TP-Link Archer AXE75 review
It is the dawning of the age of Wi-Fi 7, but it's taking time to become popular and buying a Wi-Fi 6E router can be a good—and more cost-effective—way to boost your Wi-Fi speeds from Wi-Fi 5 or, heaven forbid, Wi-Fi 4.
TP-Link has produced a striking-looking router in the AXE75, taking the standard rectangular wedge with antennas up the back so beloved of tech designers and adding into the mix a geometric pattern and a smooth, angled area. It stands out from other routers that follow the same basic shape, but that pattern is sure going to collect dust. Around the back there's nothing unusual, with four gigabit Ethernet ports, a gigabit WAN port, power connector, on/off switch, and further buttons for WPS, reset, and turning the LEDs and Wi-Fi on and off.
The router comes as an already assembled unit, though there are individual plastic sheaths tightly wrapped around each of the six antennas that you'll spend ages picking at with your fingernails to remove. Why they don't slide straight off is a mystery. There's also a peel-off sheet of plastic over a section on top of the unit, that you might not even notice until it bubbles up. Power comes via an external adapter with a cable about 1.5m long, so you'll need to position the router at least that close to a socket.
Setup is very straightforward. Plug it in and switch it on, then use the Wi-Fi network name and password printed on the bottom, or the QR code, to connect the TP-Link Tether app on your phone. Set an admin password, then (in a step that foxed me for a moment because I'm dumb) enter that password, and you're in. You can also do this from a web browser, and once you've got access to the admin page you can separate out the three Wi-Fi bands, which are bundled together by default, and enable the guest network and parental controls.
Alt-descriptor: AXE5400
Wireless standard: Wi-Fi 6E
Max speeds (claimed): 6 GHz: 2402 Mbps, 5 GHz: 2402 Mbps, 2.4 GHz: 574 Mbps
Ethernet ports: 4x gigabit
WAN: 1x gigabit
Processor
