@ABC_ChoCo 

Lots of problems with this firmware it seems. 🫠

  @Bauhaus my local tp link doesnt have download for frimwares i can find eu but it says "Please upgrade firmware/software from the local TP-Link official website of the purchase location for your TP-Link device, otherwise it may cause upgrade failure or mistakes and be against the warranty."

  @knight__ 

where are you situated? EU? US? Asia?

  @Bauhaus middle east saudia arabia 

  @knight__ 

Don't you have the same firmware as EU ?

this one is on the general English website. 
https://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/archer-ge800/

  @Bauhaus i dont know tbh i think yes cuz im on "1.3.2 Build 20250929 rel.49558(4555)" 

it show me the past message "

"Please upgrade firmware/software from the local TP-Link official website of the purchase location for your TP-Link device, otherwise it may cause upgrade failure or mistakes and be against the warranty."

 so im afraid it gonna brick it or something

  @knight__ 

it should work. 

  @Bauhaus tyvm

Hi  @Kevin_Z 

Sorry it took a bit longer because I wanted to test things correctly and make a proper reply about it. These will not be only about the 5G. 

These were actual test i did over and over and it showed the same. Please read below and hopefully you guys can fix it for the next firmware upgrade / update because the actual firmware is too unstable. I did use chatgpt to summarize my findings to be more clear otherwise it would take me too long to make. 

Please test these yourself and based on the other replies in this forum other people does have the same issues. 

Thank you in advance for reading.

1. Introduction

This report documents extensive testing of a TP-Link Archer router using a PlayStation 5 console, with the router not connected to any modem or ISP for the majority of tests.
The goal was to evaluate LAN latency, jitter, CPU load, wireless stability, and UI responsiveness when using the router’s gaming-related features.

These tests focus on console gaming behavior, not PC gaming.
PC gaming may behave differently because of different netcode and packet flow processing.
This report therefore recommends TP-Link to examine console-specific behavior, which is extremely sensitive to jitter.

Additionally, TP-Link should review how these features behave when the router is used behind a modem in Bridge Mode or NAT Mode, as real-world ISP setups may differ from TP-Link’s lab conditions, where testing may be done only with a direct ISP connection.

2. List of Features Tested (Offline, No Internet)

The following router features and modes were tested with the PS5 connected via Ethernet, gaming offline, and the router not connected to the internet:

• OFDMA / MU-MIMO

• Gaming Port (2.5G and 10G variations)

• UPnP ON / OFF

• IGMP Snooping

• Unicast DHCP

• Application Layer Protocols

• Third-party service authorization & data-sharing

• AI QoS (Gaming mode)

• Gear Accelerator

• Smart Connect (2.4 + 5 GHz auto)

• 2.4 GHz WiFi (Auto vs Manual channels, 20 MHz)

• 5 GHz WiFi (Auto channels, DFS channels 128, 20/40/160 MHz)

• Wireless mode comparison:

  • 802.11 b/g/n/ax

  • 802.11 b/g/n/ax/be

All observations below were obtained without internet, unless noted otherwise.

3. Major Findings and Problems Identified

A. Gaming Port – High CPU Load, Variability, and UI Freezing

• CPU load increased 1.5–2× during normal use and up to 3× on activation, even with no WAN traffic.

• CPU fluctuated significantly (e.g., 9% → 11% → 22%), causing inconsistent gameplay.

• Gameplay felt unpredictable — sometimes very fast, sometimes suddenly “stuck.”

• Elevated CPU load may be the cause of:

  • Increased jitter

  • Bufferbloat-like behavior

  • Delayed packet scheduling

• The TP-Link UI often became slow, laggy, or temporarily unresponsive.

• Using a non-gaming port produced more consistent gameplay.

Conclusion: Gaming Port prioritization is not optimized and likely causes CPU spikes that lead to jitter and UI instability.

B. LAN/WiFi Jitter Caused by Console Presence (Even Offline)

Without console connected

• Latency stable: 1–2 ms

With console connected (offline, normal LAN port)

• Jitter exploded from 1 ms to between 13–124 ms

• Latency constantly fluctuated

• The TP-Link UI experienced:

  • Timeouts

  • Freezes

  • Slow tab transitions

This occurred with no internet at all, meaning the router’s internal traffic handling logic is responsible.

C. Smart Connect Causes Severe Instability

Smart Connect (2.4 & 5 GHz combined, auto channel) led to:

• Very high jitter

• Constant fluctuations

• Extremely poor gameplay responsiveness

• TP-Link UI freezing and timing out

Conclusion: Smart Connect’s load balancing methods likely conflict with real-time traffic.

D. IGMP Snooping Creates Heavy Jitter

• With IGMP ON → large jitter, lag, and UI slowdown

• With IGMP OFF → jitter drops to 1–2 ms, gameplay more stable

However, occasional spikes still happened after resuming gameplay from menus.

Conclusion: IGMP handling appears bugged or overly sensitive, even without IPTV or multicast usage.

E. UPnP Effects

• UPnP ON → jitter mostly stable (1–2 ms) with occasional spikes

• UPnP OFF → gameplay slightly more consistent

• Using Gaming Port + UPnP:

  • Gameplay improved

  • Jitter mostly 2 ms, rare spikes to 22 ms

  • UI still occasionally stuck

Conclusion: UPnP may partially help Gaming Port behavior, but still adds instability.

F. 5 GHz WiFi / Auto Channel / DFS Problems

The 5 GHz band produced multiple issues:

• Devices often forced onto 2.4 GHz, ignoring available 5 GHz bands

• DFS channel 128 caused connection issues and jitter

• Auto channel with 20/160 MHz behaves inconsistently

• Gameplay worsens when devices connect to 5 GHz auto-channel band

The router appears to mismanage 5 GHz channel selection and DFS operations.

G. Best Wireless Mode Found

The only configuration that produced good gameplay + stable UI:

• 2.4 GHz only

• Manual channel (NOT Auto)

• 802.11 b/g/n/ax mode (NOT “be” mode)

• Smart Connect OFF

Even though jitter remained (1–16 ms), gameplay was consistently smoother and the UI worked properly.

H. OFDMA / MU-MIMO Introduces Lag

• Enabling OFDMA/MU-MIMO slowed down gaming responsiveness

• The TP-Link web interface also became slower

• Feature reduces gaming performance compared to when OFF

I. AI QoS & Gear Accelerator Issues

AI QoS

• Offline → acceptable

• With modem connected → slower gaming performance

• Increased download latency

• UI sluggishness

Gear Accelerator

• On 2.5G port:

  • Very inconsistent gameplay

  • Feels like traffic is being aggressively accelerated but poorly synchronized

• On 10G port:

  • More stable

  • QoS performs better

• Returning from game menus:

  • Gameplay feels stuck at first, then suddenly “releases”

Conclusion: QoS & Gaming optimizations are not coordinating properly.

J. Third-Party Services & Application Layer Processing

These features:

• Increase CPU load

• Possibly conflict with Gaming Port and QoS

• Cause the TP-Link web UI to slow down or freeze

K. Router UI Instability Across Multiple Features

Whenever Gaming Port, IGMP, Smart Connect, QoS, Gear Accelerator, OFDMA, BE mode, or DFS channels were enabled, the UI frequently:

• Froze

• Took long to load

• Timed out

• Locked up when viewing system logs

This indicates internal firmware bottlenecks.

4. Tests Performed With Router Connected to Modem

Console remained offline, but router had WAN link.

Findings:

• AI QoS Gaming: slower than offline

• Gaming Port (with default settings): good performance

• Third-party services / authorization → heavy slowdowns

• Disabling Unicast DHCP on modem improved behavior in bridge-only setups

This suggests TP-Link should also evaluate:

• Bridge mode behavior

• NAT mode interactions

• WAN-level packet handling

• Latency behavior when behind ISP equipment

5. Overall Conclusions

Across all tests:

• Many “gaming” features harm gaming performance rather than improve it

• Jitter, CPU spikes, UI freezes, and inconsistent latency were common

• Internal scheduling, prioritization, and WiFi management appear to conflict

• Console gaming is more sensitive than PC gaming; TP-Link should test console behavior directly

• Router firmware likely needs optimization, especially for:

  • Traffic prioritization

  • CPU resource allocation

  • QoS algorithms

  • IGMP Snooping

  • DFS and auto-channel logic

  • UI responsiveness

When no other devices were connected, gaming improved significantly — meaning the router is not handling multi-device load effectively.

6. Recommendations for TP-Link Engineering

High Priority Issues to Investigate

1. Gaming Port CPU load and scheduling inefficiency

2. IGMP Snooping causing jitter even offline

3. Smart Connect instability and poor channel selection

4. DFS operation (especially channel 128)

5. QoS systems producing latency and UI freezing

6. OFDMA/MU-MIMO producing negative gaming impact

7. BE mode instability for real-time traffic

8. UI freezes related to system log and heavy features

Environmental Testing Needed

9. Test router behavior with:

   • Modem in Bridge Mode

   • Modem in NAT Mode

   • Mixed ISP equipment

10. Test all gaming features with:

    • Console gaming (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo)

    • NOT only PC gaming or synthetic benchmarks.

7. Final Statement to TP-Link

Based on extensive offline testing, the router exhibits significant issues with jitter, UI responsiveness, feature conflicts, and high CPU usage when gaming features are enabled. These issues negatively affect console gaming and router usability, even without internet traffic.

TP-Link is strongly recommended to reproduce these tests, especially:

• Router offline

• Console-only gaming

• Mixed WiFi client load

• Bridge vs NAT modem configurations

Improving these areas will greatly enhance real-world gaming performance for console users.