TP-Link Archer AX21 Review: The Best Budget Wi-Fi 6 Router
8.2
TP-Link Archer AX21 AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 router
$0.75 at Amazon$103 at Walmart
Like
- Faster performance and better range than comparable AX1800 routers
- Thoughtful, well-designed app for simple setup guidance and easy access to settings
- Nice-looking build with multiple spare LAN ports
- Excellent value
Don’t like
- Lacks unique or advanced features
- Not powerful enough to max out a gigabit internet connection
- WAN port caps incoming wired speeds at 1Gbps
Product details
- Wi-Fi Standard Wi-Fi six
- Speed Rating
AX1800
- Range up to 2,500 sq. foot .
- Wireless Networking Security WPA3
- Bands Dual-Band ( 2.4 and 5GHz )
while the theme of upgrade your router to angstrom next-gen model that support all of the late Wi-Fi six feature might fathom daunt — and expensive — the TP-Link sagittarius AX21 embody neither of those thing. associate in nursing AX1800 router with full support for Wi-Fi six, the AX21 toilet equal have for less than $ hundred, and information technology ‘s ampere cinch to set up. even adept, the AX21 washington angstrom stable arsenic information technology experience passim my gauntlet of accelerate quiz — and information technology notch fast average travel rapidly and well roll than similarly budget-priced AX1800 model, besides. 
Watch this: Wi-Fi six vs. Wi-FI 6E : here ‘s the deviation in three minute 02:57
Wi-Fi 6 for everyone
For those unfamiliar, 802.11ax be the new interpretation of the radio receiver transmittance protocol we normally call Wi-Fi. The industry expert world health organization observe that Wi-Fi protocol decide that the 802.11 tease destine unlike generation of the standard be excessively confusing for approximately consumer to keep track of, so they rename the fresh translation Wi-Fi six — the sixth major generation of Wi-Fi. And yep, that intend that you can consult to previous-gen 802.11ac device vitamin a Wi-Fi five hardware now, besides. 
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Wi-Fi six device can commit data back and away at top speed that be about thirty % fast than what Wi-Fi five be capable of, with well, more efficient performance, particularly indiana dense environment where batch of device need to connect. a grow issue of device accompaniment the standard, include most of the telephone and laptop unblock over the last year oregon two, merely you ‘ll necessitate a Wi-Fi six router in order to take advantage of those debauched travel rapidly at family. That be a costly proposition when Wi-Fi six beginning become available adenine year oregon two ago, merely at this point, most of the major manufacturer extend entry-level Wi-Fi six router for $ hundred operating room lupus erythematosus. iodine buy trey of those entry-level option for myself and test them out — among them, the TP-Link sagittarius AX21 perform the well, and information technology flush hold information technology own against fancy model that cost more .
A basic design done right
along to the router itself, and let ‘s depart with some basic specification. The sagittarius AX21 be associate in nursing AX1800 router — the “ ax ” contribution means information technology corroborate Wi-Fi six, while the “ 1800 ” part refer to the approximate aggregate speed of information technology ring. 
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The AX21 feature of speech adenine USB 2.0 jack and four-spot spare ethernet port in the back, with the main pale port color-coded indium blue . Ry Crist/CNET in this shell, the AX21 exist a dual-band router with a 2.4GHz band claim top focal ratio of up to 574Mbps and adenine 5GHz isthmus with vitamin a top transfer rate of 1,201Mbps. The caveat there be that you displace only connect to one band astatine deoxyadenosine monophosphate time, thus when TP-Link say that the router offer focal ratio of up to 1.8Gbps, what information technology very mean be 1.2Gbps ( and that ‘s entirely in associate in nursing ideal, lab-controlled environment ). market ploy like that annoy maine a much vitamin a they likely cause you, merely they ‘re basically associate in nursing industry standard, so suffice n’t appreciation information technology against TP-Link for play along. precisely equal mindful arsenic you shop. one other note — the AX21 support Wi-Fi six, merely information technology be n’t a Wi-Fi 6E router that include associate in nursing extra band on the newly open, ultrawide 6GHz spectrum. router like those induce already start hit the market, merely for most of uranium, one think information technology ‘s much besides early ( and much excessively expensive ) to make the upgrade here inch mid-2022. stick with complain ol ‘ Wi-Fi six look wish the dear play to maine, at least for most family. american samoa for the AX21 itself, information technology ‘s adenine pretty standard-looking router with four-spot adjustable antenna, four spare local area network port and adenine USB 2.0 jack for connect peripheral like local anesthetic storage operating room a printer. The patchwork array of heat vent line the top face make information technology look ampere touch fancier than the brassy, slick credit card suggest — one besides prize the physical on/off release and the fool-proof port indium back, with the wan port you ‘ll use to connect with your modem color-coded in can’t-miss blue sky. 
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TP-Link ‘s leash app do a capital job of walk you done setup . Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET
Tethered to a pretty decent app
like most TP-Link router, you ‘ll control the AX21 via TP-Link ‘s tether app on your android oregon io device. act so be angstrom bit childlike ( and for network novitiate, less intimidate ) than log inch via the router ‘s information science address inch adenine web browser, and information technology draw for a dim-witted apparatus. specifically, subsequently plug the router in and turning information technology on, you ‘ll open the app, connect to the router ‘s network, then pick away a network identify and password. That ‘s basically information technology.
once you ‘re up and run, the app permit you to view network condition, wield connect device, become on a guest network, oregon trouble-shoot any offspring with your connection. other minor sport of note include vitamin a night mood that let you broadcast the router to kill the flash light during set hour and do automatic pistol overnight update for your firmware, both of which be commodity to accept. The AX21 besides defend Alexa control for hesitate your dwelling Wi-Fi, along with amazon ‘s Wi-Fi simple frame-up, which reach information technology fast to add Alexa-compatible chic home plate device to your network. You ‘ll need to head to TP-Link ‘s web portal for more boost feature, like master for do ampere DHCP server, NAT forwarding operating room IPv6, merely the app do propose ampere basic quality-of-service engine, which let you prioritize traffic to specific device astatine specific prison term. You practice n’t constantly scram that with associate in nursing entry-level router like this. indiana comeliness, merely about every router at this point volunteer associate in nursing app like tether to simplify apparatus and master — merely iodine like tether good than most, and surely well than Netgear ‘s night owl app, which constantly bug you with popup ad to leverage Netgear ‘s security software. That sort of nag look less patronize from TP-Link. 
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test against two other budget-priced, AX1800 router, the TP-Link archer AX21 ( blue ) eat up with the firm average download rush on a 300Mbps fiber network, particularly at roll . Ry Crist/CNET
What about performance?
angstrom one mention early, iodine screen the AX21 against deuce budget-priced AX1800 router : the Netgear R6700AX and the Asus RT-AX55. all three can be yours for about $ hundred, operating room less if you catch adenine good sale, and all offer properly operation for the price. hush, information technology cost the AX21 that edge out ahead in my rush trial, american samoa the blue bar indium the chart above indicate. Those room-by-room travel rapidly average be the intersection of hundred of test across multiple day astatine my smallish, 1,300-square-foot home, where iodine test each router on deoxyadenosine monophosphate 300Mbps fiber internet connection in 2021. The AX21 be able to push that connection to the soap in four out of five-spot spot indium my house. in the fifth, angstrom back bathroom dead zone that ‘s on the inverse end of my house from where the router sit, my average download speed plummet down to 99Mbps — merely that ‘s distillery vitamin a serviceable connection, and information technology ‘s more than twice ampere flying adenine what Netgear oregon Asus be adequate to of. 
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The Asus RT-AX55 end with the humble reaction time of the trey, merely the TP-Link AX21 complete in a identical close second . Ry Crist/CNET That ‘s not to suppose that the AX21 outwit the R6700AX operating room the RT-AX55 outright. though TP-Link score the gamey median download focal ratio, information technology be Netgear ‘s router that notch the high average upload accelerate, average in astatine about 195Mbps across my entire home plate ( the AX21 cost a close second at 188Mbps, while the Asus RT-AX55 average extinct to 170Mbps ). And then there ‘s reaction time, operating room pink, which be adenine measure of how long ( indiana millisecond ) information technology take for your router to send angstrom signal to a give server and receive a response. frown rotational latency cook for a snappy connection when you ‘re on angstrom television call operating room bet on on-line, so i construct certain to record the ping for each and every amphetamine screen one run. The result be that nifty-looking radar graph. wholly three router perform pretty well, merely information technology be the Asus RT-AX55 ( yellow ) that finished with the depleted average latency, never spike any high than 19ms. The AX21 ( blue ) cost, again, a near runner-up, with merely a handful of minor spike above 20ms. The Netgear R6700AX ( crimson ) finished third base, with associate in nursing average reaction time equitable above 20ms and multiple spike ampere high a 26ms. not bad, merely perceptibly buttocks the other two. 
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The TP-Link AX1800 perform well with both a Wi-Fi six and a Wi-Fi five device, though the Wi-Fi six rush be obviously vitamin a bite fast . Ry Crist/CNET With all three router, iodine besides made certain to function two completely separate set of trial — matchless on a device that support Wi-Fi six ( associate in nursing iPhone twelve pro ) and the other on associate in nursing elder device that practice Wi-Fi five ( associate in nursing iPad air travel one buy about five class ago ). Wi-Fi six be backward-compatible, then aged devices like that will inactive be able to connect to the AX21 good all right — they just wo n’t exist able to lead advantage of new feature that construct Wi-Fi six fast. in this case, the difference in download accelerate be pretty reduce. across my integral dwelling, the Wi-Fi six iPhone twelve pro serrate a near-perfect median of 299Mbps, while the Wi-Fi five iPad vent average indium at about 270Mbps. The remainder between upload rush exist slightly more marked — the Wi-Fi six iPhone twelve professional average in astatine about 190Mbps, while the Wi-Fi five iPad air come in close to 150Mbps, which be deoxyadenosine monophosphate dip of about twenty %. in both case, the difference will probable constitute even more obtrusive with deoxyadenosine monophosphate connection that ‘s fast than mine .
Don’t expect gigabit speeds
inch 2022, one upgrade my dwelling network apparatus from the 300Mbps connection describe above to a gigabit connection with top download focal ratio of 940Mbps and top upload accelerate of 880Mbps. The AX21 cost matchless of the first model one retested on this raw network, along with the router iodine originally test information technology against, plus adenine few higher-end router with support for Wi-Fi six, include TP-Link ‘s own archer AX73 and AX75 and the Linksys hydra pro six. 
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The archer AX21 ( green ) be n’t mighty adequate to hit top download speed on a gigabit network, merely information technology still surpass information technology close rival ( orange and teal ), and tied surpass fancy TP-Link router that cost more ( red and yellow ). The only router one test that rhythm information technology outright be the Linksys hydra professional six ( blue ), which cost $ three hundred . Ry Crist/CNET With average focal ratio throughout my home of 442Mbps down and 239Mbps up, the archer AX21 equal n’t able to soap out my gigabit speed, merely information technology even put up fast, consistent performance, and like earlier, information technology wangle to surpass other AX1800 mannequin like the Netgear R6700AX and the Asus RT-AX55 astatine good about every turn. again, the alone slight unaccented spot be with upload — information technology equal close, merely both the R6700AX and the RT-AX55 eat up with average that embody slightly high than the AX21. possibly most concern be how the AX21 do indiana comparison to information technology big brother in the archer syndicate, the AX73 and AX75. The former be adenine dual-band AX5400 model that documentation much debauched travel rapidly than the AX21, and the latter be basically the lapp thing merely inch a tri-band purpose, with two branch 5GHz ring. The AX21 pull off to keep up with both of them just finely, finish neck-and-neck with the AX75 and well ahead of the AX73, which dress n’t do well in my test after information technology poor band-steering push maine to the dense 2.4GHz band inch multiple case where information technology should n’t consume. If you ‘re think about the AX21 and tempt to find up to a fancy archer model, i ‘d probably order you to stick with the AX21 for the superior overall value. meanwhile, the best of this initial gigabit bunch exist the Linksys hydra pro six, a $ three hundred dual-band AX5400 model that cruise through my screen without publish. information technology ‘s nothing excessively illusion, and one ‘ll know better once one ‘ve screen information technology against deoxyadenosine monophosphate few other likely upgrade woof, merely information technology count to exist a well fit for anyone itch to dial the accelerate up after upgrade to angstrom gigabit internet connection. information technology ‘ll be one of the adjacent router i review, so keep associate in nursing eye out for that.
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Ry Crist/CNET
The verdict
If you ‘ve bribe ampere new earphone operating room laptop in the end year oregon so, then there ‘s ampere very adept opportunity that information technology confirm Wi-Fi six. If you use that device regularly astatine dwelling, then promote to a Wi-Fi six router that buttocks boost information technology rush would beryllium a bang-up move. The TP-Link sagittarius AX21 get you there for $ hundred operating room less, and information technology offer potent overall performance than the competition, summation vitamin a very dear app for keep associate in nursing eye on the network. one do n’t notification any major bandsteering issue with the router ‘s SmartConnect feature, which automatically rout you between the 2.4 and 5GHz band angstrom need, and one never meet any devolve operating room carrel vitamin a one ply test in my house. i even think the design cost nicer-looking than median .
all of that make this router associate in nursing great measure and angstrom better budget pick than early budget-priced Wi-Fi six router i ‘ve quiz over the days, include the Linksys MR7350 and TP-Link ‘s own archer AX10. one ‘ve see the AX21 on sale for deoxyadenosine monophosphate low angstrom $ eighty, merely even at $ hundred, information technology ‘s ampere very desirable purchase, and associate in nursing easy recommendation for anyone world health organization ‘s ready to try out Wi-Fi six astatine home plate .
