Changing your router makes sense when Wi-Fi is the bottleneck in your home, not the line. Wi-Fi 7 won’t make a 1 Gbps fibre connection faster in itself, but it holds up better when ten or twenty devices are connected at home, and it lets you make use of the 2.5 Gbps ports with a NAS or a PC. We have selected seven models on sale in Italy today, from the cheapest to the most complete, and checked prices at MediaWorld and Euronics on 1 November.
In brief
- The best choice for almost everyone: TP-Link Archer BE550, €201.38 at MediaWorld. Three bands including 6 GHz, 2.5 Gbps ports and a price still under €210.
- The cheapest: TP-Link Archer BE3600, €99.46 at MediaWorld. No-frills dual-band Wi-Fi 7 for small homes.
- The most complete: FRITZ!Box 5690 Pro, €360 at Euronics. Modem, router, telephone exchange and smart home hub in a single device.
TP-Link Archer BE3600: the cheapest Wi-Fi 7
Today’s price: €99.46 at MediaWorld (marketplace seller).
It’s the cheapest way into Wi-Fi 7. It works on 2.4 and 5 GHz, claims around 3.6 Gbps in total and has a 2.5 Gbps WAN port, useful if your line is faster than a gigabit. It has no 6 GHz band, so the advantage over a good Wi-Fi 6 router shows up mainly with the latest phones and with MLO, the feature that uses two bands at once.
A note on the price: the same site has a second listing for this model at €178.26, which also includes a USB 3.0 port. If you want a shared network drive, check which of the two you are ordering.
Who it’s for: a flat of up to 70-80 m², a line of up to 1 Gbps, a tight budget.
ASUS RT-BE82U: five 2.5 Gbps ports for under €200
Today’s price: €191.61 at MediaWorld (marketplace seller).
The ASUS RT-BE82U is a dual-band BE6500 with wired connectivity that is out of the ordinary for its class: one WAN and four LAN ports at 2.5 Gbps, plus a USB 3.2. Inside is a quad-core processor of around 2 GHz with 1 GB of RAM, enough to run VPNs and security filters without slowing the network. Like all recent ASUS models, it can be paired with other routers in your home using AiMesh, the manufacturer’s mesh system.
The limitation is the same as the BE3600’s: no 6 GHz. But it is worth far more than it costs if you have PCs, consoles and a NAS to connect by cable.
Who it’s for: anyone with lots of wired devices who wants a configurable router without spending €300.
TP-Link Archer BE550: the best value for money
Today’s price: €201.38 at MediaWorld (marketplace seller; the listing calls it ArcherBE9300, but it is the same model).
This is our recommendation for most homes. The BE550 is tri-band, with 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz, and the 6 GHz band is where Wi-Fi 7 shows its edge over Wi-Fi 6: more free channels and less interference from the neighbours. The ports are 2.5 Gbps and there is a USB port for connecting a drive.
Dong Knows Tech gives it 8/10, calling it low-cost Wi-Fi 7, and measures real-world speeds of around 1.5 Gbps with a Wi-Fi 7 client nearby. The weak point is range: on 5 and 6 GHz the signal drops noticeably beyond a dozen metres or so, and the reviewer recommends it for homes of up to about 150 m². In a large home or one with several floors you need two units or a mesh. Some advanced security and parental control features in the TP-Link app are paid.
Who it’s for: a medium-sized home or flat, a line of up to 1-2.5 Gbps, a family with lots of recent phones and laptops.
ASUS RT-BE88U: for those who want the most from the cable
Today’s price: €315.71 at MediaWorld (marketplace seller).
Nine ports: one 10G RJ45, one 10G SFP+, four 2.5G and four at 1 Gbps. Four detachable external antennas, a 2.6 GHz quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, AiProtection Pro for security. It is the router for people with a small home lab: a fast NAS, several PCs, a 2.5 or 10 Gbps FTTH fibre line.
It has to be said that it is dual-band: no 6 GHz. Dong Knows Tech recommends it with precisely this caveat (8.4/10) and advises buying it if you can do without 6 GHz. Tom’s Hardware is harsher on wireless performance: in tests on a congested network, throughput fell to 606 Mbps at around two metres and 302 Mbps at around eight. If Wi-Fi is the priority, the BE550, which costs over €100 less, is the more sensible choice.
Who it’s for: anyone connecting many devices by cable who wants an advanced network, with VPN and fine-grained control.
TP-Link Deco BE25 (2-pack): the budget mesh
Today’s price: €279.98 at MediaWorld (marketplace seller, pack of two units).
If your home has two floors or reinforced-concrete walls, a single router isn’t enough. The Deco BE25 is the most affordable Wi-Fi 7 mesh: dual-band, each unit has two 2.5 Gbps ports and the spec sheet claims up to 150 connected devices. Dong Knows Tech is clear about its value: it is Wi-Fi 7 on paper, without 6 GHz and without 320 MHz channels, and its strong point is the price. The measured performance is still good, though: over a gigabit near the node and close to a gigabit further away. We recommend connecting at least one unit with an Ethernet cable, so the backhaul doesn’t eat into the wireless bandwidth.
Who it’s for: a home of 100-150 m² with several rooms or floors, without enthusiast demands.
FRITZ!Box 7690: for those still on ADSL or VDSL
Today’s price: €329 at Euronics.
The FRITZ!Box 7690 is a modem-router with dual-band Wi-Fi 7 at a claimed 7.1 Gbps. It has a built-in DSL modem of up to 300 Mbit/s (including ADSL2+), so it directly replaces your provider’s modem on a copper line. With an Ethernet cable in the 2.5 Gbps WAN port it also works with fibre or cable. There are four ports: two at 2.5 Gbps and two at 1 Gbps.
Its advantage over a TP-Link is the telephony and smart home side: a DECT base for cordless phones and devices, two sockets for analogue phones, a built-in answering machine, Zigbee, WireGuard and IPSec VPN. FRITZ! guarantees automatic updates and a five-year warranty. For the details, read our review of the FRITZ!Box 7690.
Who it’s for: FTTC or ADSL lines, anyone who still uses a landline or wants a reliable smart home hub.
FRITZ!Box 5690 Pro: the most complete
Today’s price: €360 at Euronics (list price €449.99; €321.49 at MediaWorld).
The 5690 Pro is the top of the range: tri-band Wi-Fi 7 with 6 GHz at up to a theoretical 11,530 Mbit/s, five ports (one 2.5 Gbps and four at 1 Gbps), a built-in DSL modem and an SFP slot for a FRITZ!SFP GPON or AON fibre module. That last point matters in Italy only if your provider allows you to connect your own module in place of the ONT: if your fibre arrives with a separate ONT, the router simply connects by Ethernet to the 2.5 Gbps WAN port. There are also DECT, Zigbee and a USB 3.1.
The cost is high, but you are buying a device that replaces your router, cordless phones and smart home hub for years. For a lower price, the 7690 is the way to go.
Who it’s for: large families, remote workers, anyone who wants a single, long-supported solution.
How to choose
How big is your home? Up to 80 m², a good single router such as the BE550 or BE82U is enough. Between 100 and 150 m², or over several floors, a mesh such as the Deco BE25 is a better bet, or a FRITZ!Box paired with a FRITZ!Repeater 1700, which today costs €149 at Euronics and creates a mesh network managed by the main router.
Do you really need the 6 GHz band? It is what sets high-end Wi-Fi 7 apart: more wide channels and less interference in crowded apartment blocks. But it has a shorter range than 5 GHz, so it works best in the same room or the next one. For small homes and lines of up to 1 Gbps, dual-band models are enough.
What matters most in Italy? If your line is FTTH fibre, your provider almost always supplies an ONT: the router to buy is the one that connects by Ethernet to its port. With FTTC, on the other hand, you need a model with a built-in DSL modem, or you keep your provider’s modem and use the new router behind it. For details on the alternatives to fibre, also read Wi-Fi 7 and 5G FWA beyond fibre.
Frequently asked questions
Does Wi-Fi 7 work with my old devices?
Yes: Wi-Fi 7 routers are backward compatible with Wi-Fi 6, 5 and 4. The biggest benefits, however, only show with phones, laptops and network cards that support the new standard.
Are the speeds printed on the box real?
No. Figures such as 9,300 or 18,490 Mbit/s are theoretical sums of all the bands. In real-world tests a Wi-Fi 7 client reaches around 1.5-2 Gbps in the best conditions; walls, distance and interference lower the figures a lot.
Can I use my own router instead of my provider’s?
In Italy, yes: you are free to choose your modem. You need your provider’s access parameters (often a VLAN and PPPoE credentials for fibre) and, if you have your provider’s VoIP telephony, it is worth checking compatibility first.
Is a mesh better, or a more powerful router?
If the problem is coverage, a mesh. If the problem is speed near the router, a tri-band model. A second node connected with an Ethernet cable is worth more than any more expensive router.
Prices checked on 1 November 2026 at MediaWorld and Euronics. Prices from MediaWorld marketplace sellers can vary from one seller to another and change within a few days.
Written by the SpazioiTech newsroom with the help of AI tools, from facts verified across at least two independent outlets, and checked before publication. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Translated from the Italian original. Read in Italian
