TP-Link is keeping its foot on the gas pedal with a pair of new high-end routers, the Archer AX6000 and Archer AX11000. These are the company's first router models to support the new 802.11ax wireless standard, or Wi-Fi 6 if going by Wi-Fi Alliance's new naming scheme.
As router makers like to do, the model numbers represent a combined a total of the available speed across all available bands. For example, the Archer AX6000 is a dual-band router that offers Wi-Fi speeds of up to 1,148Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 4,804Mbps on the 5GHz band. Those add up to 5,952Mbps, which is close enough for TP-Link to essentially dub it as AX6000.
Likewise, the Archer AX11000 is a tri-band model with an additional 5GHz band thrown into the mix. That additional band adds another 4,804Mbps to the tally, for a grand total of 10,756Mbps—close enough apparently to label is an AX11000 model.
One thing to note about all this: you can't actually combine multiple bands into a single, higher-speed connection. Model designations are basically marketing fluff, though all the router makers do it, so at least there's consistency across the board.
Those types of speeds are more than most people need or can realistically utilize. There are exceptions—households with multiple members streaming 4K content, downloading content, and playing games at the same, for example.
Both models look like evolved headcrabs, as a growing number of high-end routers do. The Archer AX11000 is a little more aggressive in its appearance, likely because TP-Link is specifically targeting gamers.
"It comes loaded with a 1.8GHz quad-core CPU with three WiFi co-processors, 1GB RAM, and 512MB flash, making it one of the most powerful gaming routers on the market today. Gaming enthusiasts can further optimize their network for game play through the TP-Link Game Center to optimize bandwidth allocation, see real-time gaming data, and create a VPN tunnel for the best gaming performance," TP-Link explains.
Both routers also boast copious wired ports—each one has a 2.5Gps WAN port for ultra-fast internet connections, plus eight gigabit LAN ports, a USB 3.0 Type-A port, and a USB 3.0 Type-C port.
The AX6000 is available to preorder on Amazon for $349.99 and will release on December 21, while the AX11000 will be available next month for $449.99.
