TP-Link Launches Wi-Fi 8 Router Amid U.S. Sales Ban
TP-Link opened global pre-orders for its Archer 8 Ultra router, though U.S. regulators continue to block sales over national security concerns.
Networking company TP-Link opened global pre-orders on September 30, 2026, for the Archer 8 Ultra, the first consumer router based on the IEEE 802.11bn Wi-Fi 8 standard. The tri-band device uses a Broadcom chipset to deliver 19Gbps of bandwidth and features 18 antennas with a Multi-Floor Mode. The company is targeting markets including the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Canada, where the router is priced at £669.99 in the UK.
Despite the global launch, the Archer 8 Ultra remains unavailable in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission has frozen hardware approvals for the company following a March ban on foreign-made routers enacted by the Trump administration to prevent espionage and cyberattacks. While the FCC granted conditional approvals to competitors like Netgear, Amazon, and Asus, it has denied TP-Link an exemption.
TP-Link claims it is now a U.S.-based company headquartered in Irvine, California, with no affiliation to its Chinese counterpart. To comply with the ban, the company offered to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to move manufacturing from Vietnam to the U.S. However, U.S. officials maintain the company retains links to the Chinese government, and the FCC continues to block new hardware sales.
