Why you can trust Tom’s Hardware
Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
TP-Link covers every corner of the consumer wireless router market, particularly in the Wi-Fi 7 realm. The company offers sub-$100 dual-band routers, compact travel routers, tri-band gaming routers, and even high-end quad-band mesh routers for the most discerning enthusiasts. Now, the company is branching out with a new dual-band gaming router: the Archer GE400.
This product slots in under the tri-band Archer GE550, GE650, and GE800. The Archer GE400 features a wealth of ports, along with a host of software features that cater to gamers looking to get that extra edge during fierce online competitions. While all of this sounds good on paper, we found that the Archer GE400 had spotty performance on our wireless tests, which made us question its value proposition against the cheaper Archer BE3600, which is one of the best Wi-Fi routers.
Design of the TP-Link Archer GE400 Gaming Router
For a wireless router, the Archer GE400 has a bold design with sharp lines and six movable antennas to improve wireless transmission. There are triangular banks of ventilation slats on the top of the router, and a mesh ventilation network on the bottom. However, the eye-catching feature of the Archer GE400 is a single, vertical LED strip mounted on the top of the router. It’s configurable using either the web GUI or TP-Link’s Tether smartphone app for its routers. You can turn off the LED strip altogether or choose from several lighting patterns.
Image 1 of 4
TP-Link includes a USB 3.0 port on the side of the router for connecting storage devices, but the rest of the ports are on the back. Here (from left to right), you’ll find a button to turn off the LED strip, a reset button, a 2.5 GbE WAN port, a 2.5 GbE gaming port, three GbE LAN ports, the power port, and the on/off button.
There are two mounting points on the bottom of the router for attaching it to the wall.
TP-Link Archer GE400 Gaming Router Specifications
|
MSRP |
Wi-Fi Standard |
# of Bands |
2.4 GHz Speeds |
5 GHz Speeds |
Coverage |
Ports |
|
|
TP-Link Archer GE400 |
$219.99 |
Wi-Fi 7 |
2 |
688 Mbps |
5,764 Mbps |
2,600 sq ft |
1 x 2.5G WAN, 1x 2.5G LAN, 3 x 1G LAN, 1x USB 3.0 |
|
TP-Link Archer BE3600 |
$99.99 |
Wi-Fi 7 |
2 |
688 Mbps |
5,764 Mbps |
3,000 sq ft |
1 x 2.5G WAN, 1x 2.5G LAN, 3 x 1G LAN, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.2, 1x USB 3.0 |
|
Asus RT-BE86U |
$249.99 |
Wi-Fi 7 |
2 |
1,032 Mbps |
5,764 Mbps |
2,750 sq ft |
1 x 10G WAN/LAN, 1x 2.5G WAN/LAN, 3x 2.5G LAN |
|
Asus RT-BE88U |
$349.99 |
Wi-Fi 7 |
2 |
1,376 Mbps |
5,764 Mbps |
3,000 sq ft |
1x 10G WAN/LAN, 1x 10G SFP+, 1x 2G WAN/LAN, 3x 2.5G LAN, 1x USB 3.2 |
Setting up the TP-Link Archer GE400
The Archer GE400 can be initialized using either a web GUI (in a desktop browser) or the TP-Link Tether app. To speed things along, I opted to use the Tether app due to its ease of use. Once I opened the app, I tapped the “+” symbol in the top-right corner and chose to add a standard router. The setup program then asked me to scan the QR code on the bottom of the router with my smartphone’s camera. Next, my phone asked me to join the temporary wireless network to set up the Archer GE400.
From there, things were pretty simple: I was tasked with creating an admin password to log in to the router and choosing an SSID. By default, the Archer GE400 enabled Smart Connect, which combines the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands under a single SSID (I chose Archer_GE400). More on that later.
Finally, I was given the option to turn on automatic firmware updates for the router. The entire process took less than 5 minutes, with the required steps clearly outlined and explained for novices.
TP-Link Archer GE400 Gaming Router Software
Although I used the Tether app to set up the Archer GE400, I switched to the web GUI for the rest of my testing. The interface’s overall aesthetic is pleasing, dominated by black and red. This is a stark departure from the white and blue design theme that you’ll find on non-gaming Deco and Archer routers from TP-Link.
There are six tabs across the top of the GUI: Network Map, Game Center, Internet, Wireless, HomeShield, and Advanced. Network Map outlines your current connection type, internet IP address, and current router uptime. You’ll also see an overview of the currently enabled SSIDs, CPU/memory loads, and a visual representation of which physical WAN/LAN ports are active. Finally, a Connect Clients feature shows you which devices are currently connected to the router and how they are connected (wired, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz).
Image 1 of 3
The Game Center tab is what separates the Archer GE400 from TP-Link’s other, more basic dual-band Wi-Fi 7 routers like the Archer BE3600. The primary Game Panel shows you current network traffic, CPU/memory load, connected USB devices, and allows you to configure the RGB strip on the top of the router.
Image 1 of 3
Delving deeper into the submenus, there are options for Game Application Boost (which lets you specify the total bandwidth you want to dedicate to gaming devices), Game Server Acceleration via WTFast, and traffic priority per LAN port. Other features include Game Port Forwarding, network traffic statistics for the games you play, and Game Detector, which shows you ping times in real-time for popular game servers.
The Internet tab is basic, as it only shows your current connection type and allows you to clone a MAC address for the router.
The Wireless tab lets you control all the available SSIDs on the Archer GE400. By default, the Archer GE400 enabled Smart Connect, which combines the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands into a single SSID and routes devices to the optimal band. I prefer to keep a separate SSID for each band, so I disabled Smart Connect and created two SSIDs: Archer_GE400 for the 2.4 GHz band and Archer_GE400_5G for the 5 GHz band. You can also create an MLO network, allowing you to simultaneously send and receive data on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Finally, TP-Link will enable you to create separate Guest and IoT networks — you can configure either to allow only 2.4 GHz traffic, only 5 GHz traffic, or both.
The HomeShield tab includes a Network Check function that scans your network for security issues. Parental Controls are also available which you can specify per device.
Finally, the Advanced tab is where you’ll find more granular control of features that gaming enthusiasts might want to tweak. Many of the functions from the previous five main tabs are also duplicated here, but you’ll also find other additions like SpeedTest, an option to create an EasyMesh network with another supported router, VPN integration, firmware updates, backup/restore of router settings, and a router reboot schedule (among many other features).
TP-Link Archer GE400 Gaming Router Performance
I tested the Archer GE400 using our tried and true, purpose-built testing client rig, which includes an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, an MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 adapter (Qualcomm NCM865), and Windows 11 Home. Windows 11 has all the latest software updates installed, while the Herald-BE is running the latest drivers available from MSI’s support website. The server is a Windows 11 Home machine with a 10 GbE network card connected to the 2.5 GbE Game LAN port on the Archer GE400 router.
Image 1 of 4
As always, benchmark results may vary widely depending on the layout of your home, apartment, or office. Home construction, wall thickness, the choice of materials in the flooring, and even the number of walls between the router and clients can affect performance. So, while the results that I present are consistent, given that the testing locations and methodology that I use in my home don’t change, they might not align with what you might see in your specific home or office environment.
Our iPerf3 throughput tests are conducted at six-foot and 25-foot distances, with and without traffic on the network. In the congested traffic tests, we add six wireless clients streaming 4K YouTube videos across multiple wireless bands.
One word sums up the performance I was able to extract from the Archer GE400: disappointing. When it comes to baseline wireless performance, the Archer GE400 should offer comparable performance to the dual-band Archer BE3600. However, our results showed the Archer GE400 lagging behind its cheaper sibling in nearly every metric.
The Archer GE400 brought up the rear of the pack in our 5GHz iPerf3 test with no additional network traffic. The router achieved 951 Mbps at close range (6 feet), which put it nearly 200 Mbps behind the Archer BE3600 and even further behind the Asus RT-BE86U (1,473 Mbps) and the RT-BE88U (1,256 Mbps). It wasn’t much better at 25 feet, though the Archer GE400 managed 552 Mbps, compared to just 382 Mbps for the sub-$100 Archer BE3600.
Things looked slightly better for the Archer GE400 with the 2.4 GHz test, where it hit 135 Mbps at 6 feet, putting it in second place behind the Archer BE3600 (214 Mbps). However, when stretching out to 25 feet, the Archer GE400 lagged all competitors at 36 Mbps.
In our iPerf3 test, with congested traffic, the Archer GE400 secured third place with 882 Mbps at 6 feet and even came in first place (478 Mbps) at 25 feet. It was another mixed bag with congested traffic on the 2.4 GHz band — the Archer GE400 snagged second place with 102 Mbps, while the Archer BE3600 led the field at 205 Mbps. However, the Archer GE400’s fickleness reared its ugly head again at 25 feet, where it finished last with 31 Mbps.
Bottom Line
The TP-Link Archer GE400 features an angular design and RGB lighting meant to appeal to gamers, and includes a 2.5 GbE WAN and an additional dedicated 2.5 GbE gaming port. TP-Link also provides a comprehensive suite of gaming-related enhancements that can be configured via the Tether smartphone app or the web GUI.
However, those pluses clash with its real-world wireless performance, which was a mixed bag. Short-range performance on the 5 GHz band lagged its rivals, although the tables turned at longer distances. Conversely, the Archer GE400 showed relatively strong performance at short range on the 2.4 GHz band but faltered at long range.
The biggest knock against the Archer GE400, however, is pricing. The router has an MSRP of $219.99, but is currently available at Amazon for $169.99 after a $50 instant discount. For comparison, the Archer BE3600, which offers faster and more consistent wireless performance, is available for just $89.99. If you can look past the fancy RGB lighting and don’t need the gaming-specific tweaks, it’s hard to justify the $80 price differential.
