Zyxel NWA240BE brings Wi-Fi 7 to SMBs for £192

Zyxel has introduced the NWA240BE, a Wi‑Fi 7 access point aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. The unit is rated BE15000, offers a single 10GbE multi‑Gig uplink, supports multi‑link operation (MLO) and lists for £192 excluding VAT. Zyxel positions the model as an entry-level BE series device and it ships without a Nebula Cloud Control Pro Pack license.

The NWA240BE is a tri‑band 802.11be access point with eight spatial streams split as two streams on 2.4GHz, four on 5GHz and two on 6GHz. Zyxel’s published peak rates are about 688 Mbit/s on 2.4GHz, 8,646 Mbit/s on 5GHz and 5,764 Mbit/s on 6GHz. The unit has a single 10GbE multi‑Gig uplink and supports power over Ethernet via 802.3at PoE+ or 802.3bt PoE++. A USB‑C power‑delivery option at 15W is available for sites that do not use PoE.

Administrators can install the AP in standalone mode using a web console or manage it through Zyxel’s Nebula cloud portal. The web installer walks through changing the admin password, country settings, SSID creation, radio selection and firmware updates. The AP supports up to eight SSIDs, configured through profiles and objects that set active radios, channel widths, QoS, rate limits and time schedules. Enabling 11be operating mode triggers Zyxel’s automatic MLO and applies required protections such as Enhanced Open and WPA3 options.

Cloud management via Nebula is available by adding the AP to a site with the Nebula app or portal. Nebula provides a dashboard with device status, wireless traffic and client lists and allows SSID tagging so broadcasts are limited to selected APs. Guest networks can use captive portals with custom branding and authentication options that include two‑factor methods and layer‑2 client isolation. Nebula Plus and Pro Packs add features such as extended logging, topology views, scheduled firmware updates, client diagnostics, Wi‑Fi health reports and remote SSH; a one‑year Pro Pack license was listed at about £27 on a UK reseller site.

The AP includes an embedded 4G/5G interference filter, a ventilated rear panel and a universal mounting plate for ceiling or wall installation. It weighs about 848 grams and has a multi‑color LED for boot, uplink and wireless status. The USB‑C port is specified for power and not promoted as a data interface.

Zyxel provided lab test results showing multi‑link, multi‑radio use. In the lab the AP was connected to a multi‑Gig PoE++ switch and a Windows 11 client fitted with a Wi‑Fi 7 PCIe adapter that supports MLO. With all three radios set to 11be and MLO active, the client reported an aggregated link of about 6,453 Mbit/s. Browser-based OpenSpeedTest runs against a 10GbE server showed close‑range peak transfers of roughly 378 MB/s upload and 483 MB/s download. Large 25 GB file copies between client and server averaged about 280 MB/s at close range and fell to about 243 MB/s when the AP was moved 10 meters into an adjacent room. Tests over a 2.4/5 GHz MLO connection reported peak rates near 353 MB/s upload and 321 MB/s download.

The NWA240BE supports Zyxel Smart Mesh, which can use the 5GHz or 6GHz radios as backhaul between a root AP and repeaters to expand coverage without running Ethernet to every device. Zyxel lists a limited lifetime warranty for the unit. The NWA240BE was offered at a UK reseller for £192 excluding VAT.