Wi-Fi 7 routers are being heavily marketed across multiple price points with claims of superior speeds and lower latency, yet many products fall short of their promotional promises by omitting key technical components that define the standard. The discrepancy between marketing and actual capability has become a growing concern for consumers paying premium prices for incremental improvements.

The Wi-Fi Alliance enforces Multi-Link Operation (MLO) only for products bearing the certified "Wi-Fi 7" trademark with a hyphen, but manufacturers can circumvent these requirements entirely by labeling products "WiFi 7" without the hyphen—a legal loophole that permits inferior routers to command high prices. Further complicating the landscape, regulatory approval delays have blocked many newer Wi-Fi 7 models from reaching American consumers, while the vast majority of existing devices lack the hardware to take advantage of Wi-Fi 7 capabilities regardless of router quality.