I couldn't be happier with the performance of this TP-Link AX5400 router which is really fast and has extended range. The speedtest app of my Amazon Firestick 4k shows that this TP-Link has a streaming speed at the TV that is twice as fast as the one available from the router built into my wireless home internet service company's modem. 5g band signal can also now be accessed from every room in my house. Setup was also relatively easy with TP-Link's Tether app with one caveat. Specifically, if you have wireless home internet you must make sure that your smartphone's Wifi setting is connected to the TP-Link router, not the home internet provider's modem/router. The correct Wifi setting would also be required if you used the QR code or http link for setup.

First of all, about my rating of the product: Had the unit I received not been defective, I would have rated this 5 stars (see the original review below). But after so much trouble it has caused me, I couldn't rate it higher than one star. It does not mean that I disagree with others who have given this product a higher rating. Every user experience is just a data point. I contribute my data point truthfully. If the replacement router remains reliable for at least a year or two, I'll adjust the ratings accordingly. That's a bit long time to test, I know. I normally wouldn't wait that long to give credit to a product, but after having a defective product, the burden of proof has shifted. DEFECTIVE PRODUCT The product worked well initially but became completely unusable after two months. Devices could not stay connected. They get disconnected frequently, sometimes even within minutes of reconnection. When disconnected, devices could not auto-reconnect, and manual reconnection became unpredictable. It happened all of a sudden with all devices. Restarting and even resetting could not fix the problem. I am very experienced with routers. I know the problem had nothing to do with configurations and devices. The router broke on its own. I didn't do anything to the router before it broke. Not even a reconfiguration. Even if some reconfiguration caused it, factory resetting would have solved the problem. But it did not. I don't think it's the firmware problem, either. I updated it to the latest firmware immediately when I got the router. The router worked for two months with the latest firmware before all this happened. I have used many routers in the past. There have been other problems, but I have never had a router that suddenly stopped working, never even after years of use. But the TP-Link did it within two months—just long enough to pass the Amazon return period. Too bad because it worked well when it did. REPLACEMENT I received a replacement, which worked immediately once set up, proving that the previous unit was indeed defective. But I will have to wait to see if the replacement unit can remain stable. After all, the previous unit worked perfectly for two months before it suddenly broke. The replacement is not a new unit but a "refurbished unit". That doesn't give you a lot of confidence. Many of these routers are returned because they have become unstable, not because they simply died. I have serious doubts that the refurbishing process can truly diagnose all of the stability issues. They will be able to diagnose and fix apparent problems, but unlikely all of them, especially stability problems. As a result, I just don't feel very good about the whole thing. I hope I got a good sample, but to be honest, I don't have much confidence. If this one also has problems, I'm not going to get another replacement. I will certainly switch to a different router. THE REPLACEMENT PROCESS The replacement process was at least 10 times harder than Amazon's return. This is an objective statement because I measure the processes by the time and effort required to get replacement authorization and shipped. With Amazon, a return would take just a few minutes to get both authorization and a free shipping label. With TP-Link, the process took me at least an hour (though it felt much longer than that). First, I had to argue with customer service to convince them that the device needed to be replaced. Then, I had to open an account with them, go through a complicated process to register the product, initiate a replacement process, monitor individual steps, and so on. You will not be able to do it unless you are determined and patient enough to read many instructions and navigate through many things to decide what to do and what not to do. In the end, I also had to pay for shipping, which was almost $20, with the slowest option. And they don't ship the replacement until they receive the old one. Fortunately, I had another router that I could use temporarily. But what if I didn't? To TP-Link's credit, the replacement was shipped only two days after they received the defective router. Also, because it was shipped from a warehouse very close to me, it arrived after an additional two days. So, the total turnaround time was less than one week, much shorter than I had expected. Also, to be fair, I don't think TP-Link's product return process is particularly bad compared to other manufacturers. Returning a product is inherently difficult for both the manufacturer and the consumer. To prevent consumer fraud, the manufacturer has to have some degree of verification and prevention. Amazon made its return super simple because it forces manufacturers to accept returns with essentially no condition imposed and to offer free two-way shipping. No manufacturer can afford this kind of product return service for a long time. Amazon also has extremely efficient return address label printing and drop-off services, taking advantage of its vast platform and network, which individual manufacturers don't have. For the manufacturers, the only way to avoid this problem is to make the product more reliable. The following is the ORIGINAL REVIEW (which was written before the problems described above, and you can see it was positive): THE ORIGINAL REVIEW I installed this only a few days ago, so it is too early to judge its stability. But I can comment on some other things. This router replaced a five-year-old NETGEAR Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 Wi-Fi router and instantly solved all the problems we had with the old router. Since we had the Netgear, we always experienced random delays in receiving mobile text messages under the Wi-Fi setting. Phone calls through Wi-Fi calling were also unreliable. But we couldn't determine whether it was the router or the mobile carrier and hence did not consider changing the router until recently. Upon installing the TP-Link AX5400, it became clear that the old router was causing problems with Wi-Fi text messaging and calling. So far, everything seems to work perfectly with this new router. The signal strength and coverage also seem better, although we had no issues with the Netgear either. It took just several minutes to set up the new router. The only part that felt "difficult" was choosing a new admin password that felt secure. By the way, the price of this new router is less than half of what we paid for the Netgear five years ago.

I replaced an old Netgear router with this one. The netgear I was getting around 80Gbps. It didn’t have any external amtenas so I needed 3 extenders in my house which jas radiant floor heating. The aluminum heat reflects between each flor was blocking most of the signal. I was hesitant to replace it because I didn’t want to reset all of my wireless equipment like TVs, printers etc. This one was very easy to set up. I made it the same SSID and password as the Netgear so everything just worked. Best of all I no longer need my extenders. I get 2 sometimes 3 bars upstairs (router on 1st flor). I’m getting 270Gbps with a Docis 3.0 cable modem. I’ve had it for 2 weeks and no glitches so far.

This router works really well with a terrific range. A really nifty feature is that once your iPhone is connected to the new router, you can update the WiFi settings on other Apple products by just putting your phone near those products. I did need some help from customer service which was excellent, thank you Blair Zhang for your help!

When an aging and already flaky Linksys router finally gave up the ghost, there was no question in my mind that the replacement would be a TP-Link product. I'd recently installed a TP-Link full mesh system at a home we'd remodeled and was impressed by the speed, ease of set-up, quality, and features. I didn't need a mesh system to replace the old Linksys so after some research I landed on this Archer AX73. It has exceeded expectations. The set-up was a snap, the speed impressive, and range surpasses that of the old system to the point that I no longer needed a wireless extender - this one device in an upstairs closet is staying connected everywhere I roam, and connects without difficulty to the Ring doorbell in the front, my irrigation system and garage door opener in the garage, and Alexa-controlled pathway lighting system installed on the far opposite outside wall of the house. Having guest wi-fi again is also nice. My only complaint is that it requires yet another app on my phone. I already had the TP-Link Deco app for the mesh system, and needed to install the Tether app for this one. Would much have preferred to manage both systems via just the Deco app. But that's an annoyance because I like fewer apps that do more across a manufacturer. Who knows, maybe TP-Link will fix that someday. Even with that minor annoyance, this is a 5-star router with features that exceed the price point.

There are many routers claiming to be fast and support the max speed of the wifi 6 protocol. However, most routers fall short terribly. Some heat up like a toaster like AX3000 and some don't have the processing power i.e. the required number of CPUs to quickly process the packets by 20+ devices. Further, some are $300+ which kind of brings the affordability into play. This router however finds the right balance in all the features which I was looking to upgrade. I was looking in the range of about $100 and tried to AX3000. However, it heats up too fast and then starts to thermal throttle the speed and doesn't even stay connected with the clients like a laptop or mobile devices. I have tried a Netgear router from Costco AX4300 but fall short when around 20 devices are connected to it and don't support the mesh networking. Features which I wanted and like: Range: This device has a superb range by itself and covers my home pretty easily. I see I have a good wifi signal at all ends of my home and I live in a 2-floor apartment with the router placed upstairs. Mesh: I like to receive a good network in my backyard as well and so I have added a RE505X which costs another 80 bucks but saves money on my mobile data plan as I don't invest in an unlimited data plan. There is only 1 SSID that is broadcasted and it automatically switches based on where I am in the home. Heat: Some routers heat up and create a fire hazard and also have the probability of breaking down sooner than I like them to. This is not the case with this one and it stays relatively cooler and never experienced any slowing down of the network. I have touched it to check several times and it's good. Setup: The setup was really easy. The basic setup can be done in minutes and there is no RnD required. The tether app is pretty cool for basic setup. I also have requirements for static IP based on mac address and port forwarding. Both of them are easy to configure. They also have support for dynamic DNS so you can easily host your basic website in your home network. For this, I need static IP address reservation and port forwarding. Parental controls: This is a real plus that allows me to block youtube or any site whenever I need to get my kid away from the TV. Reboot schedule: I like to have a reboot schedule which is good this router has it and very easy to set up. LED lights: This router allows to turn off led lights and I like it that way once the setup is complete. Summary: I think its a router for average home with right balance of ease of use and price and features. Note: I have not been paid for this review and have bought the router with my own money. 2 Weeks Update: Going strong with over 20 devices connected, no disconnections reported by anyone in device. I have 3 heavy internet users at home. No heating issues, range is good. 4 Months Update: Working perfectly for 4 months. No issues. 2 year update Still works as new with no issues

Like the title says, if you have a PS Portal, this is perfect to fix any lag issues (unless you have a really huge house of course, then repeaters are a must anyways). It's reasonably priced and worth every penny IMHO. No more random disconnects from the PS5 or excessive stuttering. I have the fastest internet, but even their router was not fast enough so I upgraded to this and have great response times for all my devices connected to it. The companion phone app makes the setup easy, and controlling it through the app is very intuitive. Would definitely buy again!

I recently upgraded to the TP-Link AX5400 WiFi 6 Router and have been generally impressed with its performance. The setup was a breeze, and the router's coverage throughout my home is excellent, even reaching areas that were previously dead zones. The WiFi 6 technology definitely makes a noticeable difference in connection stability, especially when multiple devices are connected. The range of features offered by the AX5400 is quite impressive. The parental controls and device prioritization options are very handy, allowing me to manage and optimize my network for various tasks. The interface is user-friendly and intuitive, making customization a straightforward process. However, I did notice that the speeds were not as fast as I expected when compared to higher-end models like the TP-Link AX6000. While the AX5400 provides reliable and decent speeds, there's a slight gap when compared to the AX6000. In heavy usage scenarios, I noticed that the speed occasionally dipped more than it did with the higher-tier router. Overall, the TP-Link AX5400 WiFi 6 Router is a solid choice for most households. Its feature set and reliable performance make it a valuable addition to any network setup. However, if you're looking for top-of-the-line speeds, you might want to consider investing in the AX6000 model for that extra boost in performance.

The TP-Link AX5400 is a WiFi 6 router with dual band and long range wireless capabilities. Also known as the Archer AX73, the WiFi 6 technology allows this product to achieve speeds up to 5400 Mbps as a theoretical maximum. Even though actual speeds will probably be lower than that, it will still be fast enough to perform bandwidth demanding tasks such as large file transfers over the network or Ultra High Definition streaming on your local home network. Installation is super easy, it’s basically plug and play. You connect the router to your internet modem, and then connect your devices via the WiFi networks. The A5400 will come with default wireless settings, including a predefined network name and password, for easy initial setup. It is strongly recommended to change these settings to your own, for security reasons. Management can be done either via the smartphone app or (very happy about this one) the web interface. More about that later. Aesthetically, you will notice that this router has a rather interesting rectangular design, and it is equipped with 6 (!!!) antennas. Yes, you read that right: 6 antennas. TP-Link claims that this supports large wifi coverage and good signal strength to all devices with their beamforming and 4T4R technologies. Even though I have no practical way of measuring the performance of these technologies, I can attest to the fact that the AX5400’s coverage is excellent and I didn’t notice any dead spots at home (including the devices located outside my home, such as wifi cameras and doorbells). In case you do experience dead spots, you can add an extra TP-Link mesh device compatible with the AX5400 to solve the issue. I talk more about mesh networking below. One of the major features of the AX5400 is mesh networking. Mesh means that all your routers connect with each other, forming a mesh of coverage rather than having one router that acts as a single point of connection. Your wireless device will always connect automatically to the mesh router that provides the strongest signal. This is called Roaming. Much like in telecom/mobile networks, your Wi-Fi devices might change positions and move around your house. This means that the wireless signal between your device and the router gets weaker with distance. With mesh routers your device will automatically connect to a different router unit that offers a stronger signal, without interrupting the running service and streams. This not only increases the coverage vastly, but also offers seamless handovers and transitions of Wi-Fi services as you change your position in your house. In other words, you get Wi-Fi Roaming capabilities that will vastly improve the reliability of your wireless connection. That, of course, means that you need another TP-Link mesh capable device to achieve this functionality. TP-Link provides a list of mesh devices compatible with the AX5400 on their website. So far I have no complains regarding the AX5400’s performance. The Wi-Fi is very quick and outperforms my internet connection. I haven’t noticed any issues with latency either. One remark I want to make here is that, even though older WiFi cards will still be able to connect and operate with the AX5400, you will need a Wi-Fi 6 compatible wireless card to make the most out of the mesh system. Making the most out of it doesn’t mean that you will experience speeds close to 5.4 Gbps. These speeds are a theoretical maximum, they are achieved in the lab and they are impossible to see in the average home network setup. You will see, though, very high speeds depending on the quality of your wireless card (in my tests, I used the TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000 PCIe WiFi Card), the distance from the router and the obstacles that separate you from it. Bottom line: it’ll be fast, but be realistic with your expectations. But probably one of the things I’m most happy about this router is the availability of a web interface for management. Being the owner/user of the otherwise great TP-Link Deco system, one of my main complaints was the lack of a web interface for network configuration. As a power user, I find it hard to configure my network equipment via the small screen of a smartphone. You can access the web interface by typing the router’s management IP (you can find it listed as Gateway on your computer’s network settings) in your browser. You’ll have to first set up a local password (or create an account with TP-Link) before accessing the router configuration. Once you log in, the first screen you’ll see is the home screen, or a summary screen if you like. You can see the internet status, the router status and some shortcut button to common functions, your mesh devices (if you have any) and the connected client devices. This last bit is quite interesting, since you’ll be able to see the connected devices, their real time speed (up/down), the interface they’re connected to (ethernet, 2.4G or 5G), their “negotiated” max bandwidth, how long they’ve been connected to the router and, finally, a “block” button to deny the device access to the network. Below, I’m going through some of the functions that I find interesting, but I will omit the ones that are so common you can find them virtually in every router out there. On the Wireless screen you’ll find your WiFi settings. You can turn on or off OFDMA, TWT, Smart Connect and, of course, the Wireless radio itself. OFDMA (simultaneous transmission to different devices within the same transmission window) will significantly increase the traffic speed with compatible devices (your device must support OFDMA), TWT will help increase your device’s battery life by maintaining the connection with the router and allowing the device to go to sleep (aka not forcing the device to send keep alive messages to the router too frequently), while Smart Connect optimized the connectivity of the router’s radio bands with the client devices. TP-Link offers a security platform with the AX5400, similar to what they offer with the rest of their flagship devices, HomeShield. The user will get some basic functionality out of the box, and additional sophisticated features and analytics are available with a subscription service. The last screen on the web interface is the Advanced screen, where all the advanced options are located. Power users will definitely appreciate some of these. The first thing that caught my eye was Lan —> Link Aggregation. You can aggregate (combine) up to two Ethernet ports into one (logical) network port, aggregating their bandwidth as well. Of course, you’ll need to aggregate ports on the other end of the connection as well, but that is the other side of the problem. Pretty cool. The router also supports direct DynDNS logins, for those of you who still use a DynDNS client on your computer. Another cool section is Routing. You can use your own static routes defined in the router’s config if you need to direct specific traffic to specific destinations. Use this only if you know what you’re doing, otherwise a bad routing config will probably block your access and traffic. The router comes with a USB port, which is nothing unusual. What is very cool, though, is the fact that the USB port supports (except for mass storage devices) Apple’s Time Machine. Just connect a storage device to the AX5400’s USB port, enable Time Machine in settings, and voila! No need for one of those old Apple AirPort Extreme routers anymore. NAT is, of course, present in this device as well, for your port forwarding needs. Security features include a Firewall, ACLs and MAC spoofing protection (by binding IPs to specific MACs). You have your standard VPN server built in, supporting both OpenVPN and PPTP, IPv6 support for you dual-stackers out there and a bunch of router Admin features (firmware update, backup, remote management, system logs etc.). Last but not least, you can switch the mode of the device between a Router (the device will route traffic and provide routing services) and an Access Point (the device will become a wireless gateway for clients, but you will need to connect it to a router for routing services - this is used mostly to expand the WiFi network). Overall the TP-Link AX5400 WiFi 6 router is a great home routing device and a strong contender in this segment of products. I’m very happy with it for the time I’ve been using it, and I definitely recommend it.

I was tired of the "company" provided router always falling out, needing to be rebooted, and poor range. So I purchased one of these TP-Links (for my short term rental) and it was a game changer! The Tether application is nice if you want to modify passwords or just to check it's performance remotely. For several weeks, I experienced NO fall-out, or performance issues. The range is pretty darn good also. I said, what the heck ... let me buy one for the house and I did. The nice thing is that my security cameras no longer need extenders!