China’s Tenda has been in the networking business for years but unlike D-Link or TP-Link, the company has flown under the radar with a limited range of products. This month we take a look at their latest consumer offering – the AC6.
AC6 is a budget router and is evident from its build quality. The plastic chassis feels flimsy and cheaply built when compared to the competition that sells in the same price range. But what AC6 loses in design, the router makes up for the features. Under the hood, it comes with a 900MHz Broadcom chip that ensures a stable performance.
Setting up is really easy and while the web interface needs some work in terms of design, a variety of features are accessible.
The router also supports controlling with an app, which in our test worked fine when using the router mode but failed to recognise when we started using the AC6 in repeater mode. Moreover, AC6 comes with support for VPN, Firewall, bandwidth control and even parental control to keep a tab on your child’s internet access. Additionally, the router comes with power saving feature that turns off the Wi-Fi radio completely at the pre-designated time. However, we would have preferred if Tenda allowed to keep the Wi-Fi radio on and just transmit wireless signal to the lowest setting.
The AC6 comes with four 5dBi high gain antennas that help to expand the wireless coverage and after using it for a few weeks, we can say that it works. The antennas along with Beamforming+ technology really help to reach previous dead spots. It supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and offers a transmission speed of 300Mbps and 867Mbps respectively.
All said and done, Tenda’s offering may need some work in the software department but it certainly offers excellent coverage area along with dual wireless bands and repeater support.
WE’RE IMPRESSED Wireless coverage area
WE’D IMPROVE Web interface, app support
THE LAST WORD Get it if you’re looking for good wireless coverage at an affordable price
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