Before you read the review below, I wanted to briefly detail my small internet/network setup struggles. We moved into a new apartment which has solid concrete walls. It is a 1600 sq ft home with two levels. The modem connection is up stairs in the living room. Our two bedrooms are on the lower level.
My main issue has been trying to get a strong and decent signal on the lower level. I tried multiple set ups (large router, mesh router, wifi extenders/repeater, and powerline), but I ultimately ran a wire from the upper level to lower. The main reason for running a wire was that I was only getting a fraction (at the most 200-300Mbps on the download) of my 1gb speed on the lower level.
My current setup (update):
1. TP-Link Wifi 6 AX6000 (main router on upper level).
2. TP-Link Wifi 6 AX6000 (lower level router as access point. Cat7 wire from main router). My second AC4000 5G signals became very unstable. I did not have this issue with my first AC4000. I could not get a AC4000 replacement so I upgraded the lower level router to an AX6000.
3. I am still getting download speeds in the 900-950Mbps wired, 500-600Mbps 5G, 40-60 2G.
The devices I tried include:
1. Linksys Tri-Band Mesh Wifi Router for Home (Max-Stream AC2200 MU-Mimo Wireless Mesh Router, Fast Wireless Router)
2. NETGEAR Orbi Ultra-Performance Whole Home Mesh WiFi System - WiFi router and single satellite extender with speeds up to 3Gbps over 5,000 sq. feet, AC
3. TP-Link AC4000 Smart WiFi Router - Tri Band Router, MU-MIMO, VPN Server, Advanced Security by Homecare, 1.8GHz CPU, Gigabit, Beamforming, Link Aggrega
4. TP-Link WiFi 6 AX6000 8-Stream Smart WiFi Router - Next-Gen 802.11ax, 2.5G WAN Port, 8 Gigabit LAN Ports, MU-MIMO, 1.8GHz Quad-Core CPU, USB 3.0 Ports
5. ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 AX11000 Tri-Band 10 Gigabit WiFi Router, Aiprotection Lifetime Security by Trend Micro, Aimesh Compatible for Mesh WIFI System, Next-Gen Wifi 6, Wireless 802.11Ax, 8 X Giga (Purchased at Best Buy)
6. TP-Link Powerline Adapter AV2000 Mbps - Gigabit Port, Ethernet Over Power, Plug&Play, Power Saving, MU-MIMO, Noise Filtering(TL-PA9020P KIT)
7. WiFi Range Extender - 1200Mbps WiFi Repeater Wireless Signal Booster, 2.4 & 5GHz Dual Band WiFi Extender with Gigabit Ethernet Port, Simple Setup
Linksys Tri-Band Mesh Wifi Router for Home (in a two story apartment with solid concrete walls)
Setup
The setup was very quick and simple. It took no more than 15 minutes. I decided to broadcast the Wifi signals separately, so I can dictate myself what device connects to which Wifi band. However, the Linksys Smart Wifi does work very well.There were no issues accessing the router from the app or the webpage. More detail settings and configuration are achieved from the webpage access. One thing to note that with this router, you need a node to access the second 5G band.
Range and Speed
I have Xfinity 1gb internet connect. The router was placed on the upper level. The wired speed from the modem averaged low 900s Mbps. On the same level the Wifi range and strength was phenomenal. I got strong 2G and 5G signals anywhere on the upper level. Max download speed on my iphone XR Max and laptop was 600Mbps for 5G and 20-30Mbps on 2G. I had no issues with random disconnects or slow downs. However, on the lower, the signal strength was very poor. For the 5G band I was getting on more than 10Mbps, even when I was located under the router. The 2G signal faired a little better at 20-30Mbps.
I also used this router with a powerline and it work great. I used powerline and moved this router to the lower level. Modem to powerline (upper level), then powerline (lower level) to router. Through the powerline, my speed 200Mbps (wired). After connecting the powerline to the router, my wired speed was 170-180Mbps, 5G 120-130Mbps, and 2G 20-30Mbps. However, moving the router to the lower level meant I was sacrificing the Wifi signal on the upper level.
Why did I return it
-Need to have a node to access the second 5G band.
-Wifi could not penetrate to the lower level. However, this is more of an issue with the concrete walls.
Would I recommend this router?
I would definitely recommend this router based on the following:
-Reasonably priced.
-Simple and quick setup.
-Consistent range and speed (if you have a single level home without concrete walls).
Matthew Cardinal
IndigoMoonArts