 Logo since 2016 | |
 | |
Native name | 普联技术有限公司 |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Networking hardware, Telecoms equipment, IP cameras |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder | Jeffrey Chao (趙建軍) |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | |
| Brands | |
| Website | www.tp-link.com |
TP-Link is a Chinese multinational manufacturer of networking hardware, telecoms equipment, and IP cameras. [4]
TP-Link was founded in 1996 by two brothers, Zhao Jianjun (赵建军Zhào Jiànjūn) and Zhao Jiaxing (赵佳兴Zhào Jiāxīng), to produce and market a network card they had developed. The company name was based on the concept of "twisted pair link" invented by Alexander Graham Bell, a kind of cabling that reduces electromagnetic interference, hence the "TP" in the company name. [3]
TP-Link began its first international expansion in 2005. In 2007, the company moved into its new 100,000-square-meter headquarters and facilities at Shenzhen's Hi-Tech Industry Park. TP-Link USA was established in 2008. [5]
In September 2016, TP-Link unveiled a new logo and slogan, "Reliably Smart"; the new logo is meant to portray the company as being a "lifestyle"-oriented brand as it expands into smart home products. [6] [7]
TP-Link products include high speed cable modems, mobile phones, ADSL, range extenders, routers, switches, IP cameras, power-line adapters, print servers, media converters, wireless adapters, power banks, USB hubs, smart home devices, and home robots. TP-Link also manufactured the OnHub router for Google. [6] TP-Link manufactures smart home devices under their Kasa Smart and Tapo product lines. [8] [9]
TP-Link sells through multiple sales channels globally, including traditional retailers, online retailers, wholesale distributors, direct market resellers ("DMRs"), value-added resellers ("VARs") and broadband service providers.
Deco is TP-Link sub-brand, focusing on whole-home mesh-network products. The first of this category was the TP-Link M5, followed up by the M9 Plus which had backhaul compatibility improving on the usable bandwidth in certain cases compared to the M5. At the same time, TP-Link also introduced the Deco P7 which was a power-line connected mesh-network system meaning nodes communicate through the electrical wiring of the domicile compared to the wireless transmissions of the other Deco products.
Deco provides solutions for a wide range of scenarios, covering all generations of Wi-Fi and varying installation methods. Technologies, such as 5G/4G, IP65, and PoE, have been integrated into the Deco line. [10]
In November 2022, Deco revealed the world’s first complete lineup of Wi-Fi 7 devices for home networks, including the Deco BE95 system, reportedly featuring a quad-band architecture and supporting the 6 GHz wireless band and 10 Gbps wired connectivity. [11]
On September 30, 2019, TP-Link launched Tapo with one of its initial offerings being the mini smart Wi-Fi Plug—Tapo P100. The smart plug works over a 2.4 GHz wireless connection and integrates with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant. [12] Other offerings from Tapo include a line of home security Wi-Fi cameras [13] and a line of smart lighting appliances. [14]
In late 2022, Tapo releases its Tapo C225 [15] security wi-fi camera which has a 2K QHD (2560 × 1440 px) image sensor. This is an improvement from its earlier Tapo C210 (3MP) and Tapo C200 (1080p Full HD) models because these three models all have the same view range with night vision. The Tapo C225 AI functionality is due to additional input trigger for activity notifications.
TP-Link's network protection software, packaged with Norton, offers security and parental control services integrated into its Wi-Fi hardware. The service is available in two tiers: a basic version with features like IoT Device Identification and Network Security Scan and a Pro version with advanced options like Malicious Content Filtering and DDoS Protection. Integrated into TP-Link's latest Wi-Fi hardware, HomeShield also introduced a new customizable Quality of Service (QoS) for application-based bandwidth prioritization. [16]
In 2022, TP-Link announced the launch of the KidShield app, which would integrate geo-fencing and real-time location services to aid families in monitoring their children’s devices and movement. [17]
In 2016 the company launched a smartphone brand, Neffos. [18] [19]
TP-Link is one of the few major wireless networking companies to manufacture its products in-house as opposed to outsourcing to original design manufacturers (ODMs). The company says this control over components and the supply chain is a key competitive differentiator. [20]
Wi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves. These are the most widely used computer networks, used globally in home and small office networks to link devices and to provide Internet access with wireless routers and wireless access points in public places such as coffee shops, hotels, libraries, and airports to provide visitors.
Linksys Holdings, Inc., is an American brand of data networking hardware products mainly sold to home users and small businesses. It was founded in 1988 by the couple Victor and Janie Tsao, both Taiwanese immigrants to the United States. Linksys products include Wi-Fi routers, mesh Wi-Fi systems, Wifi extenders, access points, network switches, and Wi-Fi networking. It is headquartered in Irvine, California.
A wireless mesh network (WMN) is a communications network made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology. It can also be a form of wireless ad hoc network.
The Wi-Fi Alliance is a non-profit organization that owns the Wi-Fi trademark. Manufacturers may use the trademark to brand products certified for Wi-Fi interoperability. It is based in Austin, Texas.
D-Link Systems, Inc. is a Taiwanese multinational manufacturer of networking hardware and telecoms equipments. It was founded in 1986 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan.
Nordic Semiconductor ASA was founded in 1983 and is a Norwegian fabless technology company with its headquarters in Trondheim, Norway. The company specializes in designing ultra-low-power wireless communication semiconductors and supporting software for engineers developing and manufacturing Internet of Things (IoT) products.
Netgear, Inc., is an American computer networking company based in San Jose, California, with offices in about 22 other countries. It produces networking hardware for consumers, businesses, and service providers. The company operates in three business segments: retail, commercial, and as a service provider.
Z-Wave is a wireless communications protocol used primarily for residential and commercial building automation. It is a mesh network using low-energy radio waves to communicate from device to device, allowing for wireless control of smart home devices, such as smart lights, security systems, thermostats, sensors, smart door locks, and garage door openers. The Z-Wave brand and technology are owned by Silicon Labs. Over 300 companies involved in this technology are gathered within the Z-Wave Alliance.
A home network or home area network (HAN) is a type of computer network that facilitates communication among devices within the close vicinity of a home. Devices capable of participating in this network, for example, smart devices such as network printers and handheld mobile computers, often gain enhanced emergent capabilities through their ability to interact. These additional capabilities can be used to increase the quality of life inside the home in a variety of ways, such as automation of repetitive tasks, increased personal productivity, enhanced home security, and easier access to entertainment.
Qualcomm Atheros is a developer of semiconductor chips for network communications, particularly wireless chipsets. The company was founded under the name T-Span Systems in 1998 by experts in signal processing and VLSI design from Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and private industry. The company was renamed Atheros Communications in 2000 and it completed an initial public offering in February 2004, trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol ATHR.
Firetide is an American, international provider of wireless mesh network technology. It is a division of UNICOM Global. Based in the Silicon Valley, Firetide designs and sells hardware and software for wireless technology.
Wi-Fi Direct is a Wi-Fi standard for peer-to-peer wireless connections that allows two devices to establish a direct Wi-Fi connection without an intermediary wireless access point, router, or Internet connection. Wi-Fi Direct is single-hop communication, rather than multi-hop communication like wireless ad hoc networks.
Linksys manufactures a series of network routers. Many models are shipped with Linux-based firmware and can run third-party firmware. The first model to support third-party firmware was the very popular Linksys WRT54G series.
SoftAP is an abbreviated term for "software enabled access point". Such access points utilize software to enable a computer which hasn't been specifically made to be a router into a wireless access point. It is often used interchangeably with the term "virtual router".
Ubiquiti Inc. is an American technology company founded in San Jose, California, in 2003. Now based in New York City, Ubiquiti manufactures and sells wireless data communication and wired products for enterprises and homes under multiple brand names. On October 13, 2011, Ubiquiti had its initial public offering (IPO) at 7.04 million shares, at $15 per share, raising $30.5 million.
PowerCloud Systems was a cloud networking company located in Palo Alto, California. The company designed and manufactured cloud-powered Wi-Fi systems for businesses, carriers and consumers and was a corporate spin-off from the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), a Xerox company. PowerCloud was purchased by Comcast in July 2014.
Thread is an IPv6-based, low-power mesh networking technology for Internet of things (IoT) products. The Thread protocol specification is available at no cost; however, this requires agreement and continued adherence to an End-User License Agreement (EULA), which states that "Membership in Thread Group is necessary to implement, practice, and ship Thread technology and Thread Group specifications."
Smartphone ad hoc networks are wireless ad hoc networks that use smartphones. Once embedded with ad hoc networking technology, a group of smartphones in close proximity can together create an ad hoc network. Smart phone ad hoc networks use the existing hardware in commercially available smartphones to create peer-to-peer networks without relying on cellular carrier networks, wireless access points, or traditional network infrastructure. Wi-Fi SPANs use the mechanism behind Wi-Fi ad-hoc mode, which allows phones to talk directly among each other, through a transparent neighbor and route discovery mechanism. SPANs differ from traditional hub and spoke networks, such as Wi-Fi Direct, in that they support multi-hop routing and relays and there is no notion of a group leader, so peers can join and leave at will without destroying the network.
Google OnHub was a residential wireless router product from Google, Inc. The two variants are manufactured by TP-Link and ASUS. Google's official tagline for the product is "We’re streaming and sharing in new ways our old routers were never built to handle. Meet OnHub, a router from Google that is built for all the ways you use Wi-Fi." In 2016, Google released the Google Wifi router with mesh networking, and combined its functionality and network administration with the OnHub so that OnHub and Google Wifi may both be used interchangeably in mesh networks.
Plume is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that provides self-optimizing WiFi services, visibility, and network control for Communications Service Providers (CSPs) and their subscribers, such as personal households and small businesses.
