Tp link ac5400 vs. Nighthawk x6 – A tri-band wireless routers review
If you’re not sure the kind of router you’re looking for whether it’s a mesh system router or a feature-rich high-performance router for your home, you should check out this Tp link ac5400 vs. Nighthawk x6 article to help you decide the best router for your home network.
I live in quite a large old house with lots of thick brick walls which makes it a bit tricky to get a fast and reliable connection to every room in the house. Currently, am using two routers that work on different networks because I don’t have a mesh system. Having to connect and disconnect from one network to the other whenever I enter a room is frustrating that’s why I’ve decided to upgrade to a wireless router that can provide wifi to the entire house. The Tp link ac5400 vs. Nighthawk x6 comparison article will help me in deciding which router will be best for my wifi needs.
Table of Contents
What are the differences between Tp link ac5400 and Nighthawk x6?
Model |
Tp link ac5400 (Winner) |
Nighthawk x6 |
Antennas |
8 |
6 |
Processors |
1.4 GHz dual-core processor and 3 co-processors |
1 GHz dual-core processor with 3 offload processors |
Wifi speeds |
2.4 GHz – 1000 Mbps
5 GHz – 2167 Mbps 5 GHz – 2167 Mbps |
2.4 GHz – 600 Mbps
5 GHz – 1300 Mbps 5 GHz – 1300 Mbps |
Advanced technology |
MU-MIMO and beamforming |
Beamforming + and smart connect |
Tp link ac5400 vs Nighthawk x6: How do they differ?
Design
The tp link ac5400 router is a small boxy-shaped router with 8 non-detachable antennas that you can flip in and out. The powerful antennas will send strong signals to every room in your home so that you can use your devices anywhere in the house without experiencing any interference or dead spots. You can easily stuff this router in a tight corner or carry it with you if you’re traveling. The nighthawk x6, on the other hand, has an insect-like design with a rectangular chassis that slopes upwards and 6 foldable external antennas. When the antennas are fully extended, the router looks like a 6-legged insect that is upside down. It’s a big and bulky router so you can place it on the shelf or mount it on your wall.
Wifi system
The tp link ac5400 router has a very powerful 1.4 GHz dual-core processor that is assisted by 3 other co-processors to provide lad-free wifi to all the connected devices on your network. It also ensures that your wifi is running smoothly when downloading files and playing games at the same time. This way you can enjoy whatever you’re doing. The nighthawk x6 router operates on a 1 GHz dual-core processor that can provide up to 3500 sq. feet of wireless coverage. It’s built to provide wireless speeds for heavy-duty activities like 4 K HD streaming and live online gaming.
MU-MIMO and beamforming
While both routers use the beamforming technology, Archer c54000 uses MU-MIMO to allow for high-speed connectivity without interruptions while nighthawk x6 doesn’t have MU-MIMO. With MU-MIMO, the router’s performance is boosted and its overall speeds increase significantly giving you more throughput on all the bandwidths. The router is also able to handle multiple devices at once while still maintaining fast connections throughout your network.
Tp link ac5400 vs. nighthawk x6 – A comparison review
Tp link ac5400
- BATTLE TESTED Enjoy 4K video and play online games simultaneously with ultra fast 802.11ac Wave 2 MU MIMO...
- LIGHTNING FAST WIFI AC5400 Tri Band with 4 Stream and NitroQAM technology delivers up to 5400Mbps Wi Fi...
Archer c5400 is a wireless tri-band wifi router that combines design, speed, and performance for a balanced router with all that you need. Although it’s barely bigger than an iPad, it’s an absolute beast when it comes to raw, unrestricted wireless speeds. It promises really good wireless coverage and support for multiple devices simultaneously thanks to its tri-band wifi configuration and the 8 antennas that can broadcast wifi in all directions. Archer c5400 is a tri-band 4×4 wireless router that can deliver maximum speeds of 2167 Mbps on each of the two 5 GHz bands and 1000 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band. It’s less than 10 inches wide and 1.7 inches tall so you can stuff this router in a tight corner if you have limited space in your house. You can also carry it with you without any problems. This router has a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor with 3 co-processors that has MU-MIMO and beamforming capabilities. At the back of the router, you will find 4 gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, internet port, USB 2.0 port, USB 3.0 port, a power switch, reset button, and power output not forgetting the 8 non-detachable antennas.
Setting up this Archer c5400 router is very simple. You can use the tp link tether app on your desktop or phone to get to the control panel that you can easily navigate. Once you’re connected to the router it will prompt the setup wizard to configure your router. You will then need to create a secure password for the admin. Some of the options on the dashboard include tabs for the internet, wireless, USB settings, parental controls, and guest networks that you can easily customize including everything from managing the number of clients on your network at a given time to set up a media server. You can also opt to direct all the traffic from your router to the VPN server and also set up a print server and install a 4G connected USB modem if you’re going to be traveling with the router. This router has network management and monitoring aspects that alert you when a new device connects to your network. This is very helpful in maintaining security for your system. Homecare is a built-in anti-virus and anti-malwarefeature that helps to safeguard every connected device on your network from malware and hackers while blocking users from accessing malicious sites from within your network. It will also quarantine any infected devices in your network and send you a warning so you can quickly fix the infected device.
Although Archer c5400 has a small frame, it can still match up to the bigger routers when it comes to performance. When transmitting data over a distance of 5 feet on the 2.4 GHz band, this router can deliver speeds of 108.11 Mbps for the download and 103.86 Mbps for the upload. At 30 feet it drops to 84.31 Mbps for the download and 61.92 Mbps for the upload speeds. On the 5 GHz band at 5 feet, it scored 459.5 Mbps for the download and 369.84 Mbps for the upload speeds. At a distance of 30 feet, the router speeds dropped slightly to 269.54 Mbps for the download of 231.07 Mbps for the upload. Overall, it has very impressive wifi speeds and excellent range.
Pros
- Has a powerful 1.4 GHz Broadcom dual-core processor
- Super-fast speed performance
- The homecare feature protects the devices on your network from viruses and hackers
- You can use the Alexa voice command to control your network
Cons
- It’s quite expensive
- It could use a few more wired ports
Nighthawk x6
- Recommended for up to 50 devices: Reliably stream videos, play games, surf the internet, and connect...
- Wired Ethernet ports: plug in computers, game consoles, streaming players, and other nearby wired devices...
Nighthawk x6 is a tri-band wifi router that will connect up to 50 devices and provide reliable wifi for video streaming, surfing the net, playing games, and connecting to your smart home devices. It operates on a 1 GHz dual-core processor with 3 offload processors, 256 MB of RAM, and 128 MB flash memory. It has a 2.4 GHz band that can support speeds of up to 600 Mbps and 1300 Mbps on the two 5 GHz bands. The two 5 GHz bands help to balance the network load. With most home networks, your smartphones, gaming consoles, and tablets perform heavy-duty tasks that demand higher throughput speeds like HD streaming and online gaming, so you want to assign them to the more robust 5 GHz band to reduce congestion. This router automatically assigns more devices on the 5 GHz band without affecting performance.
This router has a weird design that looks like a robot insect that has a rectangular body with 6 retractable external antennas that you can fold in and out and rotate them as you try and find a better signal, but if they break they can’t be replaced. At the back panel, you will find 4 LAN ports, a WAN port, a power switch, a USB 2.0 port, a USB 3.0 port, and an LED on and off switch. The 13 LED lights on the top panel indicate the status of the various router connections and the vents at the top and back help with cooling. This is a big router that you can place on a shelf or table or mount it on your wall.
Setting up this router is very easy using the Genie software. Once you plug your modem and turn on the router, you type routerlogin.net on your browser and wait for the router to detect the connection or use the Genie mobile app. The firmware allows you to customize the 3 operational bands each to have its own network name, top speed, and security settings. You can use the USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports for your printer and external hard drives. The router can create a personalized URL that will help you gain remote access to the driver’s content. Nighthawk x6 uses the latest security protocols like WPA2 to protect the network and also supports VPN that includes both SPI and NAT firewalls. The router has a guest network that will allow web browsing and still allow you to block access to network drives. The network map is a feature that allows you to see all the connected devices on your network. Unfortunately, the X6 router doesn’t have the QoS feature.
As far as performance is concerned, this tri-band router can register a maximum theoretical throughput speed of 3.2 Gbps. It can outperform most routers in maintaining good throughput speeds at longer distances on the 5 GHz bandwidth. On the 802.11ac mode, this router can deliver average throughput speeds of 171 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 75 Mbps on the 802.11n mode. The 2.4 GHz band will register a throughput speed of 91 Mbps. The X6 router maintains strong speeds on both the 802.11ac and 802.11n modes even at 30 feet. This is a great router to have in a large home. When copying a 1.58 GB file from one laptop to another using one of the 5 GHz band, the router registered a file transfer speed of 11.7 Mbps as the baseline for your network’s performance and 57 Mbps for your network’s overall throughput.
Pros
- Very good wireless range and signal strength
- Excellent performance
- Very easy to set up
- Supports ReadyShare and ReadyCloud for backing up your connected devices
Cons
- Lacks the QoS feature
- It’s expensive
Conclusion
Both the Tp link ac5400 and Nighthawk x6 are tri-band wifi routers that have powerful processors that can deliver fast and reliable speeds throughout your network. Tp link ac5400 router uses MU-MIMO and beamforming technologies to support heavy online activities from multiple devices at the same time and still maintain an efficient, stable, and improved network performance. Nighthawk x6 router uses beamforming + and smart connect to provide seamless wifi to more than 50 devices at once with minimal interference and maximum speeds.
So, which one is better, Tp link ac5400 or Nighthawk x6?
The tp link ac5400 is the winner because it’s a powerful router that operates on a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor and 3 co-processors that help in handling the 3 wifi bands while the core CPU takes care of the rest. The MU-MIMO technology helps to double the throughput speeds and handle more devices at once boosting their performance by creating super-fast connections. The 8 powerful antennas send strong wifi signals across your entire home while the homecare feature protects the devices connected to your network from hackers and viruses.
FAQ
How many devices can the nighthawk x6 handle?
The x6 is a tri-band router that will allow you to connect up to 96 devices and uses the smart connect feature to pair each device with the right wifi band.
Is the tp link reliable?
Tp link products including routers are inexpensive, reliable, and provide reasonable third part support.
Is nighthawk x6 worth it?
This router uses 6 antennas to help boost your network performance and provide excellent coverage. Although it’s one of the most expensive routers in the market, it’s worth it if you want wireless coverage everywhere.