I will preface by saying this was the first time in ten years I have had a dedicated Wi-Fi router. Most of the time, I was just using the Wi-Fi router included with the modem of my internet service provider. My experience with the TP-Link AXE5400 Tri-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6E router was interesting for its ability to handle connections directly to my phone, TV upstairs, and tablet. TP-Link has been known to be a technological leader in reliable networking devices and accessories for global markets—building on its predecessors like the TP-Link Deco XE75 router.
The TP-Link AXE5400 Tri-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6E router came with the router hub, six antennas, a power adapter and an Ethernet cable. The setup was fairly straightforward, with the six antennas that snapped into place perfectly—I did not need to force anything. Plugging it into my modem and hooking up the Ethernet cable was also simple. Getting it connected to my home network was a little tricky, but mostly because I was scrambling for the original password on the modem! Otherwise, the setup on the TP-Link Tether app was simple and quick.
The TP-Link Tether app was super easy to connect to as well, once I created a TP-Link account. It clearly defined the statuses of all three networks: 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz—thus the name tri-band. I was able to track and set the passwords for each network type here as well. The HomeShield and OneMesh features were also highlighted on the app for this router.
I was not able to get firsthand experience with OneMesh but it was said to be compatible with TP-Link’s OneMesh Extenders that would allow a Wi-Fi user to switch to the extender seamlessly from the direct connection of the router and vice versa. It was said it could autonomously choose which was better to connect with for the user.
The Premium HomeShield service was extra, but I was able to use and look at all the Basic plan features. This included a breakdown of the network with insights into my home network, along with having the ability to put parental controls on explicit content—perfect for those with younger critters learning to browse the web.
“…the TP-Link AXE5400 Tri-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6E router came with Wi-Fi 6E capabilities, offering more bandwidth, faster internet speeds and almost zero latency.”
As for the elephant in the room, the TP-Link AXE5400 Tri-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6E router came with Wi-Fi 6E capabilities, offering more bandwidth, faster internet speeds and almost zero latency. The significant information to know about Wi-Fi 6E is that it is the next level of frequency band ranging from 5.925 GHz to 7.125 GHz—with Wi-Fi 6 being introduced back in 2019 and Wi-Fi 6E in 2021.
This innovative band also created a new third option for devices to connect to, as traffic on 2.4 G and 5G networks have been overpopulated. Also, higher level of streaming has been evolving over the years, so Wi-Fi 6E could support up to 8K streaming without the ridiculous buffering. Wi-Fi 6 and 6E had also introduced WPA3 security, meaning it offers personalized encryption to keep away other users on the same network from snooping.
My experience with using a 6GHz band was fantastic overall. I tested it out with the Google Pixel 6 since it supported Wi-Fi 6E networks. My original Wi-Fi 5G router was lacking in all departments versus the TP-Link AXE5400 Tri-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6E router. The original router had a download speed of 79.08 Mbps download speed, 21.84Mbps upload speed and an average ping of 25.9ms. Whereas the TP-Link AXE5400 Tri-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6E router was so boosted with 277.38Mbps download speed, 28.2 upload speed and an average ping of 24.38ms.
“The TP-Link AXE5400 was able to pretty much provide steady connections all around my house—even in the backyard.”
I ran a couple of speed tests that came out similarly. However, I would have liked to test the Wi-Fi 6E capabilities more across other compatible devices like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra or the HP Spectre x360. With those devices, I would have also liked to see the difference in wireless speeds and consistency across them. As for the other devices that were running on the 2.4G and 5G networks, I found the coverage was astonishing. I unplugged the Wi-Fi extenders provided by my service provider to see how much coverage the TP-Link AXE5400 Tri-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6E router could withstand.
The TP-Link AXE5400 was able to pretty much provide steady connections all around my house—even in the backyard. My Asus laptop, POCO M5 and Huawei P20 Pro all had a fairly easygoing time connecting to the internet through this router. It was only when I started to move extremely farther away from the router, towards the front of my house and sidewalk, where the connection was dropping more frequently.
I tested out the connection playing various games like Valorant, Fortnite and Galahad 3093. I had no problems and had a consistent ping ranging from 15-25ms. A Call of Duty: Warzone update even took mere minutes, versus the 40-minutes to an hour wait time I had to endure before. Re-downloading Apex Legends took about 20-25 minutes, but downloading that game from scratch was already pretty heavy on my original router.
For those looking to future-proof their Wi-Fi, the TP-Link AXE5400 would be the perfect device for it. The initial setup was simple, the interface to monitor the networks was straightforward, and it offered extra security I did not know existed. With the rise of cyberattacks, this $300 investment could save millions, billions or trillions in damages for people and businesses. It could also prevent any personal data from leaking, like HBO’s viral leaks of Game of Thrones episodes back when it was airing week-to-week. While the price appeared to be steep, it was justified with its features and quality.
