@LARScivious thank you so much ! I've actually orderd (yesterday)  the BE65 here in UK once again and hoping that now I'll get a v2  ( which one did you get ?) as the retailer said in January they were running stock down of V1 and should be starting sending v2 out so am keeping my fingers crossed . I've prevaricated / held off for so long and watched video after video / read numberous reviews aasked questions but needed to finally bite bullet and make a decision the 'D@ng knows Tech (excellent) website' finally helped me make up my mind ,  my current 5 year old AC1200 Orbi system is becoming more and more unstable and i think a big part is now  i've got 1Gb fibre and the Orbi just can't handle it . Whlst I think the Ac1200 Orbi has severd me well the app  interfce is absulutely shockingly bad imo and can't understand how they can continue with same after all these years , also feel that the additional subscriptions are poor custoner service ( know that Deco has additional subs to but the basic offering seems more than adequate anyway.  Not withstanding that price premium of the Orbi which I do not think is justified from feedback. By the way whilst the 2.4GHz isn't explicitly excluded from the spec of WIFI7 by the WIFI alliance I understand that it isn't included by vendors as it causes poor performance anyway and WIGI 7  is aimed at 5 GHz and 6 GHz for MLO in initial device profiles.

  @LARScivious excellent , keeping my fingers crossed for a v2 too!, I'm knicking that analogy ' 2.4G "trucks" blocking the road'  . Its crowded  with non-Wi-Fi devices (e.g. Bluetooth, microwaves, baby monitors etc)  hence manufacturers see it as unreliable and less suitable for latency-sensitive or high-bandwidth MLO use.

  @LARScivious @FTTP 

Good evening, to confirm I was looking to the BE65 Pro as I thought this was the unit advertised as the BE 11000 in the US (so a little more future proof than the normal BE65 that I looked at as being the BE9300 variant). Apparently this is not the case and it seems the UK version of the BE65 Pro (which is now down as 'new' as opposed to 'coming soon' on the TP Link website) will always be the 'BE9300' variant, whether the normal BE65 or the BE65 Pro - meaning it supports 9300mbps as opposed to the 11000mbps US variant. Note: Although the BE65 'Pro' says new, the link just circles back to the same page (whereas the BE65 link goes to Amazon).

Having found this out, I then looked at the difference between the v1 and v2 variants - this seems to centre on the 6/5/2.4 GHz channels and Multi Link Operation (MLO) support. It seems the 2.4 GHz was not supported on v1 but is on v2 (meaning v1 allowed speeds of 574mbps over 2.4 GHz whilst the v2 allows up to 688 mbps). I believe the 6 GHz and 5 GHz ranges have always been supported via MLO, so the mbps support to 5 and 6 GHz is essentially the same whether the v1 or v2 versions.

I have heard but can't confirm that software/firmware updates may update the v1 BE65s to support the 688mbps.

So the actual difference between the BE65 and BE 65 Pro seems to be in the connections on each device (the BE65 having 4 x 2.4 GHz, whereas the Pro has 1x 2.4 GHz and 2x 5GHz).

@LARScivious I believe the activation of the MLO on the BE85 will have allowed it to support up to 1376 mbps on the 2.4 GHz range. I guess the value of that is tied into whether you get those speeds from your ISP? I believe the internal workings of the BE85 allows better MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple Input, Multiple Output) improving Wi-Fi speed, capacity, and overall network efficiency - again, I'm not sure exactly how much more ooomph! that would have given you in general.

For me I am only upgrading to 400mbps with my ISP at the moment, so the offer on the BE65 v2s does look good! If I were to look at getting the highest 900mbps package from my ISP, I would maybe consider the BE85s (as I am going completely wireless backhaul, so the coverage the 2.4 GHz range gives (distance/through walls etc) will probably benefit as I would be able to get closer to those higher mbps numbers, where I assume the BE65s would have the 688 mbps cap in the 2.4 GHz range)).

Again, this is a geek/self-learning approach, so I could have mis-interpreted the data I have found/researched, but on current findings I will likely opt for the BE65s at their lower price, as by the time I may look at utilizing an increase in speeds from my ISP, I would expect the device offerings will have evolved and gotten cheaper. :)

  @awp278 managed to get hold of the spec sheets for both :- 

cant see to upload more than 1 file at a time so will post other one separetly

  @awp278 

  @FTTP 

Many thanks!

Due too the BE11000 version of the BE65 only seemingly being the US version (at least that I can fathom) - with 6 days to go before switching to fibre, I have taken the leap and got the 3 pack of BE65 to create the new mesh. I believe it will be some time before I look to upgrade my ISP speed to anything that will necessitate needing anything better and by that time I'm sure there will be plenty of other options available.

At present Amazon has it at £550 and shows the 688 mbps 2.4 GHz support in both the picture diagrams along with the description area. Strangely the single unit has the BE11000 box in the pictures along with the 574 mbps support for 2.4 GHz in the description (so I would assume that is the v1 version).

The TP Link site also has the link from their BE65 v2 page to the same Amazon page - so if they end up being v1s I'm very confident in returning due to incorrect advertisement :)

Very much appreciate the discussion and the info, it helped me a great deal - thank you.

  @awp278 Amazon UK is shipping v2 and has been for a couple of months; you're safe!

  @MaleHumanUK thanks good to know as I'm actually picking my system up from Argos tomorrow and will be checking at the counter I've got a v2 otherwise I'll be returning it there and then and ordering via Amazon before leaving the store !