Why a Router Ended Up Being the Star PC Upgrade
When you think about exciting PC hardware, you probably picture new graphics cards, high core count CPUs, or flashy mechanical keyboards. A router is usually the least glamorous box in the room. Yet for one PC hardware reviewer, the single best upgrade of the last five years was not a GPU or a processor. It was a Wi Fi 7 mesh router: the TP Link Deco BE68.
This might sound strange until you realise just how much of your gaming and everyday PC use depends on your home network. From downloading 100 GB games to streaming, cloud saves, and multiplayer sessions, your router is the quiet boss of your digital life. The Deco BE68 turned an average connection into a consistently fast, frustration free experience for an entire household.
Instead of a small speed bump, the upgrade delivered a complete quality of life improvement for both work and gaming machines. No more arguments about slow internet while a huge game download runs in the background. No more struggling with Wi Fi dead zones. Just solid performance everywhere in the house.
What Makes Wi Fi 7 Mesh So Powerful
The magic of this setup comes from two things working together: Wi Fi 7 and a mesh network.
The reviewer already had a fast 1.1 Gbps fibre connection to the home, but the older Wi Fi 6 setup could only deliver around 450 to 500 Mbps to a PC. Walls, layout, and the position of the office all made it tough to run ethernet cables, and powerline adapters were not an option. That left the network bottlenecked by wireless gear that could not keep up.
The Deco BE68 changes this in several important ways.
Mesh networking You get two or three units in the box. These nodes work together to create one seamless network covering your whole home. You can link them with ethernet if possible, or let them talk to each other wirelessly. As you move around the house, your devices stay connected without annoying drops.
Wi Fi 7 speed and stability The Deco BE68 supports the latest Wi Fi 7 standard. On PCs with Wi Fi 7 capable motherboards, the reviewer can now hit the full speed of the 1.1 Gbps fibre connection over wireless. That means game downloads can saturate the line instead of crawling along at half speed.
Triple band design The system uses three separate wireless bands. This helps spread traffic out and keeps performance high even when many devices are connected. You can game or download without wrecking everyone else’s Netflix stream.
Multi Link Operation for older hardware Wi Fi 7 brings a feature called Multi Link Operation. In simple terms, it lets devices use multiple bands more intelligently for lower latency and better reliability. Even older Wi Fi hardware benefits from the smarter, more capable network backbone. So your older laptop or non gaming gear still sees a noticeable improvement.
The result is a home network that finally lives up to the speed the ISP is selling. With only two of the three included nodes installed, the reviewer can reliably hit the internet speed limit on supported PCs. No cables snaking around the house. No complex configuration.
Real World Benefits For PC Gamers And Power Users
On paper speed numbers are fun, but what really matters is what changes for your day to day use. In this case, the difference is dramatic.
Massive game downloads are no longer a pain Huge titles like Baldur’s Gate 3 can now be downloaded in under 20 minutes for testing. For regular gamers this kind of speed means less time staring at progress bars and more time actually playing.
Household peace during heavy use Previously, downloading a 100 GB game could cause someone’s movie to buffer or make the internet feel sluggish. Now the reviewer no longer hears “Why is the internet slow?” every time a big download runs. The network has enough headroom and smart traffic handling to keep everyone happy.
Clean separation of devices The Deco system makes it easy to set up multiple networks. The reviewer runs separate networks for heavy users, guests, and IoT devices. That keeps performance more predictable and improves security without complicated router menus.
Better support hardware This router upgrade works alongside other ergonomics and performance gear. Keyboards like the Kinesis Gaming Freestyle Edge RGB Plus and mice such as the Razer Pro Click V2 Vertical make long work sessions more comfortable. Gaming laptops like the Alienware 18 Area 51 and high end CPUs such as the Ryzen 9 9950X3D handle the raw performance. But all of that power is limited if the network drags. The router unlocks more of what those machines can actually do online.
Interestingly, even though powerful GPUs and high end CPUs might be more exciting to read about, none of them had as big an impact on the reviewer’s everyday life as the Deco BE68. It quietly improved gaming, testing workflows, and the general mood of everyone using the network.
That is why this otherwise unassuming Wi Fi 7 mesh router stands out in a year full of impressive PC hardware. It solved real world problems in a way that everyone in the home benefits from, even if they do not notice what changed. For PC gamers and hardware enthusiasts, that is a strong reminder that sometimes the most important upgrade is not inside your case at all.
If you are planning your next round of PC upgrades, it might be worth looking beyond GPUs and CPUs for a moment. A modern Wi Fi 7 mesh setup could be the difference between having high end hardware on paper and actually feeling that speed in every game download, every patch, and every online match you play.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/networking/out-of-all-the-new-hardware-that-has-passed-through-my-hands-in-2025-nothing-has-made-an-impact-like-a-certain-wi-fi-7-router-has/
