What’s the difference between the TP-Link Archer AX10, AX20 and AX50?

TP-Link currently has several Wi-Fi 6 routers designed for homes that have three bedrooms with the Archer AX10, Archer AX20 and Archer AX50. So, which of these best fit your needs?

You can find out in this comparison guide.

Quick Summary

The TP-Link Archer AX50 AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 Router is the fastest out of this group with speeds of up to 3 Gbps (574 Mbps at 2.4 GHz and 2402 Mbps at 5 GHz). 

The AX50 also have the most features, including the HomeCare Antivirus for security and parental controls.

The TP-Link Archer AX20 AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 Router is the second fastest while the TP-Link Archer AX10 AX1500 Wi-Fi 6 Router is the slowest.

Archer AX10 vs. Archer AX20 vs. Archer AX50 Comparison Chart

You can check out Seeking Tech’s comparison table between the TP-Link Wi Fi 6 routers below.

What’s in the Box

Along with the main router units, each of the product comes with a power adapter, Ethernet cable in addition to a quick start guide.

You can check out what’s included in each product below:

TP-Link Archer AX10:

• Wi-Fi Router Archer AX10
• Power Adapter
• RJ45 Ethernet Cable
• Quick Installation Guide

TP-Link Archer AX20:

• Wi-Fi Router Archer AX20
• Power Adapter
• RJ45 Ethernet Cable
• Quick Installation Guide

TP-Link Archer AX50:

• Wi-Fi Router Archer AX50
• Power Adapter
• RJ45 Ethernet Cable
• Quick Installation Guide

Dimensions

The routers in this versus guide have the same dimensions, which you can find below:

• 10.2″ × 5.3″ × 1.5″ (260.2 mm × 135.0 mm × 38.6 mm)

Wi-Fi Standards

The 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies of the TP-Link Archer AX20 and TP-Link Archer AX50 support Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax). Although the 5 GHz frequency of the TP-Link Archer AX10 also supports Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), the 2.4 GHz frequency of this router can only support up to Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n).

You can check out the Wi-Fi standards for all three below:

TP-Link Archer AX10 AX1500 Router:

• 2.4 GHz: IEEE 802.11n/b/g
• 5 GHz: IEEE 802.11ax/ac/n/a

TP-Link Archer AX20 AX1800 and TP-Link Archer AX50 AX3000 Routers:

• 2.4 GHz: IEEE 802.11ax/n/b/g 2.4 GHz
• 5 GHz: IEEE 802.11ax/ac/n/a 5 GHz

Wi-Fi Speeds

The Archer AX50 has the fastest total Wi-Fi speed out of the three routers in this versus guide, followed by the Archer AX20. The Archer AX10 has the slowest wireless speeds as it is half as fast as the aforementioned A50.

You can take a look at the Wi-Fi speed specifications below:

TP-Link Archer AX10:

• 2.4 GHz: 300 Mbps (802.11n)
• 5 GHz: 1201 Mbps (802.11ax)
• Up to 1.5 Gbps total

TP-Link Archer AX20:

• 2.4 GHz: 574 Mbps (802.11ax)
• 5 GHz: 1201 Mbps (802.11ax)
• Up to 1.8 Gbps total

TP-Link Archer AX50:

• 2.4 GHz: 574 Mbps (802.11ax)
• 5 GHz: 2402 Mbps (802.11ax)
• Up to 3 Gbps total

Wi-Fi Range Features

All three WiFi routers support multiple antennas and beam forming. The AX20 and AX50 also support high power FEM.

You can find the full breakdown of Wi-Fi range features below:

TP-Link Archer AX10 AX1500 Router:

• Beamforming
• Multiple Antennas

TP-Link Archer AX20 AX1800 and TP-Link Archer AX50 AX3000 Routers:

• Beamforming
• High-Power FEM
• Multiple Antennas

Wi-Fi Capacity Features

All three products in this comparison guide supports 4 Streams, Airtime Fairness, Dual-Band and OFDMA. The TP-Link Archer AX50 does come with the exclusive DFS feature, however.

You can check out the full breakdown below:

TP-Link Archer AX10 and TP-Link Archer AX20:

• 4 Streams
• Airtime Fairness
• Dual-Band
• OFDMA

TP-Link Archer AX50:

• 4 Streams
• Airtime Fairness
• DFS
• Dual-Band
• OFDMA

Working Modes

All three WiFi 6 routers have the following working modes:

• Access Point Mode
• Router Mode

Ethernet Ports

The AX10, AX20 and AX50 come with one Gigabit WAN Port in addition to four Gigabit LAN Ports.

USB Support

The AX10 AX1500 Wi-Fi 6 Router does not have any USB ports. The Archer AX20 AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 Router includes one USB 2.0 port while the Archer AX50 AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 Router comes with one USB 3.0 port.

Supported Partition Formats Over USB

The Archer AX20 and Archer AX50 both support the following USB partition formats:

• exFAT
• FAT32
• HFS+
• NTFS

Supported USB Functions

The AX20 and AX50 also have identical supported USB functions:

• Apple Time Machine
• FTP Server
• Media Server

Buttons

The three wireless routers have the same physical buttons. You can find the full list of the inputs below:

• LED On/Off Button
• Power On/Off Button
• Reset Button
• Wi-Fi/WPS Button

Power

You can also take a look at the power specifications below.

• TP-Link Archer AX10 AX1500: 12 V ⎓ 1 A
• TP-Link Archer AX20 AX1800: 12 V ⎓ 1.5 A
• TP-Link Archer AX50 AX3000: 12 V ⎓ 2 A

Wi-Fi Encryption

The Archer AX10 and Archer AX50 have identical Wi Fi encryption. Although the AX20 does not have some of the security features as the other two (WEP and WPA/WPA2-Enterprise), it does support WPA3.

You can find the full breakdown of the available Wi Fi encryption below:

TP-Link Archer AX10 AX1500 Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• WEP
• WPA
• WPA2
• WPA/WPA2-Enterprise (802.1x)

TP-Link Archer AX20 AX1800 Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• WPA
• WPA2
• WPA3

TP-Link Archer AX50 AX3000 Dual Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Router:

• WEP
• WPA
• WPA2
• WPA/WPA2-Enterprise (802.1x)

Network Security

All three TP-Link products come with the following network security features:

• SPI Firewall
• Access Control
• IP & MAC Binding
• Application Layer Gateway

HomeCare Antivirus

The Home Care Antivirus is included only in the TP-Link Archer AX50 AX3000 Dual Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Router. You can take a look at the features this software provides below:

• Malicious Site Checker
• Port Intrusion Prevention
• Infected Device Isolation
• Notification and Log

Guest Network

The three wireless routers each provide a 2.4 GHz guest network and 5 GHz guest network.

VPN Server

All three products also support OpenVPN and PPTP VPN servers.

Protocols

The TP-Link Archer routers have the following protocols:

• IPv4
• IPv6

Parental Controls

For parental controls, both the TP-Link Archer AX10 AX1500 and TP-Link Archer AX20 AX1800 use the following:

• Time Controls
• URL Filtering

HomeCare Parental Controls

The TP-Link Archer AX50 AX3000 uses for HomeCare for parental controls, which provides the following features:

• App Block
• Content Filtering
• Custom Profiles
• Log Insight
• Monthly Report
• Time Limit
• Time Schedule (Bedtime)
• URL Filtering

WAN Types

The three routers also support the following WAN types:

• Dynamic IP
• L2TP
• PPPoE
• PPTP
• Static IP

Quality of Service

The quality of service for all the routers in this versus guide is by device.

Cloud Service Features

The three Wi Fi 6 routers also support the following cloud service features:

• Auto Firmware Upgrade
• DDNS
• OTA Firmware Upgrade
• TP-Link ID

NAT Forwarding Features

The TP-Link Archer AX50 AX3000 is the only one in this group to support virtual servers. Otherwise, all three have the same NAT forwarding features. You can check out the lists below.

TP-Link Archer AX10 AX1500 and TP-Link Archer AX20 AX1800:

• DMZ
• Port Forwarding
• Port Triggering
• UPnP

TP-Link Archer AX50 AX3000:

• DMZ
• Port Forwarding
• Port Triggering
• UPnP
• Virtual Servers

IPTV Features

All three devices support the following IPTV features:

• Bridge
• IGMP Proxy
• IGMP Snooping
• Tag VLAN

DHCP Features

The routers also have identical DHCP features:

• Address Reservation
• DHCP Client List
• Server

DDNS Features

Furthermore, the AX10, AX20 and AX50 have the same DDNS features:

• DynDNS
• NO-IP
• TP-Link

Management

In terms of management, you can either use the Tether App or use the webpage for the routers.

System Requirements

For system requirements, you will need a JavaScript-enabled browser, cable/DSL modem (if necessary) in addition to a subscription to an ISP. You can take a look at the breakdown of the requirements below.

• Chrome 20.0+, Firefox 12.0+, Internet Explorer 11+, Safari 4.0+ or other JavaScript-enabled browser
• Subscription with an internet service provider
• Cable or DSL Modem if necessary

Operating Temperature

All three products have a recommended operating temperature range of 0℃ to 40℃ (or 32℉ to 104℉).

Storage Temperature

The routers also have identical recommend storage temperature range of -40℃ to 70℃ (or -40℉ to 158℉).

Operating Humidity

The AX10, AX20 and AX50 have the same recommended operating humidity levels of 10% to 90% non-condensing.

Storage Humidity

The three TP-Link products also have identical recommended storage humidity range of 5% to 90% non-condensing.

Resources:

• https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-ax10/v1
• https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-ax20/v1
• https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-ax50/v1