is a news writer covering all things consumer tech. Stevie started out at Laptop Mag writing news and reviews on hardware, gaming, and AI.
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CES 2026 live: all the news, announcements, and innovations from the show floor and beyond
The first Wi-Fi 8 routers and chips made a surprise appearance at CES 2026, and could launch this year, only a couple of years after Wi-Fi 7 debuted. So, if you don’t already have a Wi-Fi 7 router — and many of us don’t — you might want to consider holding off on upgrading.
Rather than focusing on speed upgrades, Wi-Fi 8 promises improved stability. It offers the high speeds and bandwidth of Wi-Fi 7, but with improved power efficiency, higher throughput, and better peer-to-peer communication between devices. Wi-Fi 8 is also better at maintaining fast, stable connections when users are moving devices around, or moving them further away from their router. As a result, Wi-Fi 8 users will experience less “dropping out” or freezing and better streaming and gaming performance.
If this week’s CES announcements are any indication, we’ll be able to try out Wi-Fi 8 for ourselves within the year.
The mock up of the Asus ROG NeoCore Wi-Fi 8 router broke when Sean picked it up. Oops. Photo: Sean Hollister/The Verge
Asus went from last year’s AI spider router covered in antennas to the ROG NeoCore, a Wi-Fi 8 concept router with no antennas at all. The polyhedral mock up The Verge’s Sean Hollister got a look at this week resembles a 20-sided die with a hollow bottom. According to Asus, the production model will offer the same data speeds as Wi-Fi 7, but with higher throughput and lower latency, so it can move more data with fewer bottlenecks and less lag.
“The plastic mockup broke when I picked it up,” reported Hollister from the Asus booth. “Perfect,” responded Nilay Patel, Editor in Chief of The Verge.
Broadcom also announced some Wi-Fi 8 gear at CES, including the BCM4918 APU and two new dual-band radios, the BCM6714 and BCM6719. All three devices are intended for powering residential Wi-Fi 8 routers and service provider gateways.
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