The Archer AX5400 Pro has good speeds for the money. We say that a lot because, in most cases, Wi-Fi 6 routers in a specific price bracket have a similar speed range from two feet to 120 feet. In this case, we generally record averages of just over 840Mbps at close range and around 250Mbps at 120 feet.

And while the Archer AX5400 Pro had a slightly better up-close speed average than the competition in our tests, we found the Reyee RG-E5 to have the best range for a $150 router. We recorded 330Mbps at 120 feet, the highest average we’ve tested on a router to date. The NETGEAR Nighthawk XR1000 had a better 120-foot average than the TP-Link router, too, testing at 275Mbps compared to 242Mbps with the Archer AX5400 Pro.

Even at 40 feet (our marker just beyond the front patio), the Reyee RG-E5 surpassed the competition with a 636Mbps average. The Archer AX5400 Pro also did fairly well here, with a 601Mbps average—but at a slightly higher cost. And yes, the Reyee model has the upper hand here as the better megabit-per-dollar value, but it doesn’t have all the features offered on TP-Link’s router, like multi-gig internet support and built-in VPN tools.

Like the hardware design, the Archer AX5400 Pro is fairly standard in features for a router at this price. The USB port supports file sharing and local media streaming, but there’s no native printer share support. In fact, as we look in our database, TP-Link routers rarely support printer sharing—but many ASUS and NETGEAR routers do.

There’s also a built-in VPN server and client. The latter should come in handy if you already have a VPN subscription and want to use it with devices that don’t support VPN software, like IoT gadgets, media streamers, and game consoles. Other notable features here include per-device speed limits, smart assistant support (via the Tether app), and mesh networking support.

What we wish the Archer AX5400 Pro did better

• Free security
• More free parental controls

Many of TP-Link’s routers include HomeCare, a free suite of security tools and parental controls. The Archer AX5400 Pro is not one of them. There are some basic parental controls here and a free evaluation of your network’s security, but you need a HomeShield Pro subscription to assign different bedtimes or block malicious content, for example.

The Archer AX5400 Pro has a relatively standard design for a router at this price: two bands, a handful of Ethernet ports, and a single USB port. In fact, it’s the same design used with the Archer AX73, only this model sports a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port—the “pro” portion of this router—and a different shell. You can use the multi-gig port for internet or local networking, while the USB ports set you up for file sharing. You get all the 5 GHz channels and 160 MHz channel support too for hitting those real-world sub-2Gbps wireless speeds.

Setting up this router was highly annoying. It crashed twice and didn’t save most of the settings we manually set during the multi-step process. Plus, the setup is still overly lengthy compared to other routers that usually auto-detect some settings and push other settings into an Advanced setup.

We’re all about keeping a consistent user experience across multiple devices. Router manufacturers don’t seem to grasp this concept. They push mobile apps as your primary go-to interface, but eventually, you end up loading a browser to change this setting or that setting.

TP-Link is an excellent example of this. The QoS settings—which are nothing more than speed limits and device prioritizations—are clearly categorized in the Tether app, but there’s no QoS category in the web interface. Instead, you’ll find the same settings parked next to each device on the network map. Plus, you can only access the free parental controls in the mobile app. Want to set up the VPN server? It’s only accessible on the web interface.

Ugh.

Seriously, all this back-and-forth to manage one network is downright annoying, but they all mostly do it. The only exception we’ve seen to date is the ExpressVPN Aircove, which ditches the mobile app and forces you to use a web browser on mobile and desktop.

Yes, you can access TP-Link’s web interface through a mobile browser, which nicely conforms to the smaller screen. But you may find using a mobile browser for network management inconvenient and clunky, hence the need for a more user-friendly Tether app.

Overall, both the web interface and Tether app experiences are just okay. We’ve seen better web layouts on other routers that ditch the tabs and list everything in streamlined, expandable categories. The Tether app is a cleaner experience that crams mostly everything under a Tools tab.