TP-Link Archer AX12 AX1500 Wi-Fi 6 Dual-Band Gigabit Router

The TP-Link Archer AX12 is a dual-band Wi-Fi 6 router for homes and small offices, and the least complicated way to move a household off an ageing Wi-Fi 5 box without changing anything else about the connection. It runs the 802.11ax standard across both bands for a combined 1.5 Gbps — 1201 Mbps on 5GHz and 300 Mbps on 2.4GHz — with 4 external antennas and beamforming aiming the signal towards where devices actually sit. OFDMA and MU-MIMO are the parts that matter in a full house: rather than serving devices one after another, the router talks to several at once, which keeps a video call steady while somebody else streams. On the wired side there is 1 Gigabit WAN port and 3 Gigabit LAN ports. Security is WPA3 with an SPI firewall, access control and parental controls, Target Wake Time lets battery-powered devices sleep between transmissions, and setup runs through the TP-Link Tether app, which can also switch the unit into Access Point mode. It carries a 1 year warranty, which does not cover the power adapter. Coverage is rated at around 2,000 sq ft, a 2 to 3 bedroom flat, and up to 20 connected devices, which is a realistic ceiling for a family with phones, laptops, a smart TV and a few smart-home gadgets. It is a sensible replacement for the router an ISP hands over, particularly in a concrete-walled flat where a single-band unit never quite reaches the far bedroom.