TP-Link Archer BE230 vs NETGEAR Nighthawk RAX50

A current entry-level Wi-Fi 7 router against a mid-range Wi-Fi 6 one from two years earlier, and the interesting thing is how the older router still wins on the number most people read first.

The Nighthawk RAX50 is rated in the AX5400 class, with a four-stream 5 GHz radio that supports 160 MHz channels. The Archer BE230 is a BE3600-class dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router with two streams per band. To a Wi-Fi 6 laptop or phone - which is most of what a house owns today - the Netgear can deliver more over the air, because it has more streams on the band that does the work.

What the TP-Link has is everything around the radio. A 2.5 Gbps WAN port means a multi-gig plan is not capped at the door, where the Netgear's gigabit WAN caps everything at a gigabit regardless of the radio. Multi-gig LAN follows. Wi-Fi 7's efficiency features help with many devices at once, and TP-Link bundles its basic HomeShield security where Netgear's Armor is a trial that becomes a subscription.

So the honest comparison is a fast radio behind a slow port against a modest radio behind a fast one. On a gigabit-or-slower plan with Wi-Fi 6 clients, the Netgear's four streams are the better everyday experience. On a plan above a gigabit, or in a house buying Wi-Fi 7 devices, the Archer's ports and newer standard matter more than the Netgear's stream count.

Both are dual-band with no 6 GHz radio, both have a single USB port on the Netgear only, and neither supports mesh with other brands. The buyer's internet plan, more than either spec sheet, should decide this one.