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If you want to take advantage of the relatively uncluttered 6GHz Wi-Fi radio band but are put off by the exorbitant pricing of the latest crop of Wi-Fi 7 routers, consider a Wi-Fi 6E router such as the TP-Link Archer AXE95 ($299.99) instead. A tri-band router, the AXE95 offers fast throughput performance, mesh capabilities, and multi-gig networking, and it comes with free HomeShield parental control and network security software. While the AXE95 is a bit pricey at MSRP, you can find it for well below the list price if you shop around. Wherever in the range you find this model, though, its speedy performance and multi-gig capabilities earn it an Editors’ Choice award for Wi-Fi 6E routers.Design: That Old-School Eight-Antenna LookThe AXE95 sports a black finish with a textured top and eight non-removable, adjustable antennas. It is 12.2 inches wide and 8.1 inches deep and stands 6.8 inches high with the antennas fully extended. The front of the router has an LED indicator that glows solid blue when the router is connected and working properly, glows solid red when it has lost its internet connection, glows solid orange when Wi-Fi is off, and pulses blue during a firmware update. Below the indicator are buttons to activate Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), as well as to toggle Wi-Fi and the LED indicator on or off.
Around back are three 1GbE LAN jacks, a 1GbE WAN/LAN jack, a 2.5GbE WAN/LAN jack, a USB 2.0 port, reset and power buttons, and a power connector. A USB 3.0 port is located on the right side. Inside, a 1.7GHz quad-core CPU and 512MB of RAM power the router, which supports Wi-Fi 6E technologies including orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) transmissions, direct-to-client beamforming, MU-MIMO simultaneous data streaming, 160MHz channel bandwidth, Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS), WPA3 encryption, and of course, 6GHz transmissions.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The AXE95 is a tri-band AXE7800 router, which means that it can hit theoretical data rates of up to 574Mbps on the 2.4GHz band, up to 4,802Mbps on the 5GHz band, and up to 2,402Mbps on the 6GHz band. It supports TP-Link’s OneMesh technology, which allows it to be used with other TP-Link networking devices in a mesh configuration, and it works with TP-Link’s HomeShield network security and parental controls software. The Basic version of the software is free and offers parental control features such as age-based web filtering, site blocking, and the ability to pause internet access. If you subscribe to the Advanced Parental Controls plan ($3.99 per month), you get features such as time limits, time rewards, family time, and flexible bedtime.
Free network security tools include router and wireless security scans, IoT device identification, Wi-Fi Access Control, and device isolation. With the $4.99-per-month Security+ subscription, you also get IoT protection, web protection, and intrusion prevention. The $5.99-per-month Total Security Package adds antivirus protection, a VPN, and a password-management utility.You can manage the AXE95 using the Tether mobile app for iOS and Android devices, but you’ll have to use the web console to access advanced settings such as NAT Forwarding and DHCP Server settings. The mobile app opens to a Network screen that displays the name of the router and its status. Tap the router icon to view MAC and IP address information and the current firmware version. Below the router icon are panels labeled Network Status, Clients, Report, and Guest Network.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The Network Status panel tells you if the router is online or offline, and when you tap the panel, you’ll get the same information as when you tap the router icon. The Clients panel displays the number of connected devices. Tap the panel to view each client’s name and to see which band they are using. Tapping a client name lets you view total traffic usage and when the client joined the network. Here, you can also give the client high bandwidth priority, block the client, and add the client to a parental control family profile. The Report panel offers weekly and monthly network security scan results and lets you view all of your parental control profiles, while the Guest Network panel lets you enable guest networking and create passwords.
(Credit: TP-Link)
At the bottom of the Network screen are buttons labeled Network, Security, Family, and More. The Network button returns you to the main screen from wherever you are in the app, and the Security button initiates a security scan. Tap the Family button to access parental control settings and create family profiles. The More button takes you to a screen where you can access Internet, Wi-Fi, QoS, and System settings. Here, you can also optimize the network, run diagnostics, and create a OneMesh network.Testing the TP-Link AXE95: 2.5GbE Makes a DifferenceI used the TP-Link Tether app to install the AXE95, but you can also use the web console. Either option makes it easy to get your new network up and running. I opened the app, tapped the + icon in the upper right corner, tapped Add Device, and tapped Wireless Router. I selected Standard Router and followed the instructions to power off my modem, connect the router to the modem, and power everything back up. I used the 1GbE WAN port to connect to the modem and connected my desktop PC to the router using the 2.5GbE port. When the router status LED turned solid blue, I used my camera to scan the QR code on the bottom of the router, and the app quickly discovered it. I created a new local account, let the app know which LAN port I was using, and gave my new network a name. I unchecked the Smart Connect option (turning this off allows you to separate the radio bands) and gave the network a password. With that, I was ready to go.The AXE95 is the first Wi-Fi 6E router we’ve tested using our updated testbed PC, so we don’t have any throughput scores for direct comparison. The router scored 180Mbps on the 2.4GHz close-proximity test and 60Mbps on the 30-foot test. It scored a speedy 1,528Mbps on the 5GHz close-proximity test and 740Mbps on the 30-foot test. To put these scores in perspective, the TP-Link AXE75 scored 121Mbps and 63Mbps, respectively, on the 2.4GHz tests, and 918Mbps and 360Mbps, respectively, on the 5GHz tests. It’s important to note that the AXE75 does not offer multi-gig connectivity and was tested using a 1GbE LAN connection, whereas the AXE95 uses a 2.5GbE connection.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
On the 6GHz throughput tests, the AXE95 garnered a lofty 1,448Mbps on the close proximity test, but its score of 383Mbps on the 30-foot test was merely pedestrian. The AXE75 scored 921Mbps (close proximity) and 397Mbps (30-foot) on these tests.We test file transfer read and write performance by moving a 1.5GB folder containing photos, video, music, and office document files back and forth between a USB 3.0 drive and a desktop PC, both of which are connected to the router. The AXE95 delivered scores of 43MBps (write) and 45MBps (read) on these tests. By comparison, the Netgear RAXE500, also a Wi-Fi 6E router, delivered scores of 70MBps (write) and 68MBps (read). To test wireless signal strength, we use an Ekahau Sidekick Wi-Fi diagnostic device and Ekahau’s Survey mobile app. This combo generates heat maps illustrating the router’s 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz signal strength throughout our test home. (Note: Ekahau is owned by Ziff Davis, the publisher of PCMag.com.) The circle on the map represents the router’s location, and the colors represent signal strength. Dark green areas indicate the strongest signal, and lighter yellow areas indicate a weaker signal. Gray areas indicate very faint or no measurable signal reception.
2.4GHz signal strength (Credit: Ekahau)
5GHz signal strength (Credit: Ekahau)
6GHz signal strength (Credit: Ekahau)
The maps show that the AXE95 had no trouble broadcasting strong 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi throughout our test home. However, 6GHz signals were relatively weak. This is likely due to Federal Communications Commission rules, which until recently restricted the power of 6GHz Wi-Fi transmissions, making them all but useless for long-range transmissions. The good news is that the FCC has approved new automated frequency coordination (AFC) rules that allow 6GHz devices to use more power. We reached out to TP-Link to see how they would implement this going forward but have not heard back yet.Verdict: A Wi-Fi 6E WinnerThe TP-Link Archer AXE95 is a solid choice for anyone looking to bring 6GHz transmissions to a home network. It’s easy to install and manage, and it delivered very fast 5GHz and 6GHz throughput scores in testing. Its file transfer performance could be better, but it offers multi-gig connectivity alongside free HomeShield parental controls and network security software. With all that taken together, it earns our Editors’ Choice award for Wi-Fi 6E routers.
TP-Link Archer AXE95 AXE7800 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6E Router
The Bottom Line
The TP-Link Archer AXE95 uses advanced 6GHz wireless technology and multi-gig wired connectivity to deliver speedy throughput, making it the new king of Wi-Fi 6E routers.
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