WiFi 7 routers are finally hitting the market, and TP-Link’s Archer BE900 goes all-in on the new standard. I ran it for a few weeks in a 2,400 sq ft house with about 40 connected devices, and the difference from my old WiFi 6 setup was immediate.

On the 6 GHz band with a WiFi 7 laptop, I was pulling around 2.1 Gbps at close range. Through two walls at the far end of the house, that dropped to about 650 Mbps, still way more than most connections need. The 5 GHz bands held steady around 800 Mbps nearby, 300 Mbps at range. No dead spots anywhere, including the garage.

Most WiFi 7 routers ship with tri-band. The BE900 adds a fourth band, that extra 5 GHz radio is a big deal if your house is full of devices fighting for bandwidth. Streaming on the TV, video calls in the office, gaming in the basement, each gets its own lane.

I expected the touchscreen to be a gimmick. It’s not. Quick glance at connected devices, network speed, firmware updates, no app needed. You can even set it to show the time or weather. Small thing, but it makes the router feel less like a forgotten box on a shelf.

TP-Link’s Tether app walks you through setup in about 5 minutes. Nothing complicated. The whole process took less time than unboxing it.