TP Link AX6000 8 Stream Smart Router

My Old Neighbor Diorella Foster said Might be the best AX (wifi 6) router of 2019.

Bought to replace an aging R7000 Netgear Router ( developed a habit of "DNS server is not responding" error. )

TL;DR
Pros:
-price
-ports
-no reboots required after setting changes

Cons
-no default admin / admin account like old routers
-cant turn off QOS ( hasnt effected my network though)
-lesser known brand

So this purchase was the culmination on about 40 hours of research. I was a die hard Netgear owner for about 15 years. i decided to try something new for a few reasons.

1. new routers are stupidly expensive. most Wifi 6 routers with any reasonable hardware are going to run $270+
2. firmware issues are reported for both of the popular Netgear and Asus routers. lots of negative reviews.
3. "gamer" price increase just because it is branded as "gamer"
4. sometimes trying new things is good.

I settled on this TP-Link for a few reasons
1. Wifi6 (AX####) if im going to get somthing new, i might as well get the newest technology (even know none of my devices can use it yet)
2. it had a usb 3.0 ( most routers do at this point but it was on my list anyways due to network storage)
3. less that $200
4. gig+ Ethernet ports
5. its a name i know of ( top 5 networking companies Netgear, Cisco, Asus, TP-Link, D-Link)

Anyways on to the review.

Design: pretty slick. thinner / smaller than i expected. antennas swivel with a little effort, but stay put when your finished moving them. attaches to the wall with two screws ( not included ) the holes on the back of the device are roughly 8 1/2 inches apart. has an option to turn the LED's off at certain times

Setup: initial log in was done with a cable and my laptop, the rest of the setup was completed once i replaced it on the wall where my old router was ( hard wires / cable modem location ) pretty standard set up. my router was defaulted to 192.168.0.1. once i got to the page i was prompted to set up a password. i later changed my network to use 192.168.1.1 ( like my last router) there was some quick set up first run type questions it asked. i later went in a specified permanent ports for my wired desktops which was a breeze. i also updated the firmware which was painless. one major pro with this was you can make changes to the router configuration, and you never need to reboot the router ( firmware being the only rebooting action of all the settings i changed. )

Speed: wired connections were reading 500mbps to the xfinity.speedtest.net which is what im paying for speed wise. my google pixel 2 wireless speed test to the google site was reading 320 mbps. i cant complain here, so im pretty happy with that.

networked storage: i plugged in our families 256GB photo archive thumbdrive to the router, was getting consistent 30mbps transfer from desktop to thumbdrive. pretty happy with that, as its about as fast as i get when its plugged into my desktop.

All and all im pretty happy with it, will keep this review updated as time goes on.

My Old Man SW2 said Absolute beast!!!.

I've only had this a week but it has been an absolute monster!!! Was looking for a beast router with more than 4 ports and potentially wifi 6. It was between this and the ac5400x. This was cheaper and had WiFi 6. I've had a tplink ac1750 for the last 5 years that has been Rock solid, but decided it was time to upgrade to something newer and better. It's like night and day. I have a 2 story, 2000sq foot house that I full signal strength in every corner now. The ac1750 still had a signal but it was half of the AX6000 with half the apped as well. Wifi speeds have doubled as well. With the ac1750 wifi would max between 120-170mbps in the same room. With the AX6000, it's 300+mpbs!!! Using. Samsung note 8. Can only imagine how fast it will be when I get some wifi 6 devices. It also helps boost my wired connection as well. I pay for 600down/25up through Comcast. I usually pull about 600+ down. With the ax6000, it averages well over 700+. Took a pic of hitting 940. It's even broken a gig!!! Setup was super easy. I already had the to link tether app. You create a password for the router, then name and password your 2.4 and 5ghz networks. The LEDs will flash for a few minutes. When it solid your done. That's it. Easy least. App give you the basics of operations. The real meat is the web browser part. That's where you can do a good amount of tuning with the settings. IPV6 is off by default FYI. All in all I am extremely pleased with this router.

My friend GM DAVE said The Best Router So Far in 15 Years.

I am so pleased with this router in my home network. Unlike the Linksys, Cisco and Netgear models it has not dropped out or failed to see all my devices in the home network yet. With Windows 10 being so misbehaved most of the time with networking the TP-Link AX6000 makes up for it. I'm not all that interested in WiFi but it does work very well. I'd say a little stronger if not the same than my Netgear Nighthawk R7000.( In the garage now as Access Point)
The TP-Link AX6000 IMO is the best choice if you need to upgrade a older router or need to stabilize you home network. I does such a nice job with the IP addresses that I was totally surprised. I have 4 NAS, 5 SAN an 1 DAS and Split the IP addresses all over and not following the normal protocol like 192.168.1.102,103,104 ext.. I even took over my Static IP in 2 devices one was WD My Cloud ,which I didn't care and Qnap NAS. It did keep my static IP in the Qnap NAS but bumped it on the LAG.
The software interface is so nice and easy. I enjoy using it much more than the other routers. Theirs not to much and just enough to control what you need. I only have one minor complainant their Share (TP-Share) feature will only allow 4 HDD whether they are in one docking case or with a USB hub. I'd like to see more. I have a 4 bay dock with 2 drives and two SAD in a USB powered hub and they work great. In a 1000 base network average transfer speed is 98mbs-120mbs, depends on the files though it can be way better but much better than my Netgear.

I did add a TP-Link Range Expanded (RE450) on the second floor to balance the wifi and it made a huge difference with the TP-Link AX6000 router in the basement. I was limited to the space I had were I wanted the router is why I picked the TP-Link AX6000. Most likely I would have went to the top model TP-Link with all the tall antennas.

I hope this helps. I don't know why some of the others have trouble. I wouldn't let the bad revues scare you. If you
have everything running properly and good equipment in your system It should run as great as mine.
Feel free to contact me here thru Amazon and I will get back to you if you need help.

Update 03/08/2020:
This TP-Link AX6000 router also works perfect with Greenlight Fiber Optic Networks. I pay for 500mbps up and 500mbps down and get all of it to the i3, i5 and i7 PC's. All my Samsung streaming devices also get their capacity bandwidth.

Update 03/31/2020
While re-initializing my ACER Aspire Windows Home Server I disconnected the TP-Link AX6000 Router from the modem to have a single connection with the network. and used a Netgear Nighthawk R7000 to hook up the the server. That left the rest of the house and network without internet and in house networking, so I thought.
My Lorex video security , a TP-Link WiFi range extender and a lot of other Androids plus more was still hooked up to the TP-Link AX6000 router. They weren't hooked up to the Netgear I checked. Maybe I'm missing something but in the past when I've done this with a Netgear as the main router and a Cisco as the slave for repairing the ACER the results weren't the same. Some how the TP-Link AX 6000 sniffed out the signal from the Netgear R7000.
I have to say on the contrary of the other negative reviews that this TP-Link AX 6000 is an amazing home router.
No matter how many times I do things to any of the PS's in the network the router is still not loosing the connection to all the devices in the home network. Not like the Netgear did. Windows 10 is usually the culprit if something is missing.
If this sounds to confusing please contact me for help. I just think you all should know all the you can.

Update 04/11/2020
Just a quick mention for the already much loved TP-Link AX6000 router. I had to re-initialize my ACER Aspire H340 Windows Home Server and everything went smooth and fast with no problems. In the past with a Netgear Nighthawk R7000 and Cisco models it did not go so well. I'd have to put he ACER WHS on its own network and go from there. If I tried with the WHS on the same network it was never found in the network to start the initializing software.
That's it just another plus for the TP-Link AX 6000. I'm going to recommend this router to Greenlight Networks to ad to their trusted router list.

My Old Man Only Juve said The New 802.11AX Wi-Fi Standard , The Best Wi-Fi 6 router I have ever owned.

While the TP-Link AX6000 is by no means a low-cost solution, it's worth every penny spent on it per my own experience by now. Set up can’t be easier, almost take me less than 5min to connect to the Internet. It does provide a much stronger signal throughout my 2-store house.

Pros:
1) Elegant design, almost the most beautiful 8 antenna router I have ever seen.
2) Easy enough for setup - I had the router setup in < 5 mins, just need to follow the app step by step.
3) Performance is awesome out of the box – All my rooms have very decent speed, even in my kid room which previously I have to add a range extender when using Netgear router.
4) No wi-fi drops
5) Can handle all my Kasa plugs and bulbs without any issue.
7) No buffering or stuttering when streaming and gaming, I extremely like the 8 Gigabit LAN ports which are extremely convenient for some people like me who have a bunch of streaming and gaming devices near TV. And also, it has a very valuable 2.5 gigabit WAN port, this is also one of the most important features which attract me to buy it. I have never seen any other router has such a high-speed port.
8) No dead spots in my home and it also cover all my garden and backyard pool with at least 3 bars.
9) Can create a single SSID which can handle both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz device, I like this feature which I no need to care which band I need to connect to.

Cons:
1) Maybe a little expensive, but it's worth for the wi-fi 6 router, the new technology 802.11ax.
2) You will need AX clients to really take advantage of this product. In my opinion, AX should be the next big thing in Wi-Fi.

Overall, I am very happy with the performance of this router. If you have a router that is more than 4 yrs old or has a household with lots of wireless or wired devices like me, this router is a good choice.

My Fellow Dominican said Awesome product if you looking to upgrade and not break your pocket moving from WiFi 5 to WiFi 6.

I brought this router to test out the WiFi 6 I was very impressed with the speeds I received compared to my Orbi cable modem. The interface was very user-friendly I like that tp-link offer cloud remote service so I could manage from anywhere. One thing I like was Time Machine a major benefit for Mac users. Compared to Netgear 90 day phone support and 1-year hardware the tp comes with Manufacturer's Warranty - Parts 2 years Manufacturer's Warranty - Labor 2 years this is a great introduction for anyone who’s trying to upgrade and that break their pocket moving to WiFi 6. Now the higher speed I reach while testing was 619 Mbps and this was on 25mbp plan I have with my isp. I Attach pictures of the results of the tp ax 3000 and the Orbi Mesh and yes my speeds exceeded what I’m paying for with the isp.

My friend Amber said Nice product, please update the firmware for your adapters if necessary!.

Although I do not have any wireless clients that support the AX Wifi standard, I still feel worth it updating from my old TP-Link AC1200 wireless router.
The design is pretty sleek and I do like the indicator light at the top that tells you whether your Wifi is working normally. The on boarding process is quite straight forward and had no issues setup the router. The only thing I want to remind the other customers is that for some outdated wireless adapters ( I have intel AC3165 on my dell laptop) may have incompatibility issues with the router.
You may want to update the firmware/driver of your adapter first, otherwise the SSID will be invisible/unsearchable.
Overall I am very happy about the performance , did not feel any latency when I play streaming videos or play video games and I have over 20 devices connected to it including NAS and Arlo camera system. So far it has been working great.

My Old Man HST experience Not ready for prime time but great potential.

I've had a few great TP-Link routers so I was super excited to get this one. Unfortunately, the one I received has major issues with a buggy UX so I have to advise you to hold off purchasing this for now until they get the firmware updated to work better. Some specific issues: I couldn't get the 2.4 band on no matter what configuration I tried. The 5 band was fine so hopefully this is a software issuee only. The UX displayed settings information slowly and inconsistently.

For this kind of money I expect a flawless performance and this product feels like it got rushed out the door with some major bugs in the firmware. Wait for the fixes.

Update: For clarity this is with the updated firmware. Even with a factory reset the problem persists. Not recommended for now.

My Old Fellow Brian R. said Worked great at first but then became very unstable.

Upgraded from a 4-year old Asus router due to a gradual increase in devices over the years - I have about 50 devices (including a dozen Chromecasts streaming Hulu Live TV among other things) and although the Asus did fairly well, I noticed some trouble when there was a lot of traffic, especially streaming. Memory and CPU would max out 100% of the time and streaming would be interrupted. I upgraded to this router for the additional processing horsepower, enhanced range, and future WiFi 6 (AX) support. I also considered the Asus equivalent as I have been a long time Asus user but I went with this one for the additional antennas, better processing/co-processing and overall reputation if TP-Link products. i would love to have both in hand to test but that's a little more buy/return effort than I wanted to do. I believe Asus also makes great products.

The router setup was extremely easy with the Tether app via bluetooth - the best I've seen in fact. I was up and running within minutes and had all my tweaking done in about an hour. Tweaking meaning setting up IPV6, custom DNS servers, etc. I have a single SSID for both 2.4 and 5.0 so that the clients can connect to whichever they find better. Right now it is about half and half. One note about the tether app - it will stay in bluetooth mode (meaning you have to be near the router) unless you enable remote management in the router settings. It is handy for managing the router without logging into the browser page, although I will say that not all options are available in the app and I found the browser setup to work very well.

So far the performance and range of the router has been excellent with the exception of one thing. I was experiencing difficulty connecting some of my apple products to the 2.4GHz radio. After an email to TP-Link tech support (which was replied to very quickly), they asked me to turn off AX support in the 2.4GHz radio. I turned it off for 2.4 (and 5.0 simply because there are no AX clients yet for either anyway) and it immediately fixed the problem but I still have trouble connecting on occasion to the 2.4GHz radio. It begs the question why you would have to turn off a feature but I'm trusting there will be a firmware fix down the road before I have any AX clients and to fix the iPhone connectivity issue. If not I would be inclined to come back here and downgrade the rating since a large part of the cost of this router is AX compatibility.

I have 115Mb/s internet service and I get that or very very close everywhere in my two story plus basement home. I'm sure it covers the yard too but I haven't tested it well since it is winter. Using a throughput app I get gigabit speeds near the router and 600-900 on other floors even in the far corners. So overall it should suit my needs as I am hoping 500Mb/s service or better will be available at some point for my area. All my smart devices (bulbs, plugs, thermostats, vacuum, cameras etc) work perfectly. This is one reason I went with a single router rather than a mesh system - I read reports of smart devices having difficulty with some of the mesh systems. I have not tried them however.

Overall I'm pleased with a little more testing to do before my return period is up. I hope they keep up with firmware updates and add some more features such as the ability to have a timed guest network (I used that all the time on my Asus router for parties, it would remove the guest network at a set time so I didn't have to remember to go back in and turn it off) and the ability to set up multiple guest networks (not as important for me). It's an expensive router but hopefully it will last me several years, and that they will enable the WiFi-6/AX features.

UPDATE: After a few weeks with the router, I'm having some more issues. iPhone products are disconnecting and the router is going offline and online about 2-3 times per day, which then disconnects many of my smart home products. Some of those products wouldn't reconnect (especially the cameras) without a full power cycle of the router. I've been working with tech support and I'm still hopeful to get a firmware fix to help. Otherwise, I'm going back to Asus as I have always found those to be extremely robust. Until I figure it all out, I'm downgrading this rating to 3 stars. If I have to return, I'll downgrade it again to 1.

UPDATE 2/11/19: Unfortunately I'm returning. As I said above, the router has a lot of potential but it's simply not ready for release. I don't know if it is bad hardware or bad firmware but the thing goes offline several times a day. Despite working with tech support (who is very responsive and they do try to help), I can't get this thing to stay online and be stable. I ordered an Asus RT-AX88U and so far it is outstanding. Performance is excellent and it hasn't gone offline or rebooted in a week. I should've never left Asus!

My friend Prime Risk say Buyer beware - Service Fees Required, Pitiful features.

I have to give this router a DO NOT BUY recommendation.

***WARNING*** Before you consider purchasing this router, understand that full functionality *REQUIRES* a subscription. This is not disclosed in the product description on the Amazon website.

The hardware and specifications of this router sounds great, and maybe it is, but the software is not. This router cannot be fully configured from the web interface of the device, you are *REQUIRED* to install the "TP-Link Tether" application on your phone to configure anything in the "HomeCare" class of settings. This includes Antivirus, Parental Control, and QoS.

All of the HomeCare features require a paid subscription to fully function. The router comes with a 6 month trial of these features at which time you pay up $5.99/month or $54.99/year or the full functionality is terminated. Antivirus will be completely terminated. Parental Controls and QoS will be crippled to "basic" features.

I don't really care about the Parental Controls, but QoS is critical for VoIP, Gaming, and other services that depend on real-time service. Even in the fully-enabled trial, the QoS settings are pitiful. You can only select general categories. You have no access to control specific devices, transports, or ports. You can only select from generic configurations like Gaming, Streaming, and Chatting. As far as I can tell, there is little to no effect of QoS and there is no was to disable the feature.

Signal coverage is mediocre at best. My ancient Linksys E3200 had much better coverage in my home and much better controls.

This router is at a low price point, but unfortunately it is just cheap, not inexpensive.

My Old Chap CK say Fast but needs a few adjustments.

This is my first TP-Link device. I’m a long time Asus user and am just fed up with their poor firmware as of late and decided to give TP-Link a chance.
The good:
It’s ax.
Setup is easy and GUI is fast and responsive. WiFi is fast and has excellent range. Seems to be a little better than the WiFi on Asus RT-AX88u. Not as many options though.
The bad:
Power cord is pretty short especially in comparison to Asus power cords. Not a big deal but worth noting.
No way to disable qos. I have gig speeds and typically only 1-2 devices online at a time so having the option to turn qos is something that should be put into a future firmware. Also, no way to disable upnp, can be considered a security risk.
There is a built in speed test but it doesn’t function properly. Best speed it gives me is 600mbps down. Going to dslreports or Speedtest gives me my gig speeds.
At first my phone would not connect to the 5g. I did notice that there was a firmware update for the router. Installed it and phone was able to connect without issue.
There is a pretty big design flaw concerning the top row lan ports. On the back of the router, the top sticks out over the top row ports making it nearly impossible to use a finger to disconnect an Ethernet cable. I made the mistake and had to get a flat head screw driver to reach in and unlatch it. Included a few pics if that helps anyone. Unfortunately a firmware update won’t fix that. Not a deal breaker but definitely something that should have been noticed prior to release.
Conclusion:
Overall a solid router. Has a few firmware fixable issues and a few physical issues that I’m stuck with. Given that this just came out and I don’t feel like a beta tester (hint hint Asus) is a big win. I took a chance with TP-link ax6000 and am not disappointed. So far it’s performing better than my rt-ax88u and blowing away the disaster that is the gt-ac5300.