TP-Link Archer GE800 router review: Awe-inspiring overkill

Nathan Lawrence - Freelance Contributor

Last updated 18 September 2024

TP-Link Archer GE800

Our verdict

The TP-Link Archer GE800 is a gaming router that’s built with the future in mind. For an admittedly steep investment, you’ll have more wireless and wired speed than you can practically use today. The performance and premium experience are there, too, even if the size and weight make it trickier to place than other routers.

From $1,199 RRP

What we love

Fully futureproofed
Extremely user-friendly UI/app
Great default settings

What could be improved

The RRP is hard to get past
It's big and heavy
Automated band switching has issues

The essentials

Setup

Outside of finding a place large enough to put it, this admittedly heavy router is a breeze to set up via the Tether companion app.

Ports

A great selection of futureproofed ports, including four 2.5Gbps LAN and two 10Gbps options. There’s also a USB 3.0 port for an ad hoc media server.

Speeds

This is a speedy gaming router that doesn’t skip a beat, even if it’s a wee bit reliant on its faster SSIDs. Basically, expect your devices and internet to be the speed bottlenecks.

Performance

Basic and more advanced tweaks are accessible (and encouraged) in the companion app, with a comprehensive suite via web portal. The GE800 also supports EasyMesh expansion.

The TP-Link Archer GE800 is the gaming router of tomorrow, sometimes to its detriment, starting with an astronomical RRP. That $1,000+ price investment boasts plenty of back-of-the-box trappings, like futureproofed Ethernet ports—multiple 2.5Gbps and 10Gbps options—plus the next-gen wireless speed potential of WiFi 7.

As a big online gamer, I found myself drawn to these futureproofed additions during my time reviewing the GE800. But the catch is the router of tomorrow leaves a lot on the table today, particularly when it comes to the practical realities of the devices in your home. Basically, if you’re not rocking devices with cutting-edge WiFi or gear with beyond-gigabit Ethernet ports, the GE800 offers more promise than proof.

When those devices eventually become the norm, the GE800 is built to grow with you. But before then, it’s a big ask to invest in something whose true potential isn’t entirely practical in the current Australian internet and device landscape.

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What we like about the TP-Link Archer GE800

The TP-Link Archer GE800 gaming router is an investment in futureproofed, no-compromise networking. This isn’t the first pricey networking kit I’ve reviewed, so there’s a certain expectation for a premium experience from unboxing through to everyday use. And the GE800 absolutely delivers on that front.

Download the recommended Tether companion app (before disconnecting your old router), and you should be online in minutes. I really like that TP-Link gets the basics right, shunning the trend of putting default network info on the bottom of the networking equipment and, instead, separating it onto a separate sticker, one that has space for you to write any updated info. That sticker also has a QR code for the Tether app.

My Google Pixel 7 Pro prompted me to connect to the GE800’s default WiFi network once it powered on, and the Tether app did a bang-up job of automatically detecting the internet connection type. The companion app then offers a few optional settings before allowing you to tinker with the basics or, impressively, more advanced options that are typically relegated to a router web portal. That web portal is also intuitive and packed with features.

Switching the GE800’s default IP address triggered an automatic update to the all-important DHCP server, and it was super easy to find the firmware update and port-forwarding settings. It’s also great to see at-a-glance info for connected devices, and I always appreciate when band steering—a feature that lets a networking device intuitively shift between its 2.4GHz, 5GHZ and, in this case, 6GHz networks—is enabled by default, which the GE800 did.

My GE800 speed tests were a mostly impressive affair, across internet and local file transfers. And, as you’d hope from a router this expensive, everyday use was an almost entirely hurdle-less affair. Similarly, there was zero issues with online gaming or VoIP calls, and the GE800 does a great job of automatically handling traffic via Quality of Service (QoS) to preserve the quality of, say, a Netflix stream while you’re otherwise downloading files at full speed. Speaking of QoS, there’s a hardware-level QoS for one of the gaming-tagged 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports, which is a neat touch.

What we dislike about the TP-Link Archer GE800

The big disclaimer for routers or mesh WiFi systems is they require extra user-provided equipment and a bit of setup knowledge to be used in FTTN and FTTB homes, which typically rely on a modem-router. Check your NBN connection type on the NBN Co website if you’re wondering whether you need a modem router for your home internet.

For the TP-Link Archer GE800 gaming router specifically, the first obvious gripe is the price. That $1,199 RRP is a tough pill to swallow, and that’s coming from someone who’s part of the target market. The overall value is too dependent on disclaimers. To get the full experience, you need at least WiFi 6E devices (if not rarer WiFi 7 ones), plus at least 2.5Gbps wired gadgets, and internet that quite frankly doesn’t yet exist.

At the time of writing, NBN 2000 is on the horizon for next year, and NBN 1000 is still the fastest available consumer plan, not only limited by max 1,000Mbps download speeds but the reality that FTTP modems only have gigabit Ethernet ports. Basically, outside of much faster local file transfers across your network-linked devices, the GE800’s full-speed internet potential is limited by what’s available in the Australian market. The GE800 is built for 10Gbps internet, but that’s not even yet part of the discussion for Aussie internet.

Outside of the price and speed limitations which, admittedly, aren’t really TP-Link’s fault for futureproofing a product, there are a couple of notable cons. The GE800 is heavy and takes up a lot of space, the latter point being particularly challenging when finding a place for it to live, more so in comparison to regular-sized routers and especially for slimline mesh WiFi systems.

There was also evidence that the GE800 had trouble with how smart it was with band steering. On a Google Pixel 8 Pro, there were a whole lot of connectivity issues, but my research suggests that’s more the phone than the router. For any Pixel 8 Pro owners with WiFi dropout woes, disable band steering (aka ‘Smart Connect’ on the GE800) and stick to the 2.4GHz channel to fix those issues.

For my Google Pixel 7 Pro tests, I only had one instance of a seconds-long dropout, assumedly as the GE800 automatically switched between 5GHz and 2.4GHz networks. The more telling issue was for my longer-range speed tests—the ones outside my apartment at around 13 and 26 metres, respectively—where the slower download and upload speeds suggested that the GE800 was prioritising 5GHz connectivity over 2.4GHz. 5GHz is faster over shorter distances but 2.4GHz offers more reliable speeds over longer ranges, particularly if your internet speed is anywhere up to and including NBN 250. Whatever it was doing, the GE800 had a noticeable download and upload speed drop-off at those ranges.

TP-Link Archer GE800 – Final Thoughts

So much of the tech-loving, full-speed-ahead impatient parts of me love the TP-Link Archer GE800. I’ve happily invested thousands in networking gear without buyer’s remorse in the past, but that’s collectively, not in a single device. The reality is, if I was considering buying the GE800, I’d not only wait for a significant price drop, I’d also wait until my devices and, more importantly, internet connection was fast enough to match the potential of this router of tomorrow.

I live in an FTTC apartment, and I’m using an NBN 100 plan, which is the fastest available for that NBN technology type. But the thing is, even if I had FTTP and an NBN 1000 plan, that still wouldn’t solve the full-picture value proposition of the GE800. Sure, I’ve been mocked by tech-minded mates for spending more on 40Gbps-capable Cat8 Ethernet cables rather than ‘slumming it’ with 10Gbps-capable Cat6a or 7 alternatives. But even I’m struggling to get past the reality that most of my wireless devices are, at best, WiFi 6E and most of my wired ones are relegated to 1Gbps Ethernet ports.

In that respect, it’s not just a $1,199 investment to own the GE800 today; it’s the reality that I’d need to upgrade my gigabit network switch, 1Gbps NAS and hope that future consoles and TVs offer faster Ethernet ports to even tap into the 2.5Gbps perks of TP-Link’s cutting-edge router let alone 10Gbps. If I had all of that, I’d be tempted. But as it stands, without it, the admittedly impressive GE800 gaming router is more a distant tomorrow purchase than anything close to being relevant today.

How we review modems and routers

We consider several factors when reviewing networking equipment, including:

Type: Router, modem router or mesh WiFi system. Supported NBN technologies and plan speeds.
Design: Size, weight and standing options. Internal or external antennae. Available ports, WiFi version, and single, dual or triband wireless.
Setup: Plug-and-play configurations vs laborious setup. Companion apps and guided setups are a plus.
Performance: Ethernet and WiFi speed tests for downloads, uploads and latency. Real-time latency test for online gaming, VoIP and/or video calls. Plus, everyday use like downloading, uploading, browsing and streaming.
Versatility: Band steering (single SSID), quality of service and other features. Ease of configuration, plus mesh expansion.

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Nathan Lawrence

Freelance Contributor

Nathan Lawrence is a freelance writer with over 11 years of experience. He has contributed to publications including WhistleOut Australia, Review.org/au, IGN, STACK, Fandom, Red Bull, and AusGamers. Nathan specialises in researching, writing, and editing content around technology, telecommunications, and gaming.

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