The TP-Link TC-7620 is a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem with 16 x 4 channels and speeds up to 680 Mbps. We tested it alongside nine other high-speed cable modems to find the best option for your home network. Like many similar products, the TC-7620 is compact, about the size of a mass market paperback novel. This is great if you’re short on space, and its upright orientation maximizes airflow with its curved, ventilated sides. Aside from its curves, it looks like a standard modem, matte black with five status LED icons on the front and gigabit Ethernet, power and coaxial connections on the back.
In our tests, the TC-7620 performed as well as every other modem when connected to our lab network running on Comcast Xfinity’s 400 Mbps package and five devices: one laptop monitoring the network, one laptop streaming Netflix in 4K and a PlayStation 4, Xbox One and gaming PC all downloading large game files. With the TC-7620 capable of handling speeds up to 680 Mbps, our comparatively slower connection wasn’t up to the task of truly taxing it to see if it works as well as advertised. Even so, our tests did prove that the TC-7620 can handle very fast speeds and multiple simultaneous bandwidth-hogging applications with ease. For most households, this TP-Link modem is more than up to the task of keeping your home network connected. If you subscribe to an internet package advertising speeds above 300 Mbps, however, a modem with more channels such as the Motorola MB7621 may better serve you at higher speeds.
In our rankings, the similar-across-the-board test results played less of an impact than things like value and ease of use. We determined a product’s value by looking at two factors: the price and warranty. All the modems we tested cost less than it costs to rent a modem from your ISP over the course of one year. With Xfinity, a modem costs $132. The TC-7620 costs much less than renting and can save you hundreds of dollars during its lifetime. The two-year warranty protects your investment for long enough to more than pay for itself twice over in savings.
For ease of use, the TC-7620 is about average. It doesn’t include useful features like a power button, but it does have a good online user interface for monitoring the network and changing settings. It doesn’t come with extra installation accessories, but it does have the modem’s default information printed in two places, the bottom of the device and a separate card. It’s also easy to set up and is compatible with every cable internet provider we checked against for our compatibility grade, including Comcast, Spectrum and Cox.
Overall, the TP-Link TC-7620 is a good modem for most home networks. If you subscribe to an internet package with speeds up to 300 Mbps or less, it keeps your network well connected for gaming, streaming and browsing.
