TP-Link’s first Wi-Fi 8 router is almost here

Jess Weatherbed is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews. The Wi-Fi 8 standard is far from finalized, but TP-Link is almost ready to release its first hardware targeting the next-gen spec.

It unveiled the Archer 8 Ultra tri-band router and Deco 8 Ultra mesh system at IFA 2026, which utilize the upcoming IEEE 802.11bn standard to “address the connectivity problems people actually notice” instead of focusing on speed upgrades, according to TP-Link’s announcement. The Archer 8 Ultra features 18 internal antennas, and can deliver wireless speeds of up to 19Gbps and 10Gbps over wired connection. The Deco 8 Ultra mesh system provides up to 22Gbps over wireless and 10Gbps wired connectivity, according to TP-Link, with a three-pack covering up to 9,800 square feet and supporting more than 200 connected devices.

TP-Link hasn’t revealed any prices, but says the Archer 8 Ultra will be available for preorder in “select regions” starting on September 30th. Availability for the Deco 8 is planned for sometime in Q1 2027, with other Wi-Fi 8 products — including range extenders, adapters, and the Roam 8 travel router — to follow in Q2 2027. The Wi-Fi 7 standard was only finalized in January 2024, so these new products are set to arrive before many people have had the chance to upgrade to the previous specification.

Wi-Fi 8 also isn’t expected to receive a finalized certification until May 2028. TP-Link clearly wants to get ahead of the competition, however, and soothe any concerns regarding how its next-gen products will be impacted by the US ban on foreign-made routers — while TP-Link’s Wi-Fi 8 products use Broadcom, Qualcomm, and MediaTek chipsets, it says it’s using “US-led hardware and software engineering to deliver the most reliable Wi-Fi ever built.” Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates. Jess Weatherbed

Source: The Verge