Wi-Fi 6 router runs lightning quick

In the age of Wi-Fi 6, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a Wi-Fi router that offers both coverage and speed at a price that is easy on the wallet. The TP-Link Archer AX73 is perfect for you thanks to its six antennas, the impressive dual-band speed of 5,400 Mbit / s and the reasonable price. Is it the Wi-Fi 6 router of your dreams? Find it in the Android Authority TP-Link Archer AX73 review.

• TP-Link Archer AX73 (AX5400): $ 199

The TP-Link Archer AX73 is an AX5400 class router, meaning it supports 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 at 5,400Mbps. It also supports up to 8K streaming and can connect to dozens of devices at the same time while you Cover your entire home with one quick signal. In addition to raw performance, the Archer AX73 also offers WPA3 security, USB media sharing and an always-ready full-throttle CPU thanks to its ventilated design.

When you take advantage of parental controls, backward compatibility with 802.11a / b / g / n / ac standards, and intelligent power saving features, you have a great option at your fingertips at an affordable cost.

The Archer AX73 is fast. It is designed to support raw speeds of up to 5,400 Mbps at 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz together. It can support a single 4.8 Gbps stream over 5 GHz and a single 574 Mbps stream over 2.4 GHz. Most home connections are nowhere near as fast, but they are still important for future security. Thanks to its dual-band design, the bandwidth can be doubled to 160 Hz. This is a nice wide canal. This means that more devices are supported at the same time. Thanks to the six antennas, up to six simultaneous streams are also supported. My home internet service (Verizon FiOS) can reach a maximum speed of 940Mbps, and that’s what I’ve seen from the Archer AX73 on endpoints like smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Granted, these speeds were when I was around the AX73. The further I got away from the router, the slower the speeds became. Even so, my minimum speeds were around 300Mbps, which is more than enough for streaming.

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The Archer AX73 offers good coverage. Sure, the six antennas make the AX73 look like an alien spaceship, but they broadcast the signal throughout your home. My office, which is where all of my network equipment is located, is in a bedroom on the second floor. With the AX73, I was able to find a strong WiFi signal on the entire second floor and first floor. I noticed a slight decrease in signal strength in the basement (two floors from the router), but the connection was still strong enough to stream HD video. The signal also reached my front and back yards without any problems, albeit at much slower speeds.

The router supported all of my things. I was able to easily connect dozens of devices including phones, tablets, Chromebooks, streaming boxes, and smart home devices like video doorbells and smoke detectors to the Archer AX73.

Media sharing and backup services are supported thanks to the USB 3.0 port. You can connect a media server to the Archer AX73 for everyone to access movies and music, or connect an Apple Time Machine compatible drive for wireless backup (Mac required).

It only takes a few minutes to set up. You can rely on either the simple tethered mobile application or the advanced website to fully configure and control the Archer AX73.

What’s not so good?

I have experienced disconnections on some of my devices, especially those in the basement. One of my smoke alarms and one of my streaming boxes disconnected from the Archer AX73 and I had to go back to the settings of those devices to reconnect them. It was a bit of a hassle.

Read more: The Best Gaming Routers: Say Goodbye to WiFi Delay

TP-Link’s HomeShield software, which is integrated into the router and the mobile tether app, costs extra for the best functions. Granted, the service offers a lot of free tools. For example, you can control the quality of service for selected devices, set a single bedtime, and view weekly and monthly reports on network performance for free. If you want to set multiple bedtime times, view URLs visited, view security stats, set reward times, and get the strongest protection, you have to pay more than $ 5.99 per month or $ 54.99 per year. Also, I don’t like the fact that I have to create a TP-Link account to use the Tether app.

Mesh networks are supported but cost extra. Mesh networks allow multiple routers to connect their signals and provide a more seamless connection experience over a larger area. The Archer AX73 can handle mesh networks, although you have to buy the OneMesh range extender separately ($ 90).

TP-Link Archer AX73 Review: Should I Buy It?

The TP-Link Archer AX73 does what it wants. This affordable Wi-Fi 6 router transfers incredibly fast speeds safely and easily to multiple devices throughout your home. Setup is a breeze and connecting your devices takes almost no time. Once configured, you can expect excellent bit rates in all rooms for all connected devices.

Perhaps the most direct competitor of the Archer AX73 is the Asus RT-AX82U. The AX82U is also an AX5400-class Wi-Fi 6 router that retails for $ 229. However, the AX82U focuses a little more on gamers with a dedicated port and game settings. There’s also the Netgear Nighthawk AX5400 Wi-Fi 6 router, which is slightly more expensive at $ 299. Again, more emphasis is placed on gaming, although it offers the same raw speeds as the AX73.

At $ 200, the Archer AX73 is totally affordable and well worth your consideration.