TP-Link TL-ER3220T: Two SFP+ Ports and the IPQ8070A Trade-off

The TL-ER3220T is a 44 cm rack-width business router whose main attraction is two 10G SFP+ ports at a lower price than many earlier ER models. ACWiFi identified the chips, removed the heatsink, measured forwarding, and compared it with the ER2260T and ER6220T.¹

Ports, power, and board

The chassis is 440(W) x 180(D) x 44(H) mm, with four Gigabit ports and two 10G SFP+ ports. Its internal DC supply is 12V/1.2A; measured idle power is 2.8 W. The label identifies TL-ER3220T, hardware Ver:1.0.

Flash is F59D1G81MB, with 128 MB capacity. The CPU is Qualcomm's IPQ8070A, also found in the ER2260T and ER6220T. ACWiFi notes that TP-Link's site lists the ER3220T at 1.0 GHz while the other two are listed at 1.4 GHz, leading the author to suggest that ER3220T uses the default clock and the other models may be overclocked.

RAM is A3T2GF40CBF-HP, DDR3-1866, with 256 MB capacity. The four Gigabit ports use the QCA8075 PHY; the power section includes PMP8074, and the area beside the SFP+ ports has dedicated optical-interface components. This is a BOM reading of one board, not a complete repair schematic.

Forwarding and ER comparison

PacketMaster measured bidirectional small-packet forwarding at 9 Mpps, matching ACWiFi's results for the ER6220T and ER2260T. In that test, the lower published clock did not reduce forwarding.

The TP-Link comparison table found by the source lists the ER3220T as more than 200 yuan cheaper than the ER2260T, with 256 MB less RAM and a 0.4 GHz lower clock. Both are listed for 300 devices; managed-AP capacity differs by 50 devices, and IPsec plus L2TP/PPTP features also differ. I read this as a feature matrix for a workload-based choice, not proof that ER3220T is always better.

Management and deployment

The source says the device can join an EasyMesh/易展 router system. The 44 cm chassis suits a rack but is awkward in a small home network cabinet; the author considers the ER6220T's form factor easier to accept.

The 2.8 W value is an unloaded idle measurement. Traffic, SFP+ modules, thermals, and any fan can change consumption. In deployment, I would check optical-module compatibility, firmware, IPsec/L2TP limits, and sustained-load temperature for the actual use case.

Teardown limits

The source does not measure the total throughput of every firewall/VPN feature, certify every SFP+ module, or replace enterprise configuration documentation. The 1.0/1.4 GHz comparison and feature matrix must be checked against the actual version and firmware.

Conclusion

TL-ER3220T puts two 10G SFP+ ports into a 1U-style rack chassis with IPQ8070A, 256 MB RAM, and 9 Mpps forwarding in the source test. It may fit a network needing optical uplinks and four Gigabit ports, but compare IPsec, L2TP/PPTP, managed-AP capacity, optics, and rack space before buying.

Sources