TP-Link introduced Archer be550 and be9300 wifi 7 routers, lower segment models of wifi 7 products in addition of its ultimate Archer BE900 and Archer BE800. How tp-link be550 vs asus and be550 vs netgear perform?
In this article:
- What this be550 does
- Archer BE550 vs BE9300
- Archer BE550 vs BE800
- Archer BE550 vs Asus vs Netgear
- Spec comparison tables
What this BE550 does
Wifi -7 technology, the next generation of wifi standards has been around and few networking vendors have adopted this wifi 7 technology into their latest products. You can say TP-Link that have introduced few series of Deco wifi 7 such as Deco BE85, BE95, and Archer BE900, BE850, and still more. So have Asus and Netgear with their few wifi 7 products. However, most of those high end products with this latest wifi 7 standard are mostly tagged with costly price point.
Budget-friendly wifi 7 product
It is therefore TP-Link introduced lower level network segment with this next wifi 7 technology with its Archer BE550 and BE9300 wifi 7 routers with budget friendly price point under $300 USD. On the other hand, you can find that few products based on wifi 6/6e are tagged with higher price point such as Asus with its Rog Rapture series.
What make wifi 7 set apart from wifi 6/6e?
There are source of discussions out there regarding this new wifi 7 standards that will be officially released end of 2024. What makes significant difference is MLO (Multi-link Operation) feature that allows the system with two or three radio bands to enable simultaneous connections across multiple bands, including the aggregation of 5GHz and 6GHz bands for multi-gig bandwidth demand.
Wifi6 doesn’t come with 6GHz band, but the enhancement wifi 6e does. Both wifi6 and wifi6e feature channel bandwidth up to 160MHz, but the new wifi7 supports up to 320MHz channel bandwidth.
Simultaneous 3-band
Typically ultimate models of wifi7 products come with quad radio bands, however middle range wifi7 models come with three bands. This tp-link archer be550 comes equipped with three radio bands with the following signal rates:
- 574Mbos @2.4GHz;
- 5760Mbos @6GHz
- 2880Mbps @5GHz
with total aggregated bandwidth up to 9214Mbps (BE9300). So if currently your wifi network is still based on legacy wifi5 and you want to taste the next generation of wifi 7 technology, you may consider this budget friendly Archer BE550.
Archer BE550 vs BE9300
In this lower wifi 7 network segments, TP-Link introduced twin models; the Archer BE550 and Archer BE9300 which work at the same network segment. So what makes these archer models set apart? Both models are designed with the same physical body and the same footprint. Both models come with same number of Ethernet ports (5ports). However, Archer BE9300 comes with 2x 2.5Gbps ports and 3×1.0gbps LAN ports. On the other hand, BE550 comes with 5x 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports.
In terms of VPN features, Archer BE9300 supports both WireGuard Server and clienst, but Archer BE550 doesn’t. These two items make these two archer series set apart. While all other spec and features are the same except those Ethernet ports and VPN feature.
Spec comparison table BE550 vs BE9300
The following table 1 shows you spec comparison table between Archer be550 and be9300.
Table 1 Archer BE550 vs BE9300
| Model | Archer BE550 | Archer BE9300 |
| Ethernet Ports | 1 x 2.5 Gbps WAN 4 x 2.5 Gbps LAN | 1x 2.5 Gbps WAN 1x 2.5 Gbps LAN 3x 1.0 Gbps LAN |
| WireGuard VPN Server / client | N/A | Yes |
This product is currently the lowest level of wifi 7 router products offered by TP-Link. The higher level of these Archer series is Archer BE800, and the price is almost doubled as BE550.
Archer BE550 vs BE800
What makes the Archer BE800 is tagged with double price that of BE550? Let’s take a look at the following spec comparison table.
Table 1 Archer BE550 vs BE800
| Archer Series | Archer BE800 | Archer BE550 |
| Wifi | Tri-band BE19000 with Easy Mesh compatible | Tri-band BE9300 with Easy Mesh compatible |
| Signal rates | 11520 Mbps @6GHz 5760 Mbps @5GHz 1376 Mbps @2.4GHz | 574Mbos @2.4GHz; 5760Mbos @6GHz 2880Mbps @5GHz |
| Antennas | 8x Optimally Positioned Internal Antennas | 6x Smart Internal Antennas |
| Ethernet Ports | 4× 2.5 Gbps LAN Ports (5 Gbps Aggregation Speed) 10 Gbps WAN/LAN Port 10 Gbps SFP+ Fiber / RJ45 Ethernet Combo WAN/LAN Port | 1x 2.5 Gbps WAN 4x 2.5 Gbps LAN |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 | 1x USB 3.0 |
| Router / AP Modes | Yes | Yes |
| Guest Network | Guest network each band (3x) | Guest network each band (3x) |
| On body display | Displays the weather, time, text, and even emojis with up to 3000+ customized graphics | N/A |
| Price | $499.99 | $299.99 |
See that the price difference between BE550 and BE800 is around $200 (BE550 is 40% cheaper than BE800).
With the budget friendly products based on next generation of wifi 7 technology, it is a challenge for previous models of wifi 6e products to compete with this Archer BE550 model. There are few models of today’s wifi 6/6e standards such as Asus Rog Rapture GT-AXE11000, and one of Netgear wifi 6e products – the Netgear raxe500 which the prices so far are around $450 in Amazon.
Archer BE550 vs Netgear vs Asus
Netgear has released its wifi 7 products including Orbi 970 series, and Netgear RS700 wifi 7 router. However, their price points are still costly. Its wifi 6e product Netgear raxe500 axe11000 is also more expensive compared with Archer BE550.
So far Asus has released its wifi 7 product, the Asus RT-be96u BE19000, and the price so far is still costly around $499. While its wifi 6e product such as Asus ROG Rapture gt-axe11000 is also still high around $599.99.
See also TP-Link Archer Axe300 vs Asus Rog Rapture AXE16000.
So when you would like to taste the next generation of wifi 7 technology, considering archer be550 is a good idea which is budget-friendly products compared with other similar products in the market instead of choosing wifi 6e products,
Let’s take netgear raxe500 and asus gt-axe11000 and compare them with new Archer BE550. Please refer to the following spec comparison tables below.
Wifi technology
Archer BE550 adopted next generation of wifi 7, but its competitors Asus and Netgear are still based on latest wifi 6e technology. Archer is one step forward, one level higher wifi generation than its competitors, asus and netgear. In terms of wifi generation, be550 is more advantages and yet the price is cheaper than its competitors.
All the three products support 6GHz radio band, however wifi 7 supports 320MHz channel bandwidth, while the other two products support up to 256MHz. Moreover, both asus gt-axe11000 and netgear axe11000 don’t support MLO (Multi-link Operation), but archer 550 does. This MLO delivers huge bandwidth when the demand for this high bandwidth exists. However, it can only work when connecting to the same compatible wifi 7 devices.
Ethernet Ports
For budget friendly product that support next generation of wifi 7 technology, and come equipped with five multi-gig 2.5Gbps ethernet ports, this BE550 product is really generous. You can connect to multi-gig Internet plan up to 2Gbps from your internet provider, and you still have four wired LAN connections to high speed wired devices such as NAS, computers , game consoles etc.
Netgear raxe500 only comes with one 2.5Gbps configurable either for WAN or LAN port, the other ports are 1.0Gbps, so does Asus GT-axe11000. Both asus and netgear Ethernet ports support link aggregation, but Archer be550 doesn’t. Archer comes with multi-gig 2.5Gbps ports, no need of link aggregation feature, so it’s easy to setup.
Spec comparison Archer vs Netgear
Table 2 below shows you spec comparison between be550 and raxe500.
Table 2 Archer wifi 7 vs Netgear
| Wifi 7 router model | Archer BE550 | Netgear Nighthawk Raxe500 |
| Wifi | Tri-band BE9300 with Easy Mesh compatible | Simultaneous tri-band axe11000 wifi 6e with 12-streams |
| Signal rates | 574Mbos @2.4GHz; 5760Mbos @6GHz 2880Mbps @5GHz | 1,200 Mbps @2.4GHz 4×4; 4.8 Gbps @5GHz 4×4; 4.8 Gbps @6GHz 4×4 |
| Antennas | 6x Smart Internal Antennas | 8x Internal antennas |
| Ethernet Ports | 1x 2.5 Gbps WAN 4x 2.5 Gbps LAN | 1x Gigabit WAN port (support aggregated with LAN port #1); 4x Gigabit LAN port with aggregated link support (Port #3 and #4); 1x 2.5Gbps WAN / LAN configurable |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 | 2x USB 3.0 |
| Guest Network | Guest network each band (3x) | Yes, secure and separate guest network |
| Processor | High performance processor, no detail | Powerful quad-core 1.8GHz processor |
| Network security | HomeShield Security | NETGEAR ARMOR Advanced cyber security service –paid one subscription; Support WPA3 |
| Price | $299.99 | $599.99 |
See that the price for netgear raxe500 is twice as much expensive as archer be550, this product is worth buying to taste the next generation of wifi 7 technology.
Spec comparison Archer vs Asus
Table 3 below represents spec comparison between be550 and asus axe11000. One thing what you need to notice is that Asus gt-axe11000 is designed for gamers in mind with its five gaming features. These features are essential to boost the online gaming performance; on the other hand Archer be550 doesn’t come with specific gaming features.
Table 3 Archer wifi 7 vs Asus
| Wifi 7 router model | Archer BE550 | Asus Rog Rapture GT-AXE11000 |
| Wifi | Tri-band BE9300 with Easy Mesh compatible | Simultaneous tri-band ax11000 wifi 6e gaming router with AiMesh support |
| Signal rates | 574Mbos @2.4GHz; 5760Mbos @6GHz 2880Mbps @5GHz | 1,200 Mbps @2.4GHz 4×4; 4.8 Gbps @5GHz 4×4; 4.8 Gbps @6GHz 4×4 |
| Antennas | 6x Smart Internal Antennas | 8x external antennas with power amplifiers |
| Ethernet Ports | 1x 2.5 Gbps WAN 4x 2.5 Gbps LAN | 1xGigabit WAN port (supports WAN aggregation link) 1×2.5Gbps WAN/LAN port 4x Gigabit LAN with Link aggregation |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 | 2x USB 3.2 |
| Game features | N/A | Game Boost / Acceleration Game Radar WTFast ROG_First OpenNAT (Game Profile) Gaming Port |
| Processor | High performance processor, no detail | Asus AiProtection Pro powered by Trend Micro with regular auto security signature update |
| Network security | HomeShield Security | 1.8GHz 64-bit Quad-core CPU with 1GB RAM and 256MB Flash |
| Price | $299.99 | $549.99 |
Which One to choose
Now, should you prefer to step one level higher in implementing wifi technology, archer be550 is worth buying. When you are a gamer in mind, you may like to choose Asus rog rapture gt-axe11000.
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Related products
Other wifi 7 products you may consider are eero and arris g54. Amazon introduced its ultimate All new eero Max 7 pro which comes with new look, more stylist than its previous models. Should you like a compact all-in-one device, a wifi 7 router with built-in DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem, you may consider new Arris G54 cable modem router.