TP-link launches few variants of wifi 6 routers in the first quarter of 2021, the Archer ax90 ax6600, Archer ax3200 and Archer ax73 ax5400. Take this tplink ax90 and compare it with other similar products from other vendors in the midst of very tight competition. They are popular products: Archer ax90 ax6600, Netgear rax70 and Asus rt-ax89u provide the best value in the middle class of current wifi 6 routers.
In this article:
- Middle Range Archer Series
- Archer Series Comparison
- TP-link Archer AX90
- Archer ax6000 vs Archer ax90
- Spec Comparison table
Middle Range Archer Series
Before we discuss Archer ax90, it is better if we examine differences from these three Archer series. These three series differ in the wifi technology that is applied to each product. Please pay attention to the ‘wifi’ row in the comparison table for the three products below. With different wifi designs, different antenna designs from each series are also different.
Archer Series Comparison
Besides the difference in wifi, the interface ports are also different. The Archer ax90 and Archer ax3200 are equipped with the same Ethernet and USB port interfaces, while the Archer ax73 is slightly different.
Look at the comparison table for the three product series below.
Table 1 TPlink AX90 vs AX3200 vs AX73
| Archer ax90 | Archer AX3200 | Archer ax73 | |
| Wifi | Simultaneous tri-band ax6600 (4,800 + 1,200 + 574); 8 streams | Simultaneous tri-band ax3200 (1,440 + 1,200 + 574); 7-streams | Simultaneous dual band ax5400 (4,800 + 574); 6-streams |
| Antennas | 8x fixed antennas 4T4R / 4×4 MU-MIMO | 7x fixed antennas 3T3R / 3×3 MU-MIMO | 6x fixed antennas 4T4R – / 4×4 MU-MIMO |
| Processor | 1.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU | 1.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU | 1.5 GHz Triple-Core CPU |
| Ethernet Ports | 1x 2.5 Gbps WAN/LAN ; 1x 1 Gbps WAN/LAN ; 3x 1 Gbps LAN Ports | 1x 2.5 Gbps WAN/LAN ; 1x 1 Gbps WAN/LAN ; 3x 1 Gbps LAN | 1x Gigabit WAN ; 4x Gigabit LAN ; Static Link Aggregation (LAG) available with 2x LAN ports |
| USB Ports | 1x USB 3.0 port; 1x USB 2.0 port | 1x USB 3.0 port; 1x USB 2.0 port | 1x USB 3.0 port |
| WPA 3 ready | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Network security | HomeShield | N/A | HomeShield |
TP-link Archer AX90
Previously, TP-link had released the archer ax6000 which becomes the main competitor of the popular products released by netgear, the Netgear rax80 and also Asus rt-ax88u.
You may alos like to see the mesh version of Deco X95 which boosts enhanced features of the previous Deco X90 model.
Besides the existing archer ax6000, TP-link adds two other series that work at higher and lower series of ax6000. The Archer Ax90 that works at the ax6600 network segment and the AX73 archer at the ax5400. What are the main differences between the previous archer ax6000 and the new tplink ax90 ax6600 series?
Archer ax6000 vs Archer ax90
Physically, the design of these two products is different in style, even though they both use the same eight external antennas. The Archer ax6000 is symmetrically designed with two antennas on each corners of the body. While the archer ax90 antenna design is not positioned symmetrically like the archer ax6000. However, the four antennas at the rear body and the other four located at the right and left side of the body.
Please refer to table 1 below, see that the main difference is the dual band vs tri-band technology applied to each of the series and of course the corresponding wifi speeds each radio band is also different.
Port interfaces
Note that the 2.5Gbps port on tplink ax90 you can use it either as a wan port if your ISP provides services up to 2gbps. Or you can use it as a LAN port if you need a multi-gig wired connection, such as for high speed NAS connection with 2.5Gbps port. On the other hand, the Archer ax6000 also has 2.5gbps port, but only designed as a WAN port.
Table 1 Archer ax90 vs archer ax6000
| Wifi 6 Router | TP-Link Archer AX90 | TP-link Archer AX6000 |
| Wifi technology | Simultaneous tri-band ax6600 with 4×4 MU-MIMO and OFDMA with 8-streams | Simultaneous dual band ax6000 with 4×4 MU-MIMO and OFDMA with 8 streams |
| Wifi speeds | 5 GHz: 4804 Mbps (802.11ax, HE160) 5 GHz: 1201 Mbps (802.11ax) 2.4 GHz: 574 Mbps (802.11ax) | Up to 4,804Mbps @5GHz Up to 1148Mbps @2.4GHz |
| Antennas | 8x High power Fixed High-Performance Antennas | 8x Fixed High gain High-Performance Antennas |
| Ethernet ports | 1x 2.5 Gbps WAN/LAN 1x 1 Gbps WAN/LAN 3x 1 Gbps LAN | 1x 2.5Gbps WAN , 8x 1.0Gigabit LAN , Static Link Aggregation (LAG) available with 2× LAN ports |
| USB ports | 1x USB 3.0 Port 1x USB 2.0 Port | 2x USB 3.0 in Type A and Type C |
| Processor | 1.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU | 1.8 GHz 64-bit Quad-Core CPU and 2 co-processors with 8GB RAM |
| Security | WPA WPA2 WPA3 WPA/WPA2-Enterprise (802.1x) HomeShield Security | WPA WPA2 WPA3 A free lifetime subscription of TP-Link HomeCareTM |
| Modes | Router Mode Access Point Mode | Router Mode Access Point Mode |
| Price | $289.99 | $269.99 |
In addition, tplink ax6000 has more four Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports with total of 9 ports as opposed to only 5 ports.
How will this new series of Archer ax90 ax6600 wifi-6 router compete with other two competing products new series of Netgear rax70 ax6600 and Asus rt-ax89u wifi-6 router?
Archer ax90 vs Netgear vs Asus
Previously, Netgear has also added two new series in addition of Netgear rax80 ax6000. This product is the first generation of Netgear products with wifi-6 technology. The two new series are Netgear rax70 ax6600 and Netgear rax78 ax6200.
Table 2 below shows you spec comparison table for TP-link Archer ax90 vs Netgear rax70, both are new series of ax6600 routers. The other product that also needs to compare with Archer ax90 is the Asus rt-ax89x ax6000 wireless gaming router, one of Asus ax6000 routers in addition of rt-ax88u.
Wifi
Both these new series of Archer ax90 and Netgear rax70 are tri-band wifi-6 routers that work at ax6600 network segment with 8-streams. On the other hand, Asus rt-ax89x is designed with 12-streams, 8-streams @5GHz radio bands and 4-streams @2.4GHz band. Archer and Netgear are designed with 4×4 MU-MIMO only at 4,800Mbps @5GHz band.
What the bandwidth of each radio bands as seen on wifi speeds row on the following tables.
Table 2 Archer ax90 vs Netgear
| Wifi 6 Router | TP-Link Archer AX90 | Netgear rax70 ax6600 |
| Wifi technology | Simultaneous tri-band ax6600 with 4×4 MU-MIMO and OFDMA with 8-streams | Simultaneous tri-band ax6600 with 8-streams with 4×4 MU-MIMO |
| Wifi speeds | 5 GHz: 4804 Mbps (802.11ax, HE160) 5 GHz: 1201 Mbps (802.11ax) 2.4 GHz: 574 Mbps (802.11ax) | 600Mbps @2.4GHz 2×2 1,2Gbps @5GHz 2×2 4.8Gbps @5GHz 4×4 |
| Antennas | 8x High power Fixed High-Performance Antennas with beamforming | 4x Internal antennas with beamforming |
| Ethernet ports | 1x 2.5 Gbps WAN/LAN 1x 1 Gbps WAN/LAN 3x 1 Gbps LAN | 1xGigabit WAN Port 4xGigabit LAN ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet port aggregation |
| USB ports | 1x USB 3.0 Port 1x USB 2.0 Port | 1x USB 3.0 port |
| Processor | 1.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU | Powerful Quad-Core 64-bit 1.5GHz Processor |
| Security | WPA WPA2 WPA3 WPA/WPA2-Enterprise (802.1x) HomeShield Security | NETGEAR Armor Cybersecurity |
| Price | $289.99 | $278.00 |
Ethernet Ports
While Netgear rax70 comes equipped with 5x gigabit Ethernet ports, the tplink ax90 and asus rt-ax89x do equipped with multi-Gigabit Ethernet ports. Archer ax90 is equipped with a 2.5Gbps port which can be used for either WAN or LAN port. On the other hand, the Asus is equipped with a super fast 10Gbps which can be used as either WAN or LAN port. Is there a need for a 10Gbps port for internet or LAN?
So far the Surfboard s33 and Netgear cm2000 DOCSIS 3.1 cable modems are equipped with 2.5Gbps port.
Spec comparison table
Table 3 Archer ax90 vs Asus
| Wifi 6 Router | TP-Link Archer AX90 | Asus rt-ax89x |
| Wifi technology | Simultaneous tri-band ax6600 with 4×4 MU-MIMO and OFDMA with 8-streams | Simultaneous dual band ax6000 MU-MIMO and OFDMA with 12 streams |
| Wifi speeds | 5 GHz: 4804 Mbps (802.11ax, HE160) 5 GHz: 1201 Mbps (802.11ax) 2.4 GHz: 574 Mbps (802.11ax) | 802.11ac : up to 1000 Mbps 802.11ac (5GHz) : up to 4333 Mbps 802.11ax (2.4GHz) up to 1300 Mbps 802.11ax (5GHz) : up to 4804 Mbps |
| Antennas | 8x High power Fixed High-Performance Antennas with beamforming | 8x dual band external antennas 2.4 GHz 4 x 4 5 GHz 8 x 8 |
| Ethernet ports | 1x 2.5 Gbps WAN/LAN 1x 1 Gbps WAN/LAN 3x 1 Gbps LAN Ports | 1x RJ45 for 10Gbps BaseT for WAN/LAN 8x RJ45 for 1Gbps BaseT for LAN 1x RJ45 for 1Gbps BaseT for WAN |
| USB ports | 1x USB 3.0 Port 1x USB 2.0 Port | 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 |
| Processor | 1.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU | 2.2GHz quad core processor with 256MB flash and 1GB RAM |
| Security | WPA WPA2 WPA3 WPA/WPA2-Enterprise (802.1x) HomeShield Security | WPA3 AiProtection Pro powered by Trend Micro a commercial grade security protection |
| Price | $289.99 | $399.99 |
Now, which one is suitable to meet your business need? Click the product’s link below to shop the product on Amazon (#ads).
- SHOP Now Archer ax90 ax6600 router (#Ad)
- Or click here to SHOP Netgear rax70 (#Ad)
- Or SHOP Asus rt-ax89x (#Ad) that comes with 10Gbps port
Related products
You may like all-in-one device – Asus cm-ax6000 cable modem router combo that combines ax6000 wifi-6 router and built-in DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem.
For new latest wifi-6e technology, you may like to see Asus Rog rapture gt-axe11000 wifi-6e router and Netgear raxe500, new generations of wifi 6e technology with 6GHz radio band. And also new adapters that supports 6GHz radio band – various models of wifi 6e tri-band PCIe adapters.