TP-Link, one of the most popular brands when it comes to networking and smart home solutions, recently launched its latest Wi-Fi 6 products in the Philippines, the Archer Air R5 Wi-Fi Router and the Archer Air E5 Range Extender. While Wi-Fi routers are common nowadays, these latest products from TP-Link offer something new.
These Archer products, although presented together, are sold separately and as the names indicate, are separate products. The Air R5 is an AX3000 Router; the Air E5, on the other hand, is an AX3000 Ranger Extender. In other words, the R5 will be your main router, while the E5 boosts the R5’s coverage. It’s a common concept, yes, but it gets better.
Most routers in the market feature a chunky design that takes up desk space and has multiple antennas surrounding it. While this is common for most routers, not all users are fond of it. This is where the Archer R5 and E5 have an advantage, as it doesn’t actually take desk space because you can just mount it on a wall.
Yes, other Wi-Fi routers can be mounted on walls. However, these products actually look good doing it, as they feature an 8mm ultra-thin body and are designed to be mounted on a wall either via a thin plastic bracket or 3M adhesives. It’s like mounting a photo frame on a wall. It might be even thinner than a photo frame, while the white design gives off a low-key yet sophisticated look.
The setup is pretty simple. But before you do that, you have to find a place to mount the R5 and E5. Once you’ve already done that, all you need to do is plug the R5 into a power socket using its USB-C power adapter and connect it to your modem to the R5’s WAN port. Next, open the TP-Link Tether app, create an account, then follow the instructions. In our experience, we were able to complete the setup in just 15 minutes.
For the E5, the process is simpler as it doesn’t need a LAN connection (sorry, there is no Ethernet backhaul feature here). Just mount it on a wall and plug the USB-C power adapter, then open the Tether app and set it up under the range extender category. Once connected, the two devices will work seamlessly and provide you with a single Wi-Fi signal.
Although slim, the Archer R5 and E5 are actually powerful routers. It packs 4x built-in smart antennas that use intelligent algorithms to auto-detect your device’s locations and switch to the optimal antenna arrays. You can roam around your home, and you will remain connected. It is also capable of speeds of up to 574 Mbps on 2.4GHz and up to 2402 Mbps on 5GHz. In our experience, we were able to get our subscribed download and upload speeds while having 18 devices connected at the same time.
If you use the Tether app on Android or iOS, you will be able to take advantage of the Archer R5 and E5’s features like parental controls, Quality of Service, Home Network Scanner, and VPN Server.
To conclude, the TP-Link Archer R5 and E5 give a fresh take on what a Wi-Fi router should be. It looks good, takes minimal space, yet is powerful enough to provide you with a great internet experience.
The Archer R5 is priced at PHP 6,590 (https://shope.ee/40Eshbl6jF), while the Archer E5 is at PHP 5,990 (https://shope.ee/1VXXj2GDfX).
