Asus RT-BE88U vs TP-Link Deco BE25

The Asus RT-BE88U is the stronger router, with ten wired ports, WireGuard VPN, a command line and a 3-year warranty. The TP-Link Deco BE25 is the cheaper way to cover a whole home, an expandable dual-band Wi-Fi 7 mesh with a highly rated app.

The Asus RT-BE88U is a single port-rich router (ten ports, dual 10G, SFP+), while the TP-Link Deco BE25 is an expandable mesh system with just two 2.5G ports per node. Both are dual-band Wi-Fi 7 without a 6 GHz band.

The TP-Link Deco BE25 is easier to expand, since you simply add mesh nodes for seamless coverage. The Asus RT-BE88U is sold as one router, though it can join an Asus AiMesh network with compatible units.

The TP-Link Deco BE25 has a built-in speed test in the Deco app. The Asus RT-BE88U does not include a built-in speed test, but it does expose a command line and multi-WAN failover for advanced setups.

Wired-first homes and small businesses that want many 10G and 2.5G ports, WireGuard VPN, a command line and a 3-year warranty should buy the Asus RT-BE88U.

Budget-minded households that want the simplest, cheapest route into Wi-Fi 7 mesh should buy the TP-Link Deco BE25, with two 2.5G ports per unit, a built-in speed test and an excellent app.