TP-Link Dual-Band BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Router Archer BE230 | 4-Stream | 2×2.5G + 3×1G Ports, USB 3.0, 2.0 GHz Quad Core, 4 Antennas | VPN, EasyMesh, HomeShield, MLO, Private IOT |… by TP-Link

Product met all expectations. Could have gone with the cheaper version that omits the USB storage feature, but really wanted the option of network storage… which works well. The only hiccup I faced was the hours waisted in setting it up with my local fiber provider … who unknowingly to me, locks Mac addresses. Thankfully, the ability to clone the old router mac address to the new router solved my problem.

Wifi 7 sortof… not a 3 band but 2 band router. It is very fast compared to the AX1800 I replaced. My last 3 setups have been TP Link products and always have had good value/performance with them. The only disappointment is to use the upgraded security features requires a subscription now. I won’t be doing that as I am using basic router security and always on a VPN whether home or away. This is a very good value if you want to insure being up to standard protocol for some time to come. My home is a ranch 1800′ and the reach upstairs and downstairs is strong. The router has performed flawlessly since being installed.

Update: It is now April 21, 2020 and we’ve been using the router for 2 months. It is still working perfectly for us and we have zero complaints. I highly recommend it!

We moved to the middle of nowhere about 7 years ago and it never occurred to us to check who provided TV/internet/phone at the new house before buying. We found out after buying the house that the only providers were satellite companies. We realized very quickly that first year that satellite sucks, the internet specifically. We got locked into a $75 a month plan with HughesNet for a year and never once were able to actually use the internet that whole year. It was really frustrating. We simply did not have home internet for the past 6 years due to a lack of a decent provider. This past week Spectrum finally moved their service to our road. We immediately signed up. I knew I wasn’t paying them $5 a month to rent a router from them but I also wasn’t sure at all how to pick out a router myself. I’ve always been pretty tech savvy but when you lose access(and a need) to those things you stop keeping up with them, I was seriously behind on all the new updates that have been made over the last several years. I knew I didn’t want to spend more than $50 on a router and after doing some research I finally decided on this TP-Link AC1200 and basically just hoped for the best. Some of the reviews weren’t great so I was nervous. It arrived a day after our internet was installed so I set it up by myself. It took me all of 20 mins from unboxing to the whole house having Wi-Fi, it was VERY easy. I love that it has it’s own app, a very convenient feature. We live in a 2000sq. ft., one floor, manufactured home. These homes have pretty thin walls so the signal reaches from one end to the other very easily. We are also extremely heavy on our data usage in this family and while it’s only been a couple of days now it has had zero trouble keeping up with us. We’ve had zero buffering while streaming & using our phones, everything has been working very quickly. We have several smart TVs, cell phones, a laptop, a printer & a PS4 connected to it at the moment. The technician from Spectrum who installed our internet also said this was a good option for our 200mbps plan. I hope this helps someone make up their mind on whether this router will be a good choice for them. I will update the review if anything changes but as of now this seems to have been a pretty solid purchase and I’m happy with it.

Funciona muy bien sin problemas de conexión.

TLDR: I think Tom’s Hardware Guide said it best “Bringing Wi-Fi 7 to the masses… The TP-Link Archer BE3600 is cheap, but you also don’t get the full spec of features or performance of “true” Wi-Fi 7 routers”. If you’re not big into gaming and just want a no-frills router to support your 1 Gbps or lower internet connection, there’s nothing wrong with the Archer BE3600. I personally, am very happy with my purchase and it’s probably the best solution for 85% of people out there/ non-enthusiasts. NOTE: I paid $83 for this Wifi router using an Amazon coupon. Which I think is a very fair price for something I only plan to upgrade every 5-7 years, and only if I have to. I also live in a townhouse, so it’s not like the signal has to go 60+ft.

Details:
Upgrading from a TPLINK AC1750 (Archer A7) [release ~2018], using Comcast internet (Fast plan; up to 600 mbps down) and a Netgear AC1200 WiFi USB Adapter 802.11ac Dual Band, USB 3.0 (on my computer but in a USB 2.0 port) which was about 7 feet away from the wireless router and I saw a measurable increase in my download speeds (~45% from ~260mbps to ~380 mbps using Ookla speed test).

Purportedly the TP-Link BE3600 which was released in the 2024/2025 timeframe uses the same frequency bands (5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands) as the older TPLINK AC1750 (Archer A7), but uses the newer and faster WIFI 7 (802.11be) vs the older WIFI 5 (802.11ac) protocols. The TP-Link BE3600 advertises up to 3.57 Gbps (aka 3570 Mbps; 2882 Mbps in 5 GHz band + 688 Mbps in 2.4 GHz band) whereas the Archer A7 only 1.75 Gbps (1300 Mbps in 5GHz + 450 Mbps in 2.4 GHz bands).

Practically speaking the internet says anything above 100 Mbps should be able to run multiple devices pretty well streaming. But I’m upgrading anyway, because my mother needs a new router so she doesn’t have to pay $10/mo for one from the cable company.

I have no complaints. Easy to setup and connect to. I realize I’m now probably being gated by my older Netgear AC1200 WiFi USB Adapter which is using a USB 2.0 port (max speed 480 mbps) but my speeds are enough for me; my newer gaming PC which sits about 10 ft away from the router and uses a built-in WIFI card (Wi-Fi 6E 802.11ax) manages ~500 mbps down.

CAVEAT: I do want to note my older Netis WF2120 Wireless N150 Nano USB Dongle 802.11 b/g/n (aka WIFI 1/3/4) on an older computer was not able to see the 2.4 GHz signal from the BE3600 whereas it could from the AC1750; so I replaced it. I ended up using a spare Wavlink 600M dual-band connectivity (2.4GHz and 5GHz) USB WiFi adapter which uses 802.11ac WIFI 5; and had to update the drivers on my older windows PC in the process (to recognize the Wavlink adapter).