Updated September 2026
On the published independent testing, no. If you can run a cable, run a cable. If you cannot, buy Wi-Fi 7 for the clean 6 GHz band and the congestion headroom, not for MLO. Here is what the people who actually measured it found.
Console check: only the PS5 Pro has a Wi-Fi 7 radio (Sony's own product page). The original PS5 and the Nintendo Switch 2 are Wi-Fi 6. Xbox Series X and Series S are Wi-Fi 5: Microsoft's tech specs list 802.11ac dual band. Buying a Wi-Fi 7 router for an Xbox buys you nothing at all on the console side.
Multi-Link Operation was the headline gaming feature of Wi-Fi 7. Three published test efforts, checked September 2026. We do not run our own latency lab, so we are not going to put a number of our own next to theirs.
The Disappointing Truth About Wi-Fi 7, a research piece on consumer Wi-Fi 7 routers
Turning MLO on or off produced no measurable difference in throughput, latency or connection stability against simply using the 6 GHz band alone.
Router reviews and its own MLO testing across Wi-Fi 7 hardware
No significant performance or latency advantage from connecting to an MLO network versus a single band, and the non-MLO network often performed better in practice.
Lab measurement of MLO versus a single link with interference injected on one or both bands
MLO did hold latency and throughput down when a link was deliberately interfered with. Lab conditions with a cooperating client, and the published write-up shows charts rather than printed figures.
Read together: MLO helps in a lab when a band is under attack, and has not yet shown a measurable benefit on a normal consumer router in a normal home. Treat it as a feature that may mature, not as a reason to spend money today. The reason to buy Wi-Fi 7 for gaming, if you buy it at all, is the 6 GHz spectrum.
In rough order of how much it matters. Your own numbers depend on your ISP, the server you connect to, and your home layout, so measure rather than assume.
| Factor | How much it matters | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Distance to the game server and your ISP's routing | Dominant | Tens of milliseconds. No router changes this. |
| Wired versus wireless for the last hop | Real | A cable removes airtime contention and the jitter that comes with it. |
| Walls and floors between you and the router | Real | 6 GHz attenuates fastest, so Wi-Fi 7's best band is the first one you lose. |
| How busy the channel is (neighbours, your own household) | Real | This is where extra clean spectrum genuinely helps, whether it arrives as Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7. |
| MLO on or off | Not demonstrated | See the independent testing above. |
More on why 6 GHz is the band you lose first: 6 GHz coverage through walls.
One does. Each row is the manufacturer's own published specification, checked September 2026.
| Console | Wi-Fi | What the maker publishes |
|---|---|---|
| PS5 Pro | Wi-Fi 7 | Sony states the console supports Wi-Fi 7, and works with Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 5 routers too. playstation.com |
| PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition | Wi-Fi 6 | 802.11ax. No 6 GHz, no Wi-Fi 7 link, whatever router you pair it with. Sony |
| Nintendo Switch 2 | Wi-Fi 6 | Nintendo lists compatible wireless modes as 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax on 2.4 and 5 GHz. Nintendo Support |
| Xbox Series X and Series S | Wi-Fi 5 | Microsoft's tech specs list 802.11ac dual band. Two generations behind the PS5 Pro, one behind the base PS5. xbox.com |
So the only console that can form a Wi-Fi 7 link is the PS5 Pro, and even there a cable is still the better answer. If your gaming is on an Xbox, the router generation is close to irrelevant to the console itself: it will negotiate Wi-Fi 5 either way. What a newer router buys an Xbox household is headroom for everything else on the network.
Where we can point at a first-party price we checked this month, the figure is here with its source. Where we cannot, we say so instead of printing a number. For a cheaper Wi-Fi 6 gaming router, the under $300 page is the better list.
Best Buy listing, checked September 2026
Quad-band with 10G WAN and LAN, and a second 6 GHz radio you can hand to your own devices. Buy it for the spectrum and the ports, not for the MLO firmware.
Best for: Serious gamers, 2 Gbps+ plans
Netgear's own store, checked September 2026
10G port, strong QoS, Armor security included. Less gaming-flavoured UI than ROG, equally capable hardware.
Best for: Gaming on multi-gig fibre
no first-party US price we could confirm in September 2026, and the street price swings hard
Strong tri-band Wi-Fi 7 with two 10G ports, usually the cheapest route to 10G wired. Worth watching on promotion rather than buying at list.
Best for: 10G on a budget, if you catch it right
out of stock on ASUS's own US store, September 2026
This was the Wi-Fi 6 gaming benchmark, and we used to recommend it here. ASUS no longer has it in stock and the listings that remain are import sellers at above its old price, so treat it as end of life rather than a saving.
Best for: Nothing now. See the Wi-Fi 6 alternatives below