Among other things, the Archer AXE300 is the first Quad-band Wi-Fi router with three Multi-Gig ports and SFP+ support, which its main competitor, the Asus GT-AXE16000, doesn’t have. Most importantly, the new router proved to be a formidable performer in my hands-on testing.
Here’s the bottom line: If you’re looking for a well-performing standalone router ready to host a Multi-Gig network right out of the box (which you can expand via a switch) at the current price of $450, the Archer AXE300 is an excellent buy. Go for it!
TP-Link Archer AXE300: A non-compromising home router
The TP-Link Archer AXE300 is a large square box with eight non-removable antennas mounted at its four corners. These are large antennas making the whole package relatively bulky.
It’s pretty hard to figure out which side is the router’s “front”, but you can call the side that houses the network port its “back” and go from there.
What’s important, on the inside, the Archer AXE300 practically has everything you’d want in a standalone router. (The word is put in italic intentionally, and you’ll find out why.)
This third Quad-band piece of hardware — after the Asus GT-AXE16000 — has mighty processing power, three flexible Multi-Gig ports, and top-tier Wi-Fi specs with a combined bandwidth of 16000Mbps.
It can also have a robust local web user interface and a great set of features and network settings. But, like all things, it’s still not perfect.
Let’s check the hardware specs.
Archer AXE300: Hardware specifications and power consumption
| Model | Archer AXE300 |
| Dimensions | 9.1 × 9.1 × 2.7 in (232 × 232 × 68 mm) |
| Weight | 3.75lbs (1.7kg) |
| Processing Power | 2.0 GHz Quad-Core CPU, 1GB RAM, 256MB Flash |
| Wi-Fi Bandwidth | Quad-band AXE16000 |
| 1st Band (channel width) | 4×4 2.4GHz AX: Up to 1148Mbps (20/40MHz) |
| 2nd Band (channel width) | 4×4 5GHz-1 AX: Up to 4804Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) |
| 3rd Band (channel width) | 4×4 5GHz-2 AX: Up to 4804Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) |
| 4th Band (channel width) | 4×4 6GHz AXE: Up to 4804Mbps (20/40/80/160MHz) |
| Backward Compatibility | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi |
| Wireless Security | WPA / WPA2 / WPA3 |
| Web User Interface | Yes |
| Mobile App | TP-Link Tether (optional) |
| Operating Roles | Router (default) or Access Point |
| Mesh-Ready | Yes (OneMesh) |
| USB Port | 1x USB 3.0 |
| Gigabit Port | 4x LAN |
| Multi-Gig Port | 1x 2.5Gbps Multi-Gig LAN/LAN 1x 10Gbps Multi-Gig LAN/WAN 1× 10 Gbps Multi-Gig/SFP+ Combo WAN/LAN |
| Link Aggregation | LAN only (LAN2 + LAN3) LACP or Static |
| Dual-WAN Support | No |
| Power Intake | 100-240V |
| Power Consumption (per 24 hours) | ≈ 465 Wh (as tested) |
| Release Date | October 2022 |
| Firmware (at review) | 1.0.3 Build 20220907 |
| U.S MSRP | $448.10 |
Flexible Multi-Gig ports with a hint of SFP+
Like the case of the Asus GT-AXE16000, the TP-Link AXE300 comes with three Multi-Gig ports, including two 10GbE ports and one 2.5GbE port. You can use any of them as the WAN port, and the rest will work as LANs.
What sets the new router apart is its first 10Gbps port, which is also its default WAN port. It’s a 10Gbps BaseT/SFP+ combo port, meaning you can use it as a Multi-Gig port or an SFP+ at a time. (If you’re unfamiliar with SFP+, open the drawer below for more.)
This flexibility means the AXE300 can host an SFP+ Fiber-optic ONT, an SFP+ device, such as a NAS server, or a standard RJ45 device of the same roles.
So with the Archer AXE300, you can host two Multi-Gig devices right out of the box while hosting super-fast broadband simultaneously.
For best performance, though, I’d recommend getting a Multi-Gig switch — the Zyxel XS1930-12HP or TP-Link’s own TL-SX1008 will come in handy.
Home router and 10Gbps grade
To deliver (close to) true 10Gbps, a router needs more than just a couple of 10Gbps Ethernet network ports. It also requires high processing power and applicable firmware to handle this bandwidth.
Generally, Multi-Gig home and SMB routers, including top-tier ones, do not have enough to deliver true 10Gbps (10,000Mbps) throughputs. After “overhead”, they sustain at around 6,500Mbps, give or take. (A similar thing can be said about most 10Gbps switches though they tend to have better-sustained rates than routers.)
That’s partially why more home Wi-Fi routers support the lowest tier of Multi-Gig, 2.5Gbps, than those with 10Gbps ports. In this case, you can expect them to deliver close to 2,500Mbps in real-world speeds.
And that also proved to be the case with the TP-Lik AXE300, as you’ll note in the performance section below.
Besides the Multi-Gig ports, the Archer AXE300 also has four Gigabit ports, of which you can combine the LAN2 and LAN3 ports to form a 2Gbps Link Aggregation connection.
Unfortunately, the router doesn’t feature Dual-WAN, which will come in handy for those with two Internet plans. Furthermore, you can’t turn a Gigabit LAN port into the WAN role to free up all Multi-Gig ports to work as LANs. But that’s just another example of how we can’t get everything.
A familiar TP-Link Archer experience
Despite the new and exciting hardware specs, the Archer AXE300 felt familiar in my experience. It shared the same firmware, interface, and mobile app (optional) as other Archer routers I’ve tested.
A standalone router at heart
As mentioned above, considering its hardware specs and Multi-Gig ports, the Archer AXE300 is meant to be a standalone router.
Yes, the router supported TP-Link’s OneMesh, where you can add an extender to it to scale up the Wi-Fi coverage. And that worked well in my trial with the RE715X.
Unfortunately, the extender itself, despite being the “high-end” among OneMesh-ready extenders, has middling Wi-Fi specs. Consequently, clients connected to the mesh satellite had just a portion of the speed they could get when connected directly to the router. And that makes its second 5GHz band a little redundant.
Generally, when it comes to Multi-Gig speed grades, you need to get your home wired, and for now, there’s no mesh option for the AXE300 that won’t reduce its performance significantly.
So it’s best to consider this router if you only need a standalone broadcaster or intend to use access points to scale up the coverage.
But chances are you’ll do just fine with the Archer AXE300 alone.
TP-Link Archer AXE300: Exellent performance
I tested the Archer AXE300 for almost a week and was generally happy with it. As a standalone router, it delivered a similar experience as the Asus GT-AXE1600 but at a lower cost.
For one, it proved reliable, passing our intense stress test with no issue.
And it had an excellent collective range. It’s hard to quantify this, but if you live in a home of around 2000 ft2 (186 m2), give or take, this router will e able to deliver strong signals to every corner.
In terms of throughput speeds, the router was overall excellent but not with some usual caveats.
Fast but far from “true” 10Gbps
I tested the router’s Multi-Gig ports the way I do switches, and the router was fast but sustained well below 10Gbps, just like the case of others with similar port grades.
Specifically, when used as LAN ports hosting two 10GbE-enabled clients, the router’s two 10Gbps ports sustained at just above 5Gbps.
And when hosting a 10Gbps Fiber-optic, either of its 10GbE ports could deliver close to 6Gbps of bandwidth.
Fast Wi-Fi performance
The Archer AXE300 was consistently excellent. It’s easily one of the fastest routers I’ve tested.
It’s also worth noting that the router’s gaps between the close range and long range were narrow, showing that it had strong signals.
USB port’s NAS performance could be better
And finally, when hosting a portable drive, Archer AXE300 did well, though not as well as I’d hoped.
Overall, the Archer AXE300’s performance is similar to the Asus GT-AXE1600, which is excellent. The two have similar performances — the differences are within the margins of errors.
Conclusion
The TP-Link Archer AXE300 is an excellent Wi-Fi 6E router worthy of its $600 price tag.
If you live in a relatively large, airy home with super-fast Internet and want a top-notch network, get this new Wi-Fi Machine today.