Customer Ratings & Reviews

This is a fairly low-profile router with the latest technology. At this point, a purchase is likely to be more a matter of future-proofing until there are more devices operating on the 6Ghz frequency, but it works very well for all of my older devices. Set-up was easy. You can do it through their TP-Link Tether app or through a web-browser like you would any other router. Using the app seems easier than a normal set-up and walked me through all of the steps to set up all networks. Very simple and straight-forward. My primary concern with setting up a new router was how many devices need to be reconnected! This includes cameras, smart-plugs, thermostat, phones, tablets, TVs, printer... Ultimately, this was far less of an issue than I anticipated. I set up the new router with the same network name and password, and the vast majority of devices automatically connected to the new router. There are a few exceptions (a Skylight calendar, a camera I set up based on a Raspberry Pi) but all in all it was a very simple process.

Tl;dr: WiFi 7 provides some nice speed and stability improvements over previous generations which help improve connections in all bands. The addition of the 6Ghz band adds options for areas which are already congested with many networks. All aspects of the router perform well with newer computers and phones. Mesh or not This will work as an add on node with other Easy Mesh routers. However, the combination does not work as well as a native mesh system (such as the TP Link Deco). I have a medium sized house, around 2500 sq ft in total between 3 levels. I got this as an upgrade from a BE6500, so I could have the 6Gz band. Using the new one alone was all I needed for my phone and newer laptops. Adding the BE6500 back as an extender helped the TV in the basement and my son’s older laptop. My PC never switched to the extender, despite the higher signal quality. If you’re looking for connectivity for older, mobile devices I’d try something else. If the devices don’t move much, this will help. WiFi 7 I set up the BE9700 as a single access point next to my entertainment system. This allowed for wired access by some devices, which reduces conflicts. I have a large number of IoT devices in my house. To help maintain performance, the router’s set up suggests creation of a separate SSID (network) for those devices to use. This increases security as well as reduces contention for the network. We have a 300 Mbps connection. If I connect to the same network as all the IoT devices, my throughput is ~100 Mbps. When connected to a separate SSID used only for newer devices (though still running through the same router), the devices were at 305 Mpbs, even in the furthest reaches of the house. The link speed is significantly higher and would easily support a gig speed connection or higher. The 6GHz band provides a clean spectrum, reducing congestion and improving overall network stability. VPN capability This router supports both being both a VPN client and VPN server. As a client, it works with 3 popular subscription services including Nord VPN. With Nord (the one I use), you can select which city within the US, as well as servers outside the US. This is helpful for some streaming services which geolocate based on your IP address. As a server, this allows for a remote connection to your home network using Open VPN, a free open source service. Conclusion For those looking for a full featured router with 6Ghz, this is a great option at a decent price. However, the 6Ghz band may not add much function, depending on your location. WiFi 7 adds much more of the value needed to ensure fast & reliable speeds. While it will help with future proofing, it may not be worth the extra cost for everyone. TP-Link is an established brand offering a wide range of value priced networking equipment. I have every reason to believe this will operate well for years to come. Even so, consumers may want to do their own brand research before committing to something which may be in your home for years.

Overall All – Let me start by saying TP-Link is not my go-to recommendation brand but that said this is a very nice and powerful router. If you need a premium router this one is one of the best from a feature and usage standpoint. I did find the range on the high band a little bit lacking but nothing that would keep me from recommending it. Packaging – the unit is well packaged and protected from any type of damage through normal unboxing and setup. Touch and feel – the router has some size to It and antennas everywhere. It is not something you want to leave out as a conversation piece – it’s just the basic router configuration with antennas everywhere. Setup – One big positive and a negative You can use the TP-link app to set it up and kudos to them for putting a QR link code on a separate sheet in the box. This is a whole easier than trying to scan the label on the unit once you have all of the wires connected. The setup was pretty smooth – The thing that was a bit of an annoyance is that the light configuration is different on the app device than on the actual route so I started the setup before it was ready and had to abort and restart, The app guides you through everything and was pretty much self-explanatory – took about 8-10 mins before it was up and running. I did experience one issue in that it gave me a connection error at the end however everything worked as I expected. Functionality – from the bell and whistles standpoint this has everything you want and it can be accessed through the app – While everything was not overly intuitive in the apps after a bit of going through I was pretty easily able to find and work through the features. As for the port, it has everything you need 10G, 2.g, and 3 2.5 G LANs (really would like to have seen more on a router in this price range). It does allow for connecting to a VPN – this is a nice feature that I have not seen on every router. I was able to integrate it into my Google Echo system and do a few basic things like turn guest Wi-Fi on and off and reboot – there are others but I did not verify. As for speed and range – the speed within about 20 - 30 ft (at my location) was outstanding – outside of that it was still pretty strong but nothing that was any better than my current Wi-Fi 6 router. Overall I would give this a 4+ star rating however I would only get it if you need to replace the current router due to age or defect. If you currently have a good Wi-Fi 6 router, I’d keep my money in my pocket until you need one.

I am getting fiber internet soon and going from 800mbps to 2,000mbps so I got this to make sure that I was going to have the equipment necessary to handle the new speeds. I have a lot of TP-Link devices and good experience with them, so I was surprised when I had a tough time getting this new device to work properly. Setup was easy enough. I plugged it in and downloaded the Tether app to get it set up. It was fast and I was back online in no time. I sat down to stream some tv that night and was plagued with connection issues. Buffering, low quality, and the internet downright disconnecting. I tried moving the router closes, disabling wifi on other devices, and setting the tv to priority in the app. The tv was trying to connect to the weaker 5ghz band and I couldn’t force it over to the 2.4 band. I tried to fix this by creating a guest network on the 2.4 band only and connecting the tv to that one. It was better, but I ran into an issue with the internet dropping entirely. Not just a weak connection, a full disconnect. I bought a $100 range extender and made sure it would be compatible with the BE9700. When checking the extender in the app, I still couldn’t get the tv to connect to the closer range extender. Alright that’s just one device I can work with it. But then I started having full internet disconnects from my WIRED desktop computer. Hardlined via Cat6 Ethernet cable directly from my motherboard into the router. It would stay connected for a little bit and then intermittently blink in and out. I can’t figure this one out. So hopefully these problems get fixed with a future firmware update. I have restarted my modem, router, and devices trying to get this to work. It works 85-90% of the time, but I need that 100% reliability.