TP-LINK Archer C2600 and C3200 Wi-Fi routers

TP-LINK announced the Archer C2600 and Archer C3200 Wi-Fi routers. The Archer C2600 is ideal for supporting a large number of wireless devices simultaneously, while the Archer C3200 delivers the highest combined Wi-Fi speeds with two 5GHz bands for an optimized entertainment experience when gaming online or streaming 4K videos.

"There is a limit on what a simple increase in bandwidth can do to improve the performance of Wi-Fi routers in the home," said Lewis Wu, executive vice president of TP-LINK U.S. "To continue improving the speed, reliability, and overall quality of our routers we are utilizing advanced technologies that allow them to serve connected devices with far greater efficiency."

The Archer C2600 utilizes Qualcomm VIVE 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology delivering speeds of up to 2.6Gbps using the 2.4GHz band at 800Mbps and the 5GHz band at 1733Mbps. It also features Qualcomm MU | EFX -- the multi-user MIMO technology designed to make Wi-Fi work more efficiently to multiply performance for all devices on increasingly crowded networks. Qualcomm VIVE and Qualcomm MU | EFX are products of Qualcomm Atheros, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated. Until now, the traditional Wi-Fi router data transmission was a point-to-point connection in which the router sends and receives data from one device at a time, while other devices in a network would wait in queue. This process obviously impacts network performance due to wait times.

The Archer C2600 employs a multi-user input and output architecture, allowing it to establish a point-to-point connection with up to three devices at once. This architecture drastically improves speeds and reduces device wait times by as much as three times in comparison to traditional "round-robin" architecture, allowing the router to serve more Wi-Fi clients simultaneously while minimizing bandwidth bottlenecks.

Though MU-MIMO EFX architecture allows for up to four point-to-point connections, the Archer C2600 dedicates one of these connections to monitoring, optimizing and minimizing interference for the other three connections in order to provide faster and more reliable overall data transmission. The architecture also has the ability to perform "Dynamic Grouping" of devices based on usage and network demand, ensuring each connection operates at the fastest capacity possible.

Archer C2600 Key Features:

• Four high gain external antennas and amplifiers to boost range coverage.
• Beamforming enhancement due to the Qualcomm MU|EFX architecture, which delivers a more focused wireless connection to the device.
• Gigabit Ethernet ports for fast, reliable wired connections.
• USB 3.0 ports for high-speed data transfer with connected storage devices.
• Qualcomm MU|EFX connects and serves more devices at once (instead of one at a time), reduces wait times and increases connection reliability; network speeds increase by approximately three times.

Archer C3200
The Tri-Band router operates at a combined speed of up to 3.2Gbps, with two 5GHz bands that reach up to 1300Mbps each and one 2.4GHz band that reaches up to 600Mbps. The router transmits data simultaneously across its two 5GHz bands, and achieves its highest combined speeds in part by automatically balancing network demand. The Tri-Band router avoids bottlenecks that occur when multiple devices demand high amounts of bandwidth at the same time for intensive tasks like gaming online or streaming 4K videos.

Archer C3200 Key Features:

• Smart Connect Technology automatically assigns devices to the most appropriate band.
• Two 5GHz bands, each operating at speeds of up to 1300Mbps.
• One 2.4GHz band operating at speed of up to 600Mbps.
• Six high-powered amplifiers and six external antennas.
• Substantial RAM for reduced buffering times.