Costco Members: TP-Link Archer BE9500 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router

sonic2000

Jan 13, 2026 4:54 PM

218 Comments

Joined Nov 2008

sonic2000Jan 13, 2026 4:54 PM

218 Comments

Quote from whatgooddeal

:

just run opnsense or openwrt if you are paranoid.

Openwrt supported?

Minger

Jan 13, 2026 5:23 PM

1.9K Comments

Joined Jun 2005

MingerJan 13, 2026 5:23 PM

1.9K Comments

Quote from Jayms

:

My router & modem are both 8-10 years old. If I upgrade to this router, what do I need to upgrade my modem to?

no, they're separate

linh811

Jan 13, 2026 5:38 PM

265 Comments

Joined Jan 2014

linh811Jan 13, 2026 5:38 PM

265 Comments

Quote from SAN_MARINO

:

TP-Link is a trash brand.

user error

6

1

tien113

Jan 13, 2026 6:54 PM

208 Comments

Joined Dec 2012

tien113Jan 13, 2026 6:54 PM

208 Comments

Quote from SAN_MARINO

:

TP-Link is a trash brand.

no, it's not.

kpaul14

Jan 13, 2026 7:03 PM

127 Comments

Joined Jun 2016

kpaul14Jan 13, 2026 7:03 PM

127 Comments

I'm in for 1. Apparently this can be used in "AP only" mode and I'll attach it to my Ubiquiti router to be the WiFi 7 AP I always wanted. Worth a shot with Costco's return policy to see if 6Ghz adds any improvement to game streaming

1

ShrewdHorn835

Jan 13, 2026 7:08 PM

61 Comments

Joined Apr 2020

ShrewdHorn835Jan 13, 2026 7:08 PM

61 Comments

Wonder if you can get 3 of these and run them as a mesh?

Alexey87Cinci

Jan 13, 2026 7:23 PM

11 Comments

Joined Nov 2024

Alexey87CinciJan 13, 2026 7:23 PM

11 Comments

What's the catch?. MOST of your house hold items will not support wi-wi7 including your cellphone. So this is future proof purchase.

h0lysh1etbucket

Jan 13, 2026 11:45 PM

93 Comments

Joined Jan 2021

h0lysh1etbucketJan 13, 2026 11:45 PM

93 Comments

Quote from munkle

:

Tri band can also mean it has a second 5ghz band instead of 6ghz. I haven't really seen it often on wifi 7 routers much but it was common on tri band WiFi 6 routers.

https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-n...er-be9500/

this says 6ghz, not sure if its related to your comment.

1

RussellBell

Jan 14, 2026 12:42 AM

1.1K Comments

Joined Dec 2011

RussellBellJan 14, 2026 12:42 AM

1.1K Comments

Quote from Alexey87Cinci

:

What's the catch?. MOST of your house hold items will not support wi-wi7 including your cellphone. So this is future proof purchase.

You're going wi-wi on your cellphone???

itank2

Jan 14, 2026 1:23 AM

741 Comments

Joined Nov 2010

itank2Jan 14, 2026 1:23 AM

741 Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank itank2

Quote from Alexey87Cinci

:

What's the catch?. MOST of your house hold items will not support wi-wi7 including your cellphone. So this is future proof purchase.

I own several Wi-Fi 7 computers and laptops, it's definitely worth it for the improved reliability and speed over Wi-Fi 5 and 6. It improved the signal for older Wi-Fi 5 and 6 devices as well. It's a relatively cheap and easy upgrade for most laptops and computers. I'm purchasing one of these as a mesh satellite to my BE9700.

The only complaint I have is it's kind of confusing to properly setup. It never tells you that you need to activate all of the networks(2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz) and then activate the MLO network and connect all of your devices strictly to that MLO network. If you use any of the other networks, it won't work well in my experience and tons of other reviews saying the same thing. I was about to return it until I figured it out. Super annoying but it works extremely well now for all of my Wi-Fi devices.

4

2

RichardStabone

Jan 14, 2026 2:33 AM

525 Comments

Joined Aug 2010

RichardStaboneJan 14, 2026 2:33 AM

525 Comments

Quote from itank2

:

The only complaint I have is it's kind of confusing to properly setup. It never tells you that you need to activate all of the networks(2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz) and then activate the MLO network and connect all of your devices strictly to that MLO network. If you use any of the other networks, it won't work well in my experience and tons of other reviews saying the same thing. I was about to return it until I figured it out. Super annoying but it works extremely well now for all of my Wi-Fi devices.

Thanks for this info! I ordered last night so I'll be setting it up and giving it a run soon. As a non-techy, are the steps you described pretty simple (activating all networks, then connecting to MLO network)? I figure I'll be able to *google* my way through it using your info, but any other tips you might have for dummies like myself, to avoid snags with activating all the networks?

RelaxedLaborer3587

Jan 14, 2026 3:35 AM

50 Comments

Joined Jan 2025

RelaxedLaborer3587Jan 14, 2026 3:35 AM

50 Comments

This over the Flint 2 router?

MellowHarrier397

Jan 14, 2026 4:52 AM

30 Comments

Joined Aug 2020

MellowHarrier397Jan 14, 2026 4:52 AM

30 Comments

Quote from itank2

:

I own several Wi-Fi 7 computers and laptops, it's definitely worth it for the improved reliability and speed over Wi-Fi 5 and 6. It improved the signal for older Wi-Fi 5 and 6 devices as well. It's a relatively cheap and easy upgrade for most laptops and computers. I'm purchasing one of these as a mesh satellite to my BE9700.

The only complaint I have is it's kind of confusing to properly setup. It never tells you that you need to activate all of the networks(2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz) and then activate the MLO network and connect all of your devices strictly to that MLO network. If you use any of the other networks, it won't work well in my experience and tons of other reviews saying the same thing. I was about to return it until I figured it out. Super annoying but it works extremely well now for all of my Wi-Fi devices.

Can you name all the networks the same and the device picks the best one?

dadab

Jan 14, 2026 4:53 AM

8.3K Comments

Joined Jan 2007

dadabJan 14, 2026 4:53 AM

8.3K Comments

I've old tp-link but be warned that they hardly provide firmware updates which is hard to believe.

itank2

Jan 14, 2026 5:39 AM

741 Comments

Joined Nov 2010

itank2Jan 14, 2026 5:39 AM

741 Comments

Quote from RichardStabone

:

Thanks for this info! I ordered last night so I'll be setting it up and giving it a run soon. As a non-techy, are the steps you described pretty simple (activating all networks, then connecting to MLO network)? I figure I'll be able to *google* my way through it using your info, but any other tips you might have for dummies like myself, to avoid snags with activating all the networks?

You can do everything from your phone with the Tether phone app. It's by far the most advanced router phone app that I've ever seen, you can control and do a ton of stuff directly from your phone and it works quickly. When you turn on the MLO network, that needs to be given a different name and then you can just ignore the other networks or set them to hide their signals. There is an option to turn on Smart Connect which seems a lot like what MLO does but it's different as it'll switch to the band that it thinks is best for each device. Sounds good in writing but it is awful. It keeps switching the devices between the different bands causing frequent drops in connection or randomly putting Wi-Fi 6 or 7 devices on the 2.4GHz band. You literally need to just use single bands and even those are a little iffy at times. You do need to turn them all on though, otherwise the MLO network will be missing whichever band that you didn't turn on. The MLO network will allow whatever hardware capable devices that you own to use multiple bands at once for a much more reliable connection. Even my devices that don't have that capability still seemed to be getting a better and more reliable signal from the MLO network after weeks of testing all sorts of settings.

Last edited by itank2 January 13, 2026 at 09:46 PM.

1

Costco Members: TP-Link Archer BE9500 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router

$100

$250

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