Like Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, Wi-Fi 7 has been available only in 2×2 specs on the client side. That, plus the sweet-spot 160MHz channel width, means, generally, it’s safe to conservatively expect real-world rates of the mainstream Wi-Fi 7 (160MHz) to be about 20% faster than top-tier Wi-Fi 6E (160MHz) counterparts.

However, the new standard does have more bandwidth on the broadcasting side. So, it can handle more 2×2 clients simultaneously with high-speed real-world rates. And that’s always a good thing.

Multi-Link Operation, or MLO, is the most exciting and promising feature of Wi-Fi 7 that changes the norm of Wi-Fi: Up to Wi-Fi 6E, a Wi-Fi connection between two direct devices occurs in a single band at a time. MLO changes that.

It’s worth noting that MLO is a feature and not the base of the standard, meaning it can be supported by a particular device or not.

In a nutshell, MLO is Wi-Fi band aggregation. Like Link Aggregation (or bonding) in wired networking, it allows combining two or more Wi-Fi bands into a single Wi-Fi link (single SSID). That said, you can have MLO as long as the broadcaster has more than one band, which is the case with all Wi-Fi 7 hardware.

Still, generally, there are two MLO operation modes:

  • Simultaneous Transmit and Receive Multi-Link Multi-Radio: It’s multi-link aggregation using all available bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz) to deliver higher throughput, lower latency, and better reliability. (For dual-band hardware, such as the Asus RT-BE88U, this mode combines the 2.4GHz and 5GHz band.)
  • Enhanced Multi-Link Single Radio: It’s multi-link using dynamic band switching between 5GHz and 6GHz—this mode is only available to broadcasters with these two bands—to deliver load balancing and lower latency.

No matter which mode is used, the gist is that the bonded link delivers “better” connection quality and “more” bandwidth.

It’s important to note, though, that at the end of the day, MLO increases the bandwidth, allowing different applications on a client to use the two bands simultaneously. The point here is that no application on the client can have a connection speed faster than the fastest band involved. A speedtest application, for example, still uses one of the bands at a time. This connection speed is still limited by the hardware specs on both ends of the link, whichever is lower.

So, the MLO feature affords supported clients the best probability of connecting successfully at the highest possible speed using the fastest band at any given time, which changes depending on the distance between the client and the broadcaster.

Considering the vast amount of pre-Wi-Fi 7 clients on the market, keep the following in mind about MLO in consumer-grade hardware:

  • By nature, link bonding will be more complicated than single-band connectivity—there are just too many variables.
  • MLO only works with supported Wi-Fi 7 clients. (A Windows computer must run Windows 11 24H2 or later to support MLO.) Considering the different performance grades and hardware variants, the result of MLO will vary case by case.
  • Wi-Fi 6 and 6E and older clients will still use a single band at a time when connecting to a MLO SSID. And they might pick whichever of those is available in the bonded link. You might get frustrated when they use the slow band instead of a faster one, like in the case of Smart Connect. That happens.
  • An MLO SSID requires the WPA2/WPA3 or WPA3 encryption method and won’t allow legacy clients to connect. This can be a big headache for those assuming the SSID will just work with all clients. In other words, turning MLO on can cause a big compatibility issue with the hardware’s primary SSID(s).
  • The reach of the bonded wireless link is as far as the range of the shorter band.
MLO in real-world usage: Great for wireless mesh, but client compatibility can be a big issue

In real-world experience, MLO has the potential to be a game-changer in a wireless mesh network by fortifying the Wi-Fi link between broadcasters—the backhaul—in terms of bandwidth.

Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems, via my testing method, have shown sustained wireless backhauling links over 5Gbps at 40 feet away.

However, in terms of reliability, MLO has been buggy. During 2024, many Wi-Fi systems proved to be unreliable with this feature turned on, though toward the end of the year, things became better with the latest firmware. That’s often the case with new technology.

On the other hand, for devices (clients), the effect of MLO has proven to trade the (lack of) backward compatibility for a relatively subdued impact on performance.

Specifically, with single broadcasters or mesh systems with wired backhauling, the feature plays an insignificant role and generally does not noticeably improve the real-world rates of individual clients—currently available at 2×2 specs, such as the Intel BE200 or Qualcomm NCM865 chips—despite the higher negotiated speed of the bonded link.

Intel BE200 Wi-Fi 7 adapter with MLO status
Here’s an MLO Aggregated link speed of a Wi-Fi 7 broadcaster on a client running Windows 11 24H2. It’s worth noting that despite the high MLO negotiated link speed, the sustained real-world rate in this case, via a speed test or any particular application, was still similar to when this 2×2 Intel BE200 client connected using a 6GHz or 5GHz band individually.

In a way, MOL is the alternative to the finicky “Smart Connect“, where a single SSID is used for all of the broadcaster’s bands. In fact, you can think of MLO as the enhanced version of Smart Connect with higher bandwidth and security requirements.

All Wi-Fi 7 broadcasters require Smart Connect for their broadcaster’s primary SSID before MLO can be used with them. That said, here are the general options in terms of SSIDs—some hardware brands have more than others:

  1. Turn MLO and get the most flexible SSID configuration options, including support for legacy clients.
  2. Turn MLO on and:
    • Use the primary SSID (via Smart Connect) with MLO and let the system handle the rest. This is the most common case of canned mesh systems, such as those from Netgear (Orbi) or Amazon (eero).
    • Turn off Smart Connect, use the bands’ primary SSIDs without MLO, and use a virtual SSID with MLO.
    • When applicable, use separate virtual SSDs with lower requirements for legacy clients.

That said, MLO is best used when you have mostly Wi-Fi 6E and newer clients, which won’t be the case until years from now. In the meantime, this feature should be turned off when you use a single Wi-Fi 7 broadcaster or a mesh with wired backhauling unless you have the option to create additional SSIDs with lower security requirements for existing clients.

Finally, in terms of range, the MLO bonded link has the reach of the shortest band involved. Since the 6GHz band has just about 75% of the range of the 5GHz when the same broadcasting power is applied, MLO can only be truly meaningful with the help of Wi-Fi 7’s fifth and optional feature, Automated Frequency Coordination, mentioned below.

4. Flexible Channel Utilization (FCU) and Multi-RU

Flexible Channel Utilization (FCU) (a.k.a. Preamble Puncturing) and Multi-RU are two other items that help increase Wi-Fi 7’s efficiency. With FCU, Wi-Fi 7 handles interference more gracefully by slicing off the portion of a channel with interference, 20MHz at a time, and keeping the clean part usable.

In contrast, in Wi-Fi 6/6E, when there’s interference, an entire channel can be taken out of commission. FCU is the behind-the-scenes technology that increases Wi-Fi’s efficiency, similar to the case of MU-MIMO and OFDMA.

Similarly, with Wi-Fi 6/6E, each device can only send or receive frames on an assigned resource unit (RU), which significantly limits the flexibility of the spectrum resource scheduling. Wi-Fi 7 allows multiple RUs to be given to a single device and can combine RUs for increased transmission efficiency.

5. Automated Frequency Coordination

Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) is an optional feature and deals with the 6GHz band, so it’s not Wi-Fi 7-exclusive—the band was first used with Wi-Fi 6E. It’s not required for a Wi-Fi 7 broadcaster’s general function. In fact, it wasn’t even mentioned in the initial certification by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Due to local regulations, the 6GHz band’s availability, hence, the implementation of the AFC feature, differs around the world. For this reason, some Wi-Fi 7 broadcasters, such as the Asus RT-BE88U or the TP-Link Archer BE230, forgo this band to remain dual-band.

Still, Wi-Fi 7 makes AFC more relevant than ever. That’s because the 6GHz band has the highest bandwidth (fastest) yet the shortest range compared to the 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands when using the maximum allowed broadcasting power. Originally, AFC was intended only for outdoor applications, but when implemented, it’s significant for all applications.

Here’s how AFC works when/if available:

The feature enables a 6GHz broadcaster to check with a registered database in real-time to confirm that its operation will not negatively impact other existing registered members. Once that’s established, the broadcaster creates a dynamically exclusive environment in which its 6GHz band can operate without the constraint of regulations.

Specifically, the support for AFC means each Wi-Fi 7 broadcaster can use higher broadcasting power and more flexible antenna designs to have higher signal output.

Preliminary, AFC can increase the broadcasting power to 36 dBm (from the current 30 dBm limit) or 4 watts (from 1 wat). The goal is to make the range of the 6GHz band comparable to that of the 5GHz band—about 25% more. When that happens, the MLO feature above will be truly powerful.

Still, even then, Wi-Fi 7’s range will remain the same as that of Wi-Fi 6, which is available only on the 5GHz band. However, AFC makes its 6GHz band better than the case of Wi-Fi 6E.

This feature requires certification, and its availability is expected to vary from one region to another. Hardware released before that is said to be capable of handling AFC, which, when applicable, can be turned on via firmware updates.

Automated Frequency Coordination in brief

Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) extends the Wi-Fi range of the 6GHz band to be comparable to that of the 5GHz band via special rules.

The feature is similar to checking with the local authorities for permission to close off sections of city streets for a drag race block party.

When approved, the usual traffic and parking laws no longer apply to the area, and the organizers can determine how fast traffic can flow, etc.

Hardware vendors generally prioritize compliance and compatibility over performance, so AFC is not the priority.

The quick takeaway is that Wi-Fi 7 is faster and, thanks to the support for AFC, will likely increase the range of the 6GHz band a great deal—limited range has proven to be the biggest shortcoming of this band in existing Wi-Fi 6E broadcasters.

With that, let’s check out the new hardware TP-Link unveiled today.

Four TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Archer standalone routers: Multi-Gig is now the norm

TP-Link’s Archer has been one of the go-to brands for those needing a single broadcaster in a home.

With the support for the 6GHz band, all Wi-Fi 7 broadcasters are generally expected to be tri-band since they all need the 5GHz and 2.4GHz for backward compatibility and the MLO feature mentioned above.

TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Router
TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Hardware: The Archer routers

TP-Link’s new Wi-Fi 7 router models include the Archer BE900, Archer BE800, Archer BE550, and Archer GE800. All of them have two or more Multi-Gig ports. Some don’t even have any Gigabit ports.

The “BE” notion in the model names conveys the fact that they support the 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) standard, just like “AXE” (such as in the Archer AXE300) and “AX” (Archer AX11000) are for hardware supporting Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 6.

TP-Link says all of its new Wi-Fi 7 routers support Wi-Fi EasyMesh, the direction it wants to steer the OneMesh approach. We’ll need to wait to see how that pans out.

Wi-Fi EasyMesh in a nutshell

Wi-Fi EasyMesh is Wi-Fi Alliance’s certification program, first announced in early 2020, that aims to simplify the building of mesh systems by creating universal mesh protocols. The idea is any Wi-Fi EasyMesh-certified hardware from any vendor will work with one another to form a seamless Wi-Fi mesh system. Per the organization, here are the highlights of EasyMesh:

  • Increased network capacity: Supports more simultaneous services and higher realized throughput when operating in Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E
  • Flexible design: Allows for best placement of multiple APs to provide extended coverage
  • Easy setup: Delivers seamless, secure device onboarding and configuration using QR codes through Wi-Fi Easy Connect technology
  • Network intelligence: Advanced diagnostics for Wi-Fi 6 capabilities through Wi-Fi Data Elements facilitate service provider support and respond to network conditions to maximize performance
  • Effective service prioritization and Quality of Service (QoS) support: Capability to prioritize low latency applications when needed and guide devices to roam to the best connection and avoid interference
  • Scalability: Enables the addition of Wi-Fi EasyMesh APs from multiple vendors

The new program’s adoption has proven slow. By late mid-2023, only Netgear and TP-Link had joined the movement. The former uses it in its Nighthawk purpose-built mesh family, first represented by the MK63 and MK83—none is a standalone router. TP-Link, on the other hand, started to transition its OneMesh—available in standalone routers—into TP-Link EasyMesh in August 2022. (In real-world trials, the EasyMesh hardware of TP-Link and Netgear has never worked with each other, and chances are they never will.)

Understandably, both TP-Link and Netgear recommend their hardware, EasyMesh or not.

Generally, we need the hardware of at least two vendors working together to know Wi-Fi EasyMesh is universal. But then, things can get complicated in terms of liability or tech support. If a mixed Wi-Fi EasyMesh system is not working as expected, it’s hard to know which hardware vendor is at fault, and consumers might be stuck between two networking companies that point fingers at each other.

Of these new routers, the flagship Archer BE900 is the only one that’s a quad-band broadcaster, similar to the recently released Archer AXE300. The additional band is to increase the bandwidth on the 5GHz.

The Archer GE800 is TP-Link’s first Wi-Fi 7 gaming router—replacing the Archer GX90 or Archer AX11000. The company says it has “quad acceleration features for games” to deliver “exceptional performance for the most intense gaming networks.” The new router has a pretty radical design, looking like a landed Imperial Shuttle spacecraft in Star Wars.

Other details of the new Archer Wi-Fi 7 routers are still sketchy. The table below includes all the currently available information on them.

TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Archer routers: Quick hardware specifications

Archer BE900 BE24000 WiFi 7 RouterArcher BE800 BE19000 WiFi 7 RouterArcher BE550 BE9300 WiFi 7 RouterArcher GE800 BE19000 WiFi 7 Gaming Router
NameTP-Link Archer BE900
BE24000 Quad-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router
TP-Link
Archer BE800
Tri-Band BE19000
Wi-Fi 7 Router
TP-Link
Archer BE550
Tri-Band
BE9300
Wi-Fi 7 Router
TP-Link
Archer GE800
Tri-Band BE19000
Wi-Fi 7
Gaming Router
ModelArcher BE900Archer BE800Archer BE550Archer GE800
Wi-Fi BandwidthQuad-band
BE24000
Tri-Band BE19000 Tri-Band
BE9300
Tri-Band
BE19000
Bandwidth per Band2.4 GHz: 1376 Mbps
5 GHz-1: 5760 Mbps
5 GHz-2: 5760 Mbps
6 GHz: 11520 Mbps
2.4 GHz: 1376 Mbps
5 GHz: 5760 Mbps
6 GHz: 11520 Mbps
2.4 GHz: 574 Mbps
5 GHz: 2880 Mbps
6 GHz: 5760 Mbps
2.4 GHz: 1376 Mbps
5 GHz: 5760 Mbps
6 GHz: 11520 Mbps
EHT320 Support
(320MHz on 6 GHz Band)
Yes
Multi-Gig Ports1× 10 Gbps WAN/LAN
(RJ45/SFP+ Combo)
1× 10 Gbps WAN/LAN
4× 2.5 Gbps LAN
1× 10 Gbps WAN/LAN
(RJ45/SFP+ Combo)
1× 10 Gbps WAN/LAN
4× 2.5 Gbps LAN
1× 2.5 Gbps WAN
4× 2.5 Gbps LAN
1× 10 Gbps WAN/LAN (RJ45/SFP+ Combo)
1× 10 Gbps WAN/LAN
2× 2.5 Gbps LAN
Gigabit Ports1× Gbps LANNone4× 1 Gbps LAN
USB Ports1× USB 3.0
1× USB 2.0
1x USB 3.01× USB 3.0
1× USB 2.0
FeaturesLED Screen
EasyMesh-Compatible
EasyMesh-Compatible5 GHz Gaming Band
Abundant Gaming Acceleration
Features
Quad Acceleration for Games
Gaming Panel
MSRP (US)$699.99$599.99$299.99TBD
TP-Link’s upcoming Wi-Fi 6 standalone routers

Three TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Deco mesh systems: Gigabit ports are no longer

TP-Link’s Wi-Fi 7 Deco mesh hardware retains a similar cylindrical shape but with one significant change: It now tapers toward the top instead of the bottom.

TP-Link Deco BE85 Wi-Fi 7 Mesh System Ports
TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Hardware: The new Deco mesh routers, represented by the Deco BE85 pictured here, now have a slightly more stable design and only use Multi-Gig network ports. They also have a USB port.

This new design likely helps the broadcasters to stay more stable on a surface than the case of some previous Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 6 counterparts, such as the Deco AX5700 or Deco XE200.

The hardware of different grades comes in various physical sizes, but the appearance remains the same.

Another significant change: The Gigabit port is no longer. All TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 mesh variants, including the Deco BE95, Deco BE85, and Deco BE65, come with multiple Multi-Gig ports, either a few 2.5GbE, some 10GbE, or a mix of those.

The Deco BE95 and BE85 also support SFP+ by having a 10GbE Multi-Gig/SFP+ combo port. This type of combo port was first available in the Archer AXE300, giving consumers extra flexibility.

SFP+ in brief

Multi-Gig (Base-T) vs. SFP+

BASE-T (or BaseT) is the standard port type for data communication and refers to the wiring method used inside a network cable and the connectors at its ends, which is 8-position 8-contact (8P8C).

This type is known by a misnomer called Registered Jack 45 or RJ45. So, we’ll keep calling it RJ45.

On the other hand, the SFP or SFP+ (plus) port type is used for telecommunication and data communication, primarily in enterprise applications. SFP stands for small form-factor pluggable and is the technical name for what is often referred to as Fiber Channel or Fiber.

Best among Multi-Gigabit Routers: The Asus RT-AX89X 10GbpsTP-Link Archer AXE300 Ports Multi-Gig
BASE-T Multi-Gig vs. SFP+: The two are generally available as separate ports, such as in the Asus RT-AX89X‘s case (left), but can also be part of a combo port in some hardware, such as the TP-Link Archer AXE300.

For data communication, an SFP+ port has speed grades of either 1Gbps or 10Gbps. The older version, SFP, can only do 1Gbps, though it shares the same port type as SFP+. This type of port standard is more strict in compatibility with better reliability and performance.

While physically different, BASE-T and SFP/+ are parts of the Ethernet family, sharing the same networking principles and Ethernet naming convention—Gigabit Ethernet (1Gbps), Multi-Gig Ethernet (2.5GBASE-T, 5GABSE-T), or 10 Gigabit Ethernet (a.k.a 10GE, 10GbE, or 10 GigE).

Generally, you can get an adapter, called a “transceiver”, to connect a BASE-T device to an SFP or SFP+ port. Still, in this case, compatibility can be an issue—a particular adapter might only work (well) with the SFP/+ port of certain hardware vendors.

The BASE-T wiring is more popular thanks to its simple design and speed support flexibility. Some routers and switches have an RJ45/SFP+ combo, which includes two physical ports of each type, but you can use one at a time.

TP-Link Deco BE95: First Dual-6GHz quad-band hardware

Among the three new Decos, the Deco BE95 is the flagship, and it’s also the first quad-band broadcaster with two 6GHz bands.

Previously all quad-band broadcasters, including the Asus GT-AX16000, Netgear Orbi RBRE960, or TP-Link Archer AXE300, come with two 5GHz bands.

With two 6GHz bands, the Deco BE950 can use one as the dedicated backhaul. How that works out remains to be seen, but with the help of Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC), which allows higher broadcasting power, there’s a chance this band can overcome its innate short range, like in the case of existing Wi-Fi 6E mesh systems.

Generally, all tri-band Wi-Fi 6E broadcasters have difficulty making their 6GHz effective. The high frequency and 30dBm max broadcasting power make this band suitable only for open spaces. Wi-Fi 7 might change this via the support for AFC.

The table below includes the current information on the new Wi-Fi 7 Deco hardware.

TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Deco systems: Quick hardware specifications

Deco BE95 BE33000 Whole Home Mesh WiFi 7 SystemDeco BE65 BE11000 Whole Home Mesh WiFi 7 SystemDeco BE65 BE11000 Whole Home Mesh WiFi 7 System
NameTP-Link Deco BE95
BE33000 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 7 System
TP-Link
Deco BE85
BE22000 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 7 System
TP-Link
Deco BE65
BE11000 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 7 System
Wi-Fi BandwidthQuad-band
BE33000
Tri-Band BE22000Tri-Band
BE11000
Bandwidth per Band2.4GHz: 1148Mbps
5GHz (*): 8640Mbps
6GHz-1: 11520Mbps
6GHz-2: 11520Mbps
2.4GHz: 1376Mbps
5GHz (*): 8640Mbps
6GHz: 11520Mbps
2.4GHz: 574Mbps
5 GHz (*): 4320Mbps
6GHz: 5760Mbps
EHT320 Support
(320MHz on 6 GHz Band)
Yes
Multi-Gig Ports1× 10Gbps WAN/LAN (RJ45/SFP+
Combo)
1× 10Gbps WAN/LAN
2× 2.5Gbps WAN/LAN
1× 10Gbps WAN/LAN
(RJ45/SFP+ Combo)
1× 10 Gbps WAN/LAN
2× 2.5 Gbps LAN
4× 2.5Gbps WAN/LAN
Gigabit PortsNone
USB Ports1× USB 3.0
FeaturesAI-Driven Mesh
Ethernet Backhaul
Router/AP Mode
US MSRP$1199.99
(2-pack)
$999.99
(2-pack)
$799.99
(3-pack)
Hardware specifications: TP-Link’s upcoming Wi-Fi 6 standalone routers
(*) Due to local regulations on the spectrum, the 5 GHz band of the EU version cannot have 240MHz channel bandwidth and has approximately 67% of bandwidth compared to the corresponding US versions.

Two TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Omada business access points: The fun of DIY mesh continues

If you’ve never heard of TP-Link’s Omada access points, they are excellent ways to add Wi-Fi coverage to an existing network. And if you live in a large home or have a large business, a couple of them and a controller will work as a robust Wi-Fi mesh system.

Omada EAP780 BE22000 Enterprise WiFi 7
TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Hardware: The new Omada access point shares a wall/ceiling-mounting design similar to the existing Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 counterparts.

This segment of the broadcasters has been available since Wi-Fi 5, and I recently reviewed some of the Wi-Fi 6 options. They all proved excellent alternatives to canned mesh systems, including TP-Link’s own Deco.

TP-Link Omada access points: The best hardware for a robust DIY mesh

And for Wi-Fi 7, TP-Link introduced the Omada EAP770 and Omada EAP780. Both are PoE access points supporting PoE++ 10GbE Multi-Gig. The former has a single port, and the latter has an additional 10GbE port.

The two are tri-band broadcasters with a total bandwidth of 11000Mbps and 2200Mbps, respectively. Either works as a standalone solution, or you can use multiple units to create a seamless mesh, as mentioned above.

The table below includes all available, though likely incomplete, information on the new Omada access points.

TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Omada business access points: Quick hardware specifications

Omada EAP780 BE22000 Enterprise WiFi 7Omada EAP770 BE11000 Enterprise WiFi 7
NameTP-Link Omada EAP780 BE22000 Ceiling Mount Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Access PointTP-Link Omada EAP770 BE11000 Ceiling Mount Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Access Point
ModelOmada EAP780Omada EAP770
Wi-Fi BandwidthTri-band BE2200Tri-band BE11000
Bandwidth
per Band
2.4 GHz: 1376Mbps
5GHz {*}: 8640Mbps
6GHz: 11520Mbps
2.4 GHz: 574Mbps
5GHz {*}: 4320Mbps
6GHz: 5760Mbps
Multi-Gig Ports2x 10GbE 1x 10GbE
Gigabit PortsNone
PoE SupportPoE++
(802.3bt)
FeaturesBluetooth
Multi-Link Operation
4096-QAM
Mesh
Seamless Roaming
MU-MIMO
Private Pre-Shared Key (PPSK)
Omada App Support
Cloud Access
Integration with Omada SDN
Hardware specifications: TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Omada access points
{*} Due to local regulations on the spectrum, the 5 GHz band of the EU version cannot have 240MHz channel bandwidth and has approximately 67% of bandwidth compared to the corresponding US versions.

Homeshield 3.0 and Wi-Fi 7 Aginet gateways for Internet service providers

Besides the new standard Wi-Fi 7 devices above, TP-Link also showed off its latest online security version, the HomeShield version 3.0.

The company says this next-generation security software will provide “comprehensive, advanced security features including advertisement blocker and data tracking prevention.” That’s on top of safeguarding the user’s home network and applications against external attacks.

Homeshield on existing Wi-Fi 6 and 6E hardware has been available in two flavors, free Basic and Pro, which cost $6/month. It’s unclear how HomeSheiled 3.0’s implementation will pan out, but I guess it will be similar.

Finally, TP-Link also announced new products in its Aginet family of gateways based on Archer routers and Deco mesh systems above. Aginet is TP-Link hardware explicitly made for Internet service providers and available as standalone broadcasters, mesh systems, or 5G-enabled mobile gateways. They are only available from the support ISPs.

Pricing and availability

TP-Link says the new standalone Wi-Fi 7 Archer routers and Deco mesh above will ship in the first or second quarter of 2023.

Of those, the company said you’d be able to pre-order the Archer BE900 ($699.99), the 2-pack Deco BE85 ($999.99), and the 2-pack Deco BE95 ($1199.99) as soon as December 31, 2022.

You can start saving or getting a loan today and check back in early 2023 for their in-depth reviews. That’s if the claimed availabilities turn out to be true. Judging from past experiences with TP-Link, however, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Share what you just read!

Comments are subject to approval, redaction, or removal. You're in the no-nonsense zone and that applies BOTH ways.

It's generally faster to get answers via site/page search. Your question/comment is one of many Dong Knows Tech receives daily.  

  1. Strictly no bigotry, falsehood, profanity, trolling, violence, or spamming, including unsolicited bashing/praising/plugging a product, a brand, a piece of content, a webpage, or a person (•).
  2. You're presumed and expected to have read this page in its entirety, including related posts and links in previous comments - questions already addressed will likely be ignored.
  3. Be reasonable, attentive, and respectful! (No typo-laden, broken-thought, or cryptic comments, please!)

Thank you!

(•) If you have subscription-related issues or represent a company/product mentioned here, please use the contact page or a PR channel.

36 thoughts on “TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Hardware Unveiled: Archer Routers, Deco Systems, and Omada APs”

  1. Any idea when an TP-Link Archer GE800 review will be up? Seems to be everywhere now! Can’t wait to see your verdict.

    • If you can get me the router, Glen, I’ll make it a priority. If you don’t have it, here’s the donation page. Otherwise, you just have to wait and see. 🙂

  2. Hi Doug, You often talk about the benefits of a wired backhaul, but can you recommend products for an inverse topology whereby the backhaul must be wireless and the fronthaul must be wired? I’ve been having a hard time finding compact satellites with 6 (min) LAN ports so maybe each satellite should instead consist of a travel size WiFi extender (wired clients don’t roam) having a single 10Gbps port connected to a compact 6 port switch? If that make sense, do you have a recommendation for this configuration (i.e., single broadcaster plus 1-3 “compact” satellites using strictly wired fronthaul)?

    Thank you very much!

    • There’s no 🦄 in networking, HW. You might want to read this post. If so, take your time with it.

      In any case, I don’t do nonsense, so count me out if you wanted to follow up. But a bit of attention will help.

      Speaking of attention, the name is Dong. 🙂

      • My deep apologies for misspelling your name Dong!😳

        Thank you as always for the prompt response. I am a little surprised that there are not more applications with legacy (pre-WiFi) client hardware in separate rooms whereby it’s not cost effective to upgrade the clients nor to wire between the rooms. I guess that’s what Ethernet-to-WiFi adapters are for.

  3. Yesterday I setup the newly release 3-piece TP-Link BE85 mesh WiFi. WoW! Am I impressed! I updated to the latest firmware. All 75 devices in my house connected no problem. I’m upgrading from the TP-Link Deco M5. HUGE improvement! All my Ring cameras outside stay connected now and their signal strength has immensely improved. I easily get 1,000Mbps over WiFi now on my laptop with WiFi 6.

    I don’t care that WiFi 7 isn’t certified yet. THIS is the mesh WiFi I have been waiting for because of two things: 1. Multiple multi-gig ports on a mesh router, and; 2. 160Mhz channel width support.

    If you’re on the fence regarding TP-Links new BE85, get it! You won’t be disappointed. I have them all setup on 2.5GbE wired backhaul support. My phone and laptop roam seamlessly around the house perfectly just like the M5 units.

    My only complaint is that HomeShield Pro does not seem to do a good job at at blocking malicious websites. I enabled the free trial, but when visiting many websites listed on PhishTank website, TP-Link is literally not blocking any of the websites. From my understanding it’s now powered by Norton. Ewww. Netgear’s Home Armor is powered by Bitdefender. I will give Netgear credit where it’s deserved. Their Home Armor product is the best router security that I’ve tested over the years.

    • You should use the 10Gbps backhaul. The wireless backhaul is already better than 2.5Gbps in ideal conditions. Thanks for the input. I’m under NDA as when I can publish my take on it. 🙂

      • Both 10Gbps ports are being used. 1 connected to my ONT and the other connected to my computer.

        I guess I could connect my computer to one of the 2.5Gbps ports on the BE85 router. However, my next gaming computer is going to either have a 5Gbe or 10Gbe port, which brings me back to the second 10GbE port being used by my computer.

        The key word is “ideal” conditions. I always preferred wired. I think you do too if I remember correctly from your previous posts. I won’t know if the 2.5Gbps wired backhaul is the bottleneck until WiFi 7 devices come out. Since I haven’t been able to get more than 1,100Mbps download over WiFi, I will stay with keeping everything wired to my 2.5GbE unmanaged switch for wired backhaul support.

          • Oh, duh! lol Yes, I could do that. However, in my setup I would need two 10GbE switches. That’s over $600 right now (doh!) The 2.5GbE switch was only $100. Maybe in a few years if I see the need to upgrade to get maximum bandwidth I will and maybe 10GbE switch prices will come down by then. Thanks, Dong!

  4. In the last 24 hours, I have setup the Wifi 7 BE800 in my home for standalone use. Wifi performance, range and reliability are excellent so far. I have no 6E or 7 devices to test the 6HZ spectrum- but so far I am pleased with 2.4/5 GHZ performance/range. My fastest device (network wise) the S22 Ultra receives data at my Internet plan’s maximum speed.

    I am at least hopeful the router may eventually meet the requirements for full Wifi 7 certification- though only time will tell.

    The 2- 10 GHZ WAN/LAN ports (one with SFP) and the remaining 4- 2.5 GB ports are impressive- and hopefully when coupled with strong processing internals-will provide for significant added capabilities over the next 6-24 months. For example, I am anticipating increasing network speed to at least 2.5 GB/s over the course of the year and may purchase devices that can take advantage of the wired multi gig ports.

    Setup was easy and the overall experience has been solid. the IOT network capability was helpful and Homeshield Pro appears to work well for security.

      • Actually I have the S22 Ultra which I just realized does support Wi-Fi 6E (6Ghz). It is super fast in the same room as the router-but loses a lot of performance on 6Ghz compared to 5 GHz in rooms further away. This was expected however. I believe Wi-Fi 7 devices will not be as limited in this respect.

        • Interesting. I have similar experiences with wifi 6 and my ASUS XT8 and iPad- fine if in the same room, but once out of sight I really don’t notice any functional different over wifi5 (and I found some relatively unused bandwidth to use in my ultra-crowded wifi neighborhood).

          I’m hoping at least wifi7 because of its newness will be unused for long enough to not crowd the bandwidth too much.

          • Hi Eric. The key operative here is 6E, not wifi 6. 6E uses the 6GHZ spectrum and I believe routers are now constrained power-wise such that range is poor. So on my network, Wifi 6/5GHZ (S22) in the same room as the router has a 1.1 GB/sec speed on a 1.2 GB ISP plan. With 6E/6GHZ it goes to 1.3 GB/sec (I am guessing the plan is slightly over-provisioned). I also presume that as ISP plan speeds increase further, Wifi 6E will deliver more performance benefits. However the range issue, at least for many homeowners makes 6E a mixed blessing. However Wifi 7, should overcome this issue and offer comparatively very high Wifi Speeds and excellent range on the 6GHz spectrum. However I am not an expert in this area.

            Of course, while 7 is downward compatible- to take advantage of this speed increase requires Wifi 7 clients.

  5. Deco BE95 is already released on bestbuy/amazon (it’s OOS at the moment) , any plans to review it?

    • It’s been there as a place holder for months, Kevin. And yes, I do have plan to cover Wi-Fi 7.

  6. Do you believe the TP-Link Archer BE900 is superior to the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000 that you believe is one of the best on the market today? Talking purely on specs since the BE900 hasn’t been tested by you.

  7. On the BE95 model, what does the Combo WAN/LAN port mean? Could I use the 10GbE port for WAN, and then buy a 1GbE SFP+ to theoretically get 5 ports on the router, or will it always just be 4 ports max?

  8. If I want mesh, but would REALLY like VPN support, would going with 2 BE900 that support EasyMesh be the same as getting the BE95 model which is mesh and has 2 units?

    The dilemma is:
    1. Get 2x BE900 that support EasyMesh
    2. Get BE95 that does NOT support mesh, but supports mesh

    Not sure what is better. EasyMesh or Mesh? Are they they same. Thank you for your input.

    • Oops, #2 is supposed to say: 2. Get BE95 that does NOT support VPN, but supports mesh

      • We have to wait and see, Richard. None of these is available yet and I’m pretty sure the final version will be different.

  9. Hi Dong,
    Will wifi 7 router make any difference (speed, performance, distance, etc.) to the existing wifi5/6 clients? Or will it be the same as if these are connected to ax router?

    • Likely no. Its improvement involves the 6GHz band. But in a mesh that might help with the coverage — you can potentially place the broadcaster farther apart. Everything about Wi-Fi 7 remains to be seen, though.

  10. Was serious thinking of purchasing an AXE300, now they announce their wifi7 products, so I might as well wait.

    I wonder what TP-Link’s logic was of announcing their next gen of products just as the AXE300 becomes available at retail? They must know that’s going to discourage a lot of people like me to wait.

    • It’ll be a while for Wi-Fi 7 to be real. The company just wanted a publicity. I’d get whatever works today.

      • I realize it will be a while, but I don’t absolutely need to upgrade my router right now. So I might as well just wait on wifi7, however long it takes (I suspect a year or so). Maybe a deal will come up in that time.

        My biggest problem is the jammed bandwidth here, and since Asus enabled the upper 5g channels recently that seems to have helped my situation a bit.

  11. Great read, and great news on hardware from TP-Link. Thanks for the info, Dong.

    Was really hoping for some new updates to TP-Link’s OneMesh feature though. Any idea if TP-Link will release an update to support mesh (OneMesh) between existing routers?

    • I think the company is transitioning OneMesh over to EasyMesh, Arian. We’ll see how that goes.

  12. why the TP-Link Archer BE900 BE24000 Quad-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router comes with a single 6GHz band and the TP-Link Deco BE95 BE33000 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 7 System with two 6GHz bands?

Comments are closed.

🎯