I’ve reviewed a number of home Wi-Fi routers from TP-Link, including the high-powered Archer AX6000 and the Deco X60 whole home mesh system. TP-Link continues to expand its router offerings, showing off a new range of Wi-Fi 6E models at CES 2022. Routers don’t usually have the same wow factor as a roll-up TV or a VR headset. However, TP-Link’s new Archer AXE200 Omni is not your “usual” router. It’s been making headlines and winning awards. I’ll explain why, as well as giving an overview of the highlights from the networking portion of TP-Link’s CES showcase.
TP-Link’s Archer AXE200 Omni brings home a CES 2022 Innovation award
TP-Link managed to pull off the impossible: the company has everyone at CES 2022 taking about a Wi-Fi router. Why? The Archer AXE200 Omni is a powerful Wi-Fi 6E router. With tri-band support, it can deliver speeds of up to 11 Gbps. However, what makes this router such a showstopper—and won it a CES 2022 Innovation award—is its four external antennas. They are individually motorized. This router will detect a device connected to its Wi-Fi network, then adaptively adjust the orientation of the antennas to optimize that connectivity.
It’s a robotic router …
Archer AXE300 quad-band Wi-Fi 6E router
While the Archer AXE200 Omni has the wow factor, TP-Link’s Archer AXE300 router is the performance monster.
It’s equipped with a 2.0GHz quad-core CPU and bristling with eight external antennas. This is a quad-band router with a total throughput/Wi-Fi speed of up 16 Gbps. It can handle up to 350 simultaneously connected devices. It’s also equipped with dual 10Gbps WAN/LAN ports.
The Archer AXE200 Omni is a router that’s more than up to the demands of 8K streaming, online gaming, and the smartest of smart homes.
Deco XE200
TP-Link’s new flagship whole home mesh system is the Deco XE200. This Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router supports speeds of up to 11 Gbps.
Its AI-powered mesh means a three-pack can cover 9,000 square feet, with seamless roaming (a two-pack is also available). It includes two Gigabit ports and one 10Gbps port for ultra-fast wired connectivity. The router uses the 4.8 Gbps 6GHz band as dedicated wireless backhaul.
Deco X50 outdoor router
Another interesting entry from TP-Link is the new Deco X50. This is a Wi-Fi 6 mesh router with 3000 Mbps speed and a pair of Gigabit LAN ports. Those aren’t bad specs, but far from outstanding in 2022. What makes this router special is that the Deco X50 is designed for outdoor use. It has screw mounts for wall or pole-mounting and is IP65 dust and water resistant. Its Ethernet connection also supplies power to the router. Its mesh Wi-Fi can integrate with any other TP-Link Deco model as part of a larger, home mesh network.
If you have a back yard and have struggled to get solid Wi-Fi while outdoors (or to your outdoor Wi-Fi cameras), this new router will be well worth looking at.
About Wi-Fi 6E
The latest routers from TP-Link (and new routers announced by other networking companies) support Wi-Fi 6E. That’s great—but the latest networking standard is not yet available in Canada. It has received regulatory approval, but the 6GHz spectrum won’t be accessible to home Wi-Fi routers in this country until later (hopefully the second half of 2022). You can read about Wi-Fi 6E here to see everything it offers, but in the meantime these routers will deliver all the benefits of Wi-Fi 6.
Don’t miss out on any of the big CES 2022 announcements
TP-Link’s robotic router was one of the more eye-catching CES 2022 announcements, but it was far from the only one. The Best Buy blog has been covering everything your favourite tech brands have been doing at this years show. Check in here to see all the big reveals from the past week.
