TP-Link Archer AX73 — login, gateway address and status lights
Open a browser on a device connected to your TP-Link Archer AX73 and go to 192.168.0.1, or tplinkwifi.net.
There is no factory password: you created one during setup.
The TP-Link Archer AX73 is a router from TP-Link, in UK use 2020-present. This page covers the four things people actually come looking for: its settings address, how its login works, what its lights mean and how to reset it safely.
What is the TP-Link Archer AX73 gateway address?
The TP-Link Archer AX73 settings page is at 192.168.0.1. Type that into the address bar of a browser — not into a search box, which will just search for the number instead of opening the page.
You can also use tplinkwifi.net, which reaches the same page and is easier to remember.
Your device has to be connected to the TP-Link Archer AX73 itself for this to work — over its Wi-Fi or by cable. On mobile data, or connected to a different network, the address goes nowhere.
The Archer AX73 User Guide states the default outright: the router is preset with a LAN IP of 192.168.0.1. Note that the Quick Installation Guide also suggests trying 192.168.1.1 if the page will not load — that is generic troubleshooting advice printed across the Archer range, not this model's default. If 192.168.1.1 is what answers on your network, someone has changed the LAN settings, or you are looking at a different router.
What is the default username and password for the TP-Link Archer AX73?
You set it during setup
The TP-Link Archer AX73 does not ship with a password to look up. You create one yourself the first time you open its settings, and that is the credential you need.
There is no factory default password on this model, and anyone telling you it is admin / admin is repeating advice that belongs to TP-Link routers of an earlier era. The AX73 User Guide instructs you to visit tplinkwifi.net and create a login password before you can do anything else, and the Quick Installation Guide says the same in three words: "Create a password to log in." TP-Link also declares this to the UK regulator — its Statement of PSTI Compliance lists the Archer AX73 under devices whose password is "unique per device or defined by the user of the device". So the password on your AX73 is whatever was typed in when it was first set up. The label on the underside carries the Wi-Fi network name and Wi-Fi password, which are a different thing and will not get you into the settings page.
If you never wrote it down. Everything configured on the router goes: your broadband connection settings, the Wi-Fi name and password, port forwarding, parental controls and any guest network. The router comes back asking you to create a new admin password, as though it were out of the box. TP-Link's own note is worth repeating — you will need to set the router up again to get back online, so do not do this at the point you most need the internet working.
What do the lights on the TP-Link Archer AX73 mean?
Here is what each light on the TP-Link Archer AX73 is telling you, and what to do about it.
| Light | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Powersolid | The system has started up successfully. | Nothing to do. |
| Powerflashing | The system is starting up, or the firmware is being upgraded. | Wait. If a firmware upgrade is running, do not disconnect the router or cut its power — TP-Link warns against interrupting it, and an interrupted upgrade is one of the few ways to genuinely brick one of these. |
| Poweroff | The router has no power. | Check the power adapter is seated at both ends and the socket is switched on. If the light stays off with known-good power, the unit or its adapter has failed. |
| Internetsolid green | Internet service is available. | Nothing to do. |
| Internetsolid orange | The router's internet port is connected, but there is no internet service. | This is the single most useful light on the unit: orange tells you the cable is fine and the fault is upstream of the router or in its connection settings. Check whether your provider has an outage, and whether the connection type and any username and password under the internet settings are still correct. |
| Internetoff | The router's internet port is unplugged. | Reseat the cable between the router's internet port and your modem, ONT or wall socket, and check the other end has a link light. |
| 2.4GHz Wirelesssolid | The 2.4 GHz wireless band is enabled. | Nothing to do. |
| 2.4GHz Wirelessoff | The 2.4 GHz wireless band is switched off. | If devices that only support 2.4 GHz cannot see your network, this is why. Re-enable the band in the wireless settings, and check whether a schedule or the WPS/Wi-Fi button has turned it off. |
| 5GHz Wirelesssolid | The 5 GHz wireless band is enabled. | Nothing to do. |
| 5GHz Wirelessoff | The 5 GHz wireless band is switched off. | Re-enable it in the wireless settings if you are missing the faster band. |
| Ethernetsolid | At least one powered-on device is connected to an Ethernet port. | Nothing to do. |
| Ethernetoff | Nothing is connected to any of the Ethernet ports. | Only a fault if you expected a wired device to be connected. If you did, try a different port and a different cable before suspecting the router. |
| USBsolid | The inserted USB device is ready to use. | Nothing to do. |
| USBflashing | A USB device is being identified. | Give it a moment. If it never settles to solid, the drive's format may not be supported. |
| USBoff | Nothing is plugged into the USB port. | Nothing to do unless you expected a drive to be mounted. |
| WPSflashing | A WPS connection is in progress, which can take up to two minutes. | Press WPS on the device you are pairing, then wait. |
| WPSsolid | A WPS connection has been established. The light stays on for five minutes and then goes out. | Nothing to do — the light going out afterwards is normal and does not mean the device has dropped off. |
This is the complete panel as TP-Link documents it in the AX73 User Guide, and the LED table is identical across the V1 and V2.2 guides, so it holds for every hardware version sold in the UK. TP-Link documents only on, flashing and off states here, plus the green and orange distinction on the Internet light. If a source describes this router as "pulsing", that is not TP-Link's language for it.
How do you reset a TP-Link Archer AX73?
What you lose. Everything configured on the router goes: your broadband connection settings, the Wi-Fi name and password, port forwarding, parental controls and any guest network. The router comes back asking you to create a new admin password, as though it were out of the box. TP-Link's own note is worth repeating — you will need to set the router up again to get back online, so do not do this at the point you most need the internet working.
- The Reset button is on the rear panel. Press and hold it with the router powered on, and keep watching the Power LED rather than the clock.
- Hold it for about 6 seconds, until the Power LED blinks.
- Release, and give the unit a few minutes to restart before trying to connect.
The LED is the real signal here, not the six seconds. TP-Link's User Guide gives no duration at all and says only to hold until the Power LED blinks, while the Quick Installation Guide says "about 6 seconds". Hold until you see the blink and you have satisfied both.
A reboot is not a reset. A reboot is not a reset. Pulling the power or using the restart option in the web interface keeps every setting. There is also a middle option on this model that is easy to miss: under System, TP-Link offers a "Factory Default Restore" that keeps your login password and TP-Link ID, alongside a full "Factory Restore" that does not. If you only want to clear a broken configuration, the first one saves you re-creating your login.
What if you cannot get into the TP-Link Archer AX73 at all?
This model has a genuine recovery route, but only if it was set up in advance. The AX73 supports TP-Link's Password Recovery feature, configured under Advanced > System > Administration, which lets you click "Forgot Password?" on the login page and reset it by email. Binding the router to a TP-Link ID achieves the same thing. If neither was done before you were locked out, TP-Link is explicit that a factory reset is required to regain access.
If that does not work, a factory reset will always get you in, at the cost of every setting on the unit.
Where this comes from
- Archer AX73 User Guide (REV2.0.2) — The model's own user guide. Source for the 192.168.0.1 default, the create-a-password first login, the full LED table, the Password Recovery feature and the two-tier web reset.
- Archer AX73 Quick Installation Guide (EU) — Source for the "about 6 seconds until the Power LED blinks" reset hold, and for the tplinkwifi.net setup address.
- What to do if you forget your TP-Link router login password — TP-Link's statement that a factory reset is required if Password Recovery was not configured in advance.
- Archer AX73 support and downloads — The model's official support page, listing the three hardware versions sold in the UK.
- How to Find Your TP-Link Router LAN IP Address — TP-Link's own statement of the split: standard routers on 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 via tplinkwifi.net or tplinkmodem.net, Deco systems on 192.168.68.1 via tplinkdeco.net.