CES 2021: TP-Link Introduces Line of 6GHz Wi-Fi Routers and Mesh Systems

[CIA]

It really sucks that after all these years, 10Gb wired networking is still crazy $$$. The price has barely budged, meanwhile you can get 8 port gigabit switches for $15.

Where's my sub-$500 12 port 10Gb unmanaged switch?

 

[Christoffee]

I'm pretty happy with my setup in my apartment. Running a TP-Link Archer router and mesh network "extender" (operates as mesh network, not separate network extender). One downside to mesh networks is the bandwidth is cut in half for each extender away from the main router you are in the system, but you can have 600Mbps internet for $60 a month meaning you're still getting 300Mbps even at the furthest corners of your property (more than enough speed for any user).

Thanks for the reply. Forgive my ignorance, but I thought a benefit if mesh networks that you did not get this halving of bandwidth. Or are you saying that your main router is not a mesh network device?

 

[Dwalls90]

Thanks for the reply. Forgive my ignorance, but I thought a benefit if mesh networks that you did not get this halving of bandwidth. Or are you saying that your main router is not a mesh network device?

Traditional mesh networks half the bandwidth to each "extender", however, it looks like newer systems remedy this issue. Note that if you need a mesh system, and have one installed, the 50% bandwidth off of the "extender" is still much better than what the bandwidth would have been at that same location from the main router alone. Folks normally assume that they will get 100% of their advertised bandwidth when far from the router, which is the goal, but rarely reality.

 

[Dwalls90]

I really sucks that after all these years, 10Gb wired networking is still crazy $$$. The price has barely budged, meanwhile you can get 8 port gigabit switches for $15.

Where's my sub-$500 12 port 10Gb unmanaged switch?

Is 10Gb = 10 Gbps internet?

 

[kermit4161]

Wonder if they’ll be compatible with Spectrum ...? I purchased a TP-Link Archer AX6000 and it cut my bandwidth in half... tried several different configurations with no luck. Spectrum tech wasn’t helpful...hoping these maybe more compatible. i need a mesh system for all of my IoT devices that are dragging down my network.

 

[Pimmp]

Mesh, repeaters, extender. Same **** different name

 

[CIA]

Is 10Gb = 10 Gbps internet?

10Gb is 10Gbps, yes. No I don't have 10Gbps internet (Just 1Gbit fiber), but I do move LARGE (100+GB) video files around inside of my network all the time and it takes ages over normal gigabit networks. Record 4k Prores on one machine for an hour, move it over to the NAS (or a workstation) for editing. It's faster at this point to sneaker-net it using a flash HD but honestly doing that is a pain in the ass.

10Gb over copper has been a thing for a decade, why are the prices for switches still so high‽‽

 

[Dwalls90]

10Gb is 10Gbps, yes. No I don't have 10Gbps internet (Just 1Gbit fiber), but I do move LARGE (100+GB) video files around inside of my network all the time and it takes ages over normal gigabit networks. Record 4k Prores on one machine for an hour, move it over to the NAS (or a workstation) for editing. It's faster at this point to sneaker-net it using a flash HD but honestly doing that is a pain in the ass.

10Gb over copper has been a thing for a decade, why are the prices for switches still so high‽‽

I was going to say, 1Gbps fiber seems the fastest out there based on "normal" residential services available. That's an interesting use case though and appreciate you sharing.

My one question is are most computers capable of a transfer rate north of 1Gbps? Even with PCIe/NVMe SSD's, you rarely see real-world transfer rates north of 2Gbps with 1Gbps being more average.

EDIT: I didn't realize there are some bleeding edge SSD's that seem capable of transfer rates up to 7 Gbps (https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ssds,3891.html). Wow.

 

[roto1231]

I really wanted Apple to revive the Airport routers.... Apple HomeHub... WiFI 6 mesh, HomeKit, 2T storage, and Apple TV all in one.

I’m hoping for that as well. I’m still using the last generation AirPort Extreme with a second one to extend the network in my house. No one has made anything as rock solid as the AirPort Extreme series. Yeah, it’s not the blazing fast speeds one wants but it does a damn good job. My biggest downfall right now is the sheer amount of other wireless networks around me that are causing interference.
I’m not sure where I’ll go next fir a wireless setup. I was a big fan of and planning to go with the Plume stuff but they’re now more or less in bed with Comcast and to get all of the intelligence components you have to subscribe to the service. 😡 Others that have intelligence and learning your network built in are super expensive. The TP Link brand has been kinda flying under the radar and been decently priced. Based on the reviews I’ve saw on Amazon and review sites it does really well. Again it’s not going to blow the doors off nor is it going to professional level. But, it does a pretty good job.

 

[CIA]

I was going to say, 1Gbps fiber seems the fastest out there based on "normal" residential services available. That's an interesting use case though and appreciate you sharing.

My one question is are most computers capable of a transfer rate north of 1Gbps? Even with PCIe/NVMe SSD's, you rarely see real-world transfer rates north of 2Gbps with 1Gbps being more average.

EDIT: I didn't realize there are some bleeding edge SSD's that seem capable of transfer rates up to 7 Gbps (https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ssds,3891.html). Wow.

You are confusing Gbps and GBps. 1Gbps (Gigabit) networking translates to about 117MBps (Megabytes) in the real world. USB3 hard drives (the original ones at least) are up to 5Gbps, so they move up to ~550MBps. Modern NVMe SSD's can transfer 1,000+MBps.

The upper-case and lower-case letters throw people off. The point is, over a 1Gbps network it can take over 30 minutes to move 70GB from one machine to another. 10Gbps networking, (provided you have fast enough hard drives at either end) could move that same 70GB file in ~3 minutes.

Here's a calculator tool to covert from Gbps to GBps: https://www.gbmb.org/gbit-to-gb

/edit Even I had to edit this post a few times to get the uppercase/lowercase designations correct! It can be confusing, especially with auto-correct changing cases on you constantly.

 

[Dwalls90]

You are confusing Gbps and GBps. 1Gbps (Gigabit) networking translates to about 117MBps (Megabytes) in the real world. USB3 hard drives (the original ones at least) are up to 5Gbps, they they move up to ~550MBps. Modern NVMe SSD's can transfer 1,000+MBps.

The upper-case and lower-case letters throw people off. The point is, over a 1Gbps network it can take over 30 minutes to move 70GB from one machine to another. 10Gbps networking, (provided you have fast enough hard drives at either end) could move that same 70TB file in ~3 minutes.

Here's a calculator tool to covert from Gbps to GBps: https://www.gbmb.org/gbit-to-gb

/edit Even I had to edit this post a few times to get the uppercase/lowercase designations correct! It can be confusing, especially with auto-correct changing cases on you constantly.

I usually police people on this common mistake, so am kicking myself for making it. Thanks for that!

 

[4487549]

There is no Sanctuary!

 

[MacBH928]

I'm pretty happy with my setup in my apartment. Running a TP-Link Archer router and mesh network "extender" (operates as mesh network, not separate network extender). One downside to mesh networks is the bandwidth is cut in half for each extender away from the main router you are in the system, but you can have 600Mbps internet for $60 a month meaning you're still getting 300Mbps even at the furthest corners of your property (more than enough speed for any user).

Are you sure of this? Maybe if you use it in chain typography (router-->extender-->extender) but I don't think that happens when you use it in star shape ( extender<--router-->extender )

Instead of WiFi 6, 6E, 5, whatever, router makers should instead be required to provide RB-##. Where ## is the number of days you can go before you have to reboot the damned thing to get it working right again.

I’ve tried pretty much every brand in the last few years, and nothing has been as rock solid as the old discontinued apple airports. Even with the synologys I’ve settled on, every 6 months or so I need to reboot everything to get full wired throughput back, and to get the mesh points working right, etc.

Which was your favourite brand?

I once heard that all router firmware is basically the same code and each brand just modify it a bit for their own routers. I was surprised not to find a scheduled reboot capability built in the firmware of Netgear which should solve the problem.

Have you tried the higher end stuff like Ubiquiti? What about open source firmware like OpenWRT and DD-WRT?

 

[Dwalls90]

Are you sure of this? Maybe if you use it in chain typography (router-->extender-->extender) but I don't think that happens when you use it in star shape ( extender<--router-->extender )

This is how it works in my setup, but note my router and extender in my mesh system don't have the dual radio backhaul functionality that is mentioned in earlier posts. I think most newer mesh systems (especially if Wifi 6) have this functionality by default, but of course they'll fetch a pretty penny. In my situation, I'm not staying in my apartment forever and already had the router from a few years back, so I didn't want to buy a new mesh system or router and extender for several hundred dollars, when I was able to buy an extender that worked with my existing system for $20. I plan to buy the newer type of mesh system that mitigates the bandwidth halving when I move into a house soon. Like I said before though, I get 300Mbps for so cheap from Verizon, so even reliably getting 300Mbps in 70% of my apartment and at least 150Mbps in the corner office via extender is more than enough for my needs right now.

EDIT: Updated some typos.

 

[MacBH928]

This is how it works in my setup, but note my router and extender in my mesh system don't have the dual radio backhaul functionality that is mentioned in earlier posts. I think most newer mesh systems (especially if Wifi 6) have this functionality by default, but of course they'll fetch a pretty penny. In my situation, I'm not staying in my apartment forever and already had the router from a few years back, so I didn't want to buy a new mesh system or router and extender for several hundred dollars, when I was able to buy an extender that worked with my existing system for $20. I plan to buy the newer type of mesh system that mitigates the bandwidth halving when I move into a house soon. Like I said before though, I get 300Mbps for so cheap from Verizon, so even reliably getting 300Mbps in 70% of my apartment and at least 150Mbps in the corner office via extender is more than enough for my needs right now.

EDIT: Updated some typos.

Ah...yes, you don't have a 'dedicated backhaul' . That thing works great from my current experience. I am using Netgear now, but I heard other brands abandon updating the firmware. Netgear keeps releasing updates for a very long time.

 

[subjonas]

Ok. HomeKit please.