TP-Link’s Deco XE75 looks like an air purifier and packs Wi-Fi 6E for around $300

TP-Link has a new “cheap” router. The Deco XE75 is a tri-band Wi-Fi 6E router that should lower the cost barrier of the new 6GHz wireless technology standard. The new 2-pack whole-home router is now available for $299.99. It’s certainly one of the first signs that Wi-Fi 6E is coming to an affordable price, and best of all, the Deco XE75 seems to cut very few features.

The Deco XE75 covers approximately 5,500 square feet with the pair and is $200 cheaper than a 2-pack of recently released Eero Pro 6E which covers an area of ​​only 4,000 square feet. Deco claims to have a very high peak wireless network speed of 5.4 Gbps. Although that’s slightly slower than the 8.4Gbps Linksys Atlas Max 6E, Deco still cuts it about $600.

The savings mean you won’t get advanced options like the 5Gbps Ethernet found on the Atlas Max, let alone the 10Gbps option available on the Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6E. But each Deco nodes comes with three Gigabit Ethernet ports, allowing you to take full advantage of your Gigabit Home Internet plan.

The Deco XE75, the new Eero Pro 6E, and Linksys Atlas Max are all tri-band, which means the devices can communicate over the 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz bands. Older Wi-Fi 5 routers also came in tri-band flavors, supporting both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands while providing tethering — a dedicated LAN lane — on a separate 5 GHz band. Now with Wi-Fi 6E, routers can use the 6GHz bandwidth to support higher bandwidth devices while working double duty to connect.

Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E routers like the Deco XE75 don’t really need that extra 5GHz band since there aren’t many 6GHz compatible devices out there yet. In theory, you’ll need multiple brand-new computers with the technology and several newer Samsung Galaxy phones all pushing the network to its limits before facing congestion.

Photo: TP-Link

Deco has also been tested to support up to 200 devices on the network, which could be a lot more than the 100-plus advertised Eero Pro 6E devices. And during deco It does not have robot antennas Like the TP-Link Archer AXE200 Omni, it has an AI-driven mesh system for better communications.

In general, the Wi-Fi 6E standard is slowly being rolled out since its inceptionAnd the lack of peripherals that support this technology means that buying a regular Wi-Fi 6 or premium Wi-Fi 5 router might be better. But if you actively own multiple Wi-Fi 6E devices and want the latest technology, then at $299, the Deco XE75 brings you affordable Wi-Fi 6E.