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.
