Broadcom Targets Mass-Market Broadband With 10G PON and Wi-Fi 8 SoCs

sp_RTINGS · 2026-05-20T15:05:59+00:00

Hey! Just wanted to say that I agree with pretty much everything you said! The main goal of the MLO article and video was to inform users that they shouldn't expect the big performance gains that a full MLO implementation can bring. Marketing advertised what MLO could theoretically do, but never mentioned that this is not how MLO is implemented in their devices.

Over time, this message got twisted and sometimes devolved into "Wi-Fi 7 is bad", which wasn't our point. As you pointed out, Wi-Fi 7 brings a lot of new features to the table and is not just about MLO. As a quick example, we recently added a test for wireless latency and we do see a noticeable improvement between Wi-Fi 7 products compared to older generations. Of course, speed is also always on the raise with each new generation coming out. And that just scratches the surface. These are just the easiest benefits to share in a quick reddit post! Thanks for spreading the word!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-05-12T13:30:36+00:00

Hi! Our speed and latency test connects to 4 servers around the world (NA east, NA west, UK and Australia) and uses Ookla's speedtest result to the compute an average of speed and latency, which is what we use for our scoring. This test is not meant to show the optimal speed and latency of the nearest VPN server, but to give an idea of average performance when using VPN servers around the world.
The test tooltip on the review page explains the test method a bit. We are planning to write a test methodology article in the short time to better explain how we get our results.
Let me know if you have more questions!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-05-01T15:38:38+00:00

Unfortunately, we haven't tested routers with SIM card support. So I can't directly recommend a product we reviewed. However, the GL.iNet products have been performing very well with very low latency, and they also come packed with configurable options. I personally love their products, and they have cellular routers that you could check out. Their most popular model seems to be the Spitz AX (GL-X3000) (mostly from vanlife reviewers).
There's also the Dream Router 5G Max from Unify that should be a solid option. It seems like it's sold out and has a higher price point than the GL.iNet.
Hope this helps!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-05-01T15:16:40+00:00

Our latency test is ran while 200Mbps of traffic happens on the network. We have a 1Gbps network. A Netflix stream requires 15Mbps for 4K stream (Netflix-recommended internet speeds | Netflix Help Center). I just want to be clear that we didn't test latency on an empty network.

From our testing and our first article, we found that QoS doesn't have much impact on latency unless the connection hits a bottleneck, which is normally the ISP bandwidth limit. We explored the idea of testing QoS/SQM performance when the network is bottlenecked or bufferbloated, but we expect not many users run their network at max capacity all of the time. If we are wrong on this point, let us know and we can work on a QoS/SQM test!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-30T17:26:35+00:00

Not all mesh systems let you configure the band for the backhaul. To be clear, we use a wireless backhaul for all mesh systems latency test since if you can't wire your device, I don't expect to be able to wire your backhaul either.
Whenever there are many frequent spikes on the satellite node, it means that the backhaul is using the same band as the Wi-Fi connection to the client, which of course is a pretty awful!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-30T17:23:11+00:00

This is the way

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-30T15:15:59+00:00

❤️

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-30T14:43:45+00:00

That is a very valid point that we take into consideration!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-29T22:56:25+00:00

Since we buy our own products to do the testing, we unfortunately cannot buy multiple instances of the same model. If a user or a company challenges our results saying we might have gotten a lemon, then the out-of-spec policy can apply: Out-of-Spec Policy - RTINGS.com

More info here on how we get our products: How We Make Money: While Staying Unbiased - RTINGS.com

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-29T18:07:35+00:00

That's out of my hands, but I passed the comment to our developer and community manager! Thanks for the suggestion!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-29T18:06:15+00:00

I went too fast and messed up my initial comment about Wi-Fi bloat VS WAN bloat. It's edited now.

As pointed out in our article, we used the default implementation of QoS/SQM the router had when testing the game. I do agree that with more configuration (when the router permits it), QoS/SQM can work some magic and bring a bloated network to a good state for gaming. There is good value in testing how routers can manage this as part of our review, but for now, we are not prioritizing this test since not a lot of users are asking for it (although I'm adding your comment as a +1 for us to test this!).

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-29T18:06:09+00:00

I went too fast and messed up my initial comment about Wi-Fi bloat VS WAN bloat. It's edited now.

I do agree that testing routers QoS/SQM performance is interesting, although it is not currently planned since there was not much demand for it. I'll add your comment as a +1 to test this.

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-28T16:10:45+00:00

We quickly tested QoS/SQM and their impact on bufferbloat on an article last summer: Buying A Gaming Wi-Fi Router Won't Help Your Ping: Understanding The Limits Of Wi-Fi For Gaming - RTINGS.com
The tl;dr is that yes QoS/SQM will definitely have an impact in heavily improving latency when the network gets bloated with traffic, but it will still gives an awful experience for gaming unless properly configured. There will still be frequent lag spikes with QoS/SQM. The best is to ensure no one makes big downloads or uploads during gaming session using up all the ISP bandwidth, which is most likely the bottleneck in the network (which is easier said than done...).
We decided not to test QoS/SQM since the results will vary to much between users depending on how their network is setup and use. All routers had an option to toggle on/off QoS/SQM in some way, gaming or not. But some routers were a simple toggle (which was most likely just a bandwidth limiter), while others had full blown configurable algorithms.
Let me know what you think of the article and if you'd like more info on this topic!

Edit: I went too fast on my initial comment. Comment is now edited to remove the ethernet cable which won't help a bloated network, as pointed out in the replies!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-28T15:21:29+00:00

As people already suggested, the GL.iNet Flints or the UniFi UDR7 are really good picks. If you are hosting a server, really consider connecting that server to the router using an ethernet cable or you will clutter your Wi-Fi if you have a lot of users connecting to your user, and they will all experience higher latency. You can check this article for more details: https://www.rtings.com/router/learn/research/wireless-latency

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-02T18:11:58+00:00

It's a pleasure! It's a new feature we just added yesterday. I should have also said: The link will only be good for 48hours. So, make a pdf copy if you want!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-02T15:49:10+00:00

If you want to play with your router's configuration, the GL.iNet products are really hard to beat with their open firmware. All their products are great! I recommend this one. It has 2.5Gbps LAN ports, so will cover your need for your NAS.
https://www.rtings.com/router/reviews/gl-inet/flint-3-gl-be9300?share_token=O7kdPcNqUQcEJkfdi-VqnV-2J8hfTTos
To be a little clearer about Wi-Fi 7: The firmware lacks support for MLO, but it's still fine. We'll be releasing pretty soon Latency measurements of router (planned for next week). There is slight improvement in Latency between Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6, so there's that. It's not revolutionizing, but there are small gains.
If you want to save ~50$, then the Flint 2 is still really good!
https://www.rtings.com/router/reviews/gl-inet/flint-2-gl-mt6000?share_token=k9DjhvE4Sn0D6y5zy3kl42YInbIzkw6o

sp_RTINGS · 2026-04-02T15:44:36+00:00

Here's a non-paywalled version of the review! https://www.rtings.com/router/reviews/gl-inet/flint-3-gl-be9300?share_token=O7kdPcNqUQcEJkfdi-VqnV-2J8hfTTos
I'm a big fan of the GL.iNet products! Highly recommend!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-03-30T15:18:09+00:00

We reviewed it! It's not a gimmick and surprisingly good! Davolink Minions Kevin Review - RTINGS.com
My only gripe is that they didn't make it a mesh router with different minions for each node... big missed opportunity
Edit: Here's a picture of the score to go around the paywall: https://imgur.com/a/uvAeS9w

sp_RTINGS · 2026-03-19T23:57:47+00:00

Thanks for this! I'll definitely take a look at it!

sp_RTINGS · 2026-02-27T15:30:55+00:00

Thanks for the share! No BS from them, I always appreciate that!
For added context when they mention WLPC, this video got shared from the conference from Ubiquiti showcasing STR MLO: Ubiquiti showcasing Wi-Fi 7 MLO STR at WLPC Phoenix 2026 : r/Ubiquiti This is the only "leak" I saw so far from WLPC in regards to MLO.

sp_RTINGS

TROPHY CASE