The TP-Link TL-SG108S-M2 is an unmanaged 8-port 2.5 GbE switch, which would make an excellent addition for your home network or small office. The TL-SG108S-M2 carries an MSRP of $79.99, but there’s a Prime Day sale at Amazon that drops the price to just $49.99.

The sub-$50 price tag is definitely eye-catching, and it caught my attention. I bought a UGREEN 6-port 2.5 GbE unmanaged switch back in October for $59.97, and here we have an 8-port unmanaged switch for $10 less.

The TL-SG108S-M2 offers 40 Gbps of switching capacity and supports devices at 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, or 2.5 Gbps speeds. In other words, it’ll be well-suited to handle just about any of your networking needs, from plugging in a wired desktop PC to connecting a NAS, to wiring up a workgroup printer, to even extending your network wirelessly with an access point. And you can do all of this using Cat5e cabling.

You won’t have to worry about the switch taking up a lot of space, as it only measures 6.22 x 3.98 x 1 inches. So you should easily be able to tuck it away behind your monitor on a desk, or banish it to a corner under your desk. Or, if you prefer, it has mounting points on the bottom for attaching it to the wall. The casing is all-metal and passively cooled, so you don’t have to worry about introducing any additional noise into your tranquil home office.

Amazon’s $49.99 sale price on the TL-SG108S-M2 likely won’t last long, so get it w

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

Amazon Prime Day 2026 is here, and we're already seeing some tantalizing deals on Wi-Fi routers. If you're in the market for a new Wi-Fi 7 router, we've scoped out deals on standalone and mesh systems that could give your home (or office) network a much-needed performance boost.

If you have a smaller home that doesn't need the aid of wireless satellites to improve coverage, consider the TP-Link Archer BE230 Wi-Fi 7 router. It zeroes in on one of the company's hallmarks: value. The Archer BE230 has a retail price of $119.99, but is currently on sale for just $79.99. You can also look at our Best Amazon Prime Day Wi-Fi router deals 2026 for more deals on Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6, and mesh routers.

• Check out all the deals in Amazon's Prime Day Sale

That price gets you 2.5 GbE WAN, one 2.5 GbE LAN, three GbE LAN ports, and a USB 3.0 port for adding storage to your network. One thing to keep in mind is that if you plan to expand your network in the future, the Archer BE230 supports TP-Link's EasyMesh standard, which lets you combine multiple compatible routers into a mesh network.

Regarding performance, the Archer BE230 operates at speeds of up to 688 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and up to 2,882Mbps on the 5 GHz band.

If you need the added coverage of a mesh system, the TP-Link Deco BE63 is a good mid-range solution. The Deco BE63 is available in a two-node system covering up to 5,800 square feet.

Each satellite has four 2.5 GbE ports (one of which can be used for WAN), which are excellent for connecting your wired-only network devices. However, there's another added benefit: the Deco BE63 supports wired backhaul, which can improve overall network performance compared to using the default wireless backhaul between satellites.

When it comes to overall performance, the mesh system offers up to 574 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, 4,324 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, and 5,188 Mbps on the 6 GHz band.

The Deco BE63 is typically $349.99, but is currently $249.99 at Amazon.

Finally, the TP-Link Prime Day trifecta wouldn't be complete without the Deco BE23. This is the company's entry-level Wi-Fi 7 mesh router. Given its positioning in the lineup, this isn't a full-featured tri-band offering; instead, it's a dual-band Wi-Fi 7 solution. Although you miss out on the higher-performance 6 GHz band, you do gain support for Multi-Link Operation (MLO), a staple of Wi-Fi 7.

Each node features two 2.5 GbE ports, and you also get wired backhaul support. Maximum throughput reaches 688 Mbps for the 2.4 GHz band, while the 5 GHz band achieves 2,882 Mbps.

The Deco BE23 retails for $219.99 but is currently priced at $169.99 for a limited time.

There's another possible deal perk with these router deals if you have an Amazon Prime Rewards VISA credit card. Amazon is offering up to 15% cash back on the purchase of each router when you use the card.

Best Tech and PC deals | Best gaming PC deals | Best RAM combo deals | Best 3D printer deals | Best RAM deals | Best gaming laptop deals | Best monitor deals | Best Wi-Fi Router deals | Best GPU deals | Best SSD deals | Best hard drive HDD deals | Best CPU deals | Best gaming chair deals | Best PC building tool deals | Best PC peripherals deals | Best filament and resin deals | Best motherboard deals | Best CPU cooler deals | Best PC case deals | Best Dell and Alienware deals | Best USB charger deals | Best gaming and productivity laptop deals under $1,000 | Best laptop PC deals

Also, you can join the Tom's Hardware deals Discord for up-to-the-minute hardware deals.

Netgear filed counterclaims against TP-Link in federal court in Delaware on June 11, accusing its larger rival of false advertising under the Lanham Act and arguing that TP-Link's 2024 reincorporation as a California company is a deception that conceals ongoing R&D and manufacturing in China. The filing fires back at a lawsuit TP-Link itself brought against Netgear last November, and it came just one day after the U.S. DoD added TP-Link Technologies to its list of Chinese military companies operating in the United States. Netgear is seeking damages and an injunction barring TP-Link from repeating the contested claims, with the case running against the backdrop of an FCC import ban on routers not built in the U.S. that took effect earlier this year.

TP-Link sued first back in November, accusing Netgear of orchestrating a smear campaign and alleging that comments by Netgear's CEO on earnings calls falsely tied TP-Link to cyberattacks attributed to the Typhoon threat groups, and that the statements breached a 2024 settlement under which TP-Link paid Netgear $135 million to end years of patent litigation. The court has since dismissed parts of TP-Link's case that rested on third-party statements.

Netgear's counterclaim denies the smear allegation and goes on the offensive, bringing four of them under the Lanham Act and California and Delaware trade-practice laws, alleging that TP-Link’s claim that it split entirely from China-based TP-Link Technologies and now operates as an independent American company is a false statement that misleads buyers.

According to the counterclaim, TP-Link Technologies “did not fundamentally reorganize its global operations,” instead simply changing its name to Lianzhou and continuing to perform much of TP-Link’s R&D and manufacturing in China under the same cofounder. Netgear states that TP-Link employed more than 13,000 people in China through 2024, including roughly 9,000 in Chinese manufacturing centers, against about 350 employees in the United States. The filing also alleges that TP-Link's "Made in Vietnam" labeling is misleading because the Vietnamese plant serves as a final assembly point, with 99.5% of the components in U.S.-bound products imported from China.

Netgear counterclaim naturally leans heavily on the DoD’s designation describing TP-Link Technologies as “directly affiliated with the PLA” and a contributor to China’s defense industrial base. “TP-Link remains, at its core, a Chinese company selling Chinese-made products,” Netgear states in the filing.

TP-Link rejects the underlying premise, maintaining that it’s a U.S.-headquartered company subject to no foreign government control and that its products are made in Vietnam. The two firms also disagree on what is at stake commercially. Netgear's filing puts TP-Link's share of the U.S. retail router market at roughly 65%, while TP-Link has said its share of the North American residential Wi-Fi router segment sits under 10%. The dispute now runs alongside federal scrutiny from Commerce, the FCC, the FTC, and state attorneys general in Texas and Florida.

Wi-Fi 8 is on the horizon, and the top wireless router manufacturers are already jockeying for position. TP-Link is the top seller of consumer wireless routers in the United States by a large margin, and it announced today the roadmap for its next-generation platform of Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn) products.

According to the company, the first product to launch will be a standalone Archer 8 Wi-Fi 8 router in October 2026 (tentatively). That will be followed by the company's first Deco 8 mesh router during Q1 2027 and a Roam 8 travel router during Q2 2027. TP-Link hopes to round out its Wi-Fi 8 networking portfolio in Q2 2027 with a line of range extenders and client adapters (likely in both USB and PCIe versions).

Since the Archer 8 is the closest to release, TP-Link has provided some information and teaser images showing what to expect in terms of design. The Archer 8 family will feature a "minimalist architectural form," micro-ridge textures, and RGB lighting up front for some visual flair. Internally, the Archer 8 will benefit from AI assistance to improve network performance and reliability, improved thermal performance, and optimized antenna design.

As we've reported previously, Wi-Fi 8 isn't tasked with bringing another huge leap in theoretical speeds for wireless devices, as were promised with older Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 standards. Instead, Wi-Fi 8 focuses on improving real-world performance and range so that devices can more closely approach the theoretical speeds promised in earlier Wi-Fi iterations.

"For years, Wi-Fi innovation has been measured by peak theoretical speeds," explained Jeff Barney, President of TP-Link Systems Inc. "But what users actually care about is consistency. Archer 8 is designed to deliver exactly that: lower latency, better performance under interference, and more stable connectivity in real-world environments."

Compared to its Wi-Fi 7 products, TP-Link says its Wi-Fi 8 offerings will deliver up to a 33 percent uplift in real-world throughput via enhanced modulation and encoding, and another 15 percent increase in mesh performance under heavy load. The company also quotes a 30 percent improvement in signal performance and a 1-3 dB improvement in receive sensitivity across the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands.

With that said, while all of these improvements for the upcoming Archer 8, Deco 8, and Roam 8 products are welcome, there's still one big problem – TP-Link has yet to secure approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to sell new Wi-Fi products in the United States. TP-Link produces its routers destined for the U.S. market in other countries (such as Vietnam), which runs afoul of the FCC’s edict. The FCC considers these routers a national security risk and requires router manufacturers to apply for acceptance on the Covered List.

While competing manufacturers like Netgear and Amazon/Eero already secured conditional approval on the Covered List to sell future Wi-Fi products in the U.S., TP-Link has yet to receive the same status. The development is not exactly surprising, as TP-Link has been a frequent target of the U.S. government over its complex ties to China.

TP-Link offers a dizzying array of Wi-Fi 7 routers, ranging from entry-level to mid-range to high-end gaming routers, with mesh and travel options sprinkled in between. One of the newer entries from the company is the Archer BE770, a mainstream tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router with an imposing design and a wide range of ports.

While the Archer BE770 isn’t part of TP-Link’s Deco family of mesh routers, it does support the company's EasyMesh capabilities. EasyMesh allows you to link up compatible (and dissimilar) TP-Link networking devices to form a mesh network. TP-Link provides this functionality in a router priced just under $400.

Design of the TP-Link Archer BE770 Router

When the shipping box for our Archer BE770 arrived on my doorstep, I was taken aback by how large it was. This feeling continued when I opened it to reveal the router's retail box, which was equally large. Opening that box allowed me to lay eyes on the Archer BE770, which seems almost comically large compared to most other routers on the market. It’s not just the unit's height that’s imposing, but also its depth – it commands a large footprint on your desk or bookshelf, measuring 4.1 x 11.7 x 10.4 inches (W x D x H). It also looks like a mini desktop computer sitting on your desk.

That said, the Archer BE770's design is attractive, with an hourglass profile when viewed head-on. The fascia is finished in a shiny black plastic, with a narrow horizontal status LED mounted about halfway up; the TP-Link logo is printed near the bottom of the fascia. The sides of the router are finished in silver plastic, while the top is finished in matte black plastic with plenty of holes for ventilation.

All of the Archer BE770’s various ports are found on the back of the device. There you’ll find four GbE ports and two 10 GbE ports (one of which can be used for WAN). While I applaud the inclusion of the two 10 GbE ports, I’m disappointed that the other four LAN ports are limited to 1 Gbps. With a street price of $400, 2.5 GbE should be the norm here. (Or at least make two of the four ports 2.5 GbE.)

On the plus side, TP-Link provides two USB 3.0 ports for network storage, whereas most routers only offer one. Other items of note on the back include dedicated buttons for enabling Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) and turning off the front LED. There’s also a physical power button, a Wi-Fi disable button, and a pinhole button for resetting the router.

TP-Link Archer BE770 Router Specifications

Setting up the TP-Link Archer BE770 Router Software

The initial setup of the Archer BE770 can be completed using the TP-Link Tether smartphone app or a web browser to access the router’s GUI. My personal preference is to use a router’s smartphone app (when possible) for setup, as it’s usually fast and simple. That was definitely the case with the Archer BE770, as I used the Tether app to scan the QR code on the bottom of the router. Within seconds, the router was discovered and the configuration process began.

I was asked to create an administrator password to log in to the router, and then to provide an SSID for the 6 GHz band and a separate SSID for the combined 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

Towards the end of the setup process, a firmware update was available for the router, which I applied. The router then rebooted, and the network was fully operational in roughly 6 minutes from start to finish.

TP-Link Archer BE770 Router Software

After setting up the Archer BE770 on my smartphone, I switched to my desktop to check out the router's GUI. The Archer BE770 uses a no-frills desktop GUI with a turquoise, gray, and white color scheme. This is the default look for Archer routers, while the TP-Link’s gaming router uses the same interface with a black theme.

There are five tabs across the top of the GUI: Network Map, Internet, Wireless, HomeShield, and Advanced. Network Map displays pertinent information like your current connection type, internet IP address, and your router's uptime. You’ll also see an overview of the currently enabled SSIDs, CPU/memory loads, and a visual readout of active WAN/LAN ports.

The Internet tab shows your current internet connection type (Dynamic IP in my case) and allows you to clone a MAC address for the router. The Wireless tab provides settings for enabling or disabling Smart Connect. Enabling this feature combines the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands under a single SSID, while disabling it gives each band a unique SSID. You can also enable MLO, Guest, and IoT networks here. You can enable 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands with a Guest network, while the IoT network only supports the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

The HomeShield tab provides a limited set of features for free. Network Check scans your network to identify security risks and areas to improve overall performance. There is a limited set of parental controls you can implement per device, and QoS settings you can enable to limit download and upload bandwidth for individual devices. If you pay for the “Pro” tier of HomeShield, you can access IoT Protection, intrusion detection, a malicious content filter, DDoS protection, more powerful parental controls, and network usage statistics. TP-Link offers its Security+ for $35.99/year or its Total Security Package for $69.99/year (for the first year, $129.99 starting with the second year).

The Advanced tab is home to more granular controls for folks who like to really tinker with their network. Here, you find EasyMesh network setup, VPN integration, firmware updates, and the ability to back up and restore router settings (among many other features).

TP-Link Archer BE770 Router Performance

I tested the Archer BE770 with our venerable wireless client rig, which features an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 adapter, and Windows 11 Home. Windows 11 has all the latest software updates installed, while the Herald-BE is running the latest drivers available from MSI’s support website. The server is a Windows 11 Home machine with a 10 GbE network card connected to the Archer BE770 router's 10 GbE LAN port.

As always, iPerf3 throughput tests are conducted at 6-foot and 25-foot distances, with and without network traffic. In the congested traffic tests, we include six additional wireless clients streaming 4K YouTube videos across 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz wireless bands.

Overall, the Archer BE770 performed quite well, especially on the 6 GHz and 5 GHz bands. When testing iPerf3 on the 6 GHz band with no additional traffic, the Archer BE770 Hit over 2,700 Mbps at close range (6 feet), putting it just behind the first-place Archer GE800 (a gaming-centric router). When the testing distance was pushed out to 25 feet, throughput fell to 1,813 Mbps. While this was significantly behind the Archer GE800's performance, it easily eclipses the Asus ROG Strix GS-BE18000 (1,467 Mbps) and the Netgear Nighthawk RS600 (956 Mbps).

With congested traffic on the 6 GHz band, we saw similar results: the Archer BE770 nearly matched the Archer GE800 at close range (2,533 Mbps versus 2,566 Mbps) but fell short at 25 feet (1,520 Mbps versus 2,060 Mbps).

Moving to 5 GHz testing, the Archer BE770 again finished in second place, behind the Archer GE800; however, the gap was smaller at 25 feet.

After adding six additional clients to the network for congested tests, the Nighthawk RS600 shot to the top of the charts, reaching 1,610 Mbps at 6 feet, while the Archer BE770 was close behind at 1,520 Mbps. However, the Archer BE770 more than doubled the Nighthawk RS600's performance at 25 feet (991 Mbps versus 483 Mbps).

2.4 GHz performance without added traffic was the Archer BE770's strong suit, as we saw 84 Mbps at 6 feet and 73 Mbps at 25 feet. Both the Archer GE800 and Nighthawk RS600 vastly overperformed in these tests.

However, when additional traffic came online, the Archer BE770 posted more competitive numbers, hitting 82 Mbps at 6 feet and 58 Mbps at 25 feet. However, those numbers were no match for the Archer GE800, which delivered 166 Mbps and 100 Mbps, respectively.

Bottom Line

The TP-Link Archer BE770 is a good all-around tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router, offering strong performance on the 6 GHz and 5 GHz wireless bands that matter most to client devices like desktops, laptops, and smartphones. Its 2.4 GHz performance could be better, but the clients that connect on the band are likely either older or low-speed IoT devices that aren’t starving for insane network bandwidth.

However, I do have a bone to pick with the port layout. With a street price of $400, there’s no reason that we should be stuck with four GbE LAN ports instead of 2.5 GbE.

For equal money, you’d be better served going with TP-Link’s Archer BE800 (which gives you two 10 GbE ports and four 2.5 GbE ports).

TP-Link, one of the more popular consumer networking brands in the U.S., is currently engaged in discussions with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a bid to secure a conditional approval to continue introducing new models after the FCC’s blanket ban on imported routers, PCMag reports. According to documents the company filed with the agency, TP-Link argued that it is a U.S. company with a 20% share of the consumer retail market. Furthermore, it said that “TP-Links routers are very positively reviewed by technology reviewers” and that “TP-Link routers are safe and secure.” The company was previously owned by TP-Link Technologies Co., which was based in Shenzhen, China, but it has since separated from its parent in 2022, with the company saying that it’s now an independent entity based in the U.S.

The U.S. government initially wanted to ban TP-Link because of national security concerns, especially with the company’s close ties to China. However, the FCC instead settled for a blanket ban on all imported consumer routers, except for those that can secure a conditional approval. This exemption would allow router manufacturers to continue importing routers until a specific date, provided that they get the nod from either the Department of War or the Department of Homeland Security.

One of the prerequisites to getting approval is for the applicant to show “a detailed, time-bound plan to establish or expand manufacturing in the United States for the router for which the applicant is seeing Conditional Approval in order the that device to qualify for FCC authorization” and “a description of committed and planned capital expenditures, financing, or other investments dedicated to U.S.-based manufacturing and assembly over the next 1-5 years, including expected timelines and milestones.”

It is unclear whether TP-Link had these requirements on hand, especially as its assembly lines and supply chains are still based in China and Vietnam. Still, two other manufacturers have successfully secured conditional approvals — Adtran Inc., which is an Alabama-based telecommunications and fiber-networking company, and Netgear.

There have been questions about the latter’s approvals, especially because it did not publicly release any documents proving that it was bringing back manufacturing capabilities onshore. Despite that, Netgear said in its SEC disclosure, “So long as the conditional approval is maintained, NETGEAR can launch new consumer routers and update the software on existing consumer routers indefinitely.”

TP-Link has since divorced from its Chinese parent, with the process beginning in 2022 and completing in 2024. The company’s website says that it’s headquartered in Irvine, California, and that the U.S. headquarters owns and directs the “global TP-Link business.” It also said that the company is owned by Jeffrey Chao and his wife, who are both Irvine residents. There have also been reports that Chao is applying for fast-track residency under the million-dollar Trump Gold Card visa. Nevertheless, the company’s historical ties to China would likely mean that it would face close scrutiny from U.S. officials, especially regarding Chao’s citizenship.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which certifies every radio-emitting device (including routers) in the U.S., has announced “the addition of routers produced in a foreign country to the Covered List,” which is composed of equipment and services that “pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons.” While this is not technically a blanket ban on the sale of imported routers in the U.S., the FCC Public Notice (PDF) effectively has the same impact: The agency says it will not certify a foreign-made consumer router, making it illegal to sell or even import future new models into the country.

The agency said it’s doing this in response to a National Security Determination earlier this month, which says: “Recently, malicious state and non-state sponsored cyber attackers have increasingly leveraged the vulnerabilities in small and home office routers produced abroad to carry out direct attacks against American civilians in their homes. From disrupting network connectivity to enabling local networking espionage and intellectual property theft, foreign-produced routers present unacceptable risks to Americans.”

It also blamed foreign-made routers for the Volt, Flax, and Salt Typhoon cyberattacks that hit critical American infrastructure, adding that “routers in the United States must have trusted supply chains so we are not providing foreign actors with a built-in backdoor to American homes, businesses, critical infrastructure, and emergency services.”

While this might match the context of increasing instability in global geopolitics, it does not specifically address the weakness found in many consumer Wi-Fi routers. Although TP-Link was widely used in recent cyberattacks, cybersecurity experts told CNET that this was because of its ubiquity in the market, and that the exploited vulnerabilities were also present on routers made by American companies. In fact, the U.S. government itself said that the Salt Typhoon attacks often targeted Cisco hardware. Still, this did not deter the Department of Commerce from investigating TP-Link over its close ties to China.

This isn’t the first time that the FCC issued a directive that had a blanket effect on a specific type of device. In late December 2025, the agency made a similar move on foreign-made drones, effectively banning DJI and other imported brands from registering new models in the U.S. Many of the best Wi-Fi routers on sale in 2026 are from foreign companies like TP-Link. The FCC's new measure could, in theory, preclude future new products from these companies from coming to the States.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that foreign router manufacturers will forever be excluded from the U.S. market. The FCC says (PDF) that affected brands can apply for a “Conditional Approval” from the Department of War or the Department of Homeland Security to exempt them from the Covered List before they can build “trusted manufacturing capacity in the United States.” The move also does not affect any routers already on sale in the United States, or indeed any routers previously purchased, which will continue to work as normal.

TP-Link covers every corner of the consumer wireless router market, particularly in the Wi-Fi 7 realm. The company offers sub-$100 dual-band routers, compact travel routers, tri-band gaming routers, and even high-end quad-band mesh routers for the most discerning enthusiasts. Now, the company is branching out with a new dual-band gaming router: the Archer GE400.

This product slots in under the tri-band Archer GE550, GE650, and GE800. The Archer GE400 features a wealth of ports, along with a host of software features that cater to gamers looking to get that extra edge during fierce online competitions. While all of this sounds good on paper, we found that the Archer GE400 had spotty performance on our wireless tests, which made us question its value proposition against the cheaper Archer BE3600, which is one of the best Wi-Fi routers.

Design of the TP-Link Archer GE400 Gaming Router

For a wireless router, the Archer GE400 has a bold design with sharp lines and six movable antennas to improve wireless transmission. There are triangular banks of ventilation slats on the top of the router, and a mesh ventilation network on the bottom. However, the eye-catching feature of the Archer GE400 is a single, vertical LED strip mounted on the top of the router. It’s configurable using either the web GUI or TP-Link’s Tether smartphone app for its routers. You can turn off the LED strip altogether or choose from several lighting patterns.

TP-Link includes a USB 3.0 port on the side of the router for connecting storage devices, but the rest of the ports are on the back. Here (from left to right), you’ll find a button to turn off the LED strip, a reset button, a 2.5 GbE WAN port, a 2.5 GbE gaming port, three GbE LAN ports, the power port, and the on/off button.

There are two mounting points on the bottom of the router for attaching it to the wall.

TP-Link Archer GE400 Gaming Router Specifications

Setting up the TP-Link Archer GE400

The Archer GE400 can be initialized using either a web GUI (in a desktop browser) or the TP-Link Tether app. To speed things along, I opted to use the Tether app due to its ease of use. Once I opened the app, I tapped the “+” symbol in the top-right corner and chose to add a standard router. The setup program then asked me to scan the QR code on the bottom of the router with my smartphone’s camera. Next, my phone asked me to join the temporary wireless network to set up the Archer GE400.

From there, things were pretty simple: I was tasked with creating an admin password to log in to the router and choosing an SSID. By default, the Archer GE400 enabled Smart Connect, which combines the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands under a single SSID (I chose Archer_GE400). More on that later.

Finally, I was given the option to turn on automatic firmware updates for the router. The entire process took less than 5 minutes, with the required steps clearly outlined and explained for novices.

TP-Link Archer GE400 Gaming Router Software

Although I used the Tether app to set up the Archer GE400, I switched to the web GUI for the rest of my testing. The interface's overall aesthetic is pleasing, dominated by black and red. This is a stark departure from the white and blue design theme that you’ll find on non-gaming Deco and Archer routers from TP-Link.

There are six tabs across the top of the GUI: Network Map, Game Center, Internet, Wireless, HomeShield, and Advanced. Network Map outlines your current connection type, internet IP address, and current router uptime. You’ll also see an overview of the currently enabled SSIDs, CPU/memory loads, and a visual representation of which physical WAN/LAN ports are active. Finally, a Connect Clients feature shows you which devices are currently connected to the router and how they are connected (wired, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz).

The Game Center tab is what separates the Archer GE400 from TP-Link's other, more basic dual-band Wi-Fi 7 routers like the Archer BE3600. The primary Game Panel shows you current network traffic, CPU/memory load, connected USB devices, and allows you to configure the RGB strip on the top of the router.

Delving deeper into the submenus, there are options for Game Application Boost (which lets you specify the total bandwidth you want to dedicate to gaming devices), Game Server Acceleration via WTFast, and traffic priority per LAN port. Other features include Game Port Forwarding, network traffic statistics for the games you play, and Game Detector, which shows you ping times in real-time for popular game servers.

The Internet tab is basic, as it only shows your current connection type and allows you to clone a MAC address for the router.

The Wireless tab lets you control all the available SSIDs on the Archer GE400. By default, the Archer GE400 enabled Smart Connect, which combines the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands into a single SSID and routes devices to the optimal band. I prefer to keep a separate SSID for each band, so I disabled Smart Connect and created two SSIDs: Archer_GE400 for the 2.4 GHz band and Archer_GE400_5G for the 5 GHz band. You can also create an MLO network, allowing you to simultaneously send and receive data on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Finally, TP-Link will enable you to create separate Guest and IoT networks — you can configure either to allow only 2.4 GHz traffic, only 5 GHz traffic, or both.

The HomeShield tab includes a Network Check function that scans your network for security issues. Parental Controls are also available which you can specify per device.

Finally, the Advanced tab is where you’ll find more granular control of features that gaming enthusiasts might want to tweak. Many of the functions from the previous five main tabs are also duplicated here, but you’ll also find other additions like SpeedTest, an option to create an EasyMesh network with another supported router, VPN integration, firmware updates, backup/restore of router settings, and a router reboot schedule (among many other features).

TP-Link Archer GE400 Gaming Router Performance

I tested the Archer GE400 using our tried and true, purpose-built testing client rig, which includes an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, an MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 adapter (Qualcomm NCM865), and Windows 11 Home. Windows 11 has all the latest software updates installed, while the Herald-BE is running the latest drivers available from MSI’s support website. The server is a Windows 11 Home machine with a 10 GbE network card connected to the 2.5 GbE Game LAN port on the Archer GE400 router.

As always, benchmark results may vary widely depending on the layout of your home, apartment, or office. Home construction, wall thickness, the choice of materials in the flooring, and even the number of walls between the router and clients can affect performance. So, while the results that I present are consistent, given that the testing locations and methodology that I use in my home don’t change, they might not align with what you might see in your specific home or office environment.

Our iPerf3 throughput tests are conducted at six-foot and 25-foot distances, with and without traffic on the network. In the congested traffic tests, we add six wireless clients streaming 4K YouTube videos across multiple wireless bands.

One word sums up the performance I was able to extract from the Archer GE400: disappointing. When it comes to baseline wireless performance, the Archer GE400 should offer comparable performance to the dual-band Archer BE3600. However, our results showed the Archer GE400 lagging behind its cheaper sibling in nearly every metric.

The Archer GE400 brought up the rear of the pack in our 5GHz iPerf3 test with no additional network traffic. The router achieved 951 Mbps at close range (6 feet), which put it nearly 200 Mbps behind the Archer BE3600 and even further behind the Asus RT-BE86U (1,473 Mbps) and the RT-BE88U (1,256 Mbps). It wasn't much better at 25 feet, though the Archer GE400 managed 552 Mbps, compared to just 382 Mbps for the sub-$100 Archer BE3600.

Things looked slightly better for the Archer GE400 with the 2.4 GHz test, where it hit 135 Mbps at 6 feet, putting it in second place behind the Archer BE3600 (214 Mbps). However, when stretching out to 25 feet, the Archer GE400 lagged all competitors at 36 Mbps.

In our iPerf3 test, with congested traffic, the Archer GE400 secured third place with 882 Mbps at 6 feet and even came in first place (478 Mbps) at 25 feet. It was another mixed bag with congested traffic on the 2.4 GHz band -- the Archer GE400 snagged second place with 102 Mbps, while the Archer BE3600 led the field at 205 Mbps. However, the Archer GE400's fickleness reared its ugly head again at 25 feet, where it finished last with 31 Mbps.

Bottom Line

The TP-Link Archer GE400 features an angular design and RGB lighting meant to appeal to gamers, and includes a 2.5 GbE WAN and an additional dedicated 2.5 GbE gaming port. TP-Link also provides a comprehensive suite of gaming-related enhancements that can be configured via the Tether smartphone app or the web GUI.

However, those pluses clash with its real-world wireless performance, which was a mixed bag. Short-range performance on the 5 GHz band lagged its rivals, although the tables turned at longer distances. Conversely, the Archer GE400 showed relatively strong performance at short range on the 2.4 GHz band but faltered at long range.

The biggest knock against the Archer GE400, however, is pricing. The router has an MSRP of $219.99, but is currently available at Amazon for $169.99 after a $50 instant discount. For comparison, the Archer BE3600, which offers faster and more consistent wireless performance, is available for just $89.99. If you can look past the fancy RGB lighting and don’t need the gaming-specific tweaks, it’s hard to justify the $80 price differential.

The TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro mesh router is currently on sale with a 33% discount on Best Buy, cutting its price down to $399.99 from $599.99, saving you $200 off its full price. This 3-pack mesh router system should be good enough to deliver Wi-Fi coverage to most homes without needing to run LAN cables all over, making them easy to use and convenient to set up. More importantly, it uses the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard, ensuring that you can get the most out of your internet connection wherever you are inside your house.

• Check out this deal on Best Buy

With three units, you can provide solid coverage to as much as 7,600 square feet, ensuring that you won’t have any dead spots in your wireless network. It also uses tri-band technology, allowing you to connect using 2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz, and 6.0 GHz bands while minimizing interference across your multiple devices. And for those who prefer a physical connection, each Deco BE65 Pro node has one 2.5 Gbps and two 5 Gbps WAN/LAN ports, plus a USB port for attaching storage media.

The Tom’s Hardware team reviewed the TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro, and we gave it a rating of more than four stars from five, owing to the strong performance of its 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands, plus the aforementioned three Ethernet ports. More importantly, we loved it for its competitive price, and this deal makes it even more affordable. You do need the Deco app on your phone and create a TP-Link ID to set it up properly, but that’s a minor inconvenience for everything that you get in the package.

Best Buy sells the TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro at $249.99 for a single unit, but you’re likely not choosing this model just to buy one unit. Interestingly, the two-pack version costs $449.99, meaning the sale price for the three-pack is $50 cheaper.

So, if you’re tired of spotty internet connection around your place or you no longer have the patience to manually connect to a different Wi-Fi network when you go upstairs, this three-pack mesh router system is the best solution for seamless and fast wireless internet. But if you want something more robust for your gaming needs, we recommend that you check out our best Wi-Fi routers list to see our picks and weigh your options.

If you're looking for more Black Friday/Cyber Monday savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard or CPU Deals pages.

With Black Friday right around the corner, many people are likely on the lookout for deals to upgrade their wireless network. Wi-Fi 7 is the current standard for consumer routers, and luckily, there are plenty of discounts available for those who don't want to spend hundreds of dollars. One of them is the TP-Link Archer 3600, which is currently selling for $86.99 at Amazon, with a $5 instant coupon dropping the price to just $81.99.

The Archer BE3600 is one of our top picks for best Wi-Fi routers, and it's even cheaper today. The dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router offers surprisingly strong 2.4 GHz performance and class-competitive 5 GHz performance. Since this is a dual-band router, you don't get the higher-performing 6 GHz band, but that's to be expected at this sub-$90 price point (we saw over 1.1 Gbps on the 5 GHz band).

With that said, the router features one 2.5 GbE WAN port, one 2.5 GbE LAN port, and three 1 GbE LAN ports. There's also a single USB 3.0 port, making the port arrangement quite commendable for such a cheap router.

Amazon is also discounting the dual-band Asus RT-BE58U, which is down 35 percent to just $97.99 for Black Friday. You'll get 4K QAM and MLO support, which are part of the Wi-Fi 7 standard, even if you don't get the third 6 GHz band.

The port lineup is plentiful, with a 2.5 GbE WAN/LAN, 1 GbE WAN/LAN, and three 1 GbE LAN ports. There's also a USB-A port on the back that can be used to tether to a smartphone. With this functionality, you can use your smartphone's cellular connection to provide internet connectivity to your entire home if your home's broadband/fiber connection goes offline.

The final standalone dual-band router on our plate today is the Netgear Nighthawk RS90. The router usually carries an MSRP of $129.99, but just barely squeaks under the $100 mark today at $99.99 from Amazon. Like the other routers, the Nighthawk RS90 features a 2.5 GbE WAN port and four GbE ports for your wired clients.

The Nighthawk RS90 uses internal antennas (unlike the TP-Link and Asus offerings), giving it a more streamlined appearance. That said, Netgear says it provides coverage up to 2,000 square feet.

Although our coverage has so far focused on dual-band Wi-Fi 7 routers, since they are the cheapest around, we've also included a tri-band router: the Netgear Nighthawk RS280S. It retails for $249.99, but is currently on sale for $170.97 at Amazon.

While the Nighthawk RS280S looks similar to the RS90, it includes the higher-performing 6 GHz band. With the 6 GHz band, all of your modern laptops, smartphones, and tablets will be able to take advantage of the faster network speeds. Netgear claims the Nighthawk RS280S covers up to 2,500 square feet and has upgraded ports compared to the Nighthawk RS90. You'll find a 2.5 GbE WAN, two 2.5 GbE LAN, and two 1 GbE LAN ports. There's also a single USB-A port for adding network storage.

If you're in the market for a new wireless router, there's no shortage of excellent options on the market. If you scroll through Amazon, you can't throw a stick without hitting a TP-Link router… or two… or three. The company's routers are value-priced and generally offer strong performance compared to peers. So naturally, there are excellent deals on a variety of TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 routers during the lead-up to Black Friday, including some we have already reviewed on this site. They include the Deco BE63 mesh router, on sale for as low as $269.99, and the Archer BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Travel Router, available for just $89.99 after a coupon.

The Deco BE63 is a great mid-range, tri-brand Wi-Fi 7 mesh router that we reviewed earlier this year. I liked it so much that I bought a two-pack for my own house and connected the two wireless nodes via a CAT6e wired backhaul. The mesh system is capable of 574 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, 4,324 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, and 5,188 Mbps on the 6 GHz band.

You can use Smart Connect, which uses a single SSID and selects the optimal band for your wireless client based on current conditions, or create a separate SSID for each band. There are also options to create MLO, Guest, and IoT networks, providing even more flexibility for your wireless network.

For wired operations, the Deco BE63 offers four 2.5 GbE ports and one USB 3.0 port per node.

During Amazon's current sale, you can grab a Deco BE63 two-pack for just $269.99 or a three-pack for $369.99.

If you pick up the Deco BE63 and want to extend coverage outdoors, you might also consider the Deco BE25 Outdoor, an IP65-rated satellite. You can connect the Deco BE25 Outdoor to your existing network with a wired backhaul or opt for the easy-to-set-up wireless backhaul. Depending on your network layout, you could experience some pretty significant wireless performance gains in your backyard or any outdoor area that needs additional coverage. And with a sale price of $119.99, it's an affordable solution for users with this very specific need.

Finally, TP-Link's newly released BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Travel Router, which we recently reviewed. This is a dual-band travel router that can be powered via a portable power bank. It can connect to the internet via a traditional home modem, a cellular USB modem, or even your smartphone via USB.

It can also create its own private Wi-Fi network, which is great for use in a hotel room, or even on an airplane or cruise ship, where you're often charged a connection fee per device.

The BE3600 carries an MSRP of $139.99 but is currently available for $89.99 after a $10 coupon (10WIFI7TPL). On a side note, if you have an Amazon Prime Rewards Visa, you'll receive an additional 15 to 20 percent cash back on the total purchase price of the routers and satellites mentioned here.

If you're looking for more Black Friday savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard or CPU Deals pages.

The market for the best Wi-Fi routers is vast, with Wi-Fi 6 offerings hovering around $50 to high-powered Wi-Fi 7 mesh routers that can approach $2,000. One category that we haven't really touched on is the travel router market, which a few well-known manufacturers like Asus and TP-Link occupy. Here, we have a TL-WR3602BE review unit, which is TP-Link's dual-band Wi-Fi 7 entry into this market.

Despite its diminutive size, the TL-WR3602BE packs in a lot of functionality, including the ability to operate as a router, a hotspot, or an access point/range extender/client. And it does all of this with a street price of $119, which is on the lower end for a dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router (of any type).

Design of the TP-Link TL-WR3602BE Wi-Fi 7 Travel Router

As far as routers go, the TL-WR3602BE is incredibly compact, thanks in part to its role as a travel device. It measures just 5 x 3.7 x 4 inches, weighs half a pound, and has two antennas that can fold against its body when not in use.

You'll find two network ports on the back: a 2.5 Gbps WAN port and a 1 Gbps LAN port. In addition, there's a USB 3.0 port for storage or USB internet tethering, and a USB Type-C port for power. There's also an action button on the side that can be configured to turn the device's LED on/off, enable a VPN, or turn Wi-Fi on/off.

Given its minimal power needs (5V/3A), you can power the TL-WR3602BE via the USB-C port using a portable power bank (e.g., when camping outdoors). A 15-watt wall adapter with a USB-C cord is included in the box, a short CAT6e patch cable, and wall plug adapters for US, UK, and EU markets.

TP-Link TL-WR3602BE Wi-Fi 7 Travel Router Specifications

Setting up the TP-Link TL-WR3602BE Wi-Fi 7 Travel Router

The TL-WR3602BE can be configured via a desktop browser user interface or TP-Link’s Tether app. I’ve grown fond of TP-Link’s router app user interface, so I opted for the latter. Setting up the router was easy, with the first step (after downloading and installing Tether) being to scan the QR code on the bottom of the router. After completing this step, the setup program attempted to find the TL-WR3602BE, which it did successfully.

Once found, the setup program asks the user to set a device password and choose how they want to connect to the internet. The four choices are:

• Via an Existing Public Wi-Fi — allows you to connect to a hotel Wi-Fi, or any public hotspot, and create your own private and secure network for devices
• Via an Ethernet Cable — the traditional method of connecting to a cable modem or fiber connection
• Via USB Tethering — share your smartphone’s internet connection via the USB-A port on the router
• Via USB Modem — connect the router to a USB cellular modem

I chose to use the Ethernet cable method to perform my initial tests with the TL-WR3602BE. Once you select a connection method, you’ll need to create separate SSIDs and passwords for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

After that step, the setup program applies the settings, and the TL-WR3602BE should be up and running.

Software and Features of the TP-Link TL-WR3602BE Wi-Fi 7 Travel Router

The TP-Link Tether app shares a design language with the Deco app, which is available for the company’s mesh routers. The default Network tab shows a large image of the router, connection statistics, how the router is connected to the internet, VPN status, internet connection status, and the number of clients connected to the router.

There’s also a Performance Mode with three settings: Boost, Balance, and Eco. Boost is on by default and offers maximum Wi-Fi coverage and performance at the expense of higher heat output. Eco ramps down transmission power, resulting in lower performance and a shorter wireless range. The benefit is that power usage and heat levels are also lower. Balance, of course, is a middle-ground setting between performance and efficiency. I left the TL-WR3602BE on Boost, since that’s the default setting.

The USB Drive tab gives settings and control options if you insert a thumb drive or an external HDD into the TL-WR3602BE. The Security tab provides a rundown of risks that may affect your router. However, if you want more advanced security features (such as protection for all your connected devices, comprehensive security reports, and protection against cyberattacks), you’ll need to subscribe to TP-Link’s Security+ service, which costs $4.99/month or $35/year. Total Protection costs $69.99/year and builds on the Security+ package with antivirus protection, unlimited VPN usage, password management, and ID monitoring.

The Family tab lets you create a child's profile for parental controls, and the More tab provides access to advanced settings (block list, QoS, guest network, MLO network, firmware updates, LED light control, operating modes, etc.).

I had no trouble with the router working in the Ethernet cable mode; it operated just like any other router that I tested. I also tried using USB Tethering mode on my iPhone Air. For this, I needed a USB-A to USB-C cable that supports data transfer. The only ones that I could find lying around only supported power delivery, so I had to settle for using a USB-C cable with a USB-C to USB-A adapter to connect my iPhone Air to the USB-A port on the back of the TL-WR3602BE.

Once connected, my iPhone Air asked me to verify if I trusted the TL-WR3602BE, which I confirmed. I then verified with the app that I wanted to use a smartphone to tether. Within a few seconds, the router applied the settings, and I had a green link in the Dynamic Island on my iPhone Air, indicating a solid connection.

I ran a Speedtest on my iPhone Air, connected to Visible Mobile’s 5G network, and got 724 Mbps down and 40.12 Mbps up. I then ran a Speedtest on an HP OmniBook X connected to the 5 GHz band on the TL-WR3602BE, which was directly connected to my iPhone Air. The result was a lackluster 11.75 Mbps down and 8.86 Mbps up, tested at a distance of six feet from the router. I chalk it up to being an issue with the USB-C cable, the adapter, or both.

As a backup, I tested the Existing Public Wi-Fi operating mode and connected the TL-WR3602BE to my iPhone Air as a wireless hotspot. I then reran the Speedtest and got 135.08 Mbps down and 38.55 Mbps up. However, the download result is a far cry from the 724 Mbps I saw directly on the phone.

I could see the Public Wi-Fi mode being the most popular with travelers, as it can be a real money saver. On airplanes and cruise ships, you’re often charged a fee per device to connect to the internet via a captive Wi-Fi portal. So if you have multiple devices of your own that you want to connect, or if you’re traveling with family, costs can start ballooning quickly. The TL-WR3602BE allows you to connect initially with just one device and have everyone else piggyback off that connection. According to TP-Link, you can connect up to 90 devices.

I don’t have a USB cellular modem to test that functionality. However, the TL-WR3602BE can also operate as an access point (to add wireless to a wired network), as a range extender, and as a wireless client (to add Wi-Fi to a wired network device). I had no issues using any of these additional operating modes.

One other item of note: I performed all iPhone Air/tethering testing outside, with the TL-WR3602BE connected to an Anker battery power bank via USB-C. According to the power bank, the TL-WR3602BE was pulling around 3.2 to 3.5 watts when tethered (wired or wirelessly) to the iPhone Air.

TP-Link TL-WR3602BE Wi-Fi 7 Travel Router Performance

As always, our client rig for wireless tests consists of an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, an MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 adapter, and Windows 11 Home. The server is a Windows 11 Home machine with a 10 GbE network card connected to the 2.5 GbE LAN on the TL-WR3602BE.

The iPerf3 wireless throughput tests are run at 6 feet and 25 feet, with and without added network traffic. Tests are conducted separately on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. In the congested traffic tests, we add six wireless clients streaming 4K YouTube and 4K Disney+ content evenly across the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

Unlike other TP-Link routers, the TL-WR3602BE doesn’t use Smart Connect by default. Instead, you must specify unique SSIDs for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

Given its small stature, two antennas, and focus on portability and efficiency, we weren’t expecting big numbers from the TL-WR3602BE. Our testing confirmed that the TL-WR3602BE was well behind more home-focused dual-band Wi-Fi 7 routers that we’ve tested.

On the 5 GHz iPerf3 test, the TL-WR3602BE managed just 753 Mbps at six feet and 300 Mbps at 25 feet. For comparison, the Asus RT-BE86U nearly doubled the result at six feet and more than doubled it at 25 feet. The $99 Archer BE3600 fell in between the TL-WR3602BE and RT-BE86U in performance on both fronts.

The TL-WR3602BE was more competitive with the RT-BE86U on the 2.4 GHz band, where it hit 97 Mbps at six feet and 36 Mbps at 25 feet. For comparison, the RT-BE86U was dialed in at 109 Mbps and 47 Mbps, respectively.

With congested traffic on the 5 GHz band, the TL-WR3602BE and the RT-BE86U again trended closer together. The former achieved 566 Mbps at six feet and 273 Mbps at 25 feet, versus 606 Mbps and 302 Mbps, respectively, for the latter. The Archer BE3600 outpaced both, especially at six feet, where it topped 1,000 Mbps.

However, the TL-WR3602BE lagged behind the other two competitors in the 2.4 GHz congested test, achieving only 77 Mbps at 6 feet and 36 Mbps at 25 feet.

Bottom Line

Travel routers are a small niche in the broader networking segment. However, it does offer some benefits. If you have a smartphone plan that limits the number of devices that can tether per connection, a router like the TL-WR3602BE can get around the limitation. This could be helpful if you’re camping or need to set up a “mobile office” in the field with multiple wireless devices.

In addition, it allows you to log into a public Wi-Fi network and then provide a secure virtual network to all of your wireless devices through that single connection (this can save you money on airplanes or on cruise ships). It can work tethered to a USB cellular modem for internet connectivity. If you need even more versatility, it can operate as a range extender, a wireless client, or as an access point for a wired network. And to top things off, this little router can operate off a garden-variety USB-C portable battery.

Despite its versatility, there are some downsides. For starters, performance when tethered was a fraction of what my source connection (an iPhone Air) could achieve. In addition, wireless performance lagged standard dual-band Wi-Fi 7 routers. It’s likely not a deal-breaker for people who would be using the router while traveling, but it’s something to keep in mind.

$119 is a solid price for a router with a relatively narrow focus, but we wish it were closer to $100, or even slightly below that mark. However, if you need a router that can easily slip into a travel bag and can be powered by a portable battery in a pinch, it’s worth adding to your shopping list.

After facing intense scrutiny from several agencies for more than a year, the U.S. government is considering banning TP-Link routers outright, courtesy of a proposal from the Department of Commerce, backed by the Justice Department, Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and more. According to the Washington Post, the White House is concerned about national security due to TP-Link's close ties to China, a claim the company fervently denies in its statement, reiterating it will continue business operations as usual. It's also prepared to legally challenge any unfair treatment if the government goes through with the ban.

Although some reports suggest that TP-Link controls upwards of 65% of the U.S. router market, the company affirms that its share of the "residential Wi-Fi router" market in North America is under 10%, according to Dell'Oro market research. The company offers networking gear at lower prices than its competitors, especially in budget segments — something it's already under investigation for by the Department of Justice. Moreover, the Department of Commerce had been looking into TP-Link since last year, when it first flagged the company for ties to China, a concern exacerbated by the Salt Tycoon attacks on telecom providers in December 2024. Three months from that, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi said, "don't use this" while holding up a TP-Link router in front of Congress.

TP-Link has previously denied any links to China, refuting any allegations of national security, citing that it's a U.S.-based company. See, the actual, overarching TP-Link, known as TP-Link Technologies, is indeed headquartered in China, but in 2022, "TP-Link Systems" was spun off into its own, separate entity that operates out of the U.S. and has been manufacturing routers in Vietnam since 2018. The company's response to a potential ban today echoes that same sentiment, hoping for a positive outcome through coordination.

TP-Link's official statement to Tom's Hardware reads:

"No official action or confirmation has been made by any agency or the White House regarding these allegations. The article reported that Commerce may still decide not to issue the ban, or could reach an agreement with TP-Link for a different resolution of its concerns.

TP-Link Systems vigorously disputes any allegation that its products present national security risks to the United States. The company remains as committed as ever to supplying secure and high-quality products to the U.S. market. As we told the Washington Post, any concerns the government may have about TP-Link are fully resolvable by a common-sense mix of measures like onshoring development functions, investing in cybersecurity, and being transparent.

TP-Link will continue to work with the U.S. Department of Commerce to ensure we understand and can respond to any concerns the government has. We also reserve all our legal rights as a U.S. company to challenge any proposed adverse action that lacks a basis in fact or treats TP-Link unfairly. TP-Link fully expects to continue its business as usual with no interruption to its sales in the U.S. market."

The official process for the Department of Commerce's proposal consists of two 30-day-long phases. First, after initiating the ban (following approval from other government agencies), TP-Link would be given a month to respond. Then Commerce would have its own month to decide whether to continue with the ban, taking into account TP-Link's objections. This is likely the period when negotiations will take center stage, as the two parties work out all the details. That being said, the Department of Commerce has made it clear that nothing short of a ban would suffice in this case.

China-related national security concerns have picked up steam under the Trump administration, which entered a temporary tariff truce with Beijing last week — likely what's keeping the ban from taking effect immediately — but tensions continue to escalate. Despite being an American company, TP-Link Systems remains an alleged threat to the government, which claims that spying software can be installed on these routers by simply pushing a state-mandated update from China, which TP-Link Technologies (its parent) would need to comply with.

At this point, nothing has been set in motion, and we could very well see a deal being worked out between Washington and TP-Link; otherwise, this would become one of the most significant technological bans in the country's history, joining the ranks of Huawei, whose legacy infrastructure is still being phased out by network providers. A ban on TP-Link routers would shake up the market considerably, leaving a clear gap for value-oriented buyers who relied on the company's hardware. Many network providers worldwide already use TP-Link routers as their default.

TP-Link was one of the first manufacturers to bring Wi-Fi 7 routers down to an affordable level with the Archer BE3600. The Archer BE3600 is regularly available for around $100 and provides dual-band Wi-Fi and multiple 2.5 GbE LAN ports. Now, TP-Link is looking to expand its reach in the dual-band space with the Archer GE400, its latest Wi-Fi 7 gaming router.

The Archer GE400 slots in beneath TP-Link's existing Wi-Fi 7 gaming routers: the Archer GE650 and Archer GE800. The new gaming router offers up to 6.5 Gbps of aggregate throughput across the 2.4 GHz (688 Mbps) and 5 GHz (5,765 Mbps) bands, while the Archer GE650 and G800 offer up to 11 Gbps and 19 Gbps across three bands.

TP-Link aims to provide broad wireless coverage for your home with six movable antennas, and you'll find support for Wi-Fi 7 features such as Multi-link Operation (MLO) and 4K-QAM. However, you don't get the high-performance (at shorter range) 6 GHz band that you'll find on TP-Link's higher-end gaming routers. The Archer GE400 also supports EasyMesh, which allows you to use supported routers in a mesh network within your home.

For wired connectivity, the back panel features a 2.5 GbE WAN port, a dedicated 2.5 GbE LAN "Gaming" port, and three 1 GbE LAN ports. There's also a single USB 3.0 port for adding storage to your network.

In addition to the prioritized 2.5 GbE LAN port for gaming, the Archer BE400 features customizable RGB lighting on its exterior. In addition, there’s a dedicated Game Panel that shows network status, router vitals, controls to accelerate network performance for gamers, and controls for RGB lighting.

TP-Link says the Archer GE400 will launch at $219.99, making it more than twice as expensive as the more mainstream Archer BE3600. However, the router is currently available from Amazon with a $50 discount using a code (50GE400) at checkout, bringing the price to $169.99. For comparison, the Archer GE650 carries an MSRP of $349.99 and is currently available for $239. The Archer GE800 is still far pricier, with a $399 street price against an MSRP of $599.

Earlier this summer, I purchased a TP-Link Deco BE25-Outdoor Wi-Fi 7 extender to expand coverage in my backyard. I found performance to be excellent, as I witnessed a more than 2x improvement in 5 GHz throughput and a nearly 5x improvement in 2.4 GHz throughput.

Since that time, TP-Link sent us a Deco BE65-Outdoor to review, which is a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 extender, rather than the dual-band Deco BE25-Outdoor. That added band and performance also means that the Deco BE65-Outdoor is more expensive, with an MSRP of $299.99 versus $149.99 for the BE25-Outdoor I had been using.

Design of the TP-Link Deco BE65-Outdoor

The Deco BE65-Outdoor is similar in design to the BE25-Outdoor: It’s a tall, white cylinder with a black base that unscrews to reveal the ports inside for connectivity and power. A rubber gasket prevents moisture and dirt from entering the chassis. With that said, TP-Link says that the Deco BE65-Outdoor is IP65 certified for dust and water resistance.

Inside the unit, you'll find two 2.5 GbE LAN ports that support Power over Ethernet (PoE), and a power port for the included 9-foot cable.

The Deco BE65-Outdoor measures 4.23 × 4.23 × 6.93 inches and weighs 3.48 pounds.

TP-Link Deco BE65-Outdoor Specifications

Setting up the TP-Link Deco BE65-Outdoor

The first step for setting up the Deco BE65-Outdoor was to find a suitable place to mount it outside. This time around, I opted to mount the unit in my backyard on a tree. The tree is roughly 25 feet away from the main router in my Deco BE63 Wi-Fi 7 mesh network. Only one exterior wall separates the primary router from where the Deco BE65-Outdoor was installed.

TP-Link includes a mounting template, four screws, and a plastic mounting bracket, which I installed on the tree at a height of about 6.5 feet. The Deco BE65-Outdoor then just slips securely onto the mounting bracket. Given that this was just a temporary setup for review purposes, I grabbed a 50-foot extension cord from the garage and plugged one end into an exterior wall outlet and the other end into the Deco BE65-Outdoor’s power cord.

TP-Link makes it incredibly simple to add a satellite to your existing network via the Deco app. In case you didn’t know, all of TP-Link’s Deco mesh routers are only configurable through the Deco app, and that remains the same with additional satellites like the Deco BE65-Outdoor and the Deco BE25-Outdoor.

Once I mounted and plugged in the Deco BE65-Outdoor, I went back inside the house and opened the Deco app. When the app opened, I immediately received a prompt saying that the Deco BE65-Outdoor had been found. I was then asked if I wanted to add the device to my existing Deco BE63 mesh network, to which I obliged.

Once the initial network optimization was completed, the Deco BE65-Outdoor opted to connect directly to the primary Deco BE63 router/node upstairs. Initially, the Deco BE65-Outdoor opted for a 5 GHz wireless backhaul to the mothership, rather than the 5 GHz/6 GHz MLO backhaul that the Deco BE63 satellite in my living room uses.

I found this odd, because the Deco BE65-Outdoor and my living room Deco BE63 satellite are both roughly 25 feet away from the main Deco BE63 router – and the living room node has additional walls and floors in its path. Even when I placed the Deco BE65-Outdoor within six feet of the main Deco BE63 node, it would still only connect using the 5 GHz band.

After some trial and error (and an assist from TP-Link), I discovered that the Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) mode, which is required for outdoor 6 GHz band usage, was not enabled. This was despite my clicking the option during the initial setup to enable AFC. I found the setting buried in that Advanced section of the 6 GHz band in the wireless settings. Attempting to turn it on continued to give me an error message, so I tried rebooting the router several times. On the third reboot, the AFC mode “stuck,” and I was then able to connect reliably on the 6 GHz band.

Finally, I performed a firmware update to get the unit up to par with the rest of my mesh network.

TP-Link Deco BE65-Outdoor Performance

I set up two locations for testing performance: my back porch and my fire pit, which is about 20 feet from my back porch. I decided to do baseline testing to measure performance when connected to my existing Deco BE63 network only. I then performed tests with my laptop, wirelessly connecting to only the Deco BE65-Outdoor node on the mesh network using the wireless backhaul.

I also decided to throw in a third scenario, connecting the Deco BE65-Outdoor to the Deco BE63 living room node using a wired backhaul. In this scenario, I connected a 75-foot CAT6e cable to a free 2.5 GbE port on the Deco BE63 and ran the cable all the way out my back door, across the back porch, and across the yard to the tree-mounted Deco BE65-Outdoor and plugged it into a free 2.5 GbE port. This is the best-case scenario for wireless performance. When an Ethernet backhaul is used, the Deco BE65-Outdoor automatically makes the necessary changes to integrate with the network. I then performed tests with the laptop connecting wirelessly to the Deco BE65-Outdoor node.

For my test system, I used an HP OmniBook X (Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite) laptop with a Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 Wi-Fi 6E wireless card. I then used my trusty iPerf3 server, which, in this instance, was connected via a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet connection to my Deco BE63 router.

With that said, the numbers speak for themselves regarding performance. The baseline numbers when connecting to the Deco BE63 network yielded 504 Mbps on the porch and a dismal 115 Mbps by the fire pit, using the 5 GHz band. Switching to the 2.4 GHz band, I saw 25 Mbps on the porch and just 6 Mbps at the fire pit.

Shifting to the Deco BE65-Outdoor (wireless backhaul), I saw maximum throughput of 479 Mbps while on the porch, and 343 Mbps at the fire pit (a 3x improvement) on the 5 GHz band. When using the wired backhaul, iPerf3 performance on the porch climbed to 760 Mbps and averaged 601 Mbps near the fire pit.

However, the highest performance was seen using the 6 GHz band, where the OmniBook X nearly hit 900 Mbps on my porch and 570 Mbps at the fire pit when using a wired backhaul.

There were even dramatic improvements on the 2.4 GHz band, reaching 64 Mbps on the porch and 44 Mbps at the fire pit with the wireless backhaul. With the wired backhaul enabled, those numbers climbed to 74 Mbps and 60 Mbps, respectively.

Bottom Line

The TP-Link Deco BE65-Outdoor is a premium wireless satellite that can be used with the company’s Deco mesh systems. Performance across the board on my back porch and in my back yard was dramatically faster when using the Deco BE65-Outdoor versus my “base” Deco BE63 mesh network. I saw upwards of a 10x improvement on the 2.4 GHz band and significant gains on the 5 GHz band. The option to use a wired backhaul further strengthens data throughput.

However, we must then address pricing. The Deco BE65-Outdoor costs $300, which is twice the price of the dual-band Deco BE25-Outdoor. If all you’re hoping to do is expand wireless coverage to your outdoor areas, the Deco BE25-Outdoor should be wholly sufficient for your needs. But if you want a “spare no expense” wireless node that is second to none in performance, the Deco BE65-Outdoor is hard to ignore.

Consumer Wi-Fi 7 devices have only been around for a couple of years at this point, but as we all know, technological progress doesn’t stand still. There’s always a push for making hardware faster, more secure, and more reliable. Wireless technologies are no exception, which means that the organizing bodies behind Wi-Fi are already looking forward to the next generation: Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn).

Although details at this point are relatively light, TP-Link announced today that it has conducted its first successful trials of Wi-Fi 8 hardware using a prototype device. The company didn’t specify the hardware it used to achieve its Wi-Fi 8 milestone, referring only to a “joint industry partnership.” However, there are several big names in the Wi-Fi chip market, including Broadcom, Qualcomm, Intel, MediaTek, and Marvell. TP-Link has been known to work closely with Qualcomm to supply chipsets for its Wi-Fi 7 portfolio, so it’s plausible to assume that the partnership could extend to Wi-Fi 8 hardware.

According to the company, its testing has validated the Wi-Fi 8 beacon and data throughput, marking a “critical milestone in Wi-Fi 8 development.”

You can read more about TP-Link’s early development with Wi-Fi 8 on the information page that it created.

We learned last year that the overarching goal of Wi-Fi 8 is not to bring extraordinary theoretical speed improvements (although we’ll likely see some generational advances), but to improve overall reliability and real-world performance. Wi-Fi 8 will still utilize three bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) and will retain the 4096 QAM and 320 MHz of maximum channel bandwidth introduced with Wi-Fi 7. While the maximum data rate remains at 46 Gbps, Wi-Fi 8’s Ultra High Reliability (UHR) goal is to improve real-world data rate by up to 25 percent for compliant devices.

In addition, four new technologies are aimed at improving various aspects of Wi-Fi life, as described in a MediaTek whitepaper: Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR), Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF), Dynamic Sub-Channel Operation (DSO), and enhanced Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS). For example, Co-SR monitors power levels to deliver optimal signal strength between devices, while DSO can assign sub-channels to a device to boost throughput by up to 80 percent.

So, what does all of this mean for general consumers? If you reside in a dense urban environment, you can expect higher overall performance with reduced interference from competing wireless signals. In addition, you’ll notice fewer interruptions when roaming and better performance under low-signal situations.

Wi-Fi 8 is preceded by Wi-Fi 7, and we first started seeing the first commercial-grade hardware in our lab in late 2023. Those initial Wi-Fi 7 products were costly, with the Amazon Eero 7 Max mesh router costing $599 for just a single node and $1,699 for a three-pack. Luckily, the prices for Wi-Fi 7 routers have come down dramatically since then. You can purchase a dual-band router for around $100, a tri-band router for under $200, and a tri-band mesh router for roughly $300 on sale.

However, with the new wireless standard on the horizon, we can expect those Wi-Fi 7 prices to drop further as we prepare for the inevitable price premium of Wi-Fi 8 hardware.

At this point, we’ve reviewed several members of TP-Link’s Deco family of Wi-Fi 7 mesh routers, ranging from dual-band to tri-band offerings. Recently, TP-Link decided to add a fresh SKU to the lineup, the Deco BE68, a tri-band system advertising a combined 14 Gbps of wireless throughput.

The Deco BE68 still isn’t the flagship of the range – that distinction goes to the quad-band Deco BE95 – but it does offer excellent overall performance. And the router and each satellite carry a 10 GbE port, which is a nice upgrade over the Deco BE63 and Deco BE65 Pro.

The Deco BE68 carries an MSRP of $699 for a three-pack, but is currently available for $499 compared to $399 for the Deco BE65 Pro. Is that extra $100 worth it for average home users? Let’s find out.

Design of the TP-Link Deco BE68 Mesh Router

If you've read our review of the Deco BE63 and Deco BE65 Pro, the design of the Deco BE68 doesn't break new ground. The router and each satellite are tall plastic cylinders finished in matte white. The top of each cylinder is slightly recessed to accommodate ventilation slots to cool off the internal circuitry.

TP-Link attempts to inject a little style into those cylinders with a ribbed "7" that is molded in the plastic, running from top to bottom. Each unit is 4.23 inches in diameter and 6.93 inches tall. The Deco family is only available in white, so keep that in mind if you're a stickler for how the units will look alongside your interior decor.

All the ports are located on the back, within a grey panel. At the top of the panel sits a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button for easily pairing compatible wireless devices. Below it is a 1 GbE port, a 2.5 GbE port, a 10 GbE port, one USB 3.0 port, and a connector for the barrel-style power adapter.

TP-Link Deco BE68 Mesh Router Specifications

Setting up the TP-Link Deco BE68 Mesh Router

If you want to set up and perform ongoing maintenance with the Deco BE68, you'll first need to download the TP-Link Deco app for Android or iOS. You'll also need to create a TP-Link ID for using the app if you don't have one already.

To begin the installation process, I plugged power into one of the nodes and connected the included patch cable to my modem (which then established it as the primary router). I placed my phone next to the router, after which the setup program found it. I then proceeded through the typical internet configuration options and was able to physically place and identify (via the app) the two satellites.

I then created several wireless networks for testing purposes. I made a 6 GHz network (Deco_BE68_6GHz), a combined 2.4 GHz/5 GHz network (Deco_BE68), an MLO network (Deco_BE68_MLO), and a 2.4 GHz IoT network (Deco_BE68_IoT). You can limit IoT devices to the 2.4 GHz band or give them access to both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

TP-Link also allows you to create two guest networks. There’s a 2.4 GHz/5 GHz guest network option, allowing devices to connect to 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, only 2.4 GHz, or only 5 GHz. The second guest network option gives access to the 6 GHz band.

TP-Link Deco BE68 Mesh Router Software

While companies like Asus and Netgear offer smartphone apps for convenience, it isn’t a requirement. Routers from those two companies can still be configured via a desktop browser, making configuration and accessibility for the wealth of settings easier. However, TP-Link forces you to use the Deco app.

With that said, the app isn’t bad. It’s among the cleanest and easiest-to-use router apps in the business. Controls are logically laid out, and the home screen provides a clear overview of the network topology, the number of connected devices, and current upload/download rates. There are also quick buttons on the home screen to test your internet speed (powered by SpeedTest) and configure basic Wi-Fi settings (SSIDs and passwords).

If you have TP-Link, Tapo, or Kasa-branded smart home devices connected to your network, they are listed at the bottom of the home page for quick access. For example, I have a dozen smart home products within the TP-Link ecosystem, and all showed up. I was able to turn on/off lights or even turn on my living room and bedroom fans right from the Deco app.

Tapping the More tab at the bottom of the home page gives you access to the whole gamut of settings available on the Deco BE68. You can enable and configure Guest and IoT networks, perform a “soft” WPS query without needing to press the button on the back of each unit, and block clients using Wi-Fi Access Control.

Operation Mode allows you to choose to use the Deco BE68 in router mode or as an access point. Router mode is the default, and should be used with a standalone cable or fiber modem. You can use Access Point Mode if you were provided with a router/modem combo from your ISP. It allows you to bridge the network connection so that you don’t run into an undesirable double-NAT situation.

However, be warned that turning on Access Point Mode disables some native functionality from TP-Link, like NAT, Parental Controls, QoS, Device Isolation, and Connection Alerts (i.e., push notifications to your phone when a new device connects to your network).

The Managers function allows you to give control of your network to a friend or family member, but they will each need to have a TP-Link ID to control the network. LED control allows you to turn on/off the LED at the bottom of the router and satellites, or have them set to operate on a daily schedule. Finally, the System tab is where you’ll find options to adjust the system time, perform a firmware update (or set it to update automatically), manually reboot the router, or reboot on a daily or weekly schedule.

The router and each of the satellites feature a USB 3.0 port, which can be used to connect storage devices. The Deco BE68 even supports using external storage as a Time Machine backup for Macs.

Overall, the Deco app provides a comprehensive set of controls for the Deco BE68, but it’d be nice if the option to use a desktop browser were available for those who prefer not to use smartphone apps for these tasks.

TP-Link Deco BE68 Mesh Router Performance

Our client PC for wireless tests uses an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, an MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 adapter, and Windows 11 Home (with all the latest Windows Updates applied). The server is a Windows 11 machine with a 10 GbE network card connected to the 10 GbE port on the Deco BE68.

The iPerf3 tests are run at six feet and 25 feet, with and without traffic across the network. In the congested traffic tests, we add six wireless clients streaming 4K YouTube videos evenly across all bands.

By default, the Deco BE68 creates a 6 GHz network and a combined 2.4 GHz/5 GHz network. However, you can specify what band each client connects to by default. Since the router defaults to combining the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands under a single SSID, you can specify in the Deco app for a 5 GHz-capable client to always prefer 5 GHz over 2.4 GHz.

Overall performance of the Deco BE68 can be summed up with one word: exceptional. We have to remember that this is a system with a street price of around $500, but it performs more in line with something like the Asus ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro, with a street price of over $1,000. On the 6 GHz band at 6 feet, the Deco BE68 delivered an exceptional 3,247 Mbps. The next-closest competitor was the Netgear Orbi 870 at 2,257 Mbps. Despite congested traffic, the Deco BE68 still managed an incredible 2,950 Mbps.

When stepping out to 25 feet, all the assembled routers experienced a significant drop in performance at 6 GHz (which is typically an Achilles' heel for this band, especially when obstacles like walls are in the way). Here, the Deco BE68 was no match for the Orbi 870, which achieved 1,011 Mbps. However, it did manage to snag second place with 877 Mbps. With congested traffic, the Deco BE68 (777 Mbps) again took second place behind the Orbi 870 (888 Mbps).

5 GHz performance at 6 feet and 25 feet came in at 1,487 Mbps and 640 Mbps, respectively, with no additional traffic. This puts the Deco BE68 in third place, but less than 150 Mbps separates first place and third place at both test distances. With congested traffic, the Deco BE68 slipped into second place at both 6 feet and 25 feet, delivering 1,213 Mbps and 425 Mbps, respectively.

The Deco BE68 was also competitive in 2.4 GHz performance, hitting 117 Mbps at 6 feet without extra traffic. While this put it in last place, it was just slightly behind the Orbi 870 (119 Mbps) and the Asus ZenWiFi BT8 (121 Mbps). The Deco BE65 Pro took top honors with 128 Mbps. Moving to 25 feet, the Deco BE68 took second place behind the ZenWiFi BT8, with 76 Mbps. With congested traffic, the Deco BE68 beat out all competitors at 6 feet (112 Mbps) and 25 feet (72 Mbps).

Bottom Line

At the start of this review, I pondered whether the Deco BE68’s street price was worth the added $100 over the Deco BE65 Pro. If you’re looking for a more “futureproof” router, I’d say the answer is a resounding yes. Its 6 GHz performance at close range surpasses 3,000 Mbps, and the Deco BE68 offered competitive performance across 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands. Compared to the Deco BE65 Pro, the Deco BE68 also gives you a 10 GbE port on the router and satellites, instead of 5 GbE.

Compared to the Orbi 870 and ZenWiFi BT8, the Deco BE68 is a slam dunk. The Orbi 870 three-pack has a street price of $1,100, while the ZenWiFi BT8 three-pack will set you back $799. Whatever small performance advantages either of these routers might have in a couple of benchmarks aren’t worth the $300 to $600 price premium.

The Deco BE68 offers premium performance at a mid-range price, making it a winning combination for enthusiasts and casual users who just want a network that works.

If you’ve been holding out for the right time to upgrade your home or office Wi-Fi network, the TP-Link Archer GXE75 Wi-Fi 6E gaming router is now available at a steep discount on Amazon. You can grab one for just $140, a 44% drop from its original price of $250. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for this model, making it one of the top Wi-Fi router deals of this year’s Amazon Prime Day sale.

• Check out all the deals in Amazon's Prime Day Sale

The Archer GXE75 comes in a unique volcano-inspired design paired with customizable RGB lighting. Offering support for tri-band coverage using the Wi-Fi 6E standard, you get access to the 6 GHz band in addition to 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz. This should reduce congestion and ensure smoother connections for your devices. The router also features a dedicated 2.5G LAN/WAN port, one 1G LAN/WAN port, and three additional 1G LAN ports. There is also a USB 3.0 port to create servers or add storage drives directly to the network.

The router features four internally positioned antennas and offers support for Beamforming technology. Additionally, TP-Link’s Game Accelerator feature can automatically detect and optimize gaming traffic to reduce lag, while OFDMA and MU-MIMO technology keep things running smoothly even when several devices are connected at the same time. Gamers also get a dedicated game panel tab in the TP-Link software, which offers real-time insights while gaming, including network status, router performance, RGB customizations, and more.

The Archer GXE75 also supports the ability to be paired with select TP-Link routers and range extenders to create a home Mesh Wi-Fi system. Lastly, the router comes with HomeShield, TP-Link’s network security suite, giving you parental controls, QoS, and real-time threat detection.

While most ISPs provide functional Wi-Fi routers, they’re rarely optimized for speed, coverage, or reliability. Upgrading to a high-performance router like the TP-Link Archer GXE75 can help improve your internet experience with faster speeds, a wider range and potentially lower latency, making it perfect for all sorts of users, including gamers, remote workers, and even small offices. At $140, the Archer GXE75 is a great deal and worth grabbing before the Amazon Prime Day sale ends.

We are working hard to find the best computer hardware deals for you this Amazon Prime Day. We cover the hottest deals in real-time at our Best Amazon Prime Day Deals Live page. If you're looking for more savings, check out our Amazon Prime Day deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

TP-Link announced that its EAP772-Outdoor Wi-Fi 7 access point is now available for sale. This heavy-duty wireless router is designed for outdoor use and has an IP68 rating. That means it’s fully protected against dust and can survive being submerged in water more than a meter deep. Although not specifically designed for underwater use (after all, Wi-Fi does not work in that environment), TP-Link built this router for easy, install-and-forget use outdoors. The IP68 rating means it can withstand heavy rain and maybe even snow, ensuring you don’t have to worry about the device getting damaged while it’s exposed to the elements.

Aside from its water-resistant capabilities, TP-Link made installation easier by incorporating Power over Ethernet. That way, you don’t need to worry about routing an extra cable just to deliver power to the unit. A mounting bracket is included in the box, which allows you to install the router on a wall or a pole, and it also includes a bracket with a spiral cover, seals, and an O-ring, ensuring that the router’s Ethernet connection isn’t compromised by inclement weather.

If you want to make the most out of network performance, 95% of the time you'll want to purchase your own router in lieu of using any hardware provided by your ISP. This not only often includes better specs but also a greater degree of administrative control over your network. Today we're excited to have found a good deal on the TP-Link Tri-band BE9300 Wi-Fi 7 router, which should be plenty suitable for most users. It usually goes for around $249, but right now it is discounted to $179.

As of writing, the TP-Link BE9300 is marked down to $199. To get the $179 deal, you'll need to use promo code 20BE550 before completing the checkout. There is also a button on the product page to redeem the coupon and apply it to your purchase. In general, this is a pretty good deal, but if you want to get a better idea of where it stands against the competition, check out our list of the best Wi-Fi routers and see which ones we recommend.

TP-Link has announced three new wireless products that leverage the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard, including an outdoor satellite that brings world-first functionality. The new offerings include the Deco BE65 Outdoor, the Deco BE68, and the Archer BE600.

We start with the Deco BE65 Outdoor, the company's first weather-resistant Wi-Fi 7 satellite. You might remember the Eero Outdoor 7 launched late last year with Wi-Fi 7 support. However, at least on paper, the Deco BE65 Outdoor should provide better performance. While the Eero Outdoor 7 only supported 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, the Deco BE65-Outdoor also supports the higher-performing 6 GHz band.

According to TP-Link, the Deco BE65 Outdoor enables up to 688 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, up to 4,324 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, and up to 5,765 Mbps on the 6 GHz band while covering 3,000 square feet.

The satellite features IP65 weatherproofing, making it water and dust-resistant for use in your backyard, on a porch, or perhaps in an outdoor shed. You can use a wireless (MLO) or wired (two 2.5 GbE ports onboard) backhaul to connect to your primary Deco mesh network. Power is supported via a traditional AC adapter or Power over Ethernet (PoE).

TP-Link has priced the Deco BE65 Outdoor at $299.99, or $100 less than the $399 MSRP of the Eero Outdoor 7.

Next is the recently released Deco BE68 Wi-Fi 7 mesh router, which is sold as a three-pack. This 14 Gbps tri-band mesh system delivers 8,647 Mbps on the 6 GHz band, 4,324 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, and 688 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band.

Each satellite has a single 10 GbE port, one 2.5 GbE port, and one GbE port. You'll also find a single USB 3.0 port on each satellite for connecting a non-wireless printer or external storage. TP-Link says that you can connect up to 200 devices to the mesh router and that it covers up to 8,100 square feet. The Deco BE68 carries a $699 MSRP, but is currently available from Best Buy for $599.99.

Finally, we come to the Archer BE9700. At first glance, the Archer BE9700 looks identical to the Archer BE3600 we recently reviewed, but then you'll notice it has two additional external antennas. However, there are even more changes lurking inside.

While the Archer BE3600 is a dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router value priced at $99, the Archer BE9700 is a full-enabled tri-band Wi-Fi router. You'll see speeds of up to 5,756 Mbps on the 6 GHz band, up to 2,882 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, and up to 1,032 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band. TP-Link even includes a single 10 GbE port on the router and three 2.5 GbE ports (one used for WAN).

The Archer BE9700 is available now, priced at $249.99 from Best Buy and Amazon.

Washington is investigating TP-Link, the most popular home internet router brand in the U.S., because of its links to recent cyberattacks. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Chinese company currently owns about 65% of the home and small business router market in the U.S.—up from 20% in 2019—and its products are also used by the Department of Defense and several other federal agencies, including NASA and the DEA.

Reports say three government bodies—the Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, and Department of Justice—have opened inquiries into TP-Link. The Commerce Department has already sent subpoenas to the company. Furthermore, some sources suggest that the White House could ban the popular router brand next year, especially as Donald Trump takes office in January with his aggressive trade policies.

The recent Salt Typhoon attacks on several U.S. telecommunications providers primarily targeted Cisco gear. Even so, this is one reason why the investigation against TP-Link is picking up steam. Microsoft reported that a Chinese hacking group uses an extensive network of compromised TP-Link routers to launch cyberattacks against Western targets. These targets include public and private entities, think tanks and contractors for the Department of Defense.

Earlier this month, Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger said the government was “looking to take action to mitigate risks to the supply chain within the telecommunications sector.” This investigation and potential ban of TP-Link is reminiscent of the 2019 move the Trump administration made against Huawei when the brand wasn’t just banned from selling its products in the U.S. Still, all of its hardware was removed from American infrastructure. Even today, the government is still spending billions of dollars to swap out legacy Huawei and ZTE equipment that some American telecommunications companies still use.

TP-Link is a popular router brand partly because of its low prices, which often undercut competitors like D-Link and Netgear by more than 50%. Many internet service providers also offer new subscribers TP-Link routers as a standard. Since most users are already satisfied with the included router, they often use it until it breaks or they change providers.

Nevertheless, the company hasn’t taken these accusations lying down. A company spokesperson said, “We welcome any opportunities to engage with the U.S. government to demonstrate that our security practices are fully in line with industry security standards and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the U.S. market, U.S. consumers and addressing U.S. national security risks.” TP-Link has even moved its headquarters to the U.S. to move the company away from China.

Despite the company's move away from its Chinese roots, the Chinese Embassy in Washington commented that the White House’s investigation and ban are intended to “suppress Chinese companies,” especially as TP-Link is currently dominating the home router market.

At the moment, the U.S. government has not released any evidence that TP-Link knowingly allowed its products to be used for Chinese state-sponsored cyberattacks. But if it does proceed with a ban on this popular brand, many American router manufacturers are ready to take advantage of the vacuum it will leave behind.

We recently reviewed the Asus ZenWiFi BQ16 Wi-Fi 7 mesh system, which sits at the absolute zenith of performance in its class among the best Wi-Fi routers. It also comes with a $1,199 MSRP, putting it out of reach for most consumers who want an economical way to spread internet coverage throughout their house.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, TP-Link offers its Deco BE5000, a tri-node Wi-Fi 7 mesh system, for just $299. That’s a steep discount compared to the company’s Deco BE65 Pro, which retails for $799. However, that price cut comes with some compromises, including dismissing the 6 GHz band and removing the 5 Gbps LAN/WAN ports.

Design of the TP-Link Deco BE5000 Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router

The Deco BE5000 features a compact design, which runs counter to what we saw in the more high-end Deco BE65 Pro. While the Deco BE65 Pro wireless nodes feature a tall, cylindrical shape, the BE5000 nodes are shorter and puck-shaped. As a result, they have less of a visual “impact” in your home, and can more easily blend in with the surroundings in your living room, bedroom, or office.

There’s not much to give each node any visual flair, other than “Deco” branding and a ripple effect at the top-center. A single LED is positioned at the bottom-front of each node, which signifies network status. The design simplicity extends to the rear of each node, where you’ll find just two 2.5 GbE ports. On the router, one is used for WAN, while the other is for LAN. The two satellites can use their two 2.5 Gbps ports to connect wired network devices or to implement a wired backhaul for the network. There’s also a power port on the back and a rectangular WPS button for quickly pairing supported wireless devices.

TP-Link Deco BE5000 Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router Specifications

Setting up the TP-Link Deco BE5000 Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router

Like the Deco BE65 Pro, TP-Link requires the use of its Deco app to set up and manage the Deco BE5000 router. If you prefer using a web browser for these operations, you’ll have to look elsewhere. That said, the Deco app is easy to use, and I found setup a breeze to complete.

The app first requires you to scan the QR code on the bottom of the router, which identifies the model. You’ll then need to connect to the router with your smartphone via WiFi (the Deco BE5000 displays initially as an open network). Once you are connected, the setup process configures your internet connection, requests you to enter a new SSID/password, and then completes the network initialization.

After the router is configured, the setup program asks you to power on the two satellites to complete the network. During our test setup, after a few minutes of syncing, the two satellites completed the mesh network and were visible within the Deco app.

I will note that TP-Link does it best to make the configuration process as easy and as streamlined as possible for beginners, hence the app-only setup. This also applies to some of the available network settings. For example, I couldn’t find a way to disable Smart Connect; hence, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels are combined under a single SSID. For individual wireless band testing, I instead isolated the bands on the wireless client card from within the network card properties in Windows 11.

You can also connect the satellites to the router with a wired backhaul using the 2.5 Gbps LAN ports. TP-Link even allows you to leverage the MLO capabilities of Wi-Fi 7 standard to combine the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands with the wired backhaul to increase aggregate backhaul performance.

TP-Link Deco BE5000 Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router Software

All settings for the Deco BE5000 are controlled using the Deco app. While you can access the router by typing in its IP address, it’s mainly just to give you a static overview of the network. You can only set your continent/region and update the firmware from the web interface.

All other settings must be adjusted via the Deco app, but even then, you don’t have as much freedom as other router apps, such as those from Asus. You have control over basic Wi-Fi settings like your SSID and password. You can enable MLO and IoT networks, QoS controls are available, and you can use Wi-Fi Access Control to block specific clients. Network Optimization scans for interference in your home and chooses the optimum wireless channel to maximize performance, and you can configure your VPN settings. That’s pretty much it for tweaking the network to its fullest potential.

However, we must remember that the Deco BE5000 isn’t aimed primarily at enthusiasts who will be gaming or dialing in every little setting to maximize ping times or eek a few extra Mbps for large file transfers. Instead, most Deco BE5000 routers will be configured once after they’re taken out of the box and will never be touched again (physically or via the app). For this purpose, the Deco BE5000’s features (or lack thereof) aren’t exactly a hindrance to its primary mission.

TP-Link Deco BE5000 Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router Performance

Starting in the summer of 2024, we started using a new semi-mobile Wi-Fi testbed, which features an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, an MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 adapter, and Windows 11 Home. All the hardware is enclosed in a JONSBO Z20 mini tower case to tote around from room to room.

All the iPerf3 and ping tests are conducted at six feet and 25 feet, with and without traffic on the network. For congested traffic tests, six wireless clients are added to the network streaming 4K YouTube videos evenly across all available bands.

Although we don’t currently have many Wi-Fi 7 mesh routers in our database, we’ve included two tri-band products for comparative data: the Netgear Orbi 770 and the TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro.

When testing on the 5 GHz band with iPerf3 without any additional traffic, the Deco BE5000 compared favorably against the pricier Orbi 770. The latter hit 1,070 Mbps at six feet and 472 Mbps at 25 feet, while the latter came in at 1,106 Mbps and 554 Mbps, respectively. The Deco BE65 Pro was roughly 50 percent faster at six feet and 28 percent faster at 25 feet.

2.4 GHz iPerf3 performance was not the Deco B5000’s strong suit, although it still surpassed 100 Mbps at six feet. Extending testing out to 25 feet saw performance nearly cut in half to 54 Mbps. The Orbi 770 had more performance in the tank, as it maxed out at 158 Mbps at six feet and 92 Mbps at 25 feet.

Switching to our congested tests, the performance delta between the Deco BE5000 and the more expensive routers became more apparent in our congested tests. Six-foot iPerf3 speeds dropped to 791 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, while performance at 25 feet cratered to 189 Mbps. The Orbi 770 and Deco BE65 Pro saw much smaller drops in performance, especially at six feet. There wasn’t as steep a drop on the 2.4 GHz band, and the Deco BE5000 even managed to slip into second place at six feet with 90 Mbps.

On a side note, we enabled MLO on the Deco BE5000 as a curiosity to see if the band aggregation would help boost performance. Unfortunately, performance remained roughly the same in our uncongested and congested testing at six feet and 25 feet.

Bottom Line

The TP-Link Deco BE5000 might serve as an enticing purchase for consumers shopping in a brick-and-mortar store or for those who see a “Wi-Fi 7 mesh router” when shopping online. A three-node Wi-Fi 7 mesh router for $299 sounds appealing. However, there’s a big caveat to that price – you don’t get the 6 GHz band, which means that you’re leaving a lot of performance potential on the table, especially if you have a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone that was released in the last two years or so.

Instead, you’re mostly topping out at Wi-Fi 6 speeds for network transfers. You do get the spec sheet benefit of MLO aggregation for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, but turning on the MLO network with the Deco BE5000 didn’t net better results. This begs the question, why would you opt for a dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router when you could instead opt for a tri-band traditional or mesh Wi-Fi 6E router? You can find Wi-Fi 6 mesh routers for around half the $299 price tag of the Deco BE5000 and Wi-Fi 6E mesh routers for around the same price.

However, the biggest competition comes from tri-band Wi-Fi 7 routers. If you don’t need the expanded coverage or ethernet ports on the satellites, TP-Link’s Archer GE800 costs $399, while the Archer BE800 is only $349. Personally, for my money, I’d make the stretch to the Deco BE65 Pro at $499. While it’s an extra $200, it buys you some additional headroom for futureproofing your network as you add faster devices to your network.

Network devices aren’t the sexiest upgrades and are often ignored by many enthusiasts. But if there’s more than one gamer in your home or multiple devices requiring reliable, high-speed internet, you should invest in a decent and reliable network switch. So, if you’re tired of relying on Wi-Fi with its high latency, you should check out the TP-Link TL-SG108-M2 network switch. This unmanaged 8-port 2.5 Gbit switch is now at $99.99 on Amazon — a 50% discount from its original price of $199.99.

The first version of this switch was named Tom’s Hardware’s Best All-Around Budget Network Switch in 2022, and it seems that it still delivers excellent performance for its price. What we like best about this new version is that it now has a much higher bandwidth, allowing you to use faster 2.5 GbE network devices, like some NAS, and enjoy the faster speeds some internet providers deliver.

But even if it’s much faster now, it’s still easy to set up—plug the switch into a power outlet and your router, then attach your devices to it, and you’re good to go! You don’t need to go through any complicated configuration settings to get the most speed out of it. And since it works with CAT5e, CAT6, and CAT6A cables, you don’t have to go through the expensive and time-consuming process of upgrading your in-house LAN wiring when upgrading to this network switch.

So, if you love hosting LAN parties, own multiple devices that require a fast internet connection, or have two or more people in your house who would appreciate a reliable wired connection, now is the time to upgrade from the simple router from your internet service provider. This network switch will let you unlock the speeds you’re paying for and solve your lag and latency problem at half the regular price.

We are working hard to find the best deals for you this Black Friday. If you're looking for other products, check out our Black Friday Computer Hardware Deals Live blog for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals Live blog, Monitor Deals Live, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

With Black Friday right around the corner, we’re starting to see excellent deals on wireless routers. One particular deal that caught our eye is on the TP-Link Archer GE800, a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router aimed at gaming enthusiasts.

The Archer GE800 has an MSRP of $599, and when we reviewed it back in September, it had a street price of $469. However, Amazon is currently selling the Archer GE800 for just $399, representing a 33% discount off the MSRP. There’s one extra discount available if you have an Amazon Prime Visa credit card — the Archer GE800 qualifies for 15 percent in cashback instead of the usual 5 percent that you get with the Amazon Prime Visa.

We reviewed the Archer GE800 and found that it delivers stunning performance across all three bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz). Although the Asus ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro has since surpassed it in outright 6 GHz speed, the Archer GE800 delivered an impressive 2,730 Mbps at close range, falling to 1,980 Mbps at 25 feet. The router was no slouch in 5 GHz performance either, surpassing 1,800 Mbps at 6 feet with iPerf3.

For gamers especially, wired connectivity is just as much of a priority as wireless performance. TP-Link includes two 10 Gbps ports on the Archer GE800, one of which is for your high-speed ISP connection, while the other is for LAN. You’ll also find four 2.5 Gbps LAN ports, a single SFP+ port, and a USB 3.0 port. There’s even an internal fan to keep all the electronics cool when your network is hopping with traffic, be it from bandwidth-demanding games like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 or multiple TVs streaming Netflix and Disney Plus in your home.

TP-Link offers a comprehensive web interface that lets you tweak the network to your exacting tastes. There’s also a full assortment of gaming-related optimizations to ensure you can fight lag in your intense multiplayer gaming sessions.

At $399, the TP-Link Archer GE800 isn’t cheap, but it is a solid, high-performance Wi-Fi 7 router that ticks all the pertinent boxes for gaming enthusiasts.

If you’re in the market for a new wireless router, it might be in your best interest to consider going with the new Wi-Fi 7 standard to futureproof your network (and future wireless clients). Wi-Fi 7 has emerged as the faster successor to Wi-Fi 6E, and while the first devices introduced using the standard were wildly expensive, prices are now coming down to more sane levels.

One such offering is the TP-Link Archer BE800, which is a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router that is big on features. The router offers a combined 19 Gbps of throughput, delivering 1,376 Mbps over the 2.4 GHz band, 5,760 Mbps over the 5 GHz band, and 11,520 Mbps via the 6 GHz band. In addition, the Archer BE800 is EasyMesh compatible, allowing you to create a mesh network with other EasyMesh networks to expand coverage in your home.

All your wireless needs are covered with full compliance with the Wi-Fi 7 specification (unlike cheaper devices, including the TP-Link Archer BE3600), and the wired networking is also robust. You get four 2.5 Gbps ports for LAN, a 10 Gbps Ethernet/Fiber combo WAN/LAN port and another 10 Gbps port for WAN/LAN. In addition, you’ll find a USB 3.0 port for adding a storage device to your network for easy accessibility.

One rather odd (but still interesting) feature of the Archer BE800 is the inclusion of a dot matrix-style LED panel on the front. Using a series of white LEDs, it can display the time, weather, or even emojis to add a bit of fun to an otherwise normal-looking router.

Wi-Fi 7 is still a nascent player in the market for the best Wi-Fi routers. Wi-Fi 7 client devices pale in comparison to Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 6 counterparts, and Wi-Fi 7 routers can cost hundreds of dollars, with high-end mesh systems easily surpassing the $1,000 barrier. Some router manufacturers are combating the pricing issue by taking the unorthodox approach of excluding one of the key pillars of the Wi-Fi 7 standard, like the 6 GHz band, to appeal to more value-conscious buyers.

We first saw this with the Asus RT-BE88U, which carries an MSRP of $349.99. However, TP-Link’s new Archer BE3600 takes the price cuts even further, thanks to an MSRP of $99 as a Walmart-exclusive. The Archer BE3600 represents a bargain in the Wi-Fi 7 router market, although we still question how wise it is to market these feature-crippled products with the Wi-Fi 7 label.

Design of the TP-Link Archer BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Router

The Archer BE3600 flies under the radar with its no-nonsense design. It has a flat, rectangular shape reminiscent of older Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 routers. The outer edges of the router have a shiny black finish, while the top cover is a flat black mesh. A grouping of seven white status LEDs are positioned on the top of the router.

The Archer BE3600 has four antennas, which are clustered around the rear corners of the router. Perhaps in keeping with the bargain basement pricing of the Archer BE3600, you can actually see the wires leading from the router to its antennas. This “behind the scenes” aspect of modern wireless routers are usually hidden, but TP-Link didn’t bother with such discreetness with the Archer BE3600.

The bottom of the router has more ventilation for the onboard hardware, along with two cutouts to mount the Archer BE3600 onto a wall.

The “business end” of the Archer BE3600 features one 2.5 Gbps port for WAN and one 2.5 Gbps port for LAN. There are three 1 Gbps LAN ports to round out the wired networking portfolio. In addition, there’s a single USB 3.0 port for connecting a printer or storage device. You also find a power button and three buttons dedicated to turning on/off the front LEDs, enabling Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), and turning off Wi-Fi. There’s also a pinhole button for resetting the router’s settings.

I’d also like to point out that this is a 2 x 2 Wi-Fi 7 router, which limits its maximum wireless performance. For comparison, the Asus RT-BE88U is a 4 x 4 Wi-Fi 7 router, capable of data rates up to 1,376 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 5,764 Mbps on the 5 GHz band. The Archer BE3600’s maximum theoretical data rates are exactly half that of the RT-BE88U. Maximum bandwidth for the Archer BE3600 is 3,570 Mbps (688 Mbps + 2,882 Mbps).

TP-Link Archer BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Router Specifications

Setting up the TP-Link Archer BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Router

The Archer BE3600 was a breeze to set up. After powering on the router, I pointed my browser to tplinkwifi.net, which started the configuration process. I was first asked to choose a new administrator password and then was presented with options to configure the Wi-Fi radios. These options included Smart Connect (using one SSID for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands), giving each band its own SSID, and setting up guest networks for the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

The final step in the relatively quick setup process was to update the firmware — a new firmware update was discovered and applied automatically. Our review unit was updated to firmware 1.1.0 Build 20240729.

TP-Link Archer BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Router Software

The software interface for the Archer BE3600 is similar to what we saw with the more powerful (and full-featured) Archer GE800 tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router. There are five primary tabs at the top of the homepage: Network Map, Internet, Wireless, HomeShield, and Advanced. It's lacking the Game Center tab from the Archer GE800 for obvious reasons. One other change of note is that by default, the Archer BE3600 has a lighter, more cheerful turquoise and white color scheme for the user interface. The Archer GE800, on the other hand, features a more menacing navy blue and black interface.

Network Map displays an overview of your network, including internet connection status, IP address, router uptime, the number of mesh devices on the network and the number of connected clients. Internet displays your current internet connection type and allows you to clone the MAC address of the router. Wireless gives you complete control over the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and lets you create an MLO network to combine the two bands for improved performance. You can also create guest or IoT networks on either band.

HomeShield will scan your network for security vulnerabilities and provides access to basic parental controls. Finally, the Advanced tab gives you granular control over common router functions/features. This is where you'll find controls for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant integration, and USB storage (like one of the best USB flash drives or the best external SSDs). Like the Archer GE800, the Archer BE3600 also has support out-of-the-box for Time Machine backups on Macs.

TP-Link Archer BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Router Performance

The Archer BE3600 is the second router we’ve tested that uses our new purpose-built rig. We are using a new test rig for Wi-Fi testing with a purpose-built rig (the first was the Archer GE800). The rig uses an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, an MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 adapter (Qualcomm NCM865 chipset), and Windows 11 Home.

Our iPerf3 and ping tests are conducted at distances of six feet and 25 feet, with and without traffic on the network. In the congested traffic tests, we add six wireless clients streaming 4K YouTube videos across all bands.

The first thing I noticed from the iPerf3 tests was that performance on the 2.4 GHz band at six feet was surprisingly strong. I kept rerunning the tests to verify the performance, but the Archer BE3600 managed 214 Mbps at six feet with no traffic and 205 Mbps when congested. Both figures put the router well ahead of the competition, even the pricier Archer GE800 and Asus RT-BE96U. However, performance at 25 feet took a dramatic turn, falling to just 51 Mbps and 45 Mbps, respectively, putting it in last place.

It was a similar story with the 5 GHz tests, with the Archer 3600 putting up a respectable 1,121 Mbps with no traffic and 1,030 Mbps when congested. However, iPerf3 performance fell to just 382 Mbps (uncongested) and 374 Mbps (congested) at 25 feet.

Bottom Line

At times, it can be difficult to wrap your head around the premise of the TP-Link Archer BE3600. It’s labeled as a Wi-Fi 7 router, but it doesn’t support the full Wi-Fi 7 spec — namely, it’s missing the 6 GHz band, and performance suffers as a result. In addition, since this is a 2 x 2 Wi-Fi router, it offers half the theoretical performance of other dual-band Wi-Fi 7 peers like the Asus RT-BE88U.

However, the performance turned out to be a mixed bag. The Archer BE3600 turned in excellent numbers on the 2.4 GHz band at close range, bettering even the more expensive competition. However, performance fell well behind at 25 feet. The 5 GHz band also showed a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality, with competitive performance at 6 feet but underperforming at 25 feet.

Despite the uneven performance, it’s hard not to be drawn in by the $99 price tag, especially when considering the Asus RT-BE88U retails for over three times the price (although that pricier offering does include 10 Gbps ports). My biggest issue is with routers like the Archer BE3600 being labeled as Wi-Fi 7. Many consumers are likely to be lulled in by the low price tag and not realize that they aren’t getting the complete Wi-Fi 7 experience with these dual-band routers.

If you’re not big into gaming and just want a no-frills router to support your 1 Gbps or lower internet connection, there’s nothing wrong with the Archer BE3600. Just realize that you’re leaving a lot of performance on the table compared to full-featured Wi-Fi 7 routers. And if you want an added performance without breaking the bank, consider looking at budget Wi-Fi 6E routers.

As the Wi-Fi 7 router market grows, we’re beginning to see more entrants fill in the gaps that were previously filled by Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E routers. At the low end, we have Wi-Fi 7 routers like the dual-band TP-Link Archer BE3600, which costs just $99 at Walmart. At the high end, solutions like the Amazon Eero Max 7, a mesh Wi-Fi 7 system, cost $1,699 for three nodes.

TP-Link’s Deco BE65 Pro goes for the middle ground, as it’s a three-node Wi-Fi 7 mesh router with an MSRP of $799.99. However, it has recently been available for as low as $579.99 on sale from retailers like Best Buy.

It’s a no-frills mesh router aimed at customers who want a set-and-forget approach to networking. The Deco BE65 Pro requires a smartphone app for the initial setup. Each node offers one 2.5 Gbps and two 5 Gbps ports, along with a USB port for storage, which adds to its versatility.

The Deco BE65 Pro is by no means an impulse buy like the Archer BE3600, but it is one of the more affordable and compelling Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems out there and worthy of inclusion among our picks for the best Wi-Fi routers.

Design of the TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router

The Deco BE65 Pro includes three nodes that look identical. They are plastic with a flat white finish, roughly 4.25 inches across and 7 inches tall. A circular ring at the top of each node incorporates ventilation to cool the internal components. There’s a larger number of ventilation holes on the bottom of the unit, along with a pinhole reset button.

There’s also a single LED on the bottom of the node, which reflects onto the surface of your table, desk, or shelf. The LED flashes blue when first powering on each node and proceeding through the setup process. Once the network setup is complete, the LED stays solid green to signify that everything is OK.

One design touch I almost missed is hidden in plain sight on each node. Several ridges ring the upper portion of the tower, and another grouping of ridges sweep down diagonally to the bottom. Together, they form a large “7,” an obvious nod to this being a Wi-Fi 7 router.

The back of each node features a rectangular Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button, a 2.5 Gbps port, two 5 Gbps ports, and a USB port for storage.

TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router Specifications

Setting up the TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router

At first, setting up the Deco BE65 Pro threw me for a loop. I’m used to pointing my web browser to http://tplinkwifi.net/, which initiates the setup process. However, this just resulted in a connection error. I was then forced to whip out the TP-Link Quick Installation Guide (yeah, I know), which informed me that I would have to download and install the TP Deco app to complete setup of the Deco BE65 Pro. At least a QR code is provided in the installation guide that you can scan with your phone to expedite the process.

Once installed, the Deco app asked for permission to access networking on my iPhone and began searching for the first node, which was connected to my modem. When the app didn’t initially find the node, I used the alternate method of scanning the QR code on the bottom of the node, and the Deco app immediately found it. One odd thing, however, is that the Deco app required me to sign up for a TP-Link account before I could proceed. I didn’t find any way to avoid this step, which may annoy people who don’t want to sign up for yet another online account.

The setup program verified my internet connection and asked me to pick SSIDs and passwords for the 2.4 GHz/5 GHz and 6 GHz bands. It also allowed me to enable automatic firmware updates.

TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router Software

TP-Link wants you to use the Deco app to control the Deco BE65 Pro, and I had no choice but to oblige. The main Network tab shows the SSID name, the three Deco BE65 Pro nodes, and the number of connected clients. There are also buttons at the top to test your internet speed (powered by SpeedTest) and configure your wireless settings.

Speaking of wireless settings, the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands are combined under a single SSID. You cannot separate the two. You can turn one or the other off, but you can’t have one SSID for the 2.4 GHz band and one SSID for the 5 GHz band. However, you can use the Deco app to specify that individual devices only connect to the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz bands. You can also have a device connect to a specific node.

Luckily, the 6 GHz band does get its own SSID. You can also setup an MLO network to send/receive data across both the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands.

The Security tab includes Wi-Fi Access Control, Device Isolation (primarily aimed at exploit-prone IoT devices), and Camera security. It also scanned my network and found one “risk” that needed my attention. Clicking the notification showed that I needed to update the firmware on the router, which I completed. I later realized I had completed the firmware update on the first node when I completed the initial setup but didn’t do the same for the other two nodes I added later.

The Parental Controls tab is self-explanatory, while the More tab provides more granular controls of Wi-Fi settings, IoT and guest networks, firmware updates, QoS settings, VPN access, and LED controls (among other things). There’s even an option to enroll in Deco Lab, which allows you to try out experimental features.

Although the Deco BE65 Pro is designed to be used with the Deco app, you can access the web interface with a browser (it’s only accessible after completing setup with the Deco app). However, it’s so barebones that it’s barely worth using. There are only two tabs: Network Map and Advanced. The Advanced tab only gives you access to the basics, like firmware updates, time settings, and it’ll let you reboot the system.

TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Router Performance

As with all of our recent tests, our server dedicated to Wi-Fi testing consists of an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, an MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 adapter, and Windows 11 Home. The iPerf3 and ping tests are conducted six feet and 25 feet, with and without traffic on the network. In the congested traffic tests, we add six wireless clients streaming 4K YouTube videos evenly across all bands. 

TP-Link allows you to configure a wireless device to have a preferred node if you wish. However, it is recommended that you leave the “Preferred Deco” option set to Auto. With this setting, TP-Link explains that “This client will automatically connect to the Deco that provides the fastest wireless speed.”  

You can also specify what band a wireless device connects to. For example, the router defaults to combining the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands under one SSID. While this is problematic when testing each band individually, the Deco app allows you to lock a wireless client to the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz bands as needed.

I performed the short-range tests at six feet from the primary node. The long-range tests were performed at as close to 25 feet as I could get from all three routers at a central location in my home (which just so happens to be the kitchen).

In our testing, the Deco BE65 Pro performed exceptionally well. It won the iPerf3 tests at 6 GHz in both uncongested and congested conditions at six feet, achieving 1,846 Mbps in the former and 1,310 Mbps in the latter. When centrally located, roughly 25 feet from all nodes, it had to settle for second place in the 25-foot tests behind the Netgear Orbi 770.

For the 5 GHz tests, the Deco BE65 Pro took top honors in iPerf3 in the six-foot and 25-foot uncongested tests, hitting 1,530 Mbps and 652 Mbps, respectively. The Deco BE65 Pro again took first place in the six-foot iPerf3 congested test but came up short against the Orbi 770 at 25 feet.

The Orbi 770 pulled ahead in all the iPerf3 tests at 2.4 GHz, but the Deco BE65 Pro wasn't far behind.

I also enabled the MLO setting on the Deco BE65 Pro, which allows data to be transmitted across the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands for a client. Unfortunately, performance wasn’t all that impressive across the board. At most, I saw 662 Mbps in iPerf3 with MLO enabled.

Bottom Line

If you’re looking to upgrade your home network from an aging Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 network to Wi-Fi 7, there are plenty of options to consider. However, a mesh system is likely the best route if you want to optimize coverage and minimize dead spots. Thankfully, the TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro is a solid option to consider.

It offers strong performance across the board on the 6 GHz and 5 GHz bands, and 2.4 GHz performance wasn’t too far off the mark. You also get one 2.5 Gbps, two 5 Gbps ports and one USB port on each node, which is a nice bonus if you need wired access all around your home.

Best of all, the Deco BE65 Pro, which is a three-node system, has an MSRP of $799 but a street price of $579. For comparison, the street price for a Netgear Orbi 770 two-pack is $699; the three-pack costs $999. That’s a considerable price delta for two mesh routers that perform similarly. Even when not on sale, the $799 price tag of the Deco BE65 Pro is hard to ignore for someone who needs the coverage of a mesh router.

However, it’s not all roses with the Deco BE65 Pro. For starters, you’ll need to use the Deco smartphone app to control most of the features/settings offered – the web GUI is a barebones husk compared to the smartphone app. In addition, you’ll need to create a TP-Link ID to install the Deco app, which is a bit of an annoyance.

However, these are likely minor inconveniences for most consumers who want an easy setup and maintain mesh routing system. With this in mind, the Deco BE65 Pro is an easy recommendation as one of the best Wi-Fi routers on the market.

Commercial Wi-Fi 7 devices have been available for well over a year, but they still have not deeply penetrated the mainstream wireless market. Part of this is due to cost: with the exception of options like the TP-Link Archer BE3600, most Wi-Fi 7 routers cost $300 or more, with many high-end offerings settling in the $600 to $700 price range. TP-Link has a new offering geared toward gamers, the Archer GE800, and it’s priced competitively in this class.

The GE800 has an MSRP of $599, but the street price for the router is currently well under $500. For that price, you get a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router with two 10 GbE ports, gaming optimizations, support for EasyMesh expansion, and cool RGB lighting effects. As you’ll see, its performance gives the best Wi-Fi routers that cost hundreds of dollars more a run for their money. 

Design of the TP-Link Archer GE800

One word springs to mind when looking at the Archer GE800: cool. Its low-mounted main chassis and two vertical blades look like something that would be at home in the Star Wars universe. The snazzy looks are enhanced by a vertical strip of LEDs at the center of each antenna blade and an RGB underglow for the base. You’ll notice four buttons on the front: WPS, Wi-Fi (press for two seconds to turn on/off the Wi-Fi on the router), Acceleration (to turn on Game Mode), and LED (for turning on/off the RGB lighting). There are also plenty of vents along the top, bottom, and sides of the base to help dissipate heat. An internal fan aids cooling, and it is audible when the router is under heavier loads.

The business end of the Archer GE800 is at the back, where you’ll find a full assortment of ports. There are four 2.5 Gbps ports (one of which is a dedicated gaming port) and two 10 Gbps ports for your wired devices. There’s even an SFP+ port for connecting a PON stick. You’ll also find a power button, reset button, USB 3.0 port, and power port to accept a barrel-style plug.

TP-Link Archer GE800 Wi-Fi 7 Router Specifications

Setting up the TP-Link Archer GE800

I was able to set up the Archer GE800 relatively quickly once I plugged in power and connected a cable from my modem to the 10 Gbps WAN port and another cable from my server to the 10 Gbps LAN port. Once the router completed booting, I pointed the browser to tplinkwifi.net, which then walked me through configuring my internet connection, setting up Wi-Fi SSIDs/passwords for each of the three bands, and setting up an admin login/password.

Once I completed the setup process, I received a prompt to sign up for the TP-Link Cloud Service to assist in managing the router. Luckily, there’s an option to dismiss the nag screen if you don’t want to oblige.

The first thing I did after setting up the router was to check if any firmware updates were available to download. Luckily, a new build was available, and I installed V1.6_1.1.3 Build 20240528, dated 6/24/2024.

If you prefer, you can download the TP-Link Tether app for iOS or Android and complete the setup process completely from your smartphone.

TP-Link Archer GE800 Software

The Archer GE800 uses a simple and effective user interface that’s easy to navigate. It’s not as graphically flashy as the user interfaces you’ll see in Asus routers, but it gets the job done.

After logging in, you're first brought to the Network Map screen, which shows your connection status, uptime, EasyMesh status (if available), and the number of connected clients. You can also quickly see your current uptime. The top navigation bar also gives quick access to Game Center (with all the gaming-centric optimizations), Internet, Wireless, HomeShield, and Advanced settings.

The Game Center main menu screen allows you to adjust the RGB lighting effects and gives reads out for network traffic and CPU/memory utilization. Game Acceleration provides access to QoS settings, Game Server Acceleration (which finds the optimum patch for game servers), and Gear Acceleration (which allows you to prioritize traffic to a specific device).

The Internet and Wireless tabs are self-explanatory, but HomeShield deserves some attention. The Network Check function scans your network and provides tips if your security practices need some polishing. For example, it didn't like my password and suggested it needed to be stronger. You'll also find parental controls under the HomeShield menu.

Finally, the Advanced menu lets the power users tinker with just about any imaginable setting, although it's similar to any decent modern router. The one standout feature is that the Archer GE800 has native support for macOS Time Machine backups. In other words, you can connect an external hard drive (perhaps one of the best external SSDs) or thumb drive (like one of the best USB Flash drives) to the USB 3.0 port on the Archer GE800 and use that to wirelessly backup your Mac.

The aforementioned TP-Link Cloud Service allows you to control the router remotely, enables Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant integration, and takes full advantage of the TP-Link HomeShield security suite.

TP-Link Archer GE800 Performance

We are using a new test rig for Wi-Fi testing with a purpose-built rig with an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, an MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 adapter (Qualcomm NCM865 chipset), and Windows 11 Home. This replaces our previous Acer Swift Edge 16 laptop with Wi-Fi 7 (also using the Qualcomm NCM865). Going forward, all Wi-Fi benchmarks will use the new system, although, for this review, the data for the competing Wi-Fi 7 routers is from the old testing data with the Swift Edge 16.

We use iPerf3 for throughput testing, which runs on a Windows 11 server configured with a 10 Gbps ethernet port.  The server was then connected to the 10 Gbps LAN port on the Archer GE800, with wireless testing performed at 6 and 25-foot distances.

Tests are first conducted when the network is free of additional traffic from other connected clients. Next, tests are performed with additional clients to simulate traffic from other users accessing the network (in this case, six clients streaming 4K video from YouTube).

The Archer GE800 dominated in nearly every performance test, only losing out to the Asus RT-BE96U on the iPerf3 throughput test at 6 GHz (6-foot distance). The Archer GE800 only fell short by a couple hundred Mbps, but it maintained 2,730 Mbps at 25 feet, while the RT-BE996U fell to just 1,980 Mbps. The Archer GE800 held a 700 Mbps advantage over its closest competitors in the 5 GHz iPerf3 tests, and more than doubled their performance at 25 feet.

The iPerf3 numbers with congested traffic also favored the Archer GE800 in all tests but one: it lagged slightly behind the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro in the 2.4 GHz, 6-foot test.

Ping times measured in the sub-10ms range at 6-foot and 25-foot distances, with or without additional traffic on the network.

I also tested the wired performance by connecting our client, which features a Realtek 2.5 GbE controller, to the Archer GE800 using a CAT6a cable. Transfers maxed out at 2.37 Gbps.

Bottom Line

The TP-Link Archer GE800 is an excellent, all-around Wi-Fi 7 router with plenty of 2.5 GbE ports for expansion and two 10 Gbps ports to handle any high-speed needs (including high-speed fiber ISPs). And in an age when some manufacturers are going for the spider motif (we’re looking at you, Asus) with eight antennas reaching for the sky, the simple, Star Wars-esque look of the Archer GE800 is refreshing. Throw in the customizable RGB effects, and it’s an attractive showpiece for your desk or shelf.

Thankfully, the good looks are backed up by solid wireless performance. With just a handful of exceptions, the Archer GE800 dominated the performance charts, often by a wide margin.

The web interface is easy to navigate, with sections clearly labeled. Advanced options are plentiful for power users who want to tweak their network to perfection. There’s even a little bonus for Apple users courtesy of Time Machine integration for Mac backups.

And TP-Link provides all of this with an MSRP of $599, but its street price is $469 on Amazon. For reference, our previous Wi-Fi 7 speed demon, the Asus RT-BE96U, carries an MSRP of $699 and has a street price of $639. While $469 is still a hefty sum for a wireless router, for enthusiasts wanting to futureproof their network for the inevitable onslaught of Wi-Fi 7 client devices, it’s one of the best options on the market.

The chairman of the ‘Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party’ John Moolenar, and the ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi have formally requested the Commerce Department and other agencies to investigate Chinese-made networking devices, particularly those made by TP-Link, regarding the potential cybersecurity risk they pose due to their unusual degree of vulnerabilities and other reasons mentioned in the letter. 

The letter mentions that TP-link manufactures multiple Wi-Fi products, including routers, and hence, it is concerning, given the documented vulnerabilities found in its Wi-Fi routers. Furthermore, TP-Link has the largest supply of Wi-Fi products worldwide, and 95% of Americans use SOHO routers as of 2023. It’s also being used in its military bases and by the military members and their families. The letter mentions companies like the ‘Army and Air Force Exchange Service’ and ‘My Navy Exchange,’ which sell products to authorized customers who are active duty military personnel, retirees, reservists, veterans, Department of Defense civilians, and family members. 

The other reason, as mentioned in the letter, is the company’s compliance requirement with the Chinese government as per their law. The congressmen said,” Companies like TP-Link are required to provide data to the PRC (People’s Republic of China) government and otherwise comply with the demands of its national security apparatus.” 

The letter further emphasizes threats from the Volt Typhoon and other PRC Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups. The Commerce Department has the power to restrict or ban certain products that pose a threat, as it did with networking technologies made by companies like ZTC and Huawei.

Security vulnerabilities are not exclusive to a particular company and include products other than networking devices. Multiple companies (including router manufacturers) faced situations where their vulnerabilities were exploited and patched eventually. However, the use of SOHO routers is particularly concerning in this case, given the position military personnel would have and the sensitive information passed on with any of these routers being used as a medium. 

The members jointly requested that the investigation be completed by the end of August. Hence, once the investigation is complete, we should receive information from the Department of Commerce and its actions against any potential threat if warranted.

Wi-Fi 7 is still a new technology that is not yet supported by many client devices. Wi-Fi 7 routers are also still uncommon and relatively expensive. However, if you're willing to make some critical compromises, TP-Link and Walmart have teamed up to deliver the first Wi-Fi 7 router priced under $100.

The new TP-Link Archer BE3600 is available exclusively through Walmart for $99. For comparison, TP-Link's other Wi-Fi 7 routers start at $249, and some cost $599 or more. But there are even pricier offerings out there, such as the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro with an MSRP of $799 and the Amazon Eero Max 7 mesh router, which can cost as much as $1,699 for a three-node system.

So, the $99 price of the Archer BE3600 is appealing in the face of pricier competition, but it comes with a few compromises. First of all, it's only a dual-band router, not a tri-band model. Your devices can connect on the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands but not the newer and speedier 6 GHz band. The missing 6 GHz band would provide higher performance, albeit at shorter distances. With the Archer BE3600, you can achieve speeds up to 2,882 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 688 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, which is lower than other competing Wi-Fi 7 routers.

If the Archer BE3600 doesn't meet your needs, the more expensive Archer GE800 is a more premium tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router. However, you'll pay for that added performance, as the Archer GE800 costs $492.98 at Amazon (down from a list price of $599.99).

The Archer BE3600 has a few other limitations for wired connections. While TP-Link’s flagship Archer model includes two 10 Gbps Ethernet ports and four 2.5 Gbps ports, the budget model is more constrained. It only includes one 2.5 Gbps port for WAN, one 2.5 Gbps port for LAN, and three gigabit LAN ports. It also has a USB 3.0 port for external storage.

Support for Wi-Fi 7 is only beginning to take off. While third-party wireless adapters offer Wi-Fi 7, computers and mobile devices have just begun adopting the new technology. That being said, if you have somewhat modest needs and want to reap the benefits of Wi-Fi 7’s Multi-Link Operation (MLO) for reduced network congestion and improved latency and performance, along with 4K-QAM, the budget option at Walmart could be a good choice.

If you're looking for a high-end Wi-Fi 7 gaming router but don't like the aesthetics of spider-style routers from companies like Asus, TP-Link wants your attention. The new Archer GE800 is the company's latest Wi-Fi 7 router, aiming to deliver performance and plenty of physical ports to also cater to all your wired networking needs.

Unlike routers like the Asus ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro and RT-BE96U, the Archer GE800 looks more mundane in comparison, and that's a good thing. Instead of eight poseable antennas, you get twin vertical blades that are much more elegant. Sure, you get RGB lighting effects to liven things up a bit, but it's by no means an "in your face" design like the competition.

This is a tri-band router, supporting up to 1,376 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, 5,764 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, and 11,528 Mbps on the 6 GHz band (19 Gbps aggregate). If you need a refresher, Wi-Fi 7 doubles the 6 GHz channel width compared to 5 GHz, which helps to improve performance significantly. In addition, multi-link operation (another Wi-Fi 7 addition) allows for lower latency and greater reliability with dozens of wireless devices on your network.

You also won't be left wanting when it comes to physical ports; the Archer GE800 features four 2.5 Gbps LAN ports and two 10 Gbps LAN ports, putting it on equal footing with the ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro. Both 10 Gbps ports can be used for WAN, which will be a boon for those lucky enough to have multi-gigabit fiber connections to your home. One of the 10 Gbps ports also supports the high-speed SFP+ interface.

On the user interface side, TP-Link provides plenty of features to protect your router and connected devices, including real-time protection for IoT devices, a home network scanner (to identify and quarantine infected devices), and a malicious site blocker (among other enhancements). There are also gaming-specific features, which allow you to dedicate a single band for your gaming devices and provide network acceleration for specific games. You can also set up an FTP, media, or Samba server using the single USB 3.0 ports on the back of the router.

Given the performance and features provided by the Archer GE800, it shouldn't be a surprise that it's pricey. The router has an MSRP of $599, which undercuts the RT-BE96U and ROG Rapture GT-BE98 Pro by $100 and $200, respectively. $599 is still a hefty price for a router, especially when you can find decent Wi-Fi 6E routers for under $300 or less. But for those who want to be on the bleeding edge, the TP-Link Archer GE800 is available now for preorder from Amazon. There's even a $100 instant discount currently available to sweeten the deal, taking the price to $499 if you're in the market for a router upgrade.

A German hardware hacker by the name of KittenLabs has published a blog post about how they managed to get the classic GTA: Vice City running smoothly on a router. Using an unusual hardware concoction of a TP-Link TL-WDR4900 and an AMD Radeon HD 7470 connected as an eGPU, KittenLabs managed to install Debian Linux and GTA: Vice City and it ran surprisingly well, as you can see in the video below.

The story behind this classic gaming hack is very interesting. The TP-Link TL-WDR4900 Wi-Fi router was singled out for attention as it has a reputation for great performance (for its release date of 2013). Central to the router’s performance is an NXP/Freescale QorIQ P1014 CPU which KittenLabs explains is actually a PowerPC e500v2 32bit processor.

Of course, even a powerful router doesn’t have a PC GPU-friendly PCIe slot, so some hackery was required to install an eGPU. KittenLabs designed a custom miniPCIe breakout PCB and attached it to the router after cutting PCIe traces leading from the CPU to one of the Atheros chipsets. This got them a working spare PCIe 2.0 interface.

Next, some software wrangling was required. KittenLabs installed OpenWrt on the router but due to its obvious limits as a general-purpose OS decided to bootstrap a version of Debian Linux, with additional kernel modules enabled – enough for a gaming platform with AMD graphics driver support.

Initial experiments with an AMD Radeon RX 570 GPU hit an incompatibility wall, but switching to a legacy AMD Radeon HD 7470 card with an older driver quickly paid dividends – the system started working.

There were many hurdles to overcome before the TL-WDR4900 could be tested running GTA: Vice City. Most pressingly, KittenLabs had to get a version of the game that would happily run on the Debian / PowerPC system. The answer lay in reVC (a reverse-engineered version of GTA Vice City, with the source code publicly available) which was compiled for the router platform. Sadly, the game was still just a shadow of its fully supported self, with glitches when any NPCs were involved. This issue caused the project to be stuck for several months.

A Wii U port of reVC online sparked new hope, especially when the author helped KittenLabs. However, there were still graphical corruption issues…

Finally, the breakthrough came after delivering an update to the Mesa 3D graphics library used by the router as part of its Linux installation. This wasn’t a breeze, as a number of dependencies to be updated as well, but once done “player rendering started to work fine on real hardware (with acceleration!).” On one hand, this update made the project a resounding success, as you can see from the video (top) and the blog page. However, KittenLabs was a little dissatisfied to not know exactly how the previous issues were resolved.

The KittenLabs blog is an interesting place to spend some time. As well as the new GTA: Vice City on a router post, there are plenty of other hacks, computing, retro computing, and art-focused posts to absorb. One of our favorite archived posts is the Analog floppy synthesizer which plays musical compositions using 3.5-inch floppy drive hardware.

Downmarket WiFi 6E routers are almost always more expensive than those which only support the WiFi 6 protocol (after all, you’re getting not dual band but tri-band), but you can still find one for less than $200 which offers usable performance.

TP-Link’s Archer AXE75 fits into the budget WiFi 6E router category, costing $193 at press time. For that price, you get a mixed bag: solid 5-GHz throughput, acceptable 2.4-GHz performance and 6-GHz performance that’s no faster than the 5-GHz band. It’s a usable product, but nothing to beam home about.

Design of TP-Link Archer AXE75

The WiFi 6E routers seem to run larger. The TP-Link Archer AXE75 measures 10.7" × 5.8" × 1.9" (not counting its six foldable antennas). It’s roughly the size—and shape—of a small tray.

The top of the router almost completely consists of venting—in a pattern reminiscent of parquet. The exception is a raised glossy strip approximately three inches wide going across almost a third of the device at a diagonal. This bump doesn’t seem to serve much of any purpose—even aesthetically; it appears haphazard.

Other aspects of the physical design also appear questionable. There is a USB 3.0 port (which we are pleased by the presence of)—but instead of being on the back of the device with all the other ports and important bits, it is on the side. Indeed, it took us longer than we would like to admit to realize that there even was a USB port on the device.

Again, though, there are nice features—even beyond the USB port. The back of the device features an LED power button (a nice touch for those who tire of unnecessary bright lights on electronics), a WPS button, and a WiFi on/off button.

Beyond that, the back of the device has four Ethernet ports, a WAN port, and a power button.

Specifications of TP-Link Archer AXE75

Setup of TP-Link Archer AXE75

As with most routers these days, the TP-Link Archer AXE75 can be set up via a downloadable smartphone app—“Tether”—or a web interface. We could only get the web interface to work over WiFi, oddly enough. Theoretically, we see no reason why an Ethernet setup should fail, but we found that we could not get our Ethernet client connected/recognized until after we had already successfully set up the router.

During the setup process, along with the standard steps of setting login information, the user is prompted to set a two-hour timespan for the router to download and install automatic updates. (We selected 3am to 5am.)

Speaking of which, we were also prompted to update the router’s firmware. During the updating and rebooting process (which lasted a bit longer than we would have thought), the screen popped up repeated "operation failed" notices—which we cannot account for. In the end, however, we were told that the firmware updated successfully.

Features of TP-Link Archer AXE75

We like options when it comes to router features. Unfortunately, the TP-Link Archer AXE75 doesn’t give a lot of choice; many of its features are only accessible via the Tether smartphone app. This includes Alexa integration, QoS, parental controls, network-protection tooling, security and performance scans, and reporting. While we are pleased that these features are offered, we are disappointed for both flexibility and data-privacy reasons that they can’t be accessed via the web.

Even when you download the app, you do not get complete feature access. The router and app only come with basic functionalities pursuant to TP-Link’s “HomeShield Basic” plan. For more features, you’ll have to subscribe to HomeShield Pro for either a monthly or annual fee; in exchange, you’ll get added features like additional parental controls (like enhanced time-limit features), security filters, and DDoS protection.

Speaking of mobile devices, like some other routers, the Archer AXE75 is compatible with TP-Link’s OneMesh suite for creating a mesh network.

Not all of the TP-Link Archer AXE75’s features are app-only, however. Many other basics remain available, like OFDMA, port forwarding, port triggering, creation of guest networks (which can be encrypted or unencrypted, as you desire), firewalls, VPN setup/management, router-settings backup and recovery, IPTV and multicast, and integration with Apple Time Machine.

There is also some access-control functionality even in the absence of the smartphone app—allowing you to block blacklisted devices or allow only whitelisted devices.

To help ensure that you can take better advantage of the 6 GHz band, you can also use the preferred scanning channel (PSC) setting to keep higher-connectivity channels reserved for 6 GHz.

Performance of TP-Link Archer AXE75

The TP-Link Archer AXE75 claims to offer maximums of 574 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 2402 Mbps on each of the 5 GHz and the 6 GHz bands. The fine print on the packaging makes clear, however, that these are but theoretical maximums based on the IEEE Standard 802.11 specifications. We tested accordingly and found largely mediocre speeds.

We conducted tests repeatedly throughout the course of two weekdays in a single-family house with a 1,200-Mbps connection, using a laptop with a RealTek 8852CE network adapter as the client and another PC, attached via Ethernet, as the server to receive traffic. We used Iperf to test throughput and ping to test latency. Four sets of tests were conducted for each band.

Near uncongested: Testing laptop approximately 7 feet away from the router, no substantial traffic being carried across other devices

Far uncongested: Testing laptop approximately 25 feet away from the router, no substantial traffic being carried across other devices

Near congested: Testing laptop approximately 7 feet away from the router; videos streaming on four devices throughout the house

Far congested: Testing laptop approximately 25 feet away from the router; videos streaming on four devices throughout the house

Here are the results we recorded from our testing:

We found it extremely curious that, for the most part, traffic-congested performance was usually better than or comparable to uncongested performance under similar circumstances. In the absence of luck or some kind of odd technology that improves the more taxed it is, we suspect it’s possible that this may be a matter of unequal distribution of signal strength. (We estimate a roughly 25 to 30 degree difference in angle between our “near” testing spot and our “far” testing spot.) To this end, it is worth noting the 3% packet loss we experienced in our near-uncongested test on the 6 GHz band.

It should also be noted that mean averages in ping rate were affected, in some cases, by sudden wild swings in latency—sometimes by as much as nearly half a second. This was primarily the case, however, with our “far” tests”—both congested and uncongested.

On the 5-GHz band, which will be your main method of connecting WiFi 6 and WiFi 5 devices, the Archer’s performance was the middle of the pack, pulling in just behind the Tenda RX27 Pro in throughput on both congested and uncongested tests. Latency was solid without congestion but near the bottom of the barrel under congested conditions.

At 6-GHz, the band you can only get on WiFi 6E devices, the Archer AXE75 provided mediocre throughput and latency that was about the same as its 5-GHz speeds. So the best use of this band on this router is to reserve it for your one flagship device, perhaps your gaming PC, to make sure it has no competition for signal.

Except in the far-congested testing, performance on the 2.4 GHz band was decent. At the same time, if you’re shelling out the money for a WiFi 6E router right now, you’re probably less concerned with the 2.4 GHz band.

Bottom Line

For an entry into WiFi 6E, a roughly $200 price tag isn’t bad. But a question lingers: Why would you bother entering—at least, via this particular router?

Throughput performance on every band – 6-GHz, 5-GHz and 2.4-GHz – is solidly middle of the pack. However, latency is pretty high relative to the competition under most scenarios. 

Moreover, many of the TP-Link Archer AXE75’s features are inaccessible by web interface—and, in some cases, inaccessible without a paid subscription. Many (we daresay most) of these same features are accessible both for free and via the user’s choice of web or app on competitors.

The Tenda RX27 Pro offers strong performance, unlocked features and costs about $80 less at press time, making it a far better choice overall. MSI’s RadiX has far better performance and features but costs $50 to $60 more. The Archer AXE75 might be worth considering if it was on a massive sale, but even then, there are better budget WiFi 6E routers that would still likely cost less.

Update 3/8/2023 9:50 am PT: TP-Link representatives responded to our queries, stating that this is not a TP-Link product. As such, it appears that the "TP-Link ASIC" router is a scam. We're investigating further. 

A company named "TP-Link ASIC" has announced an NX31 ASIC mining router that sports Wi-Fi 7 connectivity. According to the specs, this $1,440 router has a built-in ASIC that mines crypto faster than the RTX 4090 and pulls 1,200 Watts during full load. However, the well-known router maker TP-Link tells us that this is not their product and that they are working to get the press release removed. At best, "TP-Link ASIC" is an unaffiliated company, but it's more likely that this device is a scam — much like other crypto hardware scams we've seen in the past. We're working to dig up more information.

The NX31 (NX31-B2MR) listing claims the device doubles as a Wi-Fi 7 router and ASIC miner. However, the product page lacks some technical details, and the image of the NX31 device corresponds to TP-Link's Archer BE900 Wi-Fi 7 router — even the filename confirms it. That doesn't make sense, though. Unless it was significantly larger, the company wouldn't be able to cram this much horsepower into a pirated design that mimics the router.

According to the company's claims, the NX31 delivers a hash rate of up to 31.2 TH/s, much faster than a GeForce RTX 4090. Except that appears to be for an ASIC-friendly mining algorithm (Kadena / Blake2S), and no one in their right mind — who has to pay for electricity — would be running those on a GPU these days. But there's still the question of efficiency.

The manufacturer labeled the NX31 for Kadena (KDA), so support for other cryptocurrencies is unknown and unlikely. It claims to outperform cheaper ASIC miners, such as the Canaan Avalon A9 miner (20 TH/s), but it lags behind Intel's Bonanza Mine ASICs (34.5 - 47.7 TH/s). The problem is we're looking at apples (SHA256 mining) and oranges (Kadena mining). The selling point for the NX31 is the device's dual functionality as both a router and ASIC-based crypto miner.

TP-Link ASIC didn't share the dimensions of the NX31, but says it weighs 3.9kg (8.58 lbs). The vanilla Archer BE900 has an LED screen, which you can personalize with the weather, time, or other graphics. On the NX31, the vendor claims to have added the functionality to display the hash rate and temperature. In addition, the machine features a metallic body and two fans to improve cooling and draws 1,200W. You can't just blindly plug the NX31 into your home's outlet, though, as the ASIC miner requires a 240V outlet.

On the router side, the NX31's other attributes concur with the Archer BE900. For example, it claims to support quad-band technology and 12 internal antennas to improve coverage over large areas. In addition, the NX31 claims a generous amount of Ethernet ports of different standards. The list includes one 10 Gbps WAN/LAN port, one 10 Gbps SFP+/RJ45 port, four 2.5 Gbps LAN ports, and a 1 Gbps LAN port. For USB connectivity, the NX31 provides one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port.

The NX31 isn't the only ASIC miner in TP-Link ASIC's ranks. The company also sells the D11 (D11-B1FB) Doge and Litecoin miner for $570. The machine reportedly pumps out 610 Mh/s while pulling 400W. This model is more versatile as it can come in both 100V and 240V variants. TP-Link ASIC will ship the first batch on March 24.

TP-Link ASIC says it has already sold the first batch of NX31; therefore, the ASIC mining router is on backorder for an April release. It appears that the vendor has adjusted the pricing to $1,370, 5% lower than the launch price. Purchase orders are limited to three devices per customer, but you absolutely should not plunk down your money for this likely scam. TP-Link ASIC claims that the standard ROI (return on investment) time for the NX31 is between five to seven months, which seems highly ambitious.

Based on the claimed mining performance of 31.2 TH/s for Kadena, it would appear that if the NX31 were even real it could only mine about $4 per day worth of cryptocurrency at present rates. With a power draw of 1200W and assuming $0.10 per kWh, that would bring the actual net profits down to about $1.40 per day, which means you're looking at more like 1,000 days to break even — and that's assuming nothing bad happens to the Kadena cryptocoin or the NX31 in the intervening time.

MSI isn’t a name that we typically think of when it comes to the best gaming routers, but the company is looking to change that perception with the launch of the RadiX AXE6600 at CES 2022. This is the first wireless router from MSI, which joins its growing family of hardware peripherals to complement its better-known motherboards and graphics cards. 

The RadiX AXE6600 is based on the latest Wi-Fi 6E wireless protocol and features a tri-band setup. Although the company didn’t get into specifics, we know that it uses a 1.8 GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor that features a beefy heatsink and a heatpipe arrangement to keep things cool and prevent overheating.

Given that MSI is entering a market filled with competition from Netgear, Asus, TP-Link and countless others, the RadiX AXE6600 is looking to go toe-to-toe on features. One in particular that helps it stand out is what MSI calls AI QoS. The MSI logo on the top of the router actually doubles as a button. Pressing it cycles through several QoS presets (i.e., gaming, streaming, productivity, etc.) so that you don’t have to wander into the web interface (or an app) to change settings. Of course, you still have the option to log in to the web interface if you wish for more granular control over QoS settings.

One other trick up MSI’s sleeve is Mystic Light RGB support. Of course, we’ve seen RGB effects on gaming routers before, but MSI doesn’t just include lighting on the router body. The RGB effects also extend to the six antennae jutting out from the body. Although it seems somewhat counterintuitive to add complexity to the same antennae that are your lifeline to broadband internet goodness, we’ll be interested to hear MSI’s reasoning for its inclusion (other than the fact that it looks cool).

Unfortunately, MSI has not provided us with pricing for the RadiX AXE6600, and the company is also mum on availability. However, MSI does assure us that the wireless router will debut this year, likely in Q3 or Q4 2022.

TP-Link's Archer AX6000 Next-Gen Wi-Fi Router sits somewhere between a full-tilt gaming router like the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 and basic budget options like TP-Link's sub-$70 Archer A7 AC1750. The Archer AX6000's ‘middle of the road’ approach results in a router that's larger than some, with lots of antennae (8) and gigabit Ethernet ports (8, plus a 2.5GB WAN). You also get Wi-Fi 6, though not the newer 6E that makes use of the less-cluttered 6 GHz band.

But the Archer AX6000 doesn't feature the red accents and dancing LED’s that often adorn gaming routers. It also does not have a ridiculously high price tag. As of publication, it was selling for about $270--a far cry from flagship gaming options that often sell in the $500 range.

Is this more general-purpose approach to a router setup still perform well enough for serious gamers to take notice? Read on as we delve into the Archer AX6000's full feature lest and performance testing to find out.

Design of the TP-Link Archer AX6000

The AX6000 takes a more subtle approach to design than its flamboyant gaming counterparts (like the flagship Archer AX11000). While it comes with eight permanently attached antennae  and a horizontal design, it goes with a black plastic exterior that looks more business than gaming. But there's some flash here, in the form of an LED on the top center, behind a shiny gold TP-Link badge, that glows blue when all is working (and red when it isn't). But the light is easily disabled with a dedicated hardware button--important if your router lives near your TV or in a bedroom.

AX6000 is on the larger end of the spectrum at 10.3 × 10.3 × 2.4 inches (261.2 × 261.2 × 60.2 mm), and it weighs 3.5 pounds (1.59 kg). That's nearly as big as the Asus Rapture GT-AXE1000, at 10.4 x 10.4 x 2.9 inches and 3.94 pounds. But the Archer AX6000's antennae are shorter than on most routers, and they come permanently attached, so all you have to do when taking the router out of the box is flip them up.

Specifications of the TP-Link Archer AX6000

In terms of hardware specs, the AX6000 can definitely go toe-to-toe with higher-end routers. You get a 1.8 GHz quad-core processor with two additional coprocessors, 1 GB of RAM and 128 MB of flash storage.

Ports are also ample, with the WAN port a speedy 2.5 Gbps, plus eight gigabit LAN ports, basically giving you an integrated switch for plenty of wired connections. Link Aggregation is also supported, should you want to give extra bandwidth to a particular device. There are also a pair of two USB 3.0 ports (one Type-A and one Type-C) for connecting things like external storage to share on your network.

All that aside, the wireless department is where the AX6000 starts to show its mid-range limitations. The router is dual-band, rather than the more robust tri-band options found on higher-end gear. That means the AX6000 has a single 2.4 GHz option, rated at up to 1148 Mbps and a single 5 GHz for up to 4804 Mbps of throughput--hence (with the help of the usual rounding) the 6000 designation. Also, this router supports Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), but not the newest Wi-Fi 6E spec. So your devices get to live in the more crowded and mainstream bandwidths, rather than in the newly opened (and therefore much-less crowded) 6 GHz band.

That said, the aforementioned Asus ROG Rapture router is the only model we've tested so far that supports Wi-Fi 6E, and there are still very few devices (aside from some new phones) that are out there waiting for a 6E router to connect to.

Setup of the TP-Link Archer AX6000

Setup of the TP-Link Archer AX6000 is fairly simple and took less than 10 minutes. After the requisite unboxing, we appreciate that the eight antennas come pre-attached, so just have to be rotated into their vertical position (although a few may be disappointed that they cannot be manually fine-tuned and adjusted to maximize reception).

Software setup can be done via the TP-Link app for the smartphone, or via the web browser, with the latter as our method of choice. We were given opportunities to choose a router password, the Wi-Fi password, and upgrade the firmware. This got us dialed in right away and was a painless and efficient process.

Features of the TP-Link Archer AX6000

We found the software for this router to be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the interface is easy to use; we doubt more novice users will get confused using it. The converse for this is that compared to actual gaming routers, it's less robust. You get fewer fine controls and not as much flexibility as some other offerings.

The Quality of Service (QoS) offers a reasonable solution to allow for some adjustability. The choices include Gaming (which was used for our testing), Standard, Streaming, Surfing, and Chatting. There is also a Custom setting to allow for finer control of prioritization of traffic when your network needs don’t fit into a preset setting. There is also an option for Device Prioritization, so for example you can make sure your Gaming PC gets a higher priority than other clients on the network.

Security of the TP-Link Archer AX6000

The security functionality on the Archer AX6000 also strikes a delicate balance between simple and capable. We do like that the AX6000 has integrated network security, and are glad that the subscription is included, taking it a notch above budget routers. The security is powered by Trend Micro, but the functions are limited to just three: a Malicious Content Filter, an Intrusion Prevention System, and Infected Device Quarantine. There's also a Parental Controls function to limit screen time for younger family members.

Performance of the TP-Link Archer AX6000

The TP-Link Archer AX6000 proved to be quite stable during our testing. We connected a variety of clients to it, including laptops with Intel chips, an iPhone, and multiple Android smartphones. All devices connected easily and consistently to the AX6000.

Throughput testing with an Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 chipset showed decent, although unexceptional Wi-Fi 6 speeds. At the time that this router was introduced the speeds were quite solid, but given newer Wi-Fi 6E gear and the significantly faster speeds offered, the AX6000 feels more mid-range than it did in 2019. While the 5 GHz near speed of 789 Mbps is certainly solid, the throughput on the 2.4 GHz of 132 Mbps when close, and 76 Mbps on the far test offered no significant advantage over even older 802.11ac routers.

Again, the AX6000 showed its strengths and weaknesses in our testing. We did obtain some definitely fast gaming scores on our test game of Overwatch, such as 123.7 fps when wired, and an even slightly faster frame rate of 127.3 fps when connected via 5 GHz, both with nothing else running.

From a gameplay standpoint, when connected via 5 GHz, the fps were well maintained, both without the QoS at 119.3 FPS, and a slightly faster, and close to wired speed of 120.7 fps with the QoS activated with our ten 8K videos streaming in the background.

We also had some concerns, such as the high latency on all of the wired connection testing situations that went as high 259 milliseconds. The 2.4 GHz gaming score with background video congestion without QoS dragged to a much slower 45.2 fps. While activating the QoS improved the frame rate to 88.8 fps, we were disappointed to see how much the video streaming got sacrificed as the dropped frames went from 16.3% to a stuttering 47.2%.

Pricing of the TP-Link Archer AX6000

A strong point of this AX6000 is the pricing. At a suggested retail price of $299, it's an affordable way to acquire a robust higher-end Wi-Fi 6 router. And street price seems to consistently hover at $269 at the time of this writing, dropping this router more solidly into the mid-range category in terms of pricing.

Conclusion

The TP-Link AX6000 is a decent mid-range router, offering good value for the dollar. We like the solid 5 GHz throughput speeds, the high fps gaming scores when connected via Ethernet or 5 GHz, the integrated 8 port switch, and the included security subscription.

But there are some shortcomings, including slower 2.4 GHz throughput (at this point only really an issue with older devices), the high dropped frame rate on video streaming with QoS activated for gaming, the simplified interface, and the lack of tri-band. Overall, for a general-purpose, mid-range router, there is plenty to like about the AX6000, including decent overall gaming performance.

But if maximum gaming speed is your priority and your network is often congested by lots of people and devices vying for bandwidth, you may want to spend more on something that handles this better, with less latency and frame drops. TP-Link's own Archer AX11000 performed better on that front for about $100 more, while also delivering an extra 5 GHz band to ease congestion. But that router also suffered from a fair amount of dropped frames in our congestion testing.

It’s not much of a stretch to say that a good number of folks don’t give a ton of thought to their router. After all, it is in some ways just a box that sends out a Wi-Fi signal. But if you're a wireless tech aficionado and/or a serious gamer who wants to make sure you're getting the best connection possible, TP-Link would kindly like you to consider the Archer AX11000 Next-Gen Tri-Band Gaming Router. We'll just be calling it the TP-Link AX11000 from here on out.

The AX11000 is a follow-up model to the Archer C5400X, which used 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) but had a similar appearance to the newer, Wi-Fi 6-equipped router we're looking at here. The AX11000 is designed to offer a top-of-the-stack router that is targeted to the gaming market and has a price tag to match. That said, at between $405 and $430, the AX11000 is still more affordable than flagship routers from the likes of Netgear and Asus. And it certainly looks the part, with its aggressive styling. Let's dig in to find out if this model is a comparative bargain.

Design

The AX11000 offers some serious power, so it is no surprise that it comes in a larger package. This is a horizontally oriented router in an almost matte-black plastic, that takes up considerable desktop real estate with its square design. On top of that, it has a large brick of a power supply that also takes up even more space, along with a total of eight antennas that are adorned in red.

Unlike some competitors and even lesser routers, the antennas are all in a fixed location, and cannot be fine-tuned via repositioning. There are also a large number of holes on the top of the router and an LED in the center position on top that thankfully can be turned off.

In short, this is a large, visually loud router and not ideal for those that live in a space-cramped apartment.

Specifications

As the AX11000 is a high-end router, it follows that the specs are top-notch. At the heart of every router is a CPU, and this one has a 1.8 GHz 64 Bit Quad-Core CPU, along with three coprocessors, 1 GB of RAM, and 512 MB of flash storage.

Ports are covered well also, with a pair of USB 3.0 ports, one Type-C and the other a type A. The Ethernet ports are plentiful as well, with a single WAN port that is 2.5 Gbps and eight LAN ports that are gigabit speed. There is also Static Link Aggregation available for port pairing.

On the wireless side, the AX11000 lives up to its name and supports 802.11ax, better known as Wi-Fi 6. This is a tri-band router with a single 2.4 GHz network with claimed speeds of 1148 Mbps, plus a pair of 5 GHz networks that have speeds of 4804 Mbps. That all adds up to 10,756 and then TP-Link rounds this up to 11,000 with some fuzzy math, and voila, you get the router’s name. This router also has other cutting-edge wireless technology, including 4×4 MU-MIMO, beamforming, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS).

Setup

Router setup for the AX11000 is a definite strong point. It starts with connecting the eight antennas, which hooked in with a satisfying click.

We appreciate that configuration can be done via either a smartphone or our preference, a web browser. Going the latter route only took a few minutes, gave us an opportunity to choose our Wi-Fi password, and to have separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks.

Features

TP-Link did endow the AX11000 with the types of features that you would expect for a higher-end gaming router. This includes bandwidth testing and Quality of Service that has five preset settings, and a sixth setting that allows the user to customize prioritization of traffic for full granular control.

There is also a Game Accelerator designed to reduce game latency.

Security

From a security perspective, the AX11000 is decent, but not class-leading from a consumer router perspective. It starts with support for the latest wireless encryption. The AX11000 does support WPA3, while being backward-compatible with the previous standards.

As seen in the screenshot (see how to take screenshots in Windows) above, the AX11000 includes some antivirus protection, and we like to see that it is included out of the box, not requiring a separate subscription, and uses a security database that gets updates powered by Trend Micro. There is a Malicious Content Filter, plus an Intrusion Protection System, which can be controlled separately. There are also Parental Controls, again as we'd expect from a router in this class.

Performance

Our performance testing of the AX11000 started with throughput testing using our Netperf software. Our 'Near' test is done at 8 feet away, while ‘Far’ is on a different floor about 30 feet away. We found that the AX11000 had decent performance on the 5 GHz frequency and fairly unexceptional speeds on the 2.4 GHz frequency.

Our network congestion testing shows the AX11000 to perform better via Ethernet and 5 GHz connections, with the 2.4 GHz performance a weak point. While connected via Ethernet, with no background videos, on our Overwatch gaming test, we measured a solid FRAPS score of 128.5 FPS. This dropped substantially to 88.1 FPS when we added the ten 8K videos to saturate our 300 Mbps connection. The game improved to 118.6 FPS when we set the QoS for gaming and toggled on the Game Accelerator. While the frame rate in the game improved, we found the high dropped frame rate of 25.1% to be disappointing for a high-end gaming router.

Performance was better on 5 GHz, and weak on 2.4 GHz where we experienced a large number of spikes on PingPlotter, indicative of the router not handling the network congestion well. However, on the 5 GHz frequency, the framerate we obtained on Overwatch with the video streaming congestion of 129.3 FPS is notable as it is a higher score than we got via Ethernet. Also realize that while the FPS is higher, the PingPlotter spikes increased to 7, and the dropped video frames increased to 36.2%, both increases over a wired connection.

Pricing

The cost of the AX11000 is a pain point. Despite this router coming out in 2019, the cost is north of $400 on many sites. You may be able to find it for a bit less, as on the TP-Link site they connect the user to Costco. But Costco then hides the price for members only. Still, anywhere around $400 is a lot for a router, and while there are gaming models that cost more, our tests show performance was more good than great, and that was mostly on the 5 GHz band.

Conclusion

The TP-Link AX11000 is a bit of a mixed bag in our evaluation and testing. The strong points include the integrated 8 port switch, the 5 GHz throughput, the integrated TrendNet security, and the ease of setup. The weaknesses are the bulky size, weak 2.4 GHz throughput, the large number of dropped video frames in our congestion testing, and the high price. At the end of the day, while this is a decent router, at this high price point for a top-end gaming router, the AX11000 left us wanting more consistent performance.

TP-Link has announced a new family of multi-gigabit switches designed primarily for homes and small offices. The 2.5GbE and 10GbE switches are reasonably priced — one 2.5GbE model is only $130 — and are designed for advanced users that need faster wired network speeds as they use multi-gig NAS, Wi-Fi 6 access points, and other bandwidth-hungry devices.

The newly announced family of switches includes the TL-SG105-M2 5-port 2.5GbE desktop switch, the TL-SG108-M2 8-port 2.5GbE desktop switch, and the TL-SG3210XHP-M2 JetStream managed switch that has eight RJ45 2.5GbE ports as well as two SFP+ 10GbE ports.

The switches are backward compatible with 100Mbps and GbE over CAT5 copper cables, yet to hit 10GbE speeds, the highest-end model requires SFP+ cables, which are not common at homes or SMB offices.

The 5-port TL-SG105-M2 and the 8-port TL-SG108-M2 switches are rather basic fanless devices that can automatically sense link speeds and intelligently fine-tune for compatibility and optimal performance for all devices. The switches come in metal chassis and will fit almost any home design (assuming, of course, that they are not hidden). 

The 5-port switch is immediately available for $130, whereas the 8-port model carries a $200 MSRP.

Being a managed switch, the TL-SG3210XHP-M2 JetStream is of course inherently more advanced than its cheaper counterparts. The unit has eight 2.5GbE 802.3at/af-compliant PoE+ ports, two 10 Gbps SFP+ slots, and two ports for management (an RJ45 and a mini-USB). TP-Link positions this switch for relatively large networks employing both wired and wireless clients. Since it is supposed to have rather serious switching capacity, it uses up to 240W of power and has active cooling.

The switch supports a host of security capabilities, including IP-MAC-Port binding, ACL, Port Security, DoS defend, Storm control, DHCP snooping, 802.1X and radius authentication. L2/L3/L4 QoS and IGMP snooping for voice and video applications. In addition, the switch is Omada SDN compatible and features Zero-Touch Provisioning and intelligent monitoring.

The TL-SG3210XHP-M2 JetStream is of course not exactly cheap, but for $350, it is certainly not expensive.

Nowadays, many individuals and small businesses need to transfer large amounts of data around homes or offices, so they need something faster than GbE networks. While there are numerous reasonably-priced 10GbE network cards and motherboards with built-in 10GbE controllers, 10GbE networks have not really taken off even with copper cables because 10GbE switches have been prohibitively expensive so far. It looks like things are starting to change as TP-Link just began offering inexpensive 5-port and 8-port 10GbE switches.

TP-Link's 5-port TL-SX105 and 8-port TL-SX1008 10GbE switches are based on unknown hardware, but they feature a 100Gbps and a 160Gbps switching capacity, so they should be good enough to connect several 10GbE devices. The switches are backward compatible with 100Mbps, GbE, 2.5GbE, and 5GbE connections, yet they have to use CAT6 or CAT6a copper cables to hit 10GbE speeds. Both units come in metal chassis. The smaller model is cooled passively, whereas the bigger unit uses a fan that adjusts its speed based on load and temperature.

The 5-port TL-SX105 and the 8-port TL-SX1008 10GbE switches recently showed up in Tokyo, Japan, reports Akiba PC Hotline. The five-port model is priced at ¥29,900 including tax, whereas the SKU with eight 10GbE connectors costs ¥39,900.

In the U.K., both models are available for pre-order for £239.99 and £329.99 at Scan.co.uk, but their ETA date is overdue since March 13, 2021. At this point, we have no idea about MSRPs of TP-Link's TL-SX105 and TL-SX1008 switches in the U.S. or when they will be available on this side of the pond. Meanwhile, if we exclude taxes, the smaller model will likely carry a $275 MSRP, whereas the bigger version will cost around $450.

TP-Link is known for its reasonably priced products, so it is not surprising that the company is among the first to bring inexpensive 5-port and 8-port 10GbE switches to market. Obviously, if one company can build such products, other manufacturers will eventually follow. 

Technically, Asus has offered its XG-U2008 switch for years, and at times it could be bought for $230, but this product had only two 10GbE ports, which to a large degree ruined its appeal among users with more than two 10GbE devices.  

Routers have often been an afterthought of a gaming setup. But these days folks are paying more attention to this critical piece of networking hardware. After all, all your gaming traffic passes through this box, so having it up to standards is important. With all the latest features, such as Wi-Fi 6 (and now 6E), Beamforming, and the latest in network security, premium router prices have headed significantly north for the last several years, approaching the price of a mainstream laptop in plenty of cases.

But flying in the face of fancy new features and premium price points is the TP-Link Archer A7. As Amazon's best-selling router, with a 4.5-star rating across over 38,000 reviews, clearly it's making plenty of customers happy. So we wanted to put it through its paces in our gaming testing to see how it performs, and use it as our baseline for gaming router testing going forward.

In a world of fancy muscle cars, the Archer A7 shows up like a Toyota Corolla, with the essential features, plus a little extra. We go hands-on to see what a budget router that costs around $50 can do. Is dropping the router budget this far a good way to stretch your gaming dollar, or should you look to spend more on a higher-end alternative?

Design

The Archer A7 sports a fairly pedestrian design, consisting of a horizontally oriented box with three spindly, external antennas. Typical of mainstream electronics, it has a gloss-black plastic exterior, with two grooves that add some visual interest along the top of the body of the router. A series of green LED’s provide status info on such aspects of power, internet, connections to the Ethernet ports, and if the wireless signal is active. Finally, the company logo is featured prominently on the top, with an AC1750 badge on the right front, both done tastefully in a light gray. 

The back of the Archer A7 continues the simple, but functional theme. This includes, between the antenna attachment points a physical power button, a USB port, a WAN port and four Ethernet ports, and finally a WPS switch. While there's nothing that really stands out here, all the essentials are covered.

Overall, the router is somewhat compact, although it still takes up more space than a router with a vertical design. The dimensions are  9.57 x 6.32 x 1.28 inches (243 × 160.6 × 32.5 mm).

Specifications 

The Archer A7 is a dual-band router, in that it can send out simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signals. It conforms to the AC1750 standard by offering 2.4 GHz speeds up to 450 Mbps, and 5 GHz speeds of 1300 Mbps. If that seems a little slower than some others, this is not your imagination. This router is on the now previous generation of Wi-Fi, 802.11ac, while most higher-end modern networking gear uses 802.11ax, with the latest announcements for networking gear Wi-Fi 6E. So this Archer A7 is some rows back from the cutting edge, although it also costs a fraction of the price of most AX gaming routers.

There are five wired Ethernet ports, which are all Gigabit speed: one WAN, and the remaining four LAN. There is also a single USB 2.0 port for use as an FTP or media server. Again, pricier routers often have USB 3.0 ports, but a USB 2.0 port will suffice for most file transfers given the router's limited speed.

The specs of the hardware are pretty basic as well. This includes a Qualcomm Atheros QCA9563 with an integrated 750-MHz processor. The storage is also provisioned at the basic level at 128MB of RAM and 16MB of flash storage.

Setup and Features 

Setup was done via the router’s website (alternately you can use the company's Tether app), which proceeded smoothly in just a few minutes. The Archer A7 can be used as either a router, an access point, or with other TP-Link OneMesh products for a whole-house mesh setup. 

While it covers all the basics, the overall feature set of the Archer A7 is fairly pedestrian. This includes the limitation that the latest wireless encryption standard, WPA3 is not supported. There is also no support for beamforming. However, the Archer A7 does have QoS, although it does not have granular settings to prioritize different types of traffic. There is also support for running a VPN server.

Security 

The Archer A7 falls a bit short in the security area, with no anti-malware function to keep your network free of viruses. However, it does have the essentials that a router needs, with a firewall and DoS protection that can be adjusted among three levels. 

For families with children, the Archer A7 does have some basic Parental Controls, with options for time limits and to restrict devices. 

Performance 

We put the Archer A7 through our bandwidth test using NetPerf software to quantitate throughput. On the 2.4 GHz frequency, the throughput on our close test was 92 Mbps, which reduced to 51 Mbps as we moved a floor about 30 feet away, which is slower than some higher-end routers we've tested. The 5 GHz test had a stronger performance at the close distance at 535 Mbps, though it also dropped considerably at the longer distance to a fairly unexceptional 122 Mbps. If you need better performance at long distances from the router, stepping up to a Wi-Fi 6 router would be a good idea. 

We next put the Archer A7 through our network congestion testing suite. Our baseline wired test as indicated in Ethernet shows a solid FPS score of 112.3, with no Pingplotter spikes, and a decent latency of 71 millisecs in our Overwatch game. As we added in the network congestion with the ten 8K videos, we see the FPS drop to a still playable 95.2, but with a high 43.8% dropped frame rate with the router’s QoS set to off. Enabling QoS increased the FPS to 102.4, while reducing the dropped frames on the streamed videos to 32.4%, demonstrating the value of the Archer A7’s QoS.

Connecting to the Archer A7 via the 2.4 GHz with QoS enabled yielded unimpressive results, with the FPS at 87.5, the 8K videos with a 36.8% dropped frame rate, and the Overwatch game latency increased to 284 millisecs. Things fared better when connected via 5 GHz, with a 115.5 FPS seen without any background video streaming, which dropped to 45.1 when we added in the videos and left QoS off, which increased back to 96.2 FPS with the QoS enabled. However, we measured higher gaming latencies than when wired, such as 295 millisecs with the network congested and QoS enabled. As is often the case, a wired connection is the superior route for fast-paced gameplay.

Pricing and Bottom Line 

The main advantage of the Archer A7 AC1750 is the price. The MSRP is $59.99, and we found pricing that was even discounted a few dollars off of that at the major retailers, which is certainly affordable. The performance we measured, while not class leading, is quite respectable given the price. This makes it ideal for folks who care more about price than future proofing or cutting-edge features. At this price, it's also a good option to keep around as a backup, so you don't have to quickly run to the store and buy something expensive if your main router suddenly dies.

The Archer A7 is a solid choice, with advantages of decent 5 GHz throughput, high FPS scores on wired congestion, and most of all, price. Weaknesses include the lack of security features (unsurprising at this price), the weak 2.4 GHz throughput, and 802.11ac only, which limits support to WPA2 only for wireless encryption and means modern and future 802.11ax devices won't be able to access your network at their maximum speed.That said, those looking for a budget router or an affordable backup would be well served by the Archer A7 AC1750.

Although the new Wi-Fi 6 (otherwise known as 801.22ax) standard has been released a while ago, networking products supporting the new standard haven’t particularly been within reach of most consumers. TP-Link aims to change that with the new Archer AX10. 

As spotted by Hardware.info, the TP-Link Archer 10AX has been listed for pre-order at Dutch webshops for under €100, which would mean it’d cost about $100 on our side of the pond when it arrives. If that holds true, it’s a pretty sweet deal for those looking at a new WiFi router.

Yet, despite that price tag, the Archer AX10 is no slouch. Naturally, it has fast Wi-Fi capabilities with transfer speeds of up to 1201 MB/s over its Dual 5 GHz radios, but it also comes packed with a 1.5 GHz Triple-Core CPU, 256MB of RAM, and 16MB of ROM to effectively manage all the services. The quadruple antennae also support beamforming technology, meaning it can focus its data streams towards the devices they are intended for rather than broadcasting it to all of its surroundings, which should lead to faster and more reliable connections.

For those who want or need the reliability of a wired connection, the unit naturally also comes with four gigabit Ethernet connectors. The Archer AX10 also comes with Alexa support, and TP-Link made some of its own Alexa skills to further enhance the device’s capabilities.

When exactly, or if, the unit will hit shelves in the U.S. is unsure, but given that there are plenty of TP-Link products available in U.S. shops we have no reason to believe that it won’t come – it’s mostly a matter of when, and whether the price will indeed be close to $100 or not.

TP-Link today announced its first router to support Wi-Fi 6, the Archer AX50. The company said this new router features the Intel Home Wi-Fi Chipset to "deliver a premium Wi-Fi 6 Gig+ experience to more families at an affordable price point."

Intel Wireless Infrastructure Group general manager Doron Tal said in today's announcement that "Wi-Fi has seen its greatest advancement in the last decade with the introduction of Wi-Fi 6" and the release of routers like the Archer AX50 "make it possible for a broader set of consumers to start experiencing the full potential of Wi-Fi 6.” (Provided, of course, people are also purchasing devices that support the new protocol.)

So what is Wi-Fi 6? Well, it's technically called the 802.11ax protocol, but it was fortunate enough to debut after The Wi-Fi Alliance switched to a new version numbering system to help consumers. It's also equipped with improvements to pretty much every aspect of the protocol: Intel said in a fact sheet that its Wi-Fi 6 Gig+ platform offers 3x max wireless throughput, 4x capacity for devices and 75% reduced latency over previous generations.

TP-Link didn't offer pricing information for the Archer AX50 or say when it would debut. More information about the router can be found on the company's website. The Wi-Fi Alliance also has further information about Wi-Fi 6 and how you can spot devices that support it on its website.

Cisco's Talos Intelligence Group revealed that new malware, which it dubbed VPNFilter, has infected at least 500,000 devices in 54 countries. The malware is said to target Linksys, Netgear, TP-Link, and MikroTik small and home office (SOHO) products as well as unidentified NAS devices. Activating the malware could render affected devices inoperable, which could, in turn, cut off hundreds of thousands of people's internet access.

VPNFilter is said to have steadily infected more and more devices since at least 2016. Cisco said the malware doesn't rely on any specific exploit--instead, it spreads by taking advantage of known vulnerabilities in each individual product. That's made possible at least partly because people neglect to update these devices' firmware, and because they're rarely covered by antivirus solutions and other consumer security tools.

Cisco said VPNFilter could be used for three major purposes: conducting attacks that are mistakenly attributed to the malware's victims; collecting information from devices connected to the affected products; and cutting off victims' access to the internet via the built-in "kill" command. None of these possibilities are particularly welcoming, but the last one, in particular, could be devastating if it's used on many devices.

Unfortunately, knowing about VPNFilter doesn't make it all that much easier to defend against it. Cisco explained in its blog post:

Defending against this threat is extremely difficult due to the nature of the affected devices. The majority of them are connected directly to the internet, with no security devices or services between them and the potential attackers. This challenge is augmented by the fact that most of the affected devices have publicly known vulnerabilities which are not convenient for the average user to patch. Additionally, most have no built-in anti-malware capabilities. These three facts together make this threat extremely hard to counter, resulting in extremely limited opportunities to interdict malware, remove vulnerabilities, or block threats.

It's important to note that Cisco published this report before it finished its research into VPNFilter. That's because the company detected a spike in the rate with which the malware was infecting new devices on May 8, with "almost all" of the newly infected devices being located in Ukraine. Another spike occurred on May 17. Cisco decided to reveal VPNFilter's existence before finishing its research because of these spikes.

A Big Problem Borne Of Many Small Ones

Remember that VPNFilter doesn't rely on new vulnerabilities in networking or NAS products. Instead, the malware spread by taking advantage of a bunch of known flaws that simply haven't been fixed, either because the product makers didn't fix them, or device owners didn't install them. The reason why doesn't matter--what matters is that VPNFilter provides another example of how small vulnerabilities can grow in importance.

This is why experts keep advising companies to stay on top of their products' security, telling consumers to stay up-to-date with security patches, and pleading with regulators to force action on these issues. VPNFilter poses a very real threat to hundreds of thousands of people, many of them in the already embattled Ukraine, and there isn't anything just one company will be able to do to address this threat. It takes a village.

Cisco said in its blog post:

While the threat to IoT devices is nothing new, the fact that these devices are being used by advanced nation-state actors to conduct cyber operations, which could potentially result in the destruction of the device, has greatly increased the urgency of dealing with this issue. We call on the entire security community to join us in aggressively countering this threat.

A home wireless network is not only convenient nowadays, it's necessary, and a router is more than enough to provide coverage throughout our homes. But a router's coverage only extends so far; obstructions and large distances will diminish your Wi-Fi signal. The easiest solution to this is to install a wireless range extender, and TP-Link's new RE350K and RE590T offer just that.

The TP-Link RE350K is an AC1200 wall-pluggable range extender offering coverage of up to 10,000 square feet. The RE350K features LED indicators signifying optimal setup location and a single gigabit Ethernet port. Wi-Fi coverage is provided via two external dual-band antennas and 700mW high-powered amplifiers. Since the RE350K is a wall-plug range extender, it inherently features flexible non-obtrusive installation.

TP-Link's RE590T is an AC1900 desktop range extender that, like the RE350K, features 10,000 square feet of coverage and 700mW high-powered amplifiers. Since the RE590T is a desktop extender, it doesn't offer discreet and flexible placement like a wall-plugged extender would. But as a desktop solution, it offers a 1GHz dual-core processor, three external dual-band antennas and four gigabit Ethernet ports. The RE590T also features a 4.3 inch touch screen display that allows users to easily set up and manage the extender without having to access a web interface.

The RE590T range extender can be managed through TP-Link's Tether app, which is available for both Android and iOS devices. On the other hand, the RE350K is managed through  TP-Link's Kasa app, which makes optimal installation placement even easier. Both extenders also have beamforming technology and advanced security encryption. The RE350K and RE590T are intended to work with any router or access point, so potential buyers need not worry about compatibility issues.

The TP-Link RE350K and RE590T Wi-Fi Range Extenders are available on TP-Link's website and major retailers for $99.99 and $149.99 respectively.

Alexander Quejado is an Associate Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware and Tom's IT Pro. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.

TP-Link marked its entry into the Smart Home market with the SR20 Smart Home Router. Potential buyers looking to set up a Smart Home network might want to consider what TP-Link has to offer. The SR20 is a fully-featured AC1900 router that acts as a central hub for connected devices throughout the home network.

On the router side, the TP-Link SR20 is equipped with a 1GHz dual-core processor and delivers wireless speeds of up to 1300Mbps on 5GHz and 600Mbps on 2.4GHz. Beamforming technology allows the SR20 to provide stable coverage over longer distances. Further connectivity is provided through four Gigabit Ethernet ports. Storage is handled by a built-in SD card slot, and file sharing is handled via one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port.

TP-Link's SR20 fulfills its place as a Smart Home Router by acting as the focal point for connected IoT (Internet of Things) sensors. In addition to controlling sensors through the SR20's built-in touchscreen, the sensors may be controlled through a connected smartphone or tablet using the Kasa app. An example I saw during TP-Link's demo at CES were LED lamps changing color in response to a water leak. Another scenario users may configure is having their thermostat raise the temperature at a certain time so that the user returns to a nice, toasty home.

The SR20 achieves all of this via compatibility with ZigBee and Z-Wave. Since such a large ecosystem has spawned from ZigBee and Z-Wave, the SR20's functionality as a Smart Home Router is widespread.

Smart Home technology is an evolving market, and it's great to see a unified product that can govern all aspects of a Smart Home, but TP-Link isn't the first company to do this. Given time and more innovation from Smart Home developers, I expect other router vendors to provide their own solutions as well.

Alexander Quejado is an Associate Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware and Tom’s IT Pro. Follow Alexander Quejado on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.

Would adding a touch screen to your devices make them more user-friendly? TP-Link seems to think so, as it is introducing the Touch P5, a new AC1900 Touch Screen Wi-Fi Gigabit Router. For those who aren’t well-versed in home networking, setting up and managing your wired and wireless networks can be stressful. What better way is there to make your home network more approachable while maintaining a level of simplicity than adding a touch screen?

The TP-Link Touch P5 is a dual band AC1900 router with speeds of up to 600 Mbps at the 2.4 GHz band and 1300 Mbps at 5 GHz. As a dual band router, network traffic may be split between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, with the former servicing low-data applications such as smartphone usage or standard web browsing, while the latter can be aimed at more intensive applications such as streaming 4K content or online gaming. The Touch P5 provides wireless coverage using three highly amplified, detachable antennas, and it uses beamforming technology that can zero in on wireless devices and provide a strong stable connection, even while the device is in motion.

In addition to the touch screen interface, the TP-Link Touch P5’s design brings an interesting aesthetic with the pebble-like pattern that adorns the top surface of the Touch P5.

The back of the Touch P5 has three ports for the detachable antennas, a DC power input, a power switch, one USB 2.0 port, one gigabit Ethernet WAN port, four gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, and a reset switch. A discrete USB 3.0 port is included in the front right beneath the top surface.

The star of the show, however, is the 4.3 inches wide, 128 ppi capacitive touch screen display. The display offers a number of features, such as managing parental controls, devices and guest privileges. Also, similar to other recent Touch products from TP-Link, the touch screen will display a clock while it’s inactive.

TP-Link’s Touch P5 hits the market at an ideal time; so far, only a couple of vendors offer routers with touch screens. Should the trend gain momentum, TP-Link might be one of the few vendors ahead of the curve when it comes to offering such devices.

The TP-Link Touch P5 AC1900 Touch Screen Wi-Fi Gigabit Router is available on TP-Link’s website and at major retailers such as Costco, Fry’s and Staples for $204.99.

Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.

TP-Link introduced two new products to the Wi-Fi range extender market. With the new extender products, the RE580D AC1900 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Range Extender and the RE450 AC1750 Wi-Fi Range Extender, TP-Link aims to eliminate home network dead zones, provide better wireless coverage and improve Wi-Fi speed and reliability.

The new RE580D and RE450 are 802.11ac compatible, meaning they provide 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz dual-band capability with speeds that exceed the prior 802.11n standard. The slower 2.4 GHz band is adequate for older networked devices and low data tasks such as sending emails or browsing the Web, whereas 5 GHz comes in handy for more intensive applications such as 4K streaming and online gaming. The range extenders are backwards compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n.

The TP-Link RE580D AC1900 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Range Extender is a desktop range extender featuring up to 600 Mbps speeds on 2.4 GHz and up to 1300 Mbps on 5 GHz. According to TP-Link, the RE580D can provide a maximum coverage of 10,000 square feet. To eliminate dead zones and provide reliable connections in your home's wireless network, the RE850D employs three dual-band external antennas, 700mW high-powered amplifiers and beamforming technology.

The RE580D's rear I/O contains five gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports, a reset switch, an RE (range extender) setup button, an LED button, an On/Off switch and a 12V/2.5A power jack. The RE580D is packing an internal dual core 1 GHz processor.

The TP-Link RE450 AC1750 Wi-Fi Range Extender is an outlet extender that may be plugged into any compatible electrical outlet, making it a discrete and flexible alternative to extend your home's network without taking up the desk space that an RE580D would. The RE450 features up to 450 Mbps speeds on 2.4 GHz and 1300 Mbps speeds on 5 GHz. Coverage is provided through three adjustable external antennas, and the RE450 also includes a gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port, a reset button, LED button, and power button.

The TP-Link RE580D AC1900 Dual-Band Wi-Fi Extender and RE450 AC1750 Wi-Fi Extender are currently available on TP-Link's website. The RE580D is available at other major retailers, while the RE450 is available at Office Depot and OfficeMax. Both range extenders feature a 2-year limited warranty and tech support. The RE580D has an MSRP of $149.99, and the RE450 has an MSRP of $119.99.

TP-Link's Archer series encompasses a broad range of networking products, from routers, to modems, to adapters. This morning, the Archer series added another router to its lineup, the TP-Link Archer C2600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router.

TP-Link is targeting its Archer C2600 (pun intended) towards consumers who want a next-generation experience with their router. The Archer C2600 comes included with MU-MIMO capability, which allows routers to send packets of data to multiple MU-MIMO capable mobile devices simultaneously, rather than in the round-robin fashion. The Archer C2600 is TP-Link's answer to home connectivity once MU-MIMO is included in more consumer devices such as smart TVs and consoles.

As you probably guessed, the Archer C2600 is an AC2600 router, with speeds of up to 1733 Mbps on 5 GHz band and up to 800 Mbps on 2.4 GHz band. The Archer C2600 includes 4 Stream technology, which TP-Link said allows devices to reach their maximum speeds. This means that devices can fully utilize the speeds necessary in high-bandwidth applications such as streaming 4K video and multiplayer games, and when used along with MU-MIMO, multiple devices may run under heavy network strain simultaneously.

The TP-Link Archer C2600 is powered by a 1.4 GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor. It sends data with the help of beamforming technology and four detachable, dual-band antennas. Although aimed at modern and upcoming wireless devices, the Archer C2600 is also compliant with legacy standards such as 802.11 b/g/n.

The I/O is split between the back and the right side. The rear I/O includes four gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, one gigabit Ethernet WAN port, a 12V power jack and power button. The right side I/O includes two USB 3.0 ports and buttons for toggling Wi-Fi on/off, as well as WPS and Reset.

Also included with the Archer C2600 are a power adapter, an RJ45 Ethernet cable and a quick installation guide. TP-Link also provides its Tether app on the Android and iPhone store, which eases the setup for the C2600 and allows users to manage network settings through their phone.

The TP-Link Archer C2600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router is available today for an MSRP of $249.99.

Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.