TP-Link AC5400 Tri Band WiFi Gaming Router(Archer C5400X) – MU-MIMO Wireless Router, 1.8GHz Quad-Core 64-bit CPU, Game First Priority, Link Aggregation, 16GB Storage, Airtime Fairness

Pros:*Very noticeable range and signal strength improvement compared to my 8 year old router (Asus RT-AC66U).*No drops on connection while watching streaming videos, youtube, surfing the web, gaming, etc.*Very easy to configure graphical user interface. You can just set it and forget it.*If you have Alexa Echo, you can use it to send specific commands to this router to change its settings.*Its tri-band and not dual band... much more versatile in accepting wireless connections.*Very easy set up also on the hardware part... just attach the antennas, plug-in the power adapter & ethernet cable, and power it on.Cons:*The TP-LINK AX11000 is just around the corner which supports the new AX wifi-6 speeds & WPA3 wifi security encryption. If you want to future proof despite the higher cost, you might want to get that instead.*It's expensive but it does use pretty good hardware (Quad-core 1.8Ghz CPU, 1GB RAM, etc.)*Lack of more gaming centered features compared to Netgear and Asus offerings.*TrendMicro antivirus & home security is only for 3 years and not lifetime. I wish there's a way to switch this to BitDefender that other router offers once the TrendMicro 3 years subscription expires.Other Thoughts:This is TP-Link's 1st gaming router and its pretty expensive. I'm a tech enthusiast and usually will get the best I can get. I was looking at the Netgear's XR700, and Asus ROG AC5300.. which looked pretty good on paper but has more negative reviews than this router so I ended up getting this one instead.I was kind of torn between getting this one or waiting for the TP-LINK AX11000 but I kind of really need the upgrade quick. But thinking about it again, I game on a wired connection and I don't really have any devices that uses the AX wifi bandwith. Even if I do end up getting devices that uses AX signal in the future, 2.4Ghz & AC 5Ghz bandwith is plenty for my current and most likely future needs. This router covers my entire house already without the need of using mesh/repeaters/extenders.Most of all, after doing massive downloads (Gigs of data - mostly Steam games), gaming, torrenting, watching 4k streaming videos, surfing the net, chatting, voip, etc... this device has did it all without breaking a sweat. It hasn't dropped any of my connections (both wired & wireless) and its been very stable. This is something rarely present on new released products that's why I'm hesitant to replace this with the new AX11000 offerings from TP-Link, Asus, or Netgear. I might end up with a defective product that is rushed released and not ready for prime time.TP Link, I usually buy Asus or Netgear products when it comes to home networking but since their top of the line atm have more bad reviews... I'm taking a chance with you guys. I hope this router last a long time. In fact, the router it replaced (Asus RT-AC66U) didn't die or anything. It's just that as my network expands and my wireless needs grows, I have to upgrade. Don't let me down!FYI:I also have this same review on N3W3GG

UPDATE2: I noticed that my speeds were not what I was paying for. I was clocking at ~120Mbps, paying for 400Mbps.After a support call to the ISP, and hours of troubleshooting, I discovered that enabling QoS Device priority slams the throughput into the dirt.So, my advice, do not use QoS Device Priority if you want an individual device to have access to the full bandwidth of your service.UPDATE1: So after about 6 months, the WAN port went bad. Totally stopped communicating with the modem.Tried the WAN aggregation feature, which is supposed to turn LAN1 into an additional WAN port. The feature did not seem to work.Amazon replaced the item and all is good.This really is a great router. I recently upgraded my ISP Link to 400mbps, and decided to get a better router to go along with the upgraded service since I have so many devices on the network now.Once the ISP enable the modem, installing the AC5400 was cake. Obtained DHCP address quickly, and was immediately available at the management address for configuration.I walked through the quick setup to get online quickly.Setup was simple and quick. You can enable all of your SSID's from one convenient page.I configure the 2.4 for my smart home devices (better range, speed is not important), one 5GHz band for my streaming devices (TV, tablet, phone) and a hidden 5GHz band for gaming (when not hardwired)I have my PS4 hardwired, so I tested speeds between wireless (130Mbps) and wired (190Mbps).I am impressed with the throughput. All devices connected seamlessly during the transition (left credentials same as previous).The management interface is clean and easy to navigate.Lots of nice features between Parental Controls (although I wish there was slightly more granular control (lowest access timeout is 30min) and support for OpenVPN is interesting.You can Bind MAC's to the ARP table, and can create nice generic Firewall catergory filters.Overall I'm happy with this purchase.Hardwired PC Ookla test on a 400Mbps link got clocked at 483Mbps, so I'm not sad at all.

I am very picky about my wifi connections because I game wirelessly on Xbox and PC. My last router got fried in a power surge so I took a chance on this one, and I like it a lot! It's a lot stronger than my last router, which was a NETGEAR Nighthawk Smart WiFi Router (R6900P) - AC1900.Install was super easy and my gaming connection has been better than it ever has. Even before when my speed tests would show ~60 mbps, games would download much slower at around 10 mbps. I downloaded a game update the other day and it was averaging between 30-40 mbps. I was able to download around 40 gb in about 10-15 minutes, which is the fastest I've ever downloaded.This is a Tri Band router. It has two 5ghz channels and one 2.4 ghz channel, which is super nice. I have several people in the household who like to use heavy bandwidth like facetime and streaming videos. I have my dedicated 5ghz channel and I let them use the other one, and it works fantastic. I have not hit any walls with reaching our bandwidth limits while all trying to do stuff (I pay for 600mbps speeds). I also work on the network where I'm constantly on VOIP calls and my clarity is much higher and I don't get random disconnects anymore, as I did on my last router.I have not had any issues with range. It easily covers my 1100 sqft home - which isn't super big.I have never heard of this brand before, but I'm glad I gave it a chance. It's definitely on the expensive side, but you get what you pay for. I'm hoping to have this for a least a few years.