Tenda was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in China, and has been growing with the production of all kinds of more affordable networking products compared with other big vendors. How do these Tenda products compete with others from bigger vendors such as TP-link and D-link?
Tenda wifi 6 routers
Tenda released two series of wifi-6 routers with different network segments, Tenda ax1800 (Tx3 and Rx3) and Tenda ax3000 (Rx9 pro and Tx9 pro). From each of the ax1800 and ax3000 series, there are two models that are the same, the model with the prefix T and R, which when compared to specs, there is no difference. Maybe for different Country market I guess. See also new Tenda Nova MW12 mesh wifi vs Deco M9.
Tenda ax1800 vs ax3000
We all know that the difference between wifi 6 ax1800 router and ax3000 router is the difference in total bandwidth or commonly referred to network segment which a wireless router works at. So what is the difference between Tenda ax1800 vs Tenda ax3000 in terms of hardware or technical specs?
Pay attention to table 1 below which provides technical specs comparison between Tenda ax1800 and Tenda ax3000.
Different processor
Note that both hardware equipment is almost the same, except the processor embedded into the router board is different. In fact, the ax1800 wifi router is equipped with a Qualcomm Broadcom quad-core processor, while the ax3000 router is equipped with a dual-core processor. I wish that the specs that Tenda provides through its website were reversed that the ax3000 router should’ve been equipped with a quad core processor.
Table 1 Tenda ax1800 vs ax3000
| Tenda series | Tenda ax1800 (Rx3 / Tx3) | Tenda AX3000 (Rx9 / Tx9) |
| Wifi technology | Simultaneous dual band ax1800 | Simultaneous dual band ax3000 |
| Wifi signal speed | 574Mbps @2.4GHz; 1201Mbps @5GHz | 574Mbps @2.4GHz; 2400Mbps @5GHz |
| Antennas | 4x 6dBi external antennas | 4x 6dBi external antennas |
| Ethernet Ports | 1x Gigabit WAN port; 3x Gigabit LAN ports | 1x Gigabit WAN port; 3x Gigabit LAN ports |
| USB | N/A | N/A |
| Processor | 1.5GHz Quad core processor | 1.6GHz Dual Core processor |
| Dimension | (237.6 x 153.1 x 45) mm | (272.44 x 162.85 x 43.71) mm |
Like the ax1800 wifi-6 routers generally sell for around $100 in some online stores like Amazon, Buy etc. How does this Tenda ax1800 compete with similar products like the TP-link Archer ax21 or D-link dir-x1870?
Tenda ax1800 vs Archer vs D-link
Let’s see how these three products are compared. The following two spec comparison tables show you the spec differences (if any). Table 2 shows you spec comparison table between Tenda Rx3 ax1800 and D-link dir-x1870 ax1800 wifi-6 routers. On the other hand table 3 does for Tenda ax1800 vs Archer ax21 ax1800.
All the three routers are dual band ax1800 (600 + 1200) with MU-MIMO and OFDM technology and all the three are ready for WPA3 latest wireless security encryption in the market today.
Antenna gain
One thing that distinguishes the Tenda Rx3 ax1800 wifi 6 router from TP-link Archer ax21 and also the D-link dir-x1870 ax1800 wifi 6 router is the antenna design with 6dBi gain. This means that the antenna is not directed evenly in all directions or Omni-directional but is aimed at a certain angle. And this may mean that the router will be placed on the side of the house corner where the end point of wire cable modem from the provider is placed.
If so the wireless signal will be broadcasted towards mostly the front of the router with no or reduced signal broadcast signal in the opposite direction. It means that the router is not right if it is placed in the center of the house hoping that the entire house is covered by the signal evenly. This is just a theory of signal propagation with dBi gain. The dBi gain antenna means directing the broadcasting signal in a certain direction, it does not mean increasing the signal strength but directing the signal further to a narrower angle and reducing the signal in the opposite direction.
The D-link ax1800 antennas is also designed with high gain but not specify how much dBi the gain is.
Table 2 Tenda Rx3 ax1800 vs D-link
| Wifi 6 router model | Tenda rx3 | D-link dir-x1870 |
| Wifi technology | Simultaneous dual band ax1800 wifi-6 router | Simultaneous dual band ax1800 wifi-6 router |
| Signal rate | 574Mbps @2.4GHz ; 1,201Mbps @5GHz | 600Mbps @2.4GHz ; 1,200Mbps @5GHz |
| Antennas | 4x 6dBi external antennas with signal amplifier | 4x high-gain external antennas and high-power amplifier |
| Ethernet Ports | 1x Gigabit WAN; 3x Gigabit LAN ports | 1x Gigabit WAN; 4x Gigabit LAN ports |
| USB port | N/A | N/A |
| Security | WPA3 ready | Latest WPA3 supports |
| Processor | 1.5GHz Broadcom quad core processor | Triple core processor; clock rate unknown |
| Operating mode | Wireless router / Repeater mode / WISP mode | Wireless router / Access Point |
| Coverage | Up to 1,200 sq ft | Unknown |
| Smart home | Supports Alexa | Works with Alexa and Google assistant |
| Price | $84.99 | $101.99 |
Port interfaces
If you compare to Archer ax21 and D-link which are each equipped with 4x Gigabit LAN ports, Tenda rx3 is only equipped with 3x Gigabit LAN in addition to 1x Gigabit WAN port. And only archer ax21 is equipped with one USB 2.0 port to allow you share USB disk storage.
Table 3 Tenda rx3 ax1800 vs Archer ax21
| Wifi 6 router model | Tenda rx3 | TP-link Archer ax21 |
| Wifi technology | Simultaneous dual band ax1800 wifi-6 router | Simultaneous dual band ax1800 wifi-6 router with 4-streams |
| Signal rate | 574Mbps @2.4GHz ; 1,201Mbps @5GHz | 574Mbps @2.4GHz ; 1,201Mbps @5GHz |
| Antennas | 4x 6dBi external antennas with signal amplifier | 4x fixed high performance external antennas |
| Ethernet Ports | 1x Gigabit WAN; 3x Gigabit LAN ports | 1x Gigabit WAN; 4x Gigabit LAN ports |
| USB port | N/A | 1x USB 2.0 |
| Security | WPA3 ready | Latest generation of wifi security encryption WPA3 |
| Processor | 1.5GHz Broadcom quad core processor | 1.5GHz quad core processor |
| Operating mode | Wireless router / Repeater mode / WISP mode | Wireless router / Wireless AP |
| Coverage | Up to 1,200 sq ft | Unspecified |
| Smart home | Supports Alexa | Works with Alexa |
| Price | $84.99 | $89.99 |
Now, which one is suitable to meet your business need? When you have to place the router not in the center of the house Tenda rx3 and D-link ax1800 is better with high gain antennas.
Prices listed may not be the same as current price, prices is always fluctuating. Click the product links below to see current price and shop in Amazon (#ads).
Related products
For higher bandwidth, you may consider new Google Nest Pro and Deco XE75 based on wifi 6e. Or you may also consider the mesh wifi system – see new TP-link Deco x68 ax3600 mesh wifi vs Orbi rbk752.