For years the internet connection was the slowest link in most homes. That has changed. The NBN now sells 1 Gbps and 2 Gbps consumer plans, and New Zealand homes are already running UFB Hyperfibre at up to 8 Gbps. The bottleneck has quietly shifted to the router sitting on the shelf.
D-Link's answer is the DPN-BE7212GR, a BE7200 Wi-Fi 7 mesh router built to keep up. It is one of the few consumer routers going with dual 10 Gigabit Ethernet: a 10G WAN port to take the fastest NBN and Hyperfibre plans with headroom left over, and a dedicated 10G LAN port to move that speed around inside the house. That second port matters - it is what lets a 10G NAS, a gaming PC, a workstation or a next-gen console actually use the bandwidth you are paying for, rather than being throttled back to gigabit at the wall.
The port layout is generous: two 10G ports, four Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0. Inside: a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, 512MB DDR4 RAM, 512MB NAND flash, and nine 3 dBi antennas.
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) brings 4x4 MU-MIMO, OFDMA and 4K QAM - combined speeds up to BE7200 class (1376 Mbps on 2.4 GHz, 5764 Mbps on 5 GHz). Multi-Link Operation lets devices talk across both bands simultaneously for fewer dropouts and lower latency. EasyMesh ties multiple units into one seamless network; link them with a wired 10G backhaul for a genuine room-to-room 10G backbone.
Security and management through WPA3, guest network, parental controls, OTA updates, and the D-Link Wi-Fi Assist app. Built-in Smart VPN for secure remote access - no per-device software. TR-069/TR-181 built in for operator zero-touch provisioning.
As soon as I get my hands on it, I'll give it a proper review.
Available now. AU$449.95 / NZ$599.99 at www.dlink.com.au.