Multi-Link Operation (MLO) with 5GHz and 6GHz performance – Real-world insights
Multi-Link Operation (MLO) with 5GHz and 6GHz performance – Real-world insights
Hey there, friend. Sorry for the long pause—I haven’t been active on the forum in a while. If you missed any updates about this, feel free to remove this note and I’ll take a look at the thread. Thanks! I just upgraded my home network to WiFi 7 (802.11be) and discovered I could now use MLO with my Pixel 8 Pro. I set it up quickly and managed to connect to the new SSID on both 6GHz and 5GHz bands. On my device, both frequencies appeared in the Wi-Fi details, and the connection was stable. Surprisingly, when I tested it using the Wifiman app (and later with other tools like Ookla or OpenSpeed), no improvement was visible. While digging online, I found very little info about this feature—just a few Reddit discussions about general problems or similar questions on TP-linked pages. From Google’s official site, there seemed to be almost no mention of it. So I decided to try it out more. The testing always followed the same steps: start with MLO, then 6GHz, and finally 5GHz.
General info: Router model TP-Link Archer GE800 (BE19000), latest firmware, phone is a Google Pixel 8 Pro Android 15. Security update applied on 05.01.2025. I’m from Europe, so ETSI rules apply—6GHz only goes up to 6,425 MHz and channels 1-93 are available. Internet connection is fiber at 10GB speed. Performance averages around 5000–6000Mbps depending on adapter (ASUS XG-C100C).
Testing process: Router placed 2 meters away in direct line of sight. Channel quality was excellent for both bands. Bandwidths: 5GHz offers 160MHz, 6GHz 320MHz across three test runs.
From what I understand, this tech should boost speeds, but my tests showed no improvement—actually a decline in all scenarios. I’m pretty new to this stuff. I can follow instructions and know when to use certain settings, but I often lack the full context or understanding of why things work the way they do. Could it be that my configuration was off? But I can’t see where to start looking for answers.
Have anyone here used MLO before? What were your experiences? Did it really help your network? Is there anything in my setup I missed that might explain these results? If I find more info on the official Google Pixel Community, I’ll update this post. I’m open to sharing more details about my tests or setup. Thanks!
There are various approaches to MLO depending on the capabilities of connections and hardware, with most clients and APs supporting just a few options. I recommend checking these videos: In brief, the Ubiquiti presentation mentions that client vendors rarely add multiple radios, while the Cisco video notes that Intel 802.11be radios only support eMLSR, meaning each client device has one radio and can switch between bands quickly—boosting reliability but not necessarily performance.
Usually I experience identical DL speeds across 5GHz, 6GHz and MLO, but performance drops significantly when moving 7 meters closer to the router. In MLO you get up to 800Mbps at 5GHz compared to 1500–1600Mbps in other bands.
@tankyx shared the details with me. Right now I’d point to the GE800 since my tests on my PC matched those results. All indicators look accurate, though the MLO SSID recorded the least bandwidth. I’m pausing this project temporarily. I only set up MLO because I already had everything needed, and I’ve already invested a lot of time troubleshooting it—any improvement would be hard to notice if it actually works. Perhaps in a couple of years marketing tools will deliver as advertised.
Consider that the WiFi 7 specification is still under review. Even if it’s approved, it’s been relatively new. Numerous gadgets are labeled as "Draft," much like during the earlier Wi-Fi 4 phase. This means some products may not fully meet the actual standard. In my view, waiting another year or two—or adopting WiFi 8—would likely be a smarter choice.
It was exactly what I expected to worry about. While the ability to quickly move between bands is impressive, I mainly hoped for the performance improvement so clients not backing multi-band aggregation would be disappointing. Thankful to know this before making the upgrade.
This marks the debut of Wi-Fi technology with this capability. Within a couple of generations they’ll likely master it fully. That’s just my perspective.