From the brand
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Founded in 1996, TP-Link is a global provider of reliable networking devices and accessories, involved in all aspects of everyday life.
With a proven heritage of stability, performance, and value, TP-Link has curated a portfolio of products that meet the networking needs of all individuals.
Now, as the connected lifestyle continues to evolve, the company is expanding today to exceed the demands of tomorrow.
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WiFi 7
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USB to Ethernet Adapters
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Michael –
As A Spectrum Internet CustomerI had a Spectrum Advanced WiFi router that does 2G and 5G on the same WiFi network. There is not a way to split the networks in two. If you have a cell phone that is compatible with device steering and you use to connect your 2G devices to, you can call or chat with their Internet Repair support team to set up a feature on your cell phone that may allow the 2G devices to connect but it can be a hit or a miss and it’s too much of a hassle to keep calling/chatting to set this up with as the feature is enabled for only sixty minutes. If the 2G device is connected before the hour is over, it will remain connected but if it’s not, you’ll need to reach back out to try again and you’ll also need to reach back out for other new 2G devices only that don’t automatically connect to the 2G network.This is a major flaw for an “Advanced” WiFi router. Customers paying a monthly $5 fee to lease their routers should be able to either split the networks in two or leave them as a single network for band steering. Outside of this, the Spectrum routers are fine. However, it’s just better to get your own router.It would be great if they offered more advanced routers with more features such as VPN’s, hiding network SSID, splitting the 2G and 5G networks, guest network and more. I’d pay $5 more a month on top of the already $5 charge for this. This way customers can select which router they need for their home and still get customer support for it.As A New Customer For Echo Dot’sThis is the reason why I purchased my own router. I purchased four Echo Dot’s, 5th generation, ’22 release. All of them connected to the Spectrum WiFi router without issue and individually they operated great. However, the Echo Dot’s have a “multi-room audio” feature where you can play music all throughout your home. This was my entire reason for getting these in the first place. This feature was a hit or miss. Sometimes it would work but most of the time only one or two would work and trying to get them all re-paired so I could say, “Alexa, play Discover Weekly from Spotify everywhere,” was a huge inconvenience and took too much time.After going online and reviewing forums such as Quora and Reddit, I could see what the issue was. The Spectrum WiFi router would switch them between 2G and 5G based off of interference and signal strength throughout the day and if even just one Echo Dot was on a different network than the others, it would throw off the multi-room audio so that it wouldn’t work. So the hunt for a dual band router began.TP-Link AX1800 WiFi 6 Router (Archer AX21) ReviewThe TP-Link AX1800 Router has been amazing so far. It arrived on the same day that I ordered (Thank you Amazon and of course, most of all, the delivery drivers). When it first came in, the first thing I noticed was how ridiculously light it was which kind of made me nervous about the purchase. The router itself came very nicely packaged, nothing was damaged.I followed the instructions to the letter but the router was not showing any lights on there after plugging it in once the Internet modem came back online. I re-read the steps again and re-checked the power connections and tried unplugging from both ends but not luck. I honestly thought I got a dud. I looked on the back of the router and saw a button and pressed it in; all the lights began to show and I could begin the setup process.I use an iPhone and when I pulled up the TP-Link App to set up the router I couldn’t help but notice its low star rating so I opted not to download the app and instead login using the IP address (the instructions provide you with this information and how-to as well). This is my first time ever logging into a WiFi router without the use of a mobile app and I have to say, it is significantly better and heavily preferred. I was able to turn off TP-Link Smart Connect so that I could have two separate SSID’s for the 2G and 5G network. I could also see there was a whole new host of features that I did not have prior such as hiding your WiFi networks from neighbors and having a guest network.I also did a speed test and they all came back higher than normal and my computer noticeably moves faster when browsing the Internet and streaming video despite being roughly around the same speeds (before it was around 310mbps download/9mbps upload; now it is at around 360mbps/13mbps upload). Maybe the 50mbps DL and 4mbps UL makes a huge difference. I’m not entirely sure. I believe the difference really comes from the router provider a more stable/stronger connection than the Spectrum router. The signals itself are just healthier now.I also like that the TP-Link router has antennas, four of them to be exact, that you can see. The Spectrum routers don’t have these and if they do, they’re within the router itself. I believe routers with antennas that you can visibly see operate better and send stronger signals.Did This Resolve My Issue With The Echo Dot’s?It absolutely did. I re-connected all four Echo Dot’s to the 2G network, which was kind of a pain as well to do (but well worth the time and effort; it would’ve been significantly easier to do if I originally connected them to a dual band router in the first place) and ever since then I have had no issues with multi-room audio. Anytime I want to play music from all four Echo Dot’s at the same time, they all play without issue. Which is great because I plan on purchasing more for a more surround system environment.Final NotesIf you need a dual band WiFi router that is able to split the networks in two so that you can sign into them separately, this is it. And honestly, if you have a Spectrum router, this is a major upgrade for a fraction of the cost. Just make sure you keep it clean of dust, and keep it in a well-ventilated and cool area of the home and this will easily last you 2+ years. It saves you money and it works better. It’s honestly a no-brainer.There is also a common misconception with spotty/slow Internet speeds. The majority of signal issues do not come from cable lines (confirm with your ISP provider first though that the signal levels look healthy coming into and from your Internet modem) but come from the equipment itself (modem and/or router) or from the devices you are using (assuming it is only occurring on one or two devices). Which is why upgrading your WiFi router and/or Internet modem can resolve the issues.I honestly don’t have any issues with the Spectrum Internet modems. I think they’re fine. They all come pre-built, meaning, you can’t change any settings on them. Not a deal breaker for me. However, honestly, if I didn’t have a Landline service with them, I would’ve purchased my own modem as well and long-term wise I will definitely consider it. The Spectrum Internet equipment are fine for the majority of homes. However, there is no one size fits all and if you’re having issues with your equipment whether due to the lack of features available or signal issues (and confirmed with their Internet Repair team that there are no signal issues coming from the lines), this TP-Link router is an exceptional purchase.
MWCraft –
After two months of use, I have come to the conclusion that this is an excellent router.A couple of months ago, I placed the order to upgrade our home internet to AT&T gigabit fiber and knew that I wanted a solid, configurable WIFI router as the only device plugged into the AT&T equipment. This way, I could setup a Raspberry Pi as Pihole to block ads on my entire network and use MAC IDs to allow/deny access to any devices that tried to connect.There are videos on YouTube that review this router and give you a view into the the setup/config screens so, I won’t go into describing all of that. However, I will say that I feel the setup screens are intuitive and even if I did not have 20+ years’ experience in IT (programming, DBA, sys admin, etc.) I believe I could figure out how to make this router fit my needs. Whether you have that kind of background or not, the YouTube videos can be very helpful.Wired ConnectionsThe previous owner of my house had it wired with CAT6 cable (thank you!) and I added a couple of CAT8 cable runs so, I am currently using 6 of this routers’ 8 gigabit ports. Those cables give me wired connections to multiple gigabit switches throughout the house (bedroom, office, man cave, living room, etc.) where I have wired connections to multiple computers or smart TVs or gaming systems, etc.I could bore you with upload/download numbers but, instead, I will just say that everything runs faster or better now than it did before all my upgrades.My smart TV connects to YouTube (Pihole blocks the ads) and videos play smoothly. My PS4 used to take an hour to download free games and now takes a couple of minutes and my Xbox is the same. System patches take a minute to download. Online streaming services run smoothly and I have yet to see any “spinning wheels” as a video buffers in the middle of an action scene.WIFIBefore AT&T fiber, I had an AT&T Airties 4921 WIFI booster that did a great job improving the signal to a “dead spot” in the back of the house. I tried and failed to get the 4921 to work on my new equipment then realized the AX6000 had already solved the dead spot problem. I have WIFI cameras pointing towards the woods behind my house or from the woods back to the house and am getting a strong signal to all devices.The router is capable of WIFI 6 but currently none of our iPhones, iPads, MacBooks or laptops can use it. Nevertheless, I have not noticed any connectivity issues with any of our wireless devices.I do have one wireless, multifunction HP printer that will go to “sleep” after several hours of inactivity and may not wake up when I send a document to it from my smart phone. All I do is punch a button on it, it wakes up, accepts the document and everything is fine. This is probably a setup issue within the printer, and certainly not a WIFI problem, but has not been a big enough hassle for me to worry about it.Network MonitoringOne of the major things I wanted from this router is the ability to easily block devices on my network. I have a teenager who only needs occasional Internet access and I used both of the MAC IDs from their laptop (wired and wireless) to setup a weekly schedule for when it could/could not reach the Internet.I can see all wired/wireless devices on my network in the routers’ Basic or Advanced screens and this allows me to keep an eye on who is in my network.Overall, I have been very pleased with this router and highly recommend it.
Ryan –
Bought to use with my wireless ISP service. Didn’t need a modem for my service. Packed with modern features like WiFi6, OFDMA, beamforming, and a primary, guest, and IoT network. Tether app works well. Planned to pair with a RE605 range extender but may not even need it since it is so powerful. Low power usage as well. Easy to set up using the Tether app.
TSemple –
We have been having poor performance from the WiFi router on the equipment provided by our cable internet provider for some time. It was so bad I had to resort to turning off WiFi antenna on my iPhone and use cellular because it would timeout on simplest internet tasks, even with an apparently strong signal and only about 20 feet from the wireless access point. Calling over WiFi was sometimes of poor quality. The network administration capabilities were very limited as well.The equipment probably at least 8 years old, and while we still need it to connect to the cable, its WiFi is turned off and replaced with the AX1800’s.The improvement with the AX1800 is remarkable. Coverage is great throughout our house even for higher bandwidth tasks.Setup was a little tricky because my phone kept reconnecting to the existing WiFi network as I updated settings for the new one. And it took awhile for me to figure out how to reconnect a few of the smart plugs.Just prior to this I had tried a range extender to fix the coverage and connectivity issues. But it only compounded them. These turned out to be related to the outdated WiFi capabilities of the older router, such as not supporting single SSID for both wireless bands.
UAstudentnUAstudentn –
I wanted a more secure WiFi router while also saving money on the rental from my cable provider, so I was suggested to purchase this by a very experienced tech and cyber security wiz. Now, I personally don’t feel that I know much about anything technical these days, but I have really enjoyed this so far. Performance wise, but more than anything I REALLY love the security of the back-office type of controls the TP-Link gives you.PERFORMANCENow, my current home is 1500 sq ft and a split level home, so most of the areas I use WiFi at home are never too far from the router. I placed the router right on the TV stand underneath the TV so that certainly is as close as it gets. When I’m upstairs (technically 1.5 levels up from the router) I still seem to get fine enough WiFi when I’m browsing on my phone. I will say that the WiFi randomly cuts out for me, but, this is definitely an issue I had with my previous equipment so I don’t blame the router itself, it is my provider. Or the wiring outside my house.. not really sure. I have noticed however that when the service does go out, ever since changing to the TP-Link, the service returns much faster and I never have to reset it. With my old provider-provided router, it would be out for hours and I always seemed to have to manually reset the equipment. So in summary, the service and performance for me has been exemplary!SOFTWAREThe primary reason I got this was to make sure nobody could hack into my WiFi. With other routers, I am not sure if the same service is available, but this was the first I’ve ever seen it. Yes… we all know that WiFi is password protected. BUT. Someone can easily hack into it, right? Well not with the TP-Link! You can access the router security through the routers IP address, and you set a password for that as well. The user interface is pretty simple for even a dolt like myself to understand. You can control who can access your WiFi by using a blacklist or a whitelist. A blacklist means that all who have the login details *except* for specific IP addresses you’ve blocked can access. A whitelist means that ONLY the IP addresses you have added to your list can access the WiFi. I am using the whitelist, since I do not want anyone random or unwanted accessing my service. Let me tell you, it works perfectly! Sometimes I forget that I have this setup, and I have tried many times with many different devices to try and access the wifi… heck, even the guest network, that I thought was specifically setup for this, doesn’t seem to let random users access it. It also shows you who is currently accessing it, although I find that feature doesn’t seem to be totally accurate sometimes. I give the software 5 stars for the simple fact that it is so easy to control access through it.SUMMARYOverall I am very happy with this purchase. It does what I want it to do, very securely. Setup was a little confusing because if I recall correctly, nobody could access it until we were able to get into the back-office software and setup password first. Other than that I really have had no issues and enjoy using it. When I need to change a setting it is super easy to get in and make any adjustments.
ToddWisconsin –
So it been about 5 years since I bought a router. My old Netgear R6020 worked as expected , No issues other than the fact that I was mislead that it would be faster than 100mb. Recently , I added a lot of devices to my home network. Running speed tests I could get as high as 90mb…Research told me that this Netgear router was in fact a 100mb router… I am paying for a 150mb internet speed…I searched many routers and decided on this one. Setup was fairly easy …And making a TPLINK account lets me control this router from anywhere. That’s a pretty awesome feature to have . So , I used the same Network logins as my previous router , Enabled the smart device , and let the router do its job. Some people had issues with the smart network feature , but I updated the firmware , let it boot up , and all 13 of my devices were instantly connected. They are a mix of wired , 2.4 , and 5g devices. All 5g devices connected properly. Now , the test I was waiting for . The speed test…All speed tests now result in over 160mb …I am a happy camper . The phone. Computer , video cams , are all faster and the signal strength is great. I am so glad I chose this router , and I think you will be happy with it also !UPDATE : After playing with all the settings for a couple weeks , I chose to disable ” smart connect ” and run the same name and password SSIDs for the 2.4 and 5g . Enabling Smart with multiple devices let’s the router control the network…With it off it lets the device control it . Some of my dual frequency devices were dropping to the 2.4 network ( which my security cameras are on ) with smart connect enabled….A flick of the switch and now that the devices choose the network , 5g devices tend to stay on the 5g network all the time. Performance and range have been perfect so far , any other issues and I will update !And as Promised , here’s my update : After 1 year of using this router with 13 devices connected 24/7 ,I can say this router is a beast ! No issues , great string signal everywhere in my house and yard ….But it , and you won’t be disappointed..The APP is fun to play with when you are not home , and is very easy to use. I have stuck with the smartsetting off , and let my device pick the network…My 5g devices stay on 5g then , and my 2.4 network has less traffic this way ….Update : It’s been a year since I bought this router and not once has it failed me …It’s a workhouse, and I have 15 devices using it …You will not be unhappy with this inexpensive long range dual band router !
WestsocWestsoc –
Archer A7/AX21 2.4G speed for iPhone 11 from 300M Verizon Fios5* review for successfully resolved my low 2.4G speed problem, excellent support from TP Link and fast 5G speed that exceeds Verizon Fios max speed of 300Mbps.The purpose of this review is to compare the 2.4G and 5G speeds of the TP Link Archer A7(AC1700) WiFi 5 router and AX21(AX1800) WiFi 6 router using an iPhone 11 which supports WiFi 6. The highest speed I can test is 300Mbps limited by my Verizon Internet plan. Measurement results using show that using the WiFi 5 router, the 2.4G speed is 60M/80M (UL/DL) and the 5G speed is 307M/330M, whereas using the WiFi 6 router, the 2.4G speed is 110M/120M and the 5G speed is about same.Newer routers’ real life 5G speed is very high and normally is not a problem, but real life 2.4G speed could be slow. It is not entirely sure which part of the wireless link is limiting the 2.4G speed. Below examines the speed limit of the WiFi standards involved, the router and iPhone 11. The routers are TP Link’s Archer A7(AC1700) and AX21(AX1800). Measured speeds at 2.4G and 5G will also be given.Router (TP Link) Specs and Supported WiFi Standards1) Archer A7(AC1700) has has 3 antennas is a WiFi 5 router2.4G : 450Mbps5G: 1300M bpsSupported Standards: AX21(AX1800) : 802.11ac(Wi-Fi 5), 802.11b, 802.11ax(Wi-Fi 6), 802.11n(Wi-Fi 4), 802.11g802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax are also called Wi-Fi 4, WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 respectively.2) AX21(AX1800) has 4 antennas is a WiFi 6 router2.4G: 574M bps5G: 1200M bps.Supported Standards: AX7 (AC1700) 802.11b, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11acA7 (AX1800) is a low cost ($60) popular (listed as “Amazon Choice”) WiFi 5 router which supports 802.11 ac whereas AX 21 is a low cost ($90) WiFi 6 router which supports 802.11 ax. WiFi 6 (max speed 9.6G) not only has higher speed than WiFi 5 (max speed 3.5G) but also can support more devices using orthogonal frequency division multiple access. The main differences are given in picture 1. (Picture 1 from : https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/systems/article/21849959/whats-the-difference-between-wifi-5-and-wifi-6)Comparing the specs of these two routers, one has a higher 2.4G speed while the other has a higher 5G speed. But in real life, according to my measurements, at 2.4G, the WiFi 6 router has almost twice the speed than the WiFi 5 router. I don’t have a high enough wireless speed plan to test the 5G speed. In my house both routers have the same speed of 310M, limited by the max speed allowed by Verizon Fios 300M.Speeds specified by the WiFi standards are speeds the router manufacturers trying to meet and they are not the limit, but speeds advertised by the router are the speeds that customers want the router to be able to reach. They become upset if they are unable to get the speeds advertised by the router.Routers often do not specified under what link conditions these seemingly advertised high speeds could be realized. For example what is the required bandwidth, the number of antennas (the so called MIMO) and how pure the signal has to be (the signal to noise ratio). Is the bandwidth 20, 40, 80 or 160M? Is the signal to noise ratio has to be greater than 10dB?In real life, link speed depends on how far from the router (the signal strength) and radio interference which falls in band (the signal to noise ratio). The former can be solved by doing the speed test right next to the router, where the transmit signal from the router is at maximum. But for the latter, unless one has a so called Faraday Cage, there is no way to block in-band interference especially at 2.4G, which are used by microwave ovens, Bluetooth and many household devices. Interference is hard to quantify without using a spectrum analyzer and could become an excuse if one calls the router support line complaining low speed.Another limit is the device itself, and in this case iPhone 11. It’s specs are given below.Wi-Fi specifications for iPhone 11802.11 standard, name, frequency Maximum PHY data rate Maximum channel bandwidth Maximum MCS index Maximum spatial streamsax@5 GHz 1200 Mbps 80 MHz 11 (HE) 2/MIMOac@5 GHz 866 Mbps 80 MHz 9 (VHT) 2/MIMOa/n@5 GHz 300 Mbps 40 MHz 7 (HT) 2/MIMOax@2.4 GHz 195 Mbps 20 MHz 9 (HE) 2/MIMOb/g/n@2.4 GHz 144 Mbps 20 MHz 7 (HT) 2/MIMO(From: https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/iphone-wi-fi-specification-details-dep268652e6c/web)https://mcsindex.com gives more details about how the speed on each band is affected by modulation scheme, number of antennas, bandwidth and WiFi standards used, not only for iPhones but for routers as well.From the iPhone 11 specs, only “n” and “ax” support 2.4GHz if we ignore the older standards “b” and “g”. At 2.4G, The maximum speeds for “n” is 144M whereas for “ax” is 195M. The max bandwidth for both is 20MHz which needs to be set in the router. Setting the bandwidth to 40MHz could lower the speed as the noise power will be doubled.However, at 5GHz the speed for ac (WiFi 5) is 866M with 80M max bandwidth whereas for ax (WiFi 6) is 1200M also with 80M max bandwidth. These bandwidths should also be specified in the router. Setting the bandwidth too high or too low could lower the speed.From the iPhone 11 max speeds, it is clear that the wireless link’s speed is not limited by both the A7 and AX21 routers and the standards, but by the iPhone 11 at 2.4G and by Verizon Fios at 5G.I have Verizon Fios 300M download and upload. Initially, I used an A7, thinking that at 2.4GHz, the router speed is 450M which is higher than iPhone’s 144M(“n”) and 195M(“ax), surely shouldn’t be a problem. But speed test showed that I got only 60M download and 80M upload from the best channel and 20M bandwidth (I tested all the channels and bandwidth combinations).60M is too slow for me because I have several devices (such as security cameras) using 2.4G. So I called TP Link support line to see what I had done wrong. Most customer supports didn’t know what the problem was the and finally I was connected to a high level support. She said that in real life, I had to multiply the speed by 30-50% and guided me through the various specs of the wireless link. I don’t know where the 30-50% comes from, perhaps it was her empirical experience. If I use the average of 40% and assume that applies to the lower speed of the router and the iPhone, which is 144MHz. 40%x144M is 57M. This was about what I got at 2.4G using the A7 router.But she also said something about WiFi 6 router and got me thinking perhaps a WiFi 6 router could improve the speed. (I must say that I got excellent support from TP Link, I had gotten calls twice from the specialist unsolicited and many followup emails. All trying to help me solve the low speed problem.)I then change the A7(AC1700) to an AX21(AX1800), which does support WiFi 6 “ax”.The main advantage of using AX21 is that it raised the iPhone 11 max speed at 2.4G from 144M to 195M, a gain of 51M. And as a result, in real life, the 2.4G link speed seemed to have increased by about the same amount. Speed test showed that at 2.4G, I now got ~90-110M(download, previously 60M when using A7) and 100-120M(upload) with the channel and bandwidth set on auto. Though the download speed is still less than 195M, the link speed has increased by changing to a router that supports ax and has 4 antennas. Have no idea if a more expensive router will further increase the 2.4G speed.However, at 5GHz, both routers give 307M download and 330M upload, limited by Verizon Fios max speed of 300M.When doing speed test, I shut off all 2.4G emitters. I live in a rural area and I suspect there is little interference.A7 has 3 antennas whereas AX21 has four. Is the speed improvement at 2.4G due to the additional antenna or the support of WiFi 6 or both?
Amazon Customer –
Long review but hopefully helpful:Bought this to replace an aged Airport Extreme and give my Oculus Quest 2 a better WiFi connection. So far so good.Set up was okay but I had some trouble getting the Ethernet light to go green despite all the others being green and I was unable to get online via wired or wireless connection. If you reboot your modem and this device, go make coffee or something when it is starting back up because the router takes a while to restart. The light finally went green but it did feel like it took an inordinate amount of time.I understand the frustration that comes with setting up these new things and the rage factor sometimes enters the picture. If it does: unplug the cable modem and the router, leave everything unplugged for 5 minutes, plug in the cable modem and wait until it is fully booted up, plug in this router and walk away for a bit. Give it 5-10 minutes and hopefully you’ll be good to go.The interface looks a bit dated and clonky but most do. Seems the least priority is given to creating a clean, attractive interface for all these things, but coming from an Airport Extreme where you have essentially no features to work with, this is a dream. The ability to edit the names of the clients is something I was never able to do before and it really makes a difference.I wanted something with the ability to kick clients off the network while I am using the Quest to ensure it has no bandwidth competition with devices that are not in use at the time the Quest is being used, but then put them back on without having to jump through hoops, re-entering passwords and such. I have a lot of devices on my network and while they may not be in use, they are still hovering around and eating up some bandwidth even while idling.This router allows that in an easy peasy way but the icons used are confusing. First, if you go to the Network map, clients section, you will see a list of all the clients on your network. You can click the pencil next to the name of the device and change it to make life easier. On the right side, if you click Block, that client gets blacklisted and cannot connect to the network. If you click View Blacklist, you will see all of the blocked clients and there is a garbage can icon on the right. This is a confusing and poor icon choice because most people would think that this will remove the client entirely. It doesn’t. It simply puts the client back on the whitelist. It’s a great thing to have, for example:Let’s say you have a Zoom meeting and want to ensure that there’s as little connection issues as possible. You can block all other clients on the network that are not needed and have all the bandwidth to yourself for your meeting and when it’s over, just click the garbage can on each device in the blacklist and poof! they are all able to connect again.I am not really understanding the point of the QoS feature on this device because in the past when I’ve set up QoS in a work environment, you are able to directly allocate bandwidth to devices. Ideally, this would be what you would use if you had a Zoom call rather than kicking clients off for a time. With this router’s QoS, you have two choices: On or Off. Each device listed has a Priority switch that is turned on or off. You can turn on the Priority switch for one, some or all devices, but there’s nothing else, so you have no idea how bandwidth allocation is implemented here.Under the On/Off switch for QoS, there is a bandwidth allocation box for both upload and download with each set at 1000. You can change this number, but again, it doesn’t tell you how it will divvy out that bandwidth to the clients. If you only have one device with the Priority turned on, you are left to wonder what that client is getting as opposed to other devices on the network. That’s kind of a shame because you can prioritize a device for Always or for a couple of hours. Would seem the perfect set up for a Zoom meeting as you can give Priority to your device for a set amount of time and the router will release that restriction at the end of the hour or two or whatever you chose without you having to interact with the admin page at all. Unfortunately, you cannot enter times: i.e,. Priority from 10 a.m. to noon. You can choose Always, 1 hour, 2 hours, or 4 hours.I’m not sure what people are talking about regarding monthly fees for Parent Controls. I don’t have kids, but opened it up and you can add a child’s computer as a device, block certain keywords from being searched online and limit the days/times that your child can get online. I didn’t see anything about fees or payment for those features.I have noticed more zip in my Quest 2 since setting up this router and am quite pleased with it so far. I set up a 5ghz network set to AX only for the Quest’s exclusive use, a 2.4ghz Guest Network for all the Echos, Kindles, switches for lights, etc., and a 2.4ghz network for laptops, iPads, etc.
Jason Gillman –
As a rule I like to replace wifi equipment every few years, so cost is important. This met the cost component, and was easy to program before doing the swap out so that all the devices seamlessly connected.A slight improvement on speed from my 1700, and uses the same power connector. You should note that it comes with highest power setting by default. That may or may not get you faster speeds.Something else .. It likes to slide your high speed devices back to the 2.4GHZ band sometimes if you have bot of them enabled. Not really good. If you don’t have legacy 2.4GHZ devices that rely on it, OR have so many wireless that you need the space ..then disable the 2.4GHZ altogether, and the 5GHZ performs a little better too.
TheZachRedd –
Compared to the standard Spectrum router that I got tired of replacing, this TP Link is great speed for the price!I had a little bit of an issue with with the Spectrum TV app suddenly not wanting to work, and Nico in customer service straightened it out with a DNS change.I would recommend looking in to that before assuming all is lost if you have just one app that just won’t work and it is driving you crazy!TLDR: Huge improvement over ISP standard router. With a little bit of troubleshooting for an oddly specific issue, this router does everything and does it well!