TP-Link Omada EAP775-Wall review: A great choice for delivering Wi-Fi 7 room services

TP-Link has traditionally offered an extensive range of discrete wall-mounted wireless access points (APs), and the EAP775-Wall is its first tri-band Wi-Fi 7 model. Aimed at environments such as meeting rooms and hotels looking to provide in-room network services, it offers plenty of connection options, along with a main 2.5GbE multi-Gig port at the rear. It has another 2.5GbE plus three Gigabit downlink ports in its base.

These add extra versatility as the first two ports offer pass-through services for networking other devices, while the last two Gigabit ports can both provide PoE or one can offer PoE+, allowing the AP to power extra in-room devices such as IP phones. The AP also has Bluetooth 5.3, which is used for quick provisioning of the AP using TP-Link's mobile app.

This BE9300-rated AP offers two spatial streams each for the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands and claims maximum speeds of 688Mbits/sec, 2,882Mbits/sec, and 5,765Mbits/sec, respectively. The US version has a higher BE11000 rating as it supports the 5GHz 240MHz channels, which are not cleared for use in the UK and EU.

Management options are abundant as the EAP775-Wall can be deployed in standalone mode and configured from its own web console. TP-Link's Omada cloud service will appeal to businesses and hotels with multiple APs and sites as they can keep a close eye on them all, along with Omada-enabled switches and routers, from one central web portal.

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TP-Link Omada EAP775-Wall review: Design and build quality

Measuring slightly less than 42mm thick, the EAP775-Wall is clothed in a sturdy polycarbonate casing with an aluminium inner shell. The AP ships with a removable and paintable cover that slips over the main unit, and for those that don't have in-wall cabling, there's a small knock-out panel at its base to feed a network cable through.

The kit includes a steel wall mounting plate, and TP-Link takes a leaf from Ubiquiti's book as it provides a cardboard template with a spirit level. The plate has three mounting lugs, and when you slide the AP down over them, an anti-theft latch in its back locks it in place so it can only be removed with the included metal L-shaped key.

Think carefully about your proposed PoE provisioning, as the type of supply will affect a number of features. Giving it the full 802.3bt PoE++ will enable PoE-out on both Gigabit ports and Bluetooth, 802.3at PoE+ will disable PoE-out but leave Bluetooth enabled, while basic 802.3af PoE disables everything - including all three radios.

TP-Link Omada EAP775-Wall review: Standalone mode

The AP is simple to deploy in standalone mode with its web console wizard requesting a new username and password, tightening security by deleting the default admin account and checking for firmware upgrades. Up to eight SSIDs per radio are supported, and the wizard offers the option of configuring one for each radio and providing encryption keys.

The device status page provides plenty of information about the AP, including bar charts of CPU and memory utilisation. Move to the wireless page, and you can see all SSIDs along with details on their associated radios, security, and guest networks, with another view showing all connected clients.

Creating new SSIDs is as swift as selecting a radio, providing a name, and choosing an encryption scheme. Basic captive portals can be assigned to specific SSIDs, although authentication is restricted to a global password or an external Radius server. When guests connect, you can apply a redirect URL and present them with a web page and AUP (acceptable use policy) message they must accept to continue.

TP-Link Omada EAP775-Wall review: Wi-Fi 7 performance

We hooked the EAP775-Wall up to the lab's Zyxel XMG1930-30HP switch, which confirmed a 2.5GbE connection and a PoE++ draw. For Wi-Fi 7 performance testing, we used a Lenovo desktop client running Windows 11 Pro and equipped with a TP-Link Archer TBE550E Wi-Fi 7 PCIe adapter.

To gauge raw TCP performance, we used Microsoft's NTttcp utility, which reported reasonable upstream and downstream speeds of 302MB/sec and 235MB/sec between the client and a server on the 10GbE LAN. Our real-world large file copies between the client and server averaged close-range speeds of 235MB/sec, dropping to 190MB/sec with the AP moved 10 metres away and into an adjoining room.

The AP supports MLO (multi-link operations) for all three radios, and after our client connected using the 2.4/6GHz bands, Windows 11 reported an aggregated connection speed of 6,453Mbits/sec. Subsequent NTttcp tests revealed improvements in upstream speeds to 310MB/sec but no increases in downstream rates.

TP-Link Omada EAP775-Wall review: Cloud management

TP-Link's Omada cloud service will be the preferred choice for most businesses as they can monitor and manage all their APs and other Omada-enabled switches and routers from one central web portal. There are plenty of choices as TP-Link offers four OC-series hardware or free self-hosted software on-site controllers.

Cloud-based controller options see big improvements as TP-Link's Omada Central provides a single platform for network and surveillance management, while Omada Cloud focuses on network devices. Even better, TP-Link offers free Central and Cloud Essentials versions, which provide base sets of management and monitoring features for smaller businesses.

To add the EAP775-Wall to our licensed Omada Cloud Standard account, we scanned its bar code using the Omada iOS app, and once adopted, it took all its settings from the cloud controller and broadcast our predefined SSIDs. Usefully, the AP's downlink ports can be enabled or disabled from the standalone web console or cloud portal, and on the last two, you can remotely control PoE services.

The Omada Network 6 update presents a radically redesigned portal interface with multi-tab dashboards for quick access to topology, WiFi, traffic, and client activity views. It also introduces a network health scoring system in the Overview tab that evaluates all devices and clients to help locate potential performance issues.

Not available in the Omada Essentials edition, the RF scanning service is accessed from the statistics tab in the AP management screen and provides charts of RF scan results for each radio, while interference scans discover all other APs in the vicinity.

TP-Link Omada EAP775-Wall review: Is it worth it?

Available for £146 excluding VAT at Broadbandbuyer, the EAP775-Wall looks comparatively good value. It's very well constructed and delivers a reasonable Wi-Fi 7 performance with a good range that should cover most hotel and meeting rooms.

The extra downlink ports make this AP very versatile although you will need to provide a PoE++ source to get the best from it. It's simple to install and TP-Link offers an impressive range of smart cloud management services with the free editions having particular appeal to smaller businesses.

TP-Link Omada EAP775-Wall specifications