Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsVery good for better range, speeds over wifi, but TP-Link needs to revamp their config app/browser
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2021
The coverage on this router is incredible, I used to have cat6 cables running everywhere in my house up and down, room to room... But the dogs, they'd take down our internet and TV with one bite. Also the router I had been using was a Tri-Band gaming router, not the best for coverage of a 3,000sqft multi-story home, that's nowhere close to being open concept.
All the wires had to go, not only were we running out but having wires all over the floors is dangerous, trust me I tripped on one and fell head first down 11 flights of stairs, not fun.
It was time to take my fiber service to the max and go all wifi. Although I do want to state that I do still have a cat8 cable running to my desktop because no matter how great your wifi router is you're not going to beat a wired connection. But i talk a little bit about that in one of my other reviews for the cat8 cables I am currently using for gateway >router >desktop.
I must admit I had troubles setting this new wifi 6 router up with my ISPs outdated gateway/modem. But that was all on the ISP and eventually got the proper gateway (ax support) for the service I've been paying for years now.
Once that mess was handled it was not too difficult to set up, I still had to do some advanced configuration but that was just an annoyance.
So how fast is it? For a MU-MIMO wifi router having almost 20 devices running off of it at the same time, it's unbelievable. One caveat, this is not a great wifi gaming router (talking mostly FPS), so if that's what you're looking for look elsewhere, ASUS has an incredible one or right now, yet if your house needs to run on mostly, if not all, wifi like mine, you won't be disappointed. Another caveat, don't expect ax capabilities on all your devices, it's fairly new so the chances your older and even newer devices support ax are pretty slim. But it is backwards compatible so your other devices should have no problem with their older standards.
I mostly bought this Archer AX6000 for its range, MU-MIMO and future proofing my home.
I've tested the speeds I'm getting on the Archer x6000 on all my devices and I was amazed, sure most of them don't support ax but because of the extended range and MU-MIMO capabilities, I'm definitely seeing higher speeds and such an extended range, it's crazy. For example, I ran a speed test on my phone using the older AC3200 gaming router and compared that to the Archer x6000.
The AC3200 was giving me around 330+/-Mbps, which really isn't bad but then I ran the Archer x6000 and it blew that number away reaching over 800Mbps... That's amazing for a phone. Then I ran my ASUS gaming laptop, with the AC3200 I was averaging around 650+/- Mbps, the Archer made it up to 890Mbps ON WI-FI (just to note, I tested all devices the same distance away from the routers, had the routers in the same place in the house, same set-up, only one router connected to the gateway/modem at a time using the same cat8 cable)
So that sounds great right? Well it is, but unfortunately just because the range is much better, does not mean you're speeds won't drop the further you get from the router. The good news is that I can still get 350+/-Mbps on my phone and 550-600+/- Mbps on my laptop way out in the backyard. Something the AC3200 was NEVER able to do even when I moved it downstairs as close to the door as possible.
As for their app for setting up the router on your phone or tablet, you really can't do anything, especially after their latest update. The GUI is pretty basic, on both the app and using a web browser. The web browser is definitely the way to go to set this thing up, Tether their app just basically shows you connected devices and has a speed test option but it's far from perfect. When I first set up the router I was able to configure the router on the app, why they dumbed it down is beyond me, but the browser is always the way to go anyway.
So yeah I had to take a couple stars away for that. Also they make this huge deal about the RGB lighting, when in reality it just lights up a tiny square in the top of the device and is not bright at all, so pushing this feature about being able to turn it on or off for "sleeping" is moot.
Even though the configuration is disappointing and the features are nothing compared to D-Link or Acer's configurations, I'd definitely still recommend this product to anyone who's got a large home, multiple devices requiring wifi, and isn't bothered by the lack of config options.
If you need a gaming router and have a bigger house just create an AP or get some extenders for the floors you don't need blazing speeds on.
Hopefully in the future there'll be more and better updates to the config system. I'm sure once ax starts becoming standard TP-Link will get on it. One can hope.
Overall B+