I do NOT have the BE9300, I have the BE11000 Pro! The Model drop-down selections on the New Thread page don't yet include the Archer BE11000 Pro. The page won't allow me to enter the model I have, and forces me to select an incorrect model from the drop-down in order to post this message.

 

Hardware version:  Archer BE11000 Pro v1.0

Firmware version:  1.0.6 Build 20240529 rel.61162(5553)

 

First I want to say that I really like this router, operation has been very stable and performance is exceptional with support for the latest WiFI standards. I really appreciate all the design and product engineering work that goes into the successful development of this class of product.

 

With that said, I have some feedback for TP-Link regarding my initial experience with the Archer BE11000 Pro.

 

LEDs

 

I really like the way the router looks, but the LEDs are bright and distracting in a dark or dimly lit room. The LED night mode control solves this problem, but when in night mode the LEDs stay off in the event of an error condition. It would be nice if the LED night mode control included an error override enable option, so that a loss of WAN connectivity can still be signaled via LED status when in night mode.

 

What I'd really like to see is an LED night mode dimmer option, so that instead of OFF I could select a setting that is 10% or 20% of full intensity, and could set it to 0% if I want it fully off. This would allow LEDs to remain on at night without being bright and distracting. I do understand that this would require a board spin if the hardware doesn't already include a PWM control or similar for LED intensity.

 

Sensitivity to AC Power Disturbance

 

We had a brief power disturbance that resulted in the BE11000 restarting, which of course happened during game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals! It was a little surprising because our FiOS ONT, computers, TVs and other connected devices all survived the power disturbance. Like the digital clock in our microwave oven, it appears that the BE11000 is more sensitive to minor power distirubances than other digital devices in our house. I didn't even know there had been a power disturbance until I saw the microwave oven. This is not a good situation for an internet facing router, and I now have a UPS providing backup power to the BE11000. It would be nice if the BE11000 were less sensitive to power disturbance than the average digital device.

 

Router Log Messages

 

Router log messages are very sparse and omit what seem like events worth noting. In the wake of the power disturbance I looked at the router system log and was surprised to find nothing indicating a system restart. I know it occurred based on the moving LED pattern. After configuring the router, updating the firmware, restarting it a couple times and using it for several days, the only new log messages were several showing LEDs going into night mode and one indicating UPnP service had been stopped. I understand that nonvolatile storage for log messages is finite, which makes it even more curious to me that logging includes LED night mode transitions but not things like system restart, router login, firmware update and configuration changes which seem more useful.

 

I also have questions about the persistence of information in the log. I received the router on 6/20 and saved the router log to a local host on 6/24. Previous messages were logged on 5/29 over a 90 second period, and I assume this reflects a scripted factory configuration procedure.

 

2024-06-24 20:51:02 upnp[26084]: <6> 217505 Service stop
2024-06-24 20:15:27 led-controller[1890]: <6> 288051 Start to run NIGHT
2024-06-24 20:15:27 led-controller[1890]: <6> 288051 Start to run NIGHT
2024-05-29 00:01:28 upnp[16191]: <6> 217504 Service start
2024-05-29 00:01:28 upnp[16191]: <6> 217505 Service stop
2024-05-29 00:01:27 remote-management[15668]: <6> 282505 Service stop

etc...

 

That most recent Service stop message was me disabling UPnP. Looking at a router log saved on 6/27, things have changed in ways I didn't expect.

 

2024-06-27 08:00:00 led-controller[1891]: <6> 288051 Start to run NIGHT
2024-06-26 21:54:50 led-controller[1891]: <6> 288051 Start to run NIGHT
2024-06-26 21:54:50 led-controller[1891]: <6> 288051 Start to run NIGHT
2024-05-29 00:01:25 upnp[15993]: <6> 217505 Service stop
2024-05-29 00:01:25 remote-management[15678]: <6> 282505 Service stop

etc...

 

It is odd that log messages and time stamps from 5/29 are changing. Both logs contain redundant LED control messages with identical date and time stamps. The UPnP log message from 6/24 is gone. Based on my LED control settings and LED behavior, the router enters night mode at 6PM and exits night mode at 8AM, but log time stamps don't reflect this.

 

I understand that redundant log messages can be filtered to save log space, but there appears to be more going on here than is explained by simple message filtering.