MSI’s Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router Is Finally Available

MSI has released its Roamii BE Lite Mesh System dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router, joining the still-small pool of Wi-Fi 7 routers available to purchase.

Announced at CES 2024, the Roamii BE Lite Mesh System supports up to 4323 Mbps on the 5GHz band and 688 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band (the full technical specifications are available on the MSI website). This is MSI’s first Wi-Fi mesh system, an approach combining a router with one or more nodes to better cover dead spots in the house. This helps bring dependable Wi-Fi throughout your home. For example, the two-pack Roamii BE Lite Mesh has a rated coverage of up to 5,800 square feet.

This consumer-grade router ticks some important boxes for anyone in the market for a Wi-Fi 7 router. It supports advanced Wi-Fi 7 capabilities, such as multi-link operation (MLO), multiple resource units (Multi-RU), and 4K-QAM modulation. It’s equipped with a speedy 2.5G Ethernet port for a mesh backhaul connection and two 1Gbps Ethernet ports for fast wired connections to computers. It supports over 120 connected devices simultaneously and can set up separate networks for child, guest, and smart home devices.

The mobile Roami app is used to set up and manage the router, with a series of steps guiding you through setting up your home Wi-Fi 7 network. The app integrates FortiSecu, a piece of software from Trend Micro that automatically scans every phone, laptop, computer, smart home appliance, and other connected devices for security threats like malware.

If the software suspects something fishy is happening, it will aleart you via a push notification. You can also check security events on a single panel. Parental controls are supported, too, so you can filter questionable content for different age groups and monitor your children’s online activity. MSI says you can also schedule internet access and allow or restrict individual users.

Wi-Fi 7, also known as IEEE 802.11be Extremely High Throughput (EHT), is up to 4 times faster than current Wi-Fi connections. The protocol can leverage three wireless bands—2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz—to boost data rate to a theoretical maximum of up to 46Gbps. Contrast this with Wi-Fi 6E, which maxes out at around 9Gbps. However, not many devices support the new wireless protocol besides flagship smartphones.

Wi-Fi 7 is specifically optimized for applications like 8K video streaming, automotive, AR/VR/XR headsets, immersive 3D training, and cloud-based gaming. That said, however, there are legitimate reasons to wait until the standard is more widespread.

You can buy the Roamii 2-pack from MSI’s online store, and it’s also available at Newegg. It’s priced at $300, making it one of the more affordable Wi-Fi 7 mesh routers right now. The device ships with wall-mounting accessories, so you can hang it on a wall if you like.

Source: MSI