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AX3000 and BE10000 are not the speed you get
Updated
The big number in a product name is every radio band added together. No single phone or laptop gets that total. And no router can make your internet faster than the plan you pay for.
How the number is built
| System | Name | Bands on the listing (Mbps) | Sum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deco X55 | AX3000 | 2,402 + 574 | 2,976 |
| Deco XE75 | AXE5400 | 2,402 + 2,402 + 574 | 5,378 |
| Deco BE63 | BE10000 | 5,188 + 4,324 + 574 | 10,086 |
The name is the sum, rounded. A device connects on one band at a time in most cases. WiFi 7 adds a feature called multi-link operation that lets a WiFi 7 device use more than one band, but only if the device supports it too. Each band figure is also a best case at close range. The Deco BE63 listing says it itself: performance varies with conditions, distance and obstacles such as walls.
Your plan is the ceiling
If you pay for 300 Mbps, the internet side of your network tops out near 300 Mbps on any router. That is about 3 percent of the BE10000 number. A faster mesh can still help, because it keeps more of that 300 Mbps alive in far rooms. It cannot add to it.
Match the ports to the plan
| Your internet plan | What you need | Picks that fit |
|---|---|---|
| Up to about 500 Mbps | Gigabit ports are plenty. WiFi 5 or WiFi 6 is fine | Deco S4, Deco X55 |
| 500 Mbps to 1 Gbps | Gigabit ports, WiFi 6 or newer | Deco X55, Deco XE75 |
| Faster than 1 Gbps | A 2.5G port for the modem, or the port caps you at 1 Gbps | eero 7, Deco BE63, Orbi 770 |
A Gigabit port carries 1,000 Mbps at most. If your plan is 2 Gbps and the node's modem port is Gigabit, half of what you pay for never gets into the house network.
WiFi 6 vs 6E vs 7 in plain words
- WiFi 5 is the older standard. Fine for slower plans. The Deco S4 is WiFi 5.
- WiFi 6 handles many devices at once better. Most phones and laptops from the last few years support it.
- WiFi 6E is WiFi 6 plus a new 6 GHz band. Only 6E and WiFi 7 devices can see that band. In a mesh, the band is also useful as a private link between nodes, which is how the Deco XE75 uses it by default.
- WiFi 7 is the newest. Your devices must be WiFi 7 to gain much. Note that WiFi 7 does not always mean 6 GHz. The eero 7 is WiFi 7 but dual-band, with 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz only.
Check your own devices before you pay extra. Look up the WiFi version in the phone or laptop specs. Older devices still connect to a newer mesh. The Orbi 770 listing says WiFi 6 and WiFi 5 devices all connect. They just do not get the new features.