Tenda Releases An AC1200 Router For The Budget-Minded

[Julio Urquidi]

The new dual-band wireless router is the Tenda A6, and at a price of $34.99, it may turn the heads of those looking for bargains in home networking.

Powered by a 900 MHz Broadcom processor and using four high-gain antennas, the A6 produces wireless maximum link rates of 300 Mbps at 2.4 GHz and 867 Mbps at 5 GHz, while accommodating wired connections through three 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN ports that sit along its rear panel. WAN connection is also 10/100 Mbps.

Other features include Beamforming +, home VPN, remote cloud and app management, parental controls, and a sleep timer, as well as others.

The Tenda A6 is available now through Tenda’s US online store.

 

[System Error Message]

not sure about tenda firmware or quality but if it supports openwrt or tomato it'd be a cheap AP even cheaper than ubiquiti's indoor APs.

 

[pete y testing]

the A6 produces wireless maximum link rates of 867 Mbps at 2.4 GHz and 1167 Mbps at 5 GHz,

think someone got confused here

Fast 11ac speed ups to 1167Mbps, delivering both 867Mbps at 5GHz and 300Mbps at 2.4 GHz concurrently.

which makes a bit more sense and i assume it uses 2 antennas for 2.4 gig and 2 antennas for 5 gig

someone got a bit excited on the web site blurb in suggesting

"It supports 5th generation Wi-Fi standard 802.11ac"

and

"AC6 has 2x through-wall ability than normal routers with its independent power amplifiers, beamforming+ Intelligent technology and 4x 5dBi HG antennas."

note - usually what manufactures claim as normal routers refer to older wireless N technology

 

[dilation]

10/100 means that the peak speed is 100mbps no matter how fast the wireless speed is.

 

[System Error Message]

i wish marketing would stop making false claims though. normal routers have 2 to 3 antennas so have the same beamforming capability too considering what defines a normal router now. What really appeals is that the 2.4 and 5Ghz have seperate antennas so you can change them to what you need in the case of dedicated bridging.

I know this is a low cost router but the price tag alone with the physical features should turn heads. Theres no need to over emphasize common features.

Also the link shows the correct speeds and this thread says the wrong speeds for the bands and total. The link says 3 gigabit ethernet ports, specs says 3 100Mb/s ports. Its very much the same false marketing netgear used to introduce their new VDSL modem. 2 gigabit ethernet ports is better than 3 100Mb/s ports and in the case of 2 ports they can be CPU connected as people would use them as an AP which means no switch chip and less cost but gives the flexibility for bonding as if someone used this for a budget router its very unlikely they would have many wired devices and if they did they could get a dumb 8 port switch cheap to fit that need.

 

[thiggins]

I apologize for all the errors in the post, guys. I need to do better proofreading. Thanks for pointing out the errors, which have been corrected.

 

[RMerlin]

10/100 means that the peak speed is 100mbps no matter how fast the wireless speed is.

You could do wifi to wifi at higher speed than 100 Mbps. Or have multiple clients share the higher link rate, with less of an impact on their individual throughput. So despite the archaic 10/100 Ethernet support, there are still some benefits to having 802.11ac.

 

[Julio Urquidi]

Arghhh. Apologies from me, too. I was working late in the night and off-site on a different computer - tired and rushed. Tim shouldn't have to worry about this stuff, so this is definitely an important reminder to always proofread better. Thanks for letting us know, folks.

 

[RussellInCincinnati]

Have been using this router for weeks, mostly as a bridge but also as a repeater to a one-floor-away Merlin RT-AC68u running ...65 firmware. Nominal ("very strong" according to Asus router) 5 gigahertz link speed is 172 megabits per second, with observed transfer rates from its service as bridge to the RT-AC68u router at 90+ megabits per second. Did not get better performance by linking with 2.4 gigahertz channel in my somewhat crowded-with-2.4-ghz-routers WiFi environment.

Am connected to the new Tenda AC6 bridge by Ethernet cable between the AC6 and my gigabit Ethernet port, the physical link running at the AC6's 100 megabit per second max speed.

Paid $30 dollars for this router experiment, direct from China. Took several weeks to get it, and arrived without even a short Ethernet cable or box. At first could not get it to reset, then eventually stumbled upon realizing it would not reset properly as long as there were any live-linked Ethernet cables plugged into it. Would call that a bit of unnecessary roughness, as far as its very first version of firmware is concerned.

Have been thinking the reconnections to the main router are hesitant at first compared to when my computer woke up from suspend while bridging to a Merlin RT-AC68u or, Edimax BR-6478ac or BR-6208ac. But hmm, today, everything wakes up fine.

Router runs a little warmer to the touch than a BR-6208ac, but nowhere near as much heat as from the relatively mighty RT-AC68u or 66u's.

May take RMerlin's suggestion and do a WiFi-to-WiFi link to another RT-AC68u this weekend, and report back max relay speed.

 

[sm00thpapa]

10/100 ports in 2017. Really?

 

[thiggins]

10/100 ports in 2017. Really?

Yes. Keep in mind not everyone has 100 Mbps + internet service and Ethernet devices. Many people have only mobile devices and will never connect anything to the LAN ports.

 

[System Error Message]

Yes. Keep in mind not everyone has 100 Mbps + internet service and Ethernet devices. Many people have only mobile devices and will never connect anything to the LAN ports.

exactly why its pointless to have a switch on it. Just 2 gigabit ports for WAN and LAN with cpu connected ports give a lot of flexibility and if someone needed more ports, gigabit dumb switches are cheap.

 

[thiggins]

exactly why its pointless to have a switch on it. Just 2 gigabit ports for WAN and LAN with cpu connected ports give a lot of flexibility and if someone needed more ports, gigabit dumb switches are cheap.

You make a good point.

 

[sfx2000]

I just need to chuckle a bit...

It hits all the check boxes - gamer style - big antennas...

It's a decent value for the price.... at $35USD - it's more than good enough... at this price, it's the same as a Raspberry Pi 3 - depending on the code, could be interesting...

 

[RMerlin]

big antennas...

Someday, I wish someone would dismantle all these big antennas, and reveal the actual length of wire found in them. The last antenna I dismantled, I'd say there was about 50% of wire and 50% of plastic along that length.

 

[sm00thpapa]

If it cost $35.00 I'll pick one up to tinker with.

 

[sfx2000]

Someday, I wish someone would dismantle all these big antennas, and reveal the actual length of wire found in them. The last antenna I dismantled, I'd say there was about 50% of wire and 50% of plastic along that length.

Yep, and probably not the only one...

 

[RussellInCincinnati]

Have been using this router for weeks, mostly as a bridge but also as a repeater to a one-floor-away Merlin RT-AC68u running ...65 firmware. ...May take RMerlin's suggestion and do a WiFi-to-WiFi link to another RT-AC68u this weekend, and report back max relay speed.

Have reconfigured my main RT-AC68u router to allow "Auto" channel bandwidth. Now the Tenda AC6 in "wireless repeater" mode connects at 700/780 megabits per second transmit/receive nominal link rates on the 5gigahertz channels. The max connection speed through the AC6 gigabit ethernet ports is about 94 megabits per second.

But when connected via WiFi to the AC6 in WIFI REPEATER mode using as the client receiver an Edimax AC1200 USB 3.0 adapter on the 5 gigahertz band, am able to do Windows 10 large file copy through the AC6 repeater at MORE than 100 megabits per second, actually around 136 megabits per second. Interestingly am getting the same 136 Mbps copy speed through the AC6 as a wireless repeater whether I connect to the AC6 via its 2.4 ghz (300 Mpbs nominal link rate) radio, or through the AC6's 5ghz (867 Mbps nominal link rate) radio.

So as Merlin pointed out above, there is SOME scenario where you do get some above-100megabit single-client benefit from having the 802.11ac high link rates on the Tenda AC6 router, as long as you hook up to the AC6 WIRELESSLY, using the AC6 as a wireless repeater. Even though the AC6 hardware Ethernet port is limited to 100 megabits per second.

 

[Kacee]

I have a Tenda FH1202, it's ok, not bad, performance wise. But the firmware is horrible.

If it wasnt a gift I would have thrown it away.