It’s 2021 and the pandemic is still here. This means we’re still working from home until things get better. Having a reliable and fast WiFi connection is crucial for work productivity. Thus, that brings us to the new TP-Link Archer AX73, a high-performance AX5400 wireless router now available in Malaysia.
The Archer AX73 is a high-performance WiFi 6 router. It can support total WiFi link speed up to 5400Mbps with dual-band configuration. In fact, the router supported the 160Mhz mode which means the 5Ghz WiFi network can get really fast if you have a 160Mhz supported WiFi adapter.
What’s so good about the Archer AX73 is the price. It is available for sale at just RM399 in Malaysia with a 3 years one-to-one exchange hardware warranty and after sales support from TP-Link Malaysia.
Table of Contents
The first thing that you’ll notice from the Archer AX73 is the 6 antennas. These antennas are real and not just for show. We’ve taken apart router and identified that 4 antennas are used for the 5Ghz network and 2 antennas are used for the 2.4Ghz network.
The reason why there are 6 antennas is because the Archer AX73 uses an individual antenna for each transmit channel rather than combining both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz into a single antenna. Rather than using a dual-band antenna, each antennas on the router are optimized for their desired frequency, resulting in better performance without compromises.
The Archer AX73 also runs really cool and stable in our test. It’s because TP-Link used a much larger heatsink and added more ventilation. This is why the Archer AX73 is so big and heavy! In fact, it barely heats up even on prolonged stress test and certainly much cooler than the infamous Archer AX50.
Hardware and Specs
| Wireless 2.4Ghz | Wi-Fi 6 up to 574Mbps (40Mhz 2X2) |
| Wireless 5Ghz | Wi-Fi 6 up to 4804Mbps (160Mhz 4X4) |
| WiFi Features | OFDMA, MU-MIMO, Beamforming, WPA3, OneMesh |
| CPU | Broadcom BCM6750 1.5Ghz Triple-Core |
| Ethernet Ports | 1x Gigabit WAN port + 4x Gigabit LAN port |
| USB | 1x USB 3.0 port |
The Archer AX73 is powered by a fast Broadcom 1.5Ghz Triple-Core CPU and comes with 512MB RAM. TP-Link says this router can actually support up to 200 devices connected simultaneously. While I don’t have 200 devices to test, the router do work realiably in my home with close to 50 devices connected to it.
Connectivity wise, the router comes with 4 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports and a single Gigabit Ethernet WAN port. It also comes with a USB 3.0 port which can be used for file sharing and printer sharing to devices connected to the wireless router. The LED status indicator on the router can be disabled if needed.
Unboxing Archer AX73
The box of Archer AX73 for Malaysia market comes labeled with support for TM Unifi, Maxis Fibre and TIME Fibre.
Each antenna on router and accessories are individually wrapped. The cardboard box also provide sufficient protection during shipping. It comes with a CAT5E Gigabit Ethernet LAN cable and a 12V power adapter.
It is possible to wall-mount the wireless router with 2 mounting holes behind the product. The default WiFi name and password is also labeled on the back of the router. Similar to the top, the entire bottom of the product is full of ventilation holes for enhanced cooling performance.
Quick Teardown
I also did a simple teardown for the Archer AX73. Since I am not a hardware enginee, I won’t comment much about this. WiFi related components are shielded and there’s a decent sized heatsink to cool down the router. This explains why this router barely heats up.
Wi-Fi Performance
With the beefy specifications, let’s see if that actually transfer into actual performance in our benchmark test. I will be using a laptop with the Intel AX200 wireless adapter and an iPhone to test the 5Ghz Wi-Fi 6 performance of TP-Link Archer AX73. I will be skipping the 2.4Ghz result as it is probably irrelevant these days given how congested is the 2.4Ghz channel.
At short distance to the router, my iPhone can achieve over 800Mbps on the 5Ghz Wi-Fi network. This is not surprising considering most Wi-Fi 6 routers, even the budget models like Archer AX10 can deliver such performance. What we really want to know is the long range signal coverage and performance.
The 5Ghz signal on the Archer AX73 is really strong! The 5Ghz coverage and performance is faster and stronger than every single AX3000 wireless router that we’ve tested on this site. The performance is also stable and consistently replicable througout our review.
Security wise, it can support the latest WPA3 security right out of the box. However, I do not recommend using WPA3 as older WiFi devices may face compatibility issues. Considering a router last many years, you can consider enabling it few more years in the future as older devices are phased out from your home.
Firmware and Features
TP-Link maintain their philosophy of not overly bloating the firmware with features and I think it works here. Reliability is the keyword here as I find the Archer AX73 firmware is very well optimized. During my test, I do not face any issues with the router. The firmware always responded fast consistently.
The web interface is simple to operate and certainly very easy to setup the router. It can support TM Unifi, Maxis Fibre and all ISPs in Malaysia. For most users, it will involve connecting the router to the modem and use the setup wizard on the interface. The VLAN profile must be selected for TM Unifi or Maxis Fibre users in Malaysia.
TP-Link Tether app offers a quick overview of your home network condition such as connected devices and network speed. The app is well designed and really responsive in our test. It is securely linked to TP-Link cloud and authenticated with your personal TP-Link account. TP-Link HomeShield security feature is only accessible on the app as well.
TP-Link HomeShield Security
TP-Link HomeShield is their new commercial grade firewall replacing the previous HomeCare feature. It can protect your devices from accessing a malicious website containing a virus or malware with an advanced antivirus firewall. This feature is now powered by Avira Antivirus database.
It also added protection for smart home and IoT devices. Considering these devices rarely receive firmware updates, having extra protection is certainly helpful. TP-Link claims it can protect an insecure device from being used as a loophole to launch attacks on your home network. We have no way of verifying these claims.
HomeShield Parental Control
TP-Link new HomeShield parental control is also much smarter than before. It can perform content filtering by category and usage time limitation. The categories are more comprehensive covering more websites than before. Based on our testing on some known sites, it is certainly more effective than HomeCare and other similar systems that we have tested on other brands.
What’s so great about the new parental control is the ability to display usage charts and web history. It will show the top browsed website and attempts to access a blocked website by each user. If a page is blocked by the parental control feature, the user can request for access in which the admin can approve it via the TP-Link Tether app.
However, the upgraded HomeShield feature is not fully free. The Free tier only comes with the basic firewall without the advanced malicious content filtering feature. It also does not provide the comprehensive reporting of the parental control feature. More details available on TP-Link website here.
TP-Link HomeShield feature is a really robust parental control. While TP-Link provide a 30 days free trial of the Pro tier, it will cost RM24.90 per month after the trial has ended. I am fine with a subscription based business model but I find the price is too much.
OneMesh Capability
For those staying in a bigger home, it’s possible to link the Archer AX73 with a OneMesh extender. The OneMesh extender will then work together with the Archer AX73 resulting in a stronger WiFi coverage with true mesh WiFi features like seamless roaming and band steering unlike a traditional WiFi extender.
For the Archer AX73, I will only recommend linking it with a WiFi 6 OneMesh extender such as the RE505X and RE605X. Unfortunately, TP-Link does not allow router to router OneMesh currently. You also cannot link the Archer AX73 to a Deco Mesh WiFi system directly as they are based on a different technology.
Closing Thoughts
At RM399, the Archer AX73 offers really good performance even when comparing to some other routers that cost twice as much. It offers really good 5Ghz WiFi coverage and very fast WiFi speed on the 5Ghz channel with 160Mhz. Coupled with a fast 1.5Ghz Triple-Core CPU, it is a really good product from TP-Link.
TP-Link software is also smarter than before with a robust class-leading parental control feature. TP-Link is committed to provide more security to smart home and IoT devices with the new HomeSuite security suite. WPA3 security is also supported right out of the box.
TP-Link Archer AX73
9.2
Tubi Rating
pros
- Premium performance at affordable price
- Robust HomeShield parental control solution
- Stable and reliable software
- Good security
CONS
- Advanced HomeShield features require a subscription
- Limited OneMesh support
Hi,
Is Tp-link AX73 router better than my current Asus RT-AC86U router? Currently I have issue with my TV box movie streaming whereby it is lagging sometimes, since my TV box is downstairs and the router is upstairs.
The Archer AX73 will provide better WiFi speed and coverage but I think your TV box issue is due to the service provider slow server rather than the router.
Hi, I’m trying to decide between the AX50 and the AX73. Originally, I was going to get the AX50. Then I realized that for about $55.00 (US) more, I could get a newer design with much greater capability in the AX73. However, I am stuck, because I can’t tell if HomeShield Basic is as good as or better than HomeCare (I am not interested in paying for HomeShield Pro). I did a chat on their webpage with a rep from TP-Link, and after several attempts at asking the question, the rep said that HomeShield Basic was better than HomeCare. After… Read more »
HomeCare free tier actually comes with more features than HomeShield Basic. For example, time usage limit is now a paid feature.
Hi, I have certain dead zones in 3 level old townhouse, cement level floors, 2600 sq ft. Was going to update router on middle floor. Is AX50 good enough, better to go for ax73, or deco M9 plus and go mesh?
Please consider getting a mesh WiFi system instead. A router will only do so much and your space definitely require a mesh WiFi system if you wish to have good coverage. Consider the Deco M9 Plus 3 Pack.
Hello, my UNIFI is 500MB package. I am currently using DIR-850L from TM, and PC wifi adapter is TP-link AC1300 PCIE. Fortunately I do not face issue of disconnecting or overhearing so the past few years. However I had issue with wifi with only 9xMB – 2xxMB speedtest, sometime need to restart both modem and router to achieve 2xxMB. Secondly is second floor edge sometime hard to receive wifi connection. I do not have other wifi 6 device atm. Would like to know is AX73 would be a good upgrade? Do I need to upgrade my PCIE wifi adapter as… Read more »
Yup, the AX73 is a good choice. Just get the cheapest PCIE WiFi 6 adapter you can get.
I was gonna get AX50 but it’s out of stock in my country. AX73 is not released yet. Should I get AX82u instead? It costs two times more expensive than AX73.
My main usage is just for casual browsing and some heavy youtube session for two or three people. And to connect all smart lights and smart devices I have in my house. Do you have better router recommendation for my use case?
There’s nothing wrong with ASUS RT-AX82U if you can accept the price. It performs similarly to TP-Link Archer AX73 with some added features. This is why the Archer AX73 is such a good value for money.
i bought ax73 and performance on 2.4ghz is the same with Huawei HG8045A :'(
At a high interference location, 2.4Ghz will be slow irregardless of any router you use. Move on to 5Ghz.
Would combining Ax73 with Onemesh Extender Re505x/Re605x be a better option with lower cost, as compared to Onemesh M9 Decos. Would there be any compromise in terms of speed or reliability given like
– 1x AX73 + 2x RE505X/RE605X
vs
– 3x Deco M9
Would like to hear your thoughts? TQ
Deco M9 Plus will give better total performance which means the speed on the mesh node will be better. However, the AX73 solution should give you a faster speed on the main unit due to WiFi 6 but lose out on the mesh node due to dual-band rather than Tri-Band.
Hi, what do you recommend between TP-Link Archer AX73 and ASUS TUF AX3000? I see you’ve rated them both highly at 9.2 each. Thanks!
I will prefer the Archer AX73 as it performs better. But, the ASUS does offer some additional features. I will suggest do your own due diligence and see whether you need them.
May I know which one is a better one comparing between Asus RT-AX55 and Tp-link Archer AX73?
The Archer AX73 is miles ahead of the RT-AX55 in terms of performance and coverage. They don’t belong in the same segment. ASUS competitor to the Archer AX73 is the RT-AX82U.
I regretted buying this router due to the f***** up HomeShield. I want the good old Parental Control back, otherwise I will buy some other brands that has the good old fashioned Parental Control in the future. Pass on my piece of mind to TP-Link.
Will there be a firmware upgrade to put back the old fashioned Parental Control? Otherwise it will be bye bye.
Unfortunately, I don’t see TP-Link reverting back to the old HomeCare. HomeShield is superior in every way possible but TP-Link wants to charge a monthly subscription for some advanced feature which is unfortunate.
are all the features of this router disabled / moot if i decide to turn off wifi 6 and only use wifi 5 due to some IOT in my house that doesnt work well with wifi 6’s 2.4ghz? things like the mumino / beam forming etc etc
Beamforming will still be working as that got nothing to do with WiFi 6. As for MU-MIMO, 2.4Ghz really don’t benefit much from this. Most devices in the market does not support it as well.
Hello Blacktubi! Which router has better wi-fi range – AX73 or Tp-link C2300(2300 with transmit power set to High)? Thanks!
Archer AX73 under 80Mhz mode will have stronger signal that Archer C2300.