INTRODUCTION

   With more and more people owning several smartphones, tablets and notebooks demand for high-performance wireless modem/routers has never been higher and although dual-band models are currently dominating the market thanks to their very tempting price/performance ratio for some people the more expensive tri-band models are a one way. Now if you've been following our reviews you should know that tri-band models don't necessarily offer faster "single-link" speeds compared to dual-band ones but they do support more concurrent connections with wireless devices (mostly 802.11ac 5GHz compatible ones) and so if your household has numerous such devices (device-heavy homes as some manufacturers call them) a tri-band model should be a better fit. TP-Link released their Archer C5400 Tri-Band MU-MIMMO Gigabit Router back in 2016 which after receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews was upgraded to hardware version V2.0 and that's what todays review is all about.

   Founded in 1996, TP-Link is a global provider of reliable networking devices and accessories, involved in all aspects of everyday life. The company is consistently ranked by analyst firm IDC as the No. 1 provider of WLAN and broadband CPE devices, according to latest published IDC Worldwide Quarterly WLAN Tracker Report, Q32016 Final Release, supplying distribution to more than 120 countries and serving hundreds of millions of people worldwide. With a proven heritage of stability, performance and value, TP-Link has curated a portfolio of products that meet the networking needs of all individuals. Now, as the connected lifestyle continues to evolve, the company is expanding today to exceed the demands of tomorrow.

   Just like its immediate competition the Archer C5400 V2 is a tri-band quad-stream (4x4) router which offers a combined Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 5333 megabits per second via two 5GHz bands (2167Mbps each) and a single 2.4GHz band (1000Mbps thanks to NitroQAM). The Archer C5400 V2 is actually equipped with one of the most powerful processors available in the market currently and more specifically the BCM4709C0KFEBG dual-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU by Broadcom clocked at 1.4GHz (same as the EA9500 by Linksys) which TP-Link paired with a total of 512MB RAM (256MB over the EA9500), 128MB of NAND flash and three BCM4366 4x4 radios. The Archer AC5400 also supports Beamforming (directs Wi-Fi signal to your wireless devices according to their location and distance), MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output - efficient handling of wireless bandwidth) and link aggregation/Ethernet bonding (can use more than one LAN NIC to achieve even higher performance). Externally the Archer C5400 V2 features a total of 8 high gain foldable Antennas (can't be replaced), 4 RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet ports, RJ45 Gigabit WAN port, USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 port. Also before we continue with our review i just wanted to point out that the only "visible" differences between V1 and V2 of the Archer C5400 (unfortunately we don't have both versions side by side to check for any hardware differences) is the added support for Amazon Alexa and IFTTT and extra QoS (quality of service), antivirus and parental controls thanks to TP-Link's Homecare suite (AV is provided by TREND micro).