Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
TP-Link covers every corner of the consumer wireless router market, particularly in the Wi-Fi 7 realm. The company offers sub-$100 dual-band routers, compact travel routers, tri-band gaming routers, and even high-end quad-band mesh routers for the most discerning enthusiasts. Now, the company is branching out with a new dual-band gaming router: the Archer GE400.
This product slots in under the tri-band Archer GE550, GE650, and GE800. The Archer GE400 features a wealth of ports, along with a host of software features that cater to gamers looking to get that extra edge during fierce online competitions. While all of this sounds good on paper, we found that the Archer GE400 had spotty performance on our wireless tests, which made us question its value proposition against the cheaper Archer BE3600, which is one of the best Wi-Fi routers .
Design of the TP-Link Archer GE400 Gaming Router
For a wireless router, the Archer GE400 has a bold design with sharp lines and six movable antennas to improve wireless transmission. There are triangular banks of ventilation slats on the top of the router, and a mesh ventilation network on the bottom. However, the eye-catching feature of the Archer GE400 is a single, vertical LED strip mounted on the top of the router. It’s configurable using either the web GUI or TP-Link’s Tether smartphone app for its routers. You can turn off the LED strip altogether or choose from several lighting patterns.
Image 1 of 4 (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
TP-Link includes a USB 3.0 port on the side of the router for connecting storage devices, but the rest of the ports are on the back. Here (from left to right), you’ll find a button to turn off the LED strip, a reset button, a 2.5 GbE WAN port, a 2.5 GbE gaming port, three GbE LAN ports, the power port, and the on/off button.
There are two mounting points on the bottom of the router for attaching it to the wall.
TP-Link Archer GE400 Gaming Router Specifications
Swipe to scroll horizontally MSRP Wi-Fi Standard # of Bands 2.4 GHz Speeds 5 GHz Speeds Coverage Ports TP-Link Archer GE400 $219.99 Wi-Fi 7 2 688 Mbps 5,764 Mbps 2,600 sq ft 1 x 2.5G WAN, 1x 2.5G LAN, 3 x 1G LAN, 1x USB 3.0 TP-Link Archer BE3600 $99.99 Wi-Fi 7 2 688 Mbps 5,764 Mbps 3,000 sq ft 1 x 2.5G WAN, 1x 2.5G LAN, 3 x 1G LAN, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.2, 1x USB 3.0 Asus RT-BE86U $249.99 Wi-Fi 7 2 1,032 Mbps 5,764 Mbps 2,750 sq ft 1 x 10G WAN/LAN, 1x 2.5G WAN/LAN, 3x 2.5G LAN Asus RT-BE88U $349.99 Wi-Fi 7 2 1,376 Mbps 5,764 Mbps 3,000 sq ft 1x 10G WAN/LAN, 1x 10G SFP+, 1x 2G WAN/LAN, 3x 2.5G LAN, 1x USB 3.2
... continue reading