The rabbit hole of cloned routers is not that deep in this case because TP-Link has created two identical AX1800 routers, one called AX20 which is available online and the other is TP-Link AX1800 which is only available in some physical stores. This leaves the TP-Link AX21 as the new member of the previous entry level WiFi 6 model (now it went down to AX1500) and, to differentiate it from the AX20, the manufacturer gave it a new case (very similar to the AX73), a different type of RAM (although, the same amount) and a few new certifications. So, after all, it’s not really that different from the Archer AX20, right?

TP-Link has made a comparison table on their own website to showcase the ‘major’ differences between the two models, so you can judge for yourself if it can truly be called an upgrade over the AX20. In any case, you do get some of the features of the new WiFi standard (OFDMA, TWT), as well as some refined features from the previous standard, such as Beamforming and MU-MIMO. The TP-Link AX21 also supports OneMesh which, similarly to the AiMesh, it allows multiple compatible routers to form a mesh network. So, without further ado, let’s check the TP-Link AX21 and see if it’s worth considering over other AX1800 routers on the market (including the AX20).

Design and Build Quality

Despite sharing most of the internal hardware with the AX20, the TP-Link Archer AX21 has a completely new case and the reason for the design change seems to be to improve the internal airflow. At least that’s what TP-Link says and, while I have not tested the AX20 myself, there are a few out there that have had the previous AX1800 model and I have not heard any complaints regarding the thermal management. Then again, I suppose you can improve an already good product and make it better. That being said, the TP-Link AX21 has a rectangular plastic case that is close in design to the AX73 – it has the same glossy piece at the top, but the top patterns are different.

Additionally, the AX21 is a much more compact router than the AX73, measuring 10.2 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches, so yes, it’s identical to the Archer AX20. TP-Link has kept the four antennas that rise from the rear of the router and yes, you cannot remove them, nor can you upgrade them.

Since we already spoke a bit about the heat management of the AX21, it’s worth mentioning that the device does not overheat and it only got warm on the center-right side, especially at the bottom of the router, which is to be expected since that’s where the heatsink is positioned. TP-Link has learned from the mistake they made with the AX3000, where they ‘forgot’ to add some silicone feet which meant that the router would dance on the desk, so yes, the AX21 does have a couple of silicone feet on the bottom to keep the router into place and there are also a couple of holes in case you want to mount the AX21 on the wall.

The LEDs are positioned on the front of the router, so they’re relatively discreet, but you do get the option to turn the lights off if they bother you during the night. From the left, there’s the Power LED which will remain solid yellow (yellowish green) when the device is powered on and it’s followed by two LEDs responsible for the WiFi bands.

The first one is for the 2.4GHz network and the next one is for the 5GHz (I do think that writing them down specifically would have been better than the narrow and wider WiFi icons). The next LED will light up when there is a successful connection with the modem (just like Netgear RAX10 and the AX73) and the following LED will light up when you connect an Ethernet cable to any LAN port – yes, apparently LED lights are too expensive and one for each LAN port would have been too much (I am being sarcastic).

The last LED will light up when you connect a storage device to the rear-placed USB port. If you turn the router around, you will see the WPS/WiFi button (quick press to enable WPS and long press to turn on or off the WiFi), the recessed Reset button (press and hold it until the LEDs turn off in order to return the router to its default settings), the LED On/Off button and the aforementioned USB 2.0 port (the AX73 has a USB 3.0). Next to it, there’s a Gigabit WAN port, four Gigabit LAN ports, a Power button and a Power connector.

Internal Hardware

The tear-down process is very similar to the Archer AX73, so, to open up the TP-Link AX21, you need to detach the two silicone feet from the bottom and then remove the two screws underneath them (there is no warranty seal to break). Afterwards, use a prying tool to detach the top part of the case (there are no other screws) and the section should pop off quite easily. The interior looks fairly simple, with only a single aluminum heatsink covering a lot of the PCB – I noticed that two antennas are soldered to the board and two are not. One of the antennas that’s not soldered goes to Skyworks SKY85743 483848 5Ghz highly integrated front-end module (interesting that they decided to put it outside the CPU bracket group). Besides the antennas, I could see a Broadcom BCM53134SKFBG Ethernet switch and, to see the rest I had to remove the heat sink.

To do so, I had to carefully turn the PCB upside down and there are a few interesting things going on here: there are two antenna cable connectors going from one side of the board to the other (seems to go to the Skyworks amplifier). Afterwards, I removed the heatsink and the additional aluminum cover, I could see the quad-core 1.5GHz Broadcom BCM6755KFEBG CPU that had a badly placed thermal pad (I corrected it).

There were also 16MB of storage memory from ESMT (F50L1G41A) and 256MB of RAM from ESMT (M15T2G16128A) – the AX20 has the RAM from Samsung. There’s also a Group-Tek HST-18001DAR 100/1000M Magnetics module and two FPE G36501DK-R 100/1000M dual transform modules. As for the WiFi performance, the TP-Link Archer AX21 makes use of the Broadcom BCM6755 802.11a/n/ac/ax 2×2:2 SoC along with a couple of SKY85743 front-end modules for the 5GHz radio; for the 2.4GHz radio, TP-Link uses the Broadcom BCM6755 802.11b/g/n/ax 2×2:2 SoC with two Qorvo QPF4216 TKGE front-end modules.

Note: The TP-Link AX21 is an AX1800-class router, which means that it features a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 574MBps on the 2.4GHz radio band; on the 5GHz band, it features a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 1,201Mbps.

Features and Performance

The TP-Link AX21 is a draft-stage WiFi 6 router (just like the large majority of other WIFI 6 routers), so it does come with a few interesting new features, from which the most important one is the OFDMA. The Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access technology has the role of improving the network efficiency and performance by dividing the available channel bandwidth into smaller resource units. These units can have various size and are allocated for a better communication with multiple clients – this technology will display a significant improvement especially with smaller data packets.

Another technology that has been ported from the WiFi 5 standard is MU-MIMO and it’s working in the same manner: it helps serve multiple devices at the same time, but the adoption rate is still lagging, even though the manufacturers have been preaching about a large scale implementation with most (if not all) WiFi adapters for years now (unless you get a flagship device, you won’t get it, yes, not even in 2021).
The BeamForming is still here and it will help point the signal towards the compatible clients, therefore limiting the impact of interference on the signal and improving the throughput. Lastly, it’s worth pointing out the OneMesh which was developed as a reaction to the growing popularity of Asus’ AiMesh and it has become a bit more mature over the years, with more devices being added to the compatibility list every few months.

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Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

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Considering that it was a bit late to the party, the Deco M5 already had a fierce competition from the likes of Google WiFi (also a dual-band WiFi system), so it had to bring some novelty to the table and improve the WiFi system formula to actually become relevant and not just have a better price tag.
The Google WiFi kept the dual-band setup, but brought the price down and implemented a very simple and minimalist setup and interface (while also being one of the best on a key necessity: the network stability); the Linksys Velop added a second 5GHz radio band so it could better handle clients and the backhaul traffic; the Netgear Orbi also has an additional 5GHz which is dedicated to the backhaul, while it rejected the mesh approach in favour for a main unit+satellites system (eventually it came around and now supports daisy-chain).

Similarly to Google WiFi and Eero, TP-Link Deco M5 is a dual-band MU-MIMO router and one differentiating factor is the HomeCare, which works as an integrated antivirus and antimalware feature (this is only available with the three-unit pack). It’s not the first time a mesh system is advertised as having built-in Security features (Luma), so let’s see if TP-Link got things better.

UPDATE 03.30.2019: About 2 years have passed since I first tested the TP-Link Deco M5, so I decided to revisit it and see if TP-Link made substantial improvements to its original WiFi system. As a side note, the Deco M5 that I will retest is v1.0 and I know that TP-Link has also released a second version of the system, but the only difference between them seems to be the Power port (a downgrade from the universal type-C to a regular round Power port).

ALSO CHECK OUT: TP-LINK DECO M5 VS GOOGLE WIFI

Design
While the latest high-end routers get bigger and flashier with every iteration, the WiFi systems have always been discreet and unobtrusive (even from the early days of Eero and OpenMesh) and the TP-Link Deco M5 has kept this tradition (along with its younger siblings, the tri-band M9 Plus and the Deco P7 which has implemented powerline support). The Deco M5 can be purchased as a single unit or as multiple units (while the standard is the three-unit pack) and every M5 router is identical with each other (this is the case with every wireless mesh systems).

A single TP-Link Deco M5 features a relatively compact plastic case, which is covered by a matte finish (it does not retain any fingerprints) and the first time you take a look at its exterior you will notice the unusual shape it has adopted: there’s a seashell fractal design on top, with the plastic spiraling downwards and, in the middle, there’s a small LED light. Similarly to the Google WiFi, there aren’t many parts to reveal that this is a networking device and, if it wasn’t for the wire which sticks from the back of the M5, you would think that it’s just a strange piece of modern art. Sure, the Deco M5 may not be as aesthetic pleasing as Google WiFi, but I do appreciate that it’s less intrusive than both Linksys Velop and Netgear Orbi, measuring 4.7 x 1.3 inches and weighing 8 ounces (slightly larger than Google WiFi, but less tall).

The lightness of the device could raise some concerns about the stability, but since it’s not tall enough to be accidentally hit off the table, its four rubber feet and its low profile should be enough not to worry about it budging or falling. If you look all around the case, you won’t notice any cut-outs or vent holes, but, if you turn the device around, the bottom side is filled with puncture holes which have the role of keeping the device cool.

While testing the device, the Deco M5 got decently warm and, even if it didn’t overheat, it has a higher temperature than the Google WiFi which completely lacks any ventilation holes. Similarly to any other WiFi systems on the market, you can’t mount the device on the wall or ceiling and the only available position is horizontally on a flat surface. But, because of its reasonably small proportions, you get the option to place the M5 units pretty much anywhere in the room (the same as the Google WiFi points) and it will fit right in with any type of furniture.

Just like the Linksys Velop, the Deco M5 has a small top LED light and while other manufacturers went for something more flashy, TP-Link preferred a small, almost unnoticeable and weirdly placed LED light to show the status of the device and network: if the LED is solid yellow, then the device is starting up, while, if the LED is flashing a blue colour, then the Deco unit is ready for setting up (a solid blue signifies that the unit is setting up); if the LED light is solid green, then the Deco M5 router is connected to the Internet and everything is in order; lastly, if the LED is solid red, then the unit has encountered an error and you should check the app for details.

The LED lights can be turned off during the night (switch on the Night Mode from the Advanced Menu). I have noticed that basically all WiFi systems use a single LED system instead of the common, easy-to-understand array of indicators and it seems that TP-Link also thinks this is a good idea. While it may seem minimalist and engaging on paper to have a colourful LED, in reality, I found the system to be unintuitive and hard to understand, since you need the manual nearby to actually follow what do colours mean. Some WiFi systems are compatible with Amazon Alexa and the voice-based commands system can definitely evolve into something better than the generic array of LEDs, but, so far, this is not supported by TP-Link Deco M5 – the Deco M5 does support Alexa.

On the rear side of every TP-Link Deco M5 there is a USB Type-C port (so far, it can only be used for powering up the device and you can’t add any external storage device or any ZigBee dongle – as a side note, some other WiFi systems have inactive USB ports) and two Gigabit 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet ports (WAN/LAN), while on the bottom side, you can find a Reset button (used to return the device to factory default settings) and a label with printed info about the device.
Note: Inside the package (the three-unit box), you can find three TP-Link Deco M5 units, three Power adapters and one RJ45 Ethernet cable. No, I haven’t forgotten to add the user guide/manual, instead it was a conscious choice from TP-Link to show how intuitive their system is that you don’t need one. Funny enough, it’s already needed to understand the LED colours.

Hardware
TP-LINK Deco M5 is built on the same platform as Linksys Velop, Google WiFi and Netgear Orbi, although it does not take advantage of all the wave 2 features. So, we’re dealing with a quad-core Qualcomm Atheros IPQ4019 chip (clocked at 638 MHz), 256 MB of RAM (Nanya NT5CC128M16IP-DI), 32MB NOR flash memory and a Qualcomm Atheros QCA8072 switch chipset. Furthermore, the 2.4GHz radio band uses the Qualcomm Atheros IPQ4019 chip, while the 5GHz radio band also makes use of the Qualcomm Atheros IPQ4019 chipset, along with Qorvo RFMD RFPA5542 Power Amplifier.

Lastly, the Deco M5 is equipped with a Bluetooth 4.2 BlueCore WLCSP chip. While Linksys Velop and Google WiFi have a ZigBee radio, TP-Link decided not to include it into its Deco M5 (weirdly enough, Google WiFi seems to have dropped the ZigBee technology from its next version).
Using the 2.4 GHz radio (and, by default the 802.11n standard), a single TP-Link Deco M5 router features a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 400 Mbps and, using the 5GHz radio band (802.11ac standard), the maximum theoretical data transfer rate is 867 Mbps (added to 1267 and rounded to the advertised 1300 Mbps).

Features and Performance
TP-Link Deco M5 promises to DECOrate your home (or office) with WiFi leaving no corner untouched (as with other WiFi systems, the purpose is to get rid of the dead zones, where a single router isn’t able to reach). To do so, TP-Link went the same road as the Velop, Eero (first and second generation) and Google WiFi and implemented the mesh technology. Some of you may be aware by the fact that the mesh tech is not something new and no, these domestic-type of systems aren’t the first ones to use it. In reality, it was something more suitable for enterprise use because of its insanely high cost.

You could call Eero or Open Mesh some sort of pioneers since they were among the first to bring the home-suited mesh systems into the mainstream, but with the ever increasing popularity of IoT products, it was a matter of time until every other major networking manufacturer would release their own products. The Deco M5 takes advantage of the unique capabilities of a mesh network and, just as with the other tongue-in-the-cheek expressions (but definitely witty, such as paint the house with WiFi), TP-Link uses what is called the ART feature (Adaptive Routing Technology). To get a better understanding of what ART can do, let’s first see hows does a mesh network operate.

In order to create a mesh network, you need more than two nodes (which, in the case of WiFi systems, are identical routers), with one unit connected to the Internet and the next units spread around a larger area to cover as much space as possible and eliminate any zones where the signal can’t reach. The main property of any mesh network is the ability of creating an interconnected system, where each unit can connect to any other node based on a certain set of conditions (such as the signal strength, the available bandwidth, the less crowded channels, the number of node, the number of clients and so on).

This emphasizes the way a mesh system adapts to the pre-existing network conditions and finds the fastest and most efficient route for the data to reach its destination. Furthermore, in case a node fails, the whole network continues to function and the data is being re-routed through the nearest units, so you won’t experience any downtime and you can continue to seamlessly roam a larger area without noticing any major changes (of course, the signal will be less powerful in that specific area). If you add a new node to the system, again, the whole network will rearrange itself to ensure the best paths for the transmitted/received data.

Besides taking advantage of the mesh technology abilities, TP-Link also uses the aforementioned ART feature which has the role of connecting your devices to the most favourable M5 node (node-steering) and it also helps find the clearest path for your clients (for this to happen, the Deco M5 has a single SSID and, similarly to every other WiFi system, you can’t manually choose which client connects to which band or channel, this whole process remains purely automatic).
It’s true that the mesh approach appears to be very interesting and promising, but, similarly to the router + extender setup, it still is plagued by the same problems which it has not yet fully solved.

Of course, I’m talking about latency and the backhaul traffic. As you add more nodes (Deco M5 routers) to the system, you will notice that the connection quality and throughput declines. This is something normal with any multi-hop system and the main solution for keeping things in check is not using too many nodes (three seems to be the sweet spot) and properly handling the backhaul traffic. I can’t really say that TP-Link Deco M5 has done anything more than Eero or Google WiFi in terms of wirelessly handling the backhaul (not much can be done with a dual-band router, since no manufacturer would keep only a single radio and most prefer for the devices to be able to travel between at least two bands), but, similarly to the aforementioned two wireless mesh systems, it supports Ethernet backhaul. I know that it pretty much defeats the purpose of a WiFi system, but at least, you could have a mixed network to be able to handle things properly.

Of course, there are better solutions out there: Linksys Velop uses three radio bands for both backhaul and client connection (and, of course, Ethernet backhaul), while the best solution so far comes from Netgear Orbi which dedicated an entire 5GHz radio band for backhaul and it paid off well, since two connected Orbi devices (main router + satellite) have pretty much the same wireless performance.

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Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

Furthermore, the Deco P7 can use the powerline technology to transmit data between the nodes, so it can work in a similar manner to the Ethernet backhaul feature, ensuring more bandwidth for all the connected clients and avoiding any unnecessary congestion especially when using a multi-hop configuration.

Sure enough, it lacks the smart home abilities of the M9 Plus (although it’s still compatible with IFTTT and Alexa), as well as the additional 5GHz radio band, but it still promises to be a nice upgrade over the Deco M5, so let’s have a look if the powerline tech can make a significant difference and if the other manufacturers should also consider implementing it on their new WiFi systems.

Design
Like I said in the introduction, there is no physical difference between the Deco M5 and the Deco P7, both systems sporting small form-factor units, designed to resemble a seashell on the top side and the round case ensures that the units can be easily positioned in most place in your room. Furthermore, each Deco P7 is covered by a matte white finish with a glossy band surrounding the case and the system is available as either two or three devices (all Deco P7 nodes are identical).

Unlike its bigger brother, the M9 Plus, the Deco P7 has kept the same dimensions as the M5, so it also measures 4.7 x 1.3 inches and it kept the same 0.48 lbs in terms of weight. This could make it a bit more susceptible to budging especially when you connect all the ports, but the four silicone feet on the bottom area make sure that it can’t fall off the table. Similarly to most (if not all) other WiFi systems, the new minimalist design is a significant improvement from the industrial-looking routers, but there are some shortcomings: you can’t mount the Deco units on the wall or ceiling and you can’t upgrade the antennas (since they’re internal).

The advantage is that these small devices will blend in with any room style and they won’t take much space from the shelf, table or desk. Sure enough, you can’t always get away with cramming up all the necessary hardware in a small device since it can more easily overheat, but, just like with the Deco M9 Plus and the M5, TP-Link has also added those punctures holes on the bottom area which do help a bit with the heat management (more so than the Google WiFi or Eero which completely lack any type of ventilation cut-outs). But it’s not always about size and it’s sometimes more about chipset efficiency – remember the Asus RT-AC68U which runs hot and the new RT-AC86U which has borrowed the same case and is more powerful, but it runs at a proper temperature. This way, I noticed that the Deco P7 gets a bit warm on the bottom area and there were some hot spots near the label, especially when put under some stress.

While other manufacturers went for big, flashy LED lights, TP-Link decided that a discrete, small indicator would suffice, so, at the top of the device, you’ll notice a small LED which has the role of showing the status of the network: the LED will be solid yellow when the Deco router starts up and will start flashing blue immediately after it is ready to be set up; after you initiate the initial configuration process, the LED will become solid blue.

After the Deco router is registered and everything is working properly, the LED will become solid blue and, as soon as it encounters an error, it will become solid red. The one LED approach has been the preferred option for almost all WiFi systems because the manufacturers have seen it as the most suitable option to go with the minimalistic nature of their devices. Sure, it looks better than the array of LED lights, but it is extremely unintuitive and the user has to constantly consult the user manual to understand what those colours mean. A simpler system could be based on a voice assistant which could guide the user through the configuration process (and the P7 is compatible with Amazon Alexa).

Turn the Deco P7 unit around to expose the ports area: from the left, there’s a USB type-C Power slot which connects to the wall socket using the power adapter provided in the package and next to it, there are two Ethernet Gigabit ports, one for connecting the router to the modem (for Internet access) and the other for connecting any additional clients that require a wired connection. On the bottom of the device, next to the label, you can see a small recessed Reset button which, if pressed, will return the Deco unit to the factory default settings.

ALSO CHECK OUT: THE BEST POWERLINE ADAPTERS

Hardware
Considering that there aren’t design differences between the TP-Link Deco M5 and the Deco P7, it’s safe to assume that there aren’t significant differences in terms of internal hardware: I have opened the case and indeed, the P7 comes with a quad-core Qualcomm Atheros IPQ4019 chipset, 32MB of flash memory (WINBOND 25Q256JVFQ), 256 MB of RAM and two U&T UTG24P05 1814T 100/1000M Base Single & Dual Port Transformers. Furthermore, the Deco P7 also comes equipped with a CSR 8811 A12U 80GN5N Bluetooth 4.2 chip.

Additionally, the maximum theoretical data transfer rate of a single Deco P7 unit is 867 Mbps using the 5GHz radio band and a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 400 Mbps using the 2.4GHz radio band (adds up to 1267 Mbps which gets rounded by TP-Link to the advertised 1300 Mbps).

Features and Performance
Similarly to the Deco M5, the Deco P7 takes advantage of TP-Link’s proprietary WiFi mesh technology which is implemented on all the system’s units and has the role of covering a large area with WiFi. This way, you can place the Deco nodes all around the house and they’ll interconnect to make sure that when the client is roaming around the house, it will experience no disconnects. To accomplish this, the proprietary mesh technology scans all the nodes to detect the signal strength, the number of clients connected to each node, the radio bands that are least overcrowded (and more), so it can create optimized paths for the data.

Furthermore, in case you add a new Deco node to the network, the system will automatically detect it and create new paths for the data, while in case a node fails, the system will detect the closest and least crowded node available which will take the load, therefore ensuring that the data always reaches its destination safely. It’s worth noting that the Deco app doesn’t allow you to change the channel, disable the WiFi or any other advanced settings that may impede with the functionality of the Deco system (for this reason, I had to connect one of my Android devices multiple times to the router until it put it on the proper band and channel to stop it from compulsively disconnecting from the network).

As with all WiFi mesh systems, the main problem that needs to be solved is to keep the backhaul traffic in check so it won’t eat up all the bandwidth (as it usually happens with multi-hop systems). The best way to get the best performance is to use the Ethernet backhaul feature, but, since not many people want to still use cables in their homes when they have a Wi-Fi system, some manufacturers have developed tri-band system, where the extra band is usually used for the backhaul traffic. Considering that the Deco P7 is a dual-band system, TP-Link had to get creative so it has implemented the Wi-Fi + PLC Hybrid Mesh technology (similarly to the Arris SBR-AC1900P).

This tech takes advantage of the aforementioned mesh technology, but, if there are too many walls, the house is too old or if there are too many interferences, the Deco P7 uses the powerline technology to ensure that the nodes still get a decent connection and, at the same time, it is also a new way to offer some relief to the network in case the bandwidth gets eaten up by the nodes’ interconnectivity. Furthermore, just like the M5 and the M9 Plus, the P7 supports 802.11r Fast Roaming, but this feature is kept disabled by default because it requires compatible WiFi adapters (from the client side) and some older clients may not play nice with the routers (you may experience frequent disconnects).

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Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

Following this trend, TP-Link has also decided to compete in the higher-end segment and has recently released its own tri-band mesh system, the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus, which can be considered a successor to last year’s dual-band Deco M5. Besides adding another 5GHz radio (for a better backhaul traffic handling), TP-Link decided to go step a further and it has also included a ZigBee and a Bluetooth antenna, so, besides being a WiFi mesh system, the Deco M9 Plus also acts as a smart home hub.

Eero has betted its money only on the Thread protocol (implemented into the second gen WiFi system), so it’s interesting to see that TP-Link went with the same Gecko SoC, but advertising the support for the ZigBee technology (the Google WiFi also added support for the ZigBee tech, which ultimately, remained unused). Regardless if it will gain some traction or not, this is a nice addition to the M9 Plus which would negate the need to purchase a separate hub. That being said, let’s have a closer look at the TP-Link M9 Plus and see if it’s a more attractive option than its older tri-band competitors.
Note: Besides the Deco M9 Plus, TP-Link also released the Deco P7 which is a WiFi and PLC Hybrid Mesh System (it uses the HomePlug AV600 standard).

Design
The consumer WiFi systems have been generally well received by the general public, in part, because of their minimalist design approach (besides the ability to cover more ground with WiFi), but, while the dual-band systems had no problems adding all the necessary hardware into small compact units, the tri-bands require more space to not overheat, so the larger cases of the Orbi or the Velop were welcomed as a natural occurrence. Well, until Eero somehow managed to cram everything under the same-sized case (with its second generation) and Asus released its small tri-band Lyra units, but this came at the cost of a unsuitable heat management.

Of course there are some exceptions from the rule, such as the case of Asus which is still using traditional-looking routers, but the AiMesh is an entirely different beast and even D-Link with its Covr system eventually gave in and also went with the smaller form-factor units. The TP-Link Deco M9 Plus falls somewhere in the middle because it’s not as big as the Orbi or the Velop, but still grew in size and we pretty much ended up with an oversized Deco M5.

That’s right, besides the larger proportions, there is barely any difference between the last gen M5 and the current M9 Plus: it still kept the circular case with that seashell fractal design on top, but it grew from the 4.7 x 1.3 inches of the M5 to 5.7 x 2.5 inches and it also got significantly heavier (it weighs 0.94 lbs). This means that the units remain compact and can still be easily positioned all around the house without standing out because of their neutral design. Furthermore, because of the increased weight and the relatively narrow height, neither of the three units (available in the package) will budge even if you connect wires to all the ports – that’s also in part thanks to the four silicone feet positioned on the bottom of each device. One element that the WiFi systems lost when they transitioned from the traditional router shape to the current Applesque form is the ability to be mounted on the wall, so they are bound to a ground position; sure, there are some mounting plates available from third-parties, but these may impede with the case ventilation, if there’s any.

Thankfully, TP-Link has taken the heat management more seriously than some of its competitors (Eero, AmpliFi HD and Google WiFi) and there are some punctured holes on the bottom side of each Deco M9 Plus unit to help a bit with the case ventilation. This has proven to be relatively enough for the smaller Deco M5 and it is somewhat acceptable even for the M9 Plus which does get warm on the bottom side and it had some hot spots near the label.

Similarly to the Deco M5, the Deco M9 Plus doesn’t really take advantage of the LED light to enhance the appearance of the unit, so it’s still a small dot on the top side and it still has the role of showing the status of the connection and the network: the LED indicator is going to be yellow when the unit is in start-up phase, it will start flashing blue when the device is ready for setup and will become blue solid when the user initiates the initial configuration process; if the LED indicator becomes green, then the device is registered and everything is working properly, but if the LED is solid red, then the router has encountered an error. So, in a sense, the single LED is a bit more intuitive than on the other WiFi systems (green is good, red is bad), but the user still needs a manual to understand the other colours meaning.

If you take a Deco M9 Plus in your palm and look around the case, you’ll immediately see the ports area, where rests a Power slot for connecting the device to a power socket, a USB port, which, at this moment is ‘Reserved’ (there is a chance that if the smart home hub aspect of the unit will become a big thing, then the manufacturer may consider releasing a Z-WAVE USB dongle in the future, just like SecuriFi did) and, lastly, there are two Ethernet Gigabit ports, one for the connection to the Internet, while the other can be used to connect any of your devices via a cable.

Hardware
In terms of internal hardware, the Deco M9 Plus is very similarly equipped to the Eero Second Generation, so it also comes with a quad-core Qualcomm IPQ4019 chipset (clocked at 717 MHz), 512 MB of RAM (Nanya NT5CC256M16DP-DI), 4 GB of flash memory (Micron MTFC4GACAAAM-1M) and a Qualcomm Atheros QCA8072 switch chip. Additionally, the M9 Plus uses the Qualcomm IPQ4019 chip 2×2:2 for the 2.4GHz radio, the same IPQ4019 chip for the first 5GHz radio along with RFMD RFPA5542 power amplifier and the second 5GHz radio uses a Qualcomm Atheros QCA9886.

Besides that, the M9 Plus is also equipped with a CSR8811 Bluetooth 4.2 SoC (Cambridge Silicon Radio), as well as a Mighty Gecko EFR32 MG1B232GG SoC for the ZigBee and Thread technologies, therefore allowing the device to function as a fully-fledged smart home hub.
Every TP-Link Deco M9 Plus unit features a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 400 Mbps on the 2.4GHz radio band and a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 867 Mbps for the first 5GHz radio band, as well as on the second 5GHz radio band (adding up to 2134 Mbps which TP-Link rounds up to 2200 Mbps).
Note: The Deco M9 Plus is compatible with Alexa.

Features and Performance
The main highlight (and pretty much the raison d’etre) of every WiFi system is to cover a larger area with WiFi (than the traditional router) using multiple units, ensuring a seamless connection throughout the house even if the user has to go from node to node. To accomplish this, the manufacturers use what they call the mesh technology, which doesn’t really use any standard (it’s proprietary), so you won’t be able to connect a Google WiFi node to an Eero network, but, if you have decided on the environment you’re going to build, you can use nodes from the Deco M5 system along with units from the new Deco M9 Plus system (it is backwards compatible).

TP-Link’s implementation of the mesh tech works pretty much in the same manner as on its competitors, so it also detects all the nodes on the network to find the fastest route through the least crowded units and, in case you add new Deco devices, it automatically makes it a reliable member of the mesh network (for creating new routes), while, in case a unit goes offline, the remaining nodes will have to ensure that the data will reach its destination.

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Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

Fortunately, the TP-Link Archer VR600v should be able to deliver a decent wireless performance (although the AC1600-class does indicate that this modem router is not really the most powerful that TP-Link has to offer), it is compatible with a VDSL, ADSL, fiber or cable connection and as a welcomed bonus, the VR600v supports VoIP and telephone functions (which makes it a great addition to any small to medium businesses). If it wasn’t already obvious, the VR600v is actually the Archer VR600 second version equipped with built-in VoIP capabilities (hence, the small v at the end of the name).

Even if this year, the WiFi mesh systems still are more popular than the traditional routers, the DSL modem router inevitably remains the main centre-piece of a home or business network for a lot of people (where the ISP take their time to upgrade the lines), so, without further ado, let’s have a closer look at the Archer VR600v and see what makes it an attractive solution for both house owners and SMBs.

Design
The incredible success of the WiFi systems is in part due to their ability to uniformly cover a larger area, but also because of the minimalist design approach which stripped the external antennas and adopted a neutral look. So it’s clear that the traditional router needs to become less aggressive and more living-room friendly since these small networking devices are now a necessary part of almost all homes (this means that the manufacturers can no longer cater only to the enthusiasts). But TP-Link isn’t really known to create provocative-looking routers and besides the arachnoid looking Talon AD7200 (which was still less ominous than the Asus gaming routers series), the TP-Link routers are always more discreet.

And that is also the case with the Archer VR600v which, despite its three external antennas, it still manages to be elegant and it won’t look out-of-place on the coffee table. You would be surprised to know that this is actually a two-year old design which is now quite common among TP-Link’s modem router series (including the original v1 VR600), but since it has aged so well, it was also ported to some of its wireless routers series (such as the Archer C2300 or Archer C2600). That being said, the VR600v features a rectangular case with rounded corners and the main attraction is the top area which is half covered by a glossy finish (which does retain fingerprints), while the other half is covered by a matte finish and has lots of small ventilation holes (that slightly expose the internal hardware).

TP-Link did took seriously the proper heating management so, on the bottom area, the case is almost completely covered by small ventilation cut-outs and, in-between the top and the bottom side, there’s a small canal where TP-Link has also positioned additional vent holes. This way, the case seems to have a good heat management, but, I did notice that the router runs a bit warm and, on the bottom, there were hotter spots (and this has proven to be true during my test, especially while putting the device under a lot of stress). While not as small and compact as the recent WiFi mesh nodes, the VR600v is still among the smaller routers, measuring 8.49 x 6.44 x 1.44 inches and weighing 1.01 lbs, so it can be easily placed on a shelf or on the desk, but, if you don’t have much space to spare, then you can mount the router on the wall using the two holes from the rear side.

On top of the device, the case is cut vertically in two by a narrow area, half of it being home to the LED indicators and half acting as a LED On/Off button. The array of LED lights show the status of the Power (flashing indicates that either the system is booting up or the firmware is upgraded), DSL (on indicates that the sync was successful, off means that the sync has failed and the flashing LED indicates that the sync is in progress), Internet, the 2.4GHz radio, the 5GHz radio (flashing indicates that the WPS pairing is in progress), LAN (it is a global LED, so even if one LAN port is connected, it will be turned on – I would have preferred individual LEDs, but it still is better than the frustratingly minimalist single LED light on the mesh systems), USB (flashing indicates that it tries to identify the connected device) and Phone (if the LED is on, then either the DECT phone is busy or the phone is off-hook and it will flash when the phone is ringing or when the DECT phone is registering).

On the rear side, you will be able to find all the ports and connectors: from the left, there are two RJ11 ports for connecting a couple of analogue phones, one DSL port, a USB 2.0 port (suitable for connecting the router to a printer – although the USB 3.0 should be the standard by now), three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports and one LAN4/WAN Gigabit Ethernet port (if you are using the device in wireless router mode, then you can use the LAN4/WAN port to connect to the modem), as well as a Power port and three connectors for the omni-directional removable antennas.
On the left side of the modem router, you can find a Power On/Off button, a recessed Reset button (use a paperclip to hold it for 10 seconds in order to return the device to factory default settings), a WPS button, a WiFi On/Off switch and a DECT button (to register a DECT handset, press and hold the button for 2 seconds until the Phone LED flashes).

Hardware
Inside the case, TP-Link has equipped the VR600v modem router with a Broadcom BCM63168 chipset and 128 MB of RAM. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get more info since I found it impossible to open the case without risking breaking it even after removing the screws (TP-Link has put some seriously stubborn clips).
Note: The VR600v is marketed as an AC1600-class router, so the maximum theoretical data transfer rate is 1,300 Mbps using the 5GHz radio band and a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 300 Mbps using the 2.4GHz.

Features and Performance
The TP-Link VR600v is a budget-friendly device, so it will only have some features to enhance the wireless performance and the most prominent one is the Advanced BeamForming which has the role of focusing the signal directly towards the clients which are connected via WiFi instead of broadcasting it everywhere (be aware that in order to take advantage of this technology, the wirelessly connected clients need to have compatible WiFi adapters). So, if you need the MU-MIMO tech (useful only if you’re able to get your hands on devices with high-end WiFi adapters), the NitroQAM (1024QAM) technology or the 160MHz Aggregation, then you would be better off checking the more expensive TP-Link VR2800v.

Furthermore, the VR600v won’t be able to become a node inside a mesh network and, even if TP-Link decides to create something like the AiMesh technology, it still won’t be compatible, so, if you have a large home and need a mesh system, then you can run the VR600v in modem mode only (to do so, you need to create a new WAN interface by going to the Network > Internet tab > Add > Connection Type > Bridge and afterwards, disable the DHCP and both the 2.4 and the 5GHz radio bands). This way, you will be able to add any other WiFi mesh system and if you’re fond of the TP-Link environment, you could give a try the dual-band Deco M5 or wait a bit and go for the newer tri-band Deco M9.

But the VR600v is more than just a wireless router + DSL modem, it also has VoIP support built-in, so using the included DECT station, you can add two analogue handsets and six cordless phones or fax machines (additionally, it comes with 270 minutes Voice Mail). The VR600v also allows you to connect any smartphone to the modem router, so you can make land-line calls, verify messages or missed calls or view the PhoneBook contacts when you are not at home.

The TP-Link VR600v supports three Operational Modes, the first is the the VDSL / ADSL Modem Router Mode, the second is 3G / 4G Router Mode and the third is the Wireless Router Mode. Using the first Mode (I used the device with a VDSL connection), I measured a maximum of 75 Mbps, which is the actual maximum I can get on that line (tested by the ISP technician), so the modem router can draw the maximum available speed. If you keep the VR600v in this mode, then your connected devices will receive up to 100 Mbps (capped by the DSL port) and you can enjoy up to 1000 Mbps only in the LAN. Thankfully, this device can also connect to a FTTH fibre connection, so you can go up to 1Gbps.

Now, in order to test the wireless performance I took two computers, one is a high-end laptop which gets connected to the modem router via a 1Gbps cable (the server) and the second is a computer equipped with one of the best wireless adapters available right now (the Asus PCE AC88) – the client. This way, I could accurately measure the best performance that the VR600v can deliver at various spots inside the home. So, using the 5GHz radio band (802.11ac standard), at 5 feet, I was able to measure an average of 516 Mbps, while at 15 feet, the speed went slightly down to 430 Mbps and lastly, at 30 feet, I measured an average of 328 Mbps.

On the next step, I decided to switch to the 2.4GHz network and, using a compatible wireless client, I measured an average of 96.6 Mbps at no more than 5 feet from the router, while at 15 feet, I measured around 85.6 Mbps. At 30 feet, the speed remained reasonably consistent and I measured an average of 76.8 Mbps. The wireless speed performance on the 5GHz band was surprisingly great, but, if you plan to use devices from the older WiFi standard (802.11n 2.4GHz), the performance is nothing to brag about.

Setup and Interface
Similarly to most other modern routers (except for Google WiFi), TP-Link offers two ways to run the initial configuration process: using the web-based interface (you need to connect the modem router to a computer, open any web browser and then go to https://192.168.1.1) or using the TP-Link Tether app, which is available for both iOS and Android. To initiate the setup process, I used the app: the first thing that you need to do is to choose the type of device you want to set up (can be Router, Range Extender or the Archer C5400X, which, apparently, gets a category of its own) – I chose Router and then, DSL Modem Router from the list.

On the next step, I was asked to connect the mobile device to the router WiFi network and to wait for the app to detect the modem router; after the VR600v gets detected, tap on it and Create a new password (for the admin account), Select your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and if the info is not detected automatically, you’ll need to enter the username and password provided by your ISP; next, you’ll have to set up the SSID and password for each of the two radio bands (2.4 and 5GHz) and wait until the settings gets applied. And that’s pretty much it, the modem router is set up – you’ll be automatically logged into the interface and, if you need the remote management feature, you need to ‘Bind this device to a TP-Link ID’. Overall, I found the initial configuration process to be quick, painless and reasonably intuitive.

After you’ve logged into the app’s user interface, you’ll be greeted by the Dashboard, which displays the status of the connection, the SSID and password of the two Wireless bands and the Guest Network. On the bottom, there are two icons, one for Clients (displays the Connected and Blocked Clients) and the other for accessing the Tools section which features a wholes set of options: Quick Setup, Wireless (allows you to customize the two WiFi networks), Internet Connection, 3G/4G, Parental Controls (add specific devices to the Child List and set Content Restrictions – block specific websites and create a blacklist and a whitelist), Network Diagnostics, Guest Network, Share Password, TP-Link Cloud, Operation Mode (choose between DSL Modem Router, Wireless Router or 3G/4G Router) and System (Reboot, return to Factory Default Settings or Log Out). On the UI, you can also see three horizontal lines which, when tapped, will summon the menu (here, you can quickly change the TP-Link device that you want to configure or access the Smart Life Assistants – IFTTT and Alexa).

While the app will allow you to set up the basic features, you need to go to the web based interface to perform a more in-depth configuration. The main page is divided into three sections: the Quick Setup, the Basic section and the Advanced section. For the most part, the Basic section offers pretty much the same features as the Tether app, but I did notice a bit more options on the Parental Controls, as well as the possibility to enable the IPTV and configure the Telephony sections (numbers, devices and Voice Mail). The Advanced section offers a more complete Status page (for the Internet connection, Wireless or DSL), the Network subsection (includes LAN Settings, Interface Grouping, DSL Settings, DDNS, Static Routing or IPv6 Tunnel), Advanced Wireless Settings (includes WDS Bridging, AP Isolation, Beacon Interval, RTS Threshold and more), a way more option-rich Telephony subsection (includes Telephone Book, Call Log, Call Rules, DND and Call Blocking, DECT, tpPhone and more), NAT Forwarding, Security (includes Firewall & DoS Protection, Service Filtering, IPv6 Filtering and more), VPN (OpenVPN, PPTP VPN, IPSec VPN and VPN Connections) and a more comprehensive System Tools subsection (includes LED control, Push Service, CWMP and SNMP Settings and Traffic Monitor).

Conclusion
I know that 2018 remains the year of WiFi mesh systems, but the TP-Link VR600v came as a surprise on many fronts: the wireless performance on the 5GHz WiFi network was way above average considering its price tag (at the same time, the performance on the 2.4GHz WiFi network was underwhelming) and the web-based user interface will satisfy the tech-savvy people, while the Tether app should be enough for people that don’t really care for an in-depth configuration. Obviously, it has its flaws, such as the aforementioned 2.4GHz performance, the slight overheating problem and the lack of a USB 3.0, but all of these don’t outweigh the positive points, so the Archer VR600v remains a great budget-friendly solution for small-to-medium homes which are still stuck to the DSL lines.

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

Well, the C2300 prides itself with a new processor, increased clock speed, more flash memory and some new features, but, while the Archer C2600 is a 4×4 router, the C2300 is a 3×3 device (it also has a lot in common with the Archer C3150 V2 platform). Furthermore, there are rumours that the Archer C2600 may reach EOL (End Of Life), so, the C2300 could be a fresher replacement for it.

Even if that wouldn’t be the case, the price gap between the older generation of high-end routers (which usually refers to the AC1900 class) and the newer AC2600 and AC2400 (or AC2300) routers is rapidly closing, so, if you’re on the market for a new high-end router with some of the latest technologies implemented, the TP-Link Archer C2300 is a good option (as I always say, the AC2300 to AC2600 is the new sweet-spot for the consumer-type routers).

Design
Unless we don’t count the arachnoid Talon AD7200, TP-Link hasn’t really made that many changes to the design of its latest WiFi routers, only slight adjustments to not look completely identical. That’s also the case of the TP-Link Archer C2300 which is pretty much identical to the Archer VR600 modem router and bears a close resemblance to the Archer C2600. So, it features the same black plastic exterior, with the top side divided into two main parts, one is covered by a black glossy finish and the other is covered by lots of diamond-shaped cut-outs (to allow for a better airflow inside the case), with both parts being vertically intersected by a narrow section (half being dedicated for the LED lights and half is a button for turning the LEDs on or off).

The LED lights show the status of the Power (if it’s flashing, then the system is either upgrading the firmware or the device is starting up, so don’t power it off), the 2.4GHz wireless band, the 5GHz wireless band, the Internet (if the LED is blue, then the Internet connection is available, otherwise, if it’s orange, it signifies that the Internet cable is connected, but there’s is no Internet service), the Ethernet (if it’s on, then at least one device is connected to a LAN port on the router), the WPS (if it’s flashing, then the WPS connection is in progress and it could take up to 2 minutes) and the USB.

Like I said before, the VR600 and the C2300 share the same case (even featuring the same silver band which separates the top and the bottom sides), so it measures 8.5 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches and weighs 2.8 lbs, which sets it apart from the usual bulkier router and makes it quite the compact device. While being unobtrusive is usually an advantage in the networking world, this time, I think TP-Link should have gone with the C2600’s larger case (since it borrowed it from another TP-Link device, anyway) to allow a better heat dissipation inside the C2300. Yes, I know that the bottom is completely covered with cut-outs and half of the top side also allows the air to circulate, the small size may prove to be an inconvenience when under heavy loads, so the C2300 may run a bit hotter than the C2600.

Since it has average proportions and and it is a relatively elegant device, the C2300 can be positioned pretty much anywhere in the room without emanating an industrial feel and, if you’re low on space, you can mount it on the wall using the two dedicated zones on the bottom (the four feet should provide a bit of space between the router and the wall for maintaining a proper airflow).

The back panel of the C2300 is home to the Power port, the Power On/Off button, a Gigabit (10/100/1000Mbps) Internet port, four Gigabit LAN ports and three antenna sockets (the antennas are detachable and omnidirectional). On the left of the device, there’s a WiFi On/Off button (press it for 2 seconds to turn on or off the wireless functionality), a Reset button (press it for more than 5 seconds to return the router to factory default settings), a WPS button, one USB 2.0 port (in 2017, this is underwhelming) and one USB 3.0 port.

Note: TP-Link allows you to combine two LAN ports together for link aggregation to a NAS (to get up to 2Gbps, theoretically).

Hardware
Inside the case, TP-Link has equipped the Archer C2300 with a dual-core 1.8GHz Broadcom BCM4906 CPU (similarly to the ASUS RT-AC86U – not to be mistaken with the RT-AC68U), 128 MB of storage memory (ESMT F59L1G81MA-25T) and 512 MB of RAM (Broadcom BCM4906 as the Ethernet chipset). Furthermore, the wireless performance on the 2.4 GHz radio band is being delivered by the Broadcom BCM4360 3×3:3 chip, while the wireless performance on the 5GHz radio band is being delivered by the Broadcom BCM4365E 3×3:3 chipset.

The Broadcom chip’s performance gets further enhanced by using the NitroQAM technology (1024 QAM modulation), which translates into an increase of up to 25 percent over the traditional 256-QAM (so, there’s a higher throughput using the 802.11ac standard).

But that’s not all, because the C2300 also uses the (more common) TurboQAM technology, which also raises the maximum transfer rate to 200 Mbps per data stream using the 2.4GHz radio band. So, the maximum theoretical speed of the Archer C3200 is 600 Mbps using the 2.4GHz radio band and it is 1,625 Mbps using the 5GHz radio band (adds to 2,225 Mbps, which is rounded to 2,300 Mbps).

Features and Performance
The Archer C2300 has a lot in common with TP-Link Archer C3150 V2, so, in terms of features, it is equipped in a fairly similar way (although we need to take in consideration that we’re dealing with a dual-band, three-stream router). First of all, the C2300 supports the MU-MIMO technology (Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output) which should allow simultaneous communication with up to three devices. The traditional way was to serve one client at a time and let the clients compete for the bandwidth, while the MU-MIMO can greatly improve the network’s behaviour and efficiency.

But, there is a drawback: it’s true that the MU-MIMO is one of the best technologies to have implemented in the consumer router, but, most of you won’t really be able to use it at all and that’s because your connected wireless devices need to have a compatible MU-MIMO adapter (and there aren’t that many on the market – those that can be found are very expensive).

The C2300 also makes use of the Smart Connect technology, which has the role of automatically assigning connected devices to the best radio band. The Smart Connect feature is usually associated with the tri-band routers (such as the Archer C3200, the D-Link AC3200 Ultra WiFi DIR-890L/R or the ASUS RT-AC3200), where it would be a pain to have to deal with three separate networks and the need for an easy connection to the three bands takes priority. Of course, this type of dynamic algorithm can prove to be very useful even for a dual-band router: the Smart Connect feature has the role of analysing the signal strength, the distance between the client and the router, as well as spotting any crowded channels and to find the most suitable band for your devices (be aware that, in order to take advantage of either the TurboQAM or NitroQAM, you need to have compatible built-in wireless cards).

The router also supports BeamForming, which has the role of focusing the signal towards the connected clients, instead of broadcasting it everywhere and hope that it will reach your gadgets (once again, you need devices with compatible wireless cards to take advantage of this feature – thankfully, this is more widespread than the MU-MIMO).

In order to test the wireless performance of the Archer C2300, I took a computer with a compatible wireless adapter and walked around the house to see how it performs at different locations. First, I used the 2.4GHz radio band (implicitly, the older 802.11n standard) and, at 5 feet, I got an average of 139 Mbps, while, at 15 feet, the speed slightly decreased to 122 Mbps. After further increasing the distance up to 30 feet, I measured an average of 95 Mbps. Next, I switched to the 5GHz band (802.11ac standard) and again, roamed the house: at 5 feet, I got an average of 567 Mbps (peaked at 570.4 Mbps) and, after increasing the distance to about 15 feet, I got an average of 474 Mbps. Lastly, at 30 feet, I measured about 227 Mbps.

As a final test, I verified the storage performance of the C2300 by sending and receiving a 1.5GB folder containing multimedia files: I measured 65.8 MBps for reading the folder and 46.6 MBps for writing it.
Note: For the best storage performance, TP-Link enabled the possibility of using link aggregation by combining two LAN ports, therefore greatly increasing the speed (marketed as up to 2Gbps) if you are a NAS or server owner.

Setup
TP-Link Archer C2300 features a web-based utility which can be reached by either directly connecting the router to a computer using a cable or by connecting wirelessly to the preconfigured WiFi network using the SSID and password provided on the bottom label (you can also go the WPS route). After a connection has been established, open a web-browser and go to https://tplinkwifi.net to create a new secure administrator password.

Afterwards, you can log into the interface and access the Quick Setup wizard, which will guide you through setting the Time Zone, the Connection Type (you can use Auto Detect or manually select between Dynamic IP, Static IP, PPPoE, L2TP or PPTP), choose between Cloning the Current Computer MAC Address or not (depends on your ISP), do a basic configuration of the Wireless networks (SSIDs and passwords) and register for a TP-Link ID (for additional Cloud functions).
Note: The Archer C2300 can also be configured using the TP-Link Tether app (needs registering to the Cloud service).

Besides the Quick Setup, the web interface has two additional main tabs: Basic and Advanced. The Basic tab opens a new window with a dedicated vertical menu which shows the Network Map (a graphical representation of all the connected devices to the Internet sorted by wired, wireless and the radio band used, as well as info about the Internet, the Connection, IP address, DNS server and Gateway), allows you to configure the Internet subsection, the Wireless, USB Sharing (Sharing Access and Print Server), Parental Controls (here, you can block any malicious websites and create schedules for when specific websites can be accessed; each connected devices gets a set of rules – such as Content Restriction based on keywords in a whitelist or blacklist), Guest Network (allows you to create 2.4GHz or 5GHz guest networks and allow guests to see each other or give them access to your local network) and TP-Link Cloud.

The Advanced window has its own set of options: Status (shows the status of the Internet, Wireless, LAN, Guest Network, USB Devices, a Performance chart, as well as the Wired and Wireless Clients), Operation Mode (Router or Access Point), Network (Internet – IPV4 and MAC Clone; LAN – LAN settings and Link Aggregation (select the mode, choose which LAN ports will be combined and choose the Hash Algorithm – the SRC MAC+DST MAC Hash Algorithm is the suggested choice); IPTV, DHCP Server – Settings, Address Reservations and DHCP Client List; Dynamic DNS and Static Routing), Wireless (Wireless Settings – includes enabling the Smart Connect; WPS and Wireless Schedules), Guest Network, NAT Forwarding (ALG, Virtual Servers, Port Triggering, DMZ and UPnP), USB Sharing, Parental Controls, QoS (set the Upload and Download Bandwidth and add devices to the QoS Rule List based on High, Middle and Low priority), Security (SPI Firewall & DoS Protection, Access Control and IP & MAC Binding), IPv6, VPN Server (OpenVPN or PTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol) VPN) and System Tools (Time Settings, LED Control, Diagnostics, Firmware Upgrade, Backup & Restore, Administration, System Log, Traffic Statistics and System Parameters).

Note: The Archer C2300 supports the HomeCare feature (it gets its updates from TrendMicro), which can be added to your interface by performing a Firmware Upgrade.

Conclusion
It may not be correct to call TP-Link Archer C2300 the successor of the C2600 since it follows a rather different path (it’s more of a budget-friendly Archer AC3150 v2). So it is a very relevant device for 2017, sporting powerful internal hardware, a good wireless performance, a user-friendly interface (although I preferred the previous UI design choice), some of the latest technologies (MU-MIMO, Smart Connect, NitroQAM) and some unique features as well (Link Aggregation for NAT). Couple all this with a reasonable price tag and you get a more than capable router for medium to large sized homes (or small offices).

Check the product here:

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

Of course, the Chinese manufacturer is as popular as ever and it has managed to maintain its status as a main competitor to the likes of Asus, Netgear, Linksys and D-Link, but, similarly to the aforementioned companies, is playing a numbers game, going up to AD7200 (Talon AD7200), thus confusing a lot of people about the real-life performance and actual use. The AC3200 class is not much different, although a bit more justified than the others, since the second 5GHz radio will add another 1,300Mbps to the AC1900. This means that you won’t get better link-rates, but, it will increase the total throughput of the 5GHz devices and allows you to connect a lot more wireless clients to the network.

That being said, it does seem that the AC3200 class routers aim to replace the AC1900 class, so let’s see if the Archer C3200 is a reliable substitute to your older AC1900 router, both in terms of performance and price.

Design
One thing you’ll notice is that while routers feature a higher maximum throughput and have more of the latest technologies implemented, they also get more unorthodox and weird-looking designs. The Archer C3200 is guilty of this approach with its black squarish case made of plastic, lacking any rounded corners, with lots of cut-outs all over the top part and covered by a black matte finish (it gave up on the glossy design of the previous routers from the Archer C series).

The Archer C3200 has six antennas that fold over the top inside some longitudinal carved-in zones to keep a certain surface continuity, that only breaks towards the centre to reveal a recessed X shape with the TP-Link logo. Unfortunately, the antennas are not removable and therefore, non upgradeable (3 dual band and 3 single band). Furthermore, I’m not really a fan of too many antennas all around the case, but since you can’t really put all of them on the back (or can you?) and they are small enough, it won’t cause any major inconvenience (yes, I’m looking at you, Afoundry).

Besides the top cut-outs that greatly improve the airflow inside the case, the Archer C3200 also has longitudinal vents on all four lateral sides and a huge amount of small triangle-shaped holes on the bottom. This is clearly one of the better ventilated cases I saw on a router (and it needs a good airflow since a tri-band router will tend to become hot and as with almost all consumer-type devices, you can’t expect a built-in fan to cool down the case, as the C3200 relies on passive cooling, which in turn, makes the device run quieter).

Also on the bottom, there are four small rubber feet to keep the case from budging, two holes for wall-mounting and a label that shows some info about the router (such as the default address, username and password and the three default SSIDs). The case feels sturdy and made of high quality materials, so it won’t really move even if you connect all the ports. By default, the Archer C3200 can be positioned horizontally on a flat surface, but, if you value your space, you can always wall-mount it using the two holes on the bottom (there’s no kit or screws available inside the package).

Since it’s not a really big devices (it measures 7.9 x 7.9 x 1.5 inches), you could get away with hiding the router basically anywhere in the living-room (what’s interesting is that I doubt TP-Link intended for you to hide the device in a corner, but the end result shows a router that wants to look like a post-modern piece of art, especially because of the rectangular-shaped antennas, but I don’t really feel that it has achieved its goal, since it looks more like a rugged spaceship than an aesthetically pleasing art object).

On the front of the device, there is a series of blue LEDs, which show the status of Power (if it’s flashing, it indicates that the firmware is upgrading or that the system is initializing), Wireless 2.4GHz radio, Wireless 5GHz-1 radio, Wireless 5GHz-2 radio, Ethernet (one LED for all the four Ethernet LAN ports), Internet (blue signifies that the port is connected and the Internet is accessible, while orange shows that the Internet is inaccessible and that the port is connected), WPS, USB 1 and USB 2 and on the right, there are three buttons for WiFi (press the button for 2 seconds to either enable or disable the WiFi), WPS (allows you connect wireless devices to the network using the WPS process) and LED On/Off (a good addition if you don’t like the LED light to flash in your eyes during the night).

On the rear side of the router, you can find a series of ports and buttons: from the left, there is a recessed Reset button (press it for 7 seconds to reset the device to factory default settings), a USB 2.0 port (useful for a printer), a 10/100/1000Mbps Internet port, four 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet LAN ports, a USB 3.0, the Power On/Off button and the Power connector.

Note: Inside the package, you can find the AC3200 Wireless Tri-Band Gigabit Router Archer C3200 unit, a power supply unit, an Ethernet cable and a Quick Installation Guide.

Hardware
Inside the case, the TP-Link AC3200 is equipped with a dual-core Broadcom BCM4709A0 CPU (clocked at 1GHz), 128 MB of flash memory, 256 MB of RAM and and a PLX ExpressLane™ PEX 8603 PCIe switch (useful for the third radio). Furthermore, the 2.4GHz radio uses a Broadcom BCM43602 b/g/n 3×3:3 chipset, along with a Skyworks SE2623L 2.4 GHz power amplifier, while the first 5GHz radio uses a Broadcom BCM43602 chipset, along with a Skyworks SKY85710-11 5GHz WLAN Front-End Module and lastly, the second 5GHz radio also uses a Broadcom BCM43602 chipset, along with a Skyworks SE5003L 5GHz power amplifier.

The Archer C3200 features a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 600 Mbps if you use the 2.4GHz radio band, while each of the 5GHz radios have a maximum theoretical data transfer rate of 1,300 Mbps (adds to the advertised 3,200 Mbps).

Features and Performance
The main selling point of the TP-Link AC3200 is, of course, the implementation of the Broadcom’s XStream technology, which makes the device a tri-band router. As said before, this translates into an additional 5GHz radio which will allow for more devices to be connected and a better network management, but not a higher link rate.

As opposed to the tri-band approach, Qualcomm has developed the MU-MIMO technology, which promises a better wireless performance for the connected devices, by serving multiple clients at the same time (the old fashion way is to serve one client at a time). As expected, the MU-MIMO routers also like to put inflated numbers on the box to attract the attention of a larger portion of people. The problem is that, similarly to the tri-band routers, you won’t see any difference between an AC2600 MU-MIMO router and an AC1900 one if you don’t have the compatible equipment (the MU-MIMO tech is slowly being implemented into some new smartphones, but it is still a very slow process and the market doesn’t keep up with the fast developments from the networking world).

The Qualcomm vs Broadcom rivalry has given birth to some really awesome devices, each with its own advantages and disadvantages (the TP-Link AC3200 being one of many), but I feel that a tri-band router can be used now with a large array of already present devices (although, you’d be amazed by how slow is the ongoing transition to the 5GHz adapters), while the MU-MIMO needs to wait more until compatible wireless adapters will be a common occurrence.
In order to take advantage of the three radios, TP-Link implemented the Smart Connect feature, which has the role of balancing the load between the radios, so, as soon as you connect a new device to the network, the Smart Connect will automatically assign it to the best (and less crowded) channel. Of course, all connected devices are continuously monitored so, if a device would benefit more if it were on another band, it gets automatically reassigned.

This way, you get a better overall network performance, but, in order to use this function, you will have a single SSID with a single password. I have seen the Smart Connect feature in action with the Asus AC3200, but because Asus gave users too much control, it backfired (the function became too aggressive and users experienced frequent connects and disconnects). What’s interesting is that all other AC3200 tri-band routers only allow you to either enable or disable the Smart Connect, therefore TP-Link has anticipated the problems that Asus has faced.

Another feature worth mentioning is the Beamforming technology which has the role of scanning for any connected wireless devices and focus the signal directly at them instead of broadcasting it everywhere and hope that it will reach your clients.

In order to test the potential of the TP-Link AC3200, I used a 3×3 laptop (MacBook Pro) and a desktop PC with a compatible 3×3 wireless adapter and noted the wireless performance depending on the home location, while keeping interferences to a minimum (the Smart Connect feature is disabled and each radio had its own SSID and password). So, using the 2.4GHz radio and, implicitly the 802.11n standard, I measured an average of 121 Mbps at close range (no more than 5 feet) and, after increasing the distance between the devices to 15 feet, I measured an average of 102 Mbps. After increasing the distance further to about 35 feet, I measured 63 Mbps. Unfortunately, the TP-Link AC3200 seems to be the slowest among the other tri-band routers that I have tested (such as the Asus AC3200 and D-Link DIR-890L/R) using the 2.4Ghz radio.

Afterwards, I switched to the first 5GHz radio band (802.11ac standard) and at close range, I measured an average of 315 Mbps. After increasing the distance to 15 feet, the speed decreased to 263 Mbps and at 35 feet, I measured an average of 134 Mbps. The second 5GHz radio did a lot better, reaching 468 Mbps at close range (no more than 5 feet) and going down to 393 Mbps at 15 feet. Lastly, at 35 feet, I measured an average of 244 Mbps.
Since the TP-Link AC3200 has a USB 3.0 port, it’s only natural to test the router’s storage performance. So, I used a 2.0GB folder containing miscellaneous files (videos, photos, books) and measured a sustained 26.5MBps writing speed and a 41.3MBps reading speed.

Setup and Interface
The setup process of the TP-Link AC3200 is simple and straight-forward (just like with most other routers on the market) and all you have to do is open the web-based utility (by navigating to either https://tplinkwifi.net or https://192.168.0.1), enter admin for both user name and password when prompted to do so, create a new user name and password and let the Quick Setup Wizard guide through setting up the Internet connection: choose the Region and Time Zone, the connection type (choose Auto detect or select one from the list – can be Dynamic IP, Static IP, PPPoE, L2TP or PPTP), decide if you want to close the MAC address, set the SSIDs and passwords for the three bands and lastly, you can Test the Internet Connection to make sure everything works fine. That’s it, you can now do a more in-depth configuration of your network by further navigating the interface.

The main page of the UI is divided into three sections, the first allows you to perform the Quick Setup (if you need to make any changes), the second gives you access to the Basic settings and the third to the Advanced settings. The Basic tab summons the following options on the left of the page: the Network Map (a graphical representation of your network, showing all the connected clients, as well as the status of the Internet), the Internet (similarly to the Quick Setup process, you can choose the Internet Connection Type and if you want to clone the MAC address), the Wireless settings (here, you can change the SSID and password of any radio band), the USB Settings (Sharing Access and Print Server), the Parental Controls (you can add devices to the time schedule list and create blacklists or whitelists for certain keywords) and the Guest Network (you can create SSIDs and passwords for the guest networks and allow guests to see each other). As a side note, it can be a bit annoying that you can’t choose specific devices to be affected by the keyword blacklist (every device receives the same treatment).

The Advanced Settings has the following options: Status (displays the status of the Internet, both the IPv4 and IPv6 connection, the status of the Wireless networks, the LAN connections and the Guest Networks), Network (Internet Settings, LAN Settings, IPTV, DHCP Server – Client List, Address Reservation and Condition Pool -, Dynamic DNS, Advanced Routing -Static Routing and System Routing Table- and IPSec VPN), Wireless (Wireless Settings, WPS, MAC Filtering, Wireless Schedule and Statistics), Guest Network, NAT Forwarding (Application Layer Gateway, Virtual Servers, Port Triggering, DMZ and UPnP), USB Settings, Parental Controls, Bandwidth Control (here, you can create Controlling Rules using the IP range, port range and protocol, create upstream and downstream limits and set the priority), Security (SPI Firewall, DoS Protection, Access Control and IP & MAC Binding), IPv6 and System Tools (Time Settings, Diagnostics, Firmware Upgrade, Backup & Restore, Administration, System Log, SNMP Settings, Statistics and System Parameters).
Note: I could not find any Access Point Mode or any Bridge Mode available.

Conclusion
It is clear that the AC3200 class is the new AC1900 and the TP-Link AC3200 Archer C3200 is proof of this, featuring comparable wireless link rates, but with an additional 5GHz radio band to create a more stable network and to allow more wireless devices to be connected. Besides that, the price gap is getting smaller and smaller everyday between the two classes of routers. That being said, the Archer C3200 is not the fastest among the tri-band routers, but it does offer a reasonable wireless performance, an easy-to use interface and an interesting design.

Check the product here:

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

The original TP-Link Archer C5 not only looked almost identical to the Archer C7, it actually was a C7 with the maximum 5GHz link rate limited to only 867 Mbps. Since it had superior hardware when compared to other devices from the competition, the C5 was the best performing AC1200 router on the market when it was released.

The Archer C5 V2 completely replaces the first version (it’s discontinued by TP-Link) and aims to give its users a taste of the better AC technology (over the ageing 802.11n standard), while maintaining an attractive price tag, so let’s see how it performs.

Design
In terms of design, TP-Link hasn’t radically changed the appearance of the Archer C5 v2, maintaining the same features as the first version and the Archer C7 and the only notable difference would be the two antennas that pop from the back (instead of the three on the C7). That being said, the C5 has the same plastic case, with the upper part cut into three pieces, separated by small canals and covered by a black glossy finish (that retains fingerprints). The case is elegant, especially because of the glossy top and, thanks to its non-intrusive look, it will sit nicely in a living room, without attracting too much attention. Furthermore, the Archer C5 can be mounted on the wall (thanks to the two holes on the bottom side of the device) and, by default, it can be positioned flat on a surface without taking too much space (comparing it to other routers, the Archer C5 is not too large, measuring 9.6×6.4×1.3 inches, the same as the C7).

As it doesn’t have any active cooling (and I suppose that it shouldn’t, since it’s not an enterprise-type device), you have to think carefully where you place the router, so its air vents aren’t obstructed and it can stay cool (since this is a 2.4/5GHz router, it will get a bit warm). The bottom part is the only place covered by lots of vent holes for a proper airflow, along with the two holes for mounting the router on the wall and, let’s not forget about the label on the middle, which contains important information (including the default web address, the default user name and password, the Serial Number, the MAC address and the wireless password). The router weighs about 2 lbs, so it’s quite lightweight, but, the four feet provide a bit of stability, especially when all the ports are connected.

On the front of the router, straight in the middle, there’s an array of LED lights, responsible for Power, System (if it’s flashing, then the router is working properly), Wireless 2.4GHz, Wireless 5GHz (flashing means that the router is working on the 5GHz radio band), the four Ethernet ports (if it’s On, then there is an inactive device connected to the corresponding port, otherwise, if the LED is flashing, then the connected device is active), the WAN port, WPS (if the LED is flashing slowly, then a new device is attempting to connect to the network using the WPS function – the process will take about 2 minutes) and the USB port.

On the back side of the Archer C5 is where you can find the ports and buttons: first, there’s a Power socket, then there’s the On/Off switch, two USB 2.0 ports (it’s a shame that TP-Link missed the chance to add a USB 3.0 port into the new C5), a 10/100/1000M Auto-Negotiating RJ45 Internet port, four 10/100/1000M Auto-Negotiating RJ45 Ethernet ports with Auto MDI/MDIX and a WPS/Reset button (if you press the button for more than 5 seconds, it enables the Reset function – hold it for 8 seconds to return the router to factory default settings; press the button for less than 5 seconds to enable the WPS function). On the left and the right side there are two golden connectors for the two dual-band antennas (RP-SMA).
Note: The package contains the TP-Link Archer C5 router unit, a DC Power Adapter, an Ethernet cable, a Quick Installation Guide and a Resource CD.

Hardware
Although the exterior hasn’t suffered any major change, on the inside, the Archer C5 V2 is completely different than the first version. While the C5 V1 had a dual-band 3×3 QCA9558 CPU, the new version is now a true 2×2 router, equipped with a 800MHz Broadcom BCM47081AQKFEBG, it has the same 128 MB of DDR3 SDRAM (Hynix H5TQ1G83EFR-PBC) and it has doubled the flash storage capacity to 16 MB Winbond 25Q128FVFG.

Furthermore, the 2.4GHz wireless performance is being delivered by a Broadcom BCM43217KMLG 2×2 SoC with SiGE / Skyworks SE2576L power amplifiers (x2) and the 5GHz radio band wireless performance is delivered by a Broadcom BCM4352KMLG 5 GHz 2×2 SoC with a Skyworks SE5003L1 power amplifier (x2).
The TP-Link Archer C5 V2 features a maximum theoretical speed of 867 Mbps using the 5GHz radio band and a maximum of 300Mbps using the 2.4GHz radio band (a total of 1167Mbps, rounded to 1200Mbps).

Performance and Connectivity
The 2×2 TP-Link Archer C5 v2 is built on the Broadcom platform, being able to handle simultaneous 2.4 and 5GHz connections. Besides the concurrent dual-band capabilities, the C5 doesn’t have much to show for enhancing the wireless performance. It lacks the Beamforming technology, which is a godsend for maximizing the signal and enhancing the WiFi behaviour (instead of broadcasting the wireless signal everywhere, hoping it will reach your connected devices, the Beamforming feature focuses the signal towards your clients).

Furthermore, you should also not expect the MU-MIMO technology, which, even though was reserved for the high-end models, it has been recently implemented into some new AC1300 routers like the ASUS RT-ACRH13 and ZYXEL NBG6617. It’s true that you may not need this new tech, since there aren’t many devices with compatible wireless adapters and because these inexpensive routers will handle at best, three devices at the same time (the MU-MIMO allows the possibility of simultaneous data receiving and transmission). But, seeing new features implemented into the new routers shows that there’s still interest for inexpensive devices and a desire to make them future-proof.

In order to test the wireless performance of the TP-Link Archer C5 v2, I connected the router to a laptop with a 2×2 wireless adapter and measured the speed performance at different locations inside the home. So, using the 2.4GHz radio band, at close range (no more than 5 feet), I measured an average of 110 Mbps. After increasing the distance to 15 feet, the router managed to deliver a maximum of 106 Mbps and, at 35 feet, I measured up to 65Mbps. Afterwards, I switched to the 5GHz band and, at 5 feet, the router delivered a maximum of 367 Mbps. After increasing the distance to 15 feet, the speed slightly decreased to 354 Mbps and, after further increasing the distance to 35 feet, the speed took a steeper fall, reaching an average of 162 Mbps.

Lastly, in order to test the storage performance of the Archer C5 v2, I took a 1.5 GB folder containing multimedia files (music, videos, photos) and measured the writing and reading speed. The C5 scored a writing speed of 12.6 MBps and a reading speed of 15.2 MBps (sure enough, the storage performance is not impressive by any means, but keep in mind that the C5 doesn’t have a USB 3.0, which would greatly improve the performance).

Setup
In order to setup the router, you need to connect an Ethernet cable to the Internet port on the C5 and to the LAN port on the modem. Afterwards, use another Ethernet cable and connect your computer to one of the four LAN ports on the router. Now, you can access TP-Link’s web interface (compatible with Windows OS, Macintosh and UNIX) by opening a web browser and going to 192.168.0.1 (or https://tplinkwifi.net). If it’s the first time you access the interface, it will automatically launch the Quick Setup Wizard. The setup Wizard will guide you through choosing the Region and Time Zone, as well as selecting the WAN Connection Type (can be Dynamic IP, Static IP, PPPoE, L2TP or PPTP – you can also select auto-detect) and select the SSIDs and the passkeys for the 2.4 and the 5GHz radio bands. Afterwards, you gain access to the main page, where you can further configure your router.

The interface has three main tabs for Quick Setup, Basic and Advanced. The Basic tab has its specific set of options on the left side for the Network Map (a graphical representation of your network, which includes all your connected clients, wired or wireless and allows you to view the status of each client), Internet (here, you can change the WAN connection type, renew the IP address and choose the primary and secondary DNS), Wireless, USB Settings (File Sharing options and the Print Server) and Guest Network (allows you to create separate SSIDs, with their own passwords for each band, so your guests can access your network, but without seeing your personal data).

The Advanced tab has the following subsections: Status (shows the status of your network, including the status of the LAN and WAN connection, the two wireless bands and traffic statistics), Network (gives you a more in-depth configuration of the WAN connection, MAC Clone and allows you to change the IP address), Dual Band Selection (here, you can enable or disable any radio band), Wireless 2.4GHz and Wireless 5GHz (Wireless Settings, WPS, Wireless Security, Wireless MAC Filtering, Advanced Settings and Statistics), Guest Network (similar to the Basic option, but with a lot more flexibility and options: includes egress and ingress bandwidth and access time schedules), DHCP (Settings, Client List and Address Reservation), USB Settings (Device Sharing, File Sharing and Print Server), NAT Boost (enable it for a better throughput), Forwarding (Virtual Servers, Port Triggering, DMZ and UPnP), Security (includes Basic Security, such as SPI Firewall, VPN Passthroughs and ALG, as well as more advanced security, with DoS Protection, ICMP, UDP and TCP-SYN Flood Filtering), Parental Controls (create schedules using the MAC address of client PCs and website names), Access Control, Advanced Routing (Static Routing List and System Routing Table), Bandwidth Control, IP and MAC Binding, Dynamic DNS, IPv6 Support and System Tools (Time Settings, Diagnostic, Firmware Upgrade, factory Defaults, Backup and Restore, Reboot, Password, System Log and Statistics).

Conclusion
Overall, the TP-Link Archer C5 v2 is a capable dual-band entry-level router, addressing a sometimes-forgotten sector (the AC1200), with a comprehensive interface, a good-looking design and an average wireless performance, making it perfect for home users that don’t really need the latest technologies and prefer a simple, stable router that does its job.

Check the product here:

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

Over the years, I had the opportunity to test some of TP-Link routers (from the more affordable TL-WR841N to the better Archer C7, C9 and the more high-end TP-Link Archer C2600), the powerline adapters (the TP-LINK TL-PA8030P AV1200), some wireless access points (TP-LINK TL-WA901ND) and lastly, a popular DSL modem, the Archer D7. The common trait that all these devices had was the affordable price tag, which sometimes meant that some corners had to be cut (not as many as you’d expect though, TP-Link usually strove to implement the better technology available, while still trying to maintain a low price tag).

Quite some time ago, I had a look at the TP-Link Archer C9, a reliable AC1900 router, that featured a surprisingly good WiFi speed performance. Following the success of the C9, TP-Link released the DSL version of the C9, called the TP-Link Archer D9, a dual-band, ADSL2+ modem router which is the successor to the rather modest TP-Link Archer D7. Let’s see how it performs.

Design
The TP-Link Archer D9 has the same design as the C9. There’s the white plastic case with a glossy finish (retains fingerprints) and soft, rounded corners, there’s the same silver band that surrounds the modem router on the middle top edge and then it detaches from the body and acts as a sturdy support for the D9. On the top, the silver band has three round holes that reveal the three golden connectors for the antennas (the antennas point upwards by default, but you can change their direction).

Since the stand is non-detachable, the D9 can only be positioned upwards, which means that you get more room on your desk. But, if you value every inch of your space (usually the case with offices), unfortunately there is no wall-mounting option. This seems to have been the TP-Link’s intention from the beginning, because the ports point towards the back and there’s a non-removable stand, so it’s clear that this is more of a living-room type device and not necessarily suitable for offices.

Considering the fact that the D9 measures 8.7 x 3.4 x 6.6 inches and weighs 48 ounces, it will be able to handle a lot of connected cables without budging an inch. The stability is further enhanced by the two feet on the bottom of the device.
The back of the D9 is full of small round holes for air ventilation, but, since TP-Link has never excelled at creating a proper airflow, the modem router can become hot, so be careful not to obstruct the vents at all. Underneath the vent holes, there’s a long label with info about the modem router (including the default access address, the user name and password, as well as the MAC address, the wireless password/PIN and the S/N).

Underneath the label, you can find a series of ports: the ADSL port (you can connect it directly to the phone jack using a phone cable or connect it to a splitter), the WPS button, the WiFi ON/OFF button, a USB 3.0 port, the LAN 1, the LAN 2, the LAN 3, the LAN 4/WAN, a Power ON/OFF switch and a Power port. On the right side of the D9, you can find a USB 2.0 port and a recessed RESET button, accessible with a paper clip (hold the button for at least 8-10 seconds to return the modem router to the default settings).

On the front of the modem router, there’s the TP-Link logo and immediately under the antennas, there are the status LED lights responsible for Power, ADSL (if it’s ON, then the ADSL line is synchronized, else, if the LED is flashing, then the ADSL negotiation is in progress), Internet (if it’s OFF, it means that there is no Internet connection or that the D9 is working in Bridge mode), the Wireless 2.4GHz radio band, the Wireless 5GHz radio band, WPS (if the LED is slowly flashing, it means that there is a wireless device that attempts to connect to the network using the WPS – the process could take up to 2 minutes), LAN and USB.

Overall, the TP-Link Archer D9 is attractive and although it doesn’t really have a practical design (it wants to be treated more like a piece of jewelry), it does have all the features one would expect from an AC1900 modem router.
Note: Inside the package you can expect the Archer D9 unit, the three antennas, an ADSL splitter, an Ethernet cable, an ADSL cable, a Power adapter and a Quick Start Guide.

Hardware
On the inside, the TP-Link Archer D9 is equipped with a dual core 1GHz Broadcom BCM4709A0 chipset (CPU, Switch and wireless), backed by 128MB of RAM (SK Hynix H5TQ1G63EFR-PBC) and 16 MB of flash storage (Spansion S25FL128SAIF00).
The modem side of the Archer D9 is equipped with a Broadcom BCM6318 chipset, clocked at 333 MHz, backed by 16MB of RAM (EtronTech EM639165TS-6G) and 2MB of flash storage (Winbond 25Q160VSIG). The 2.4GHz wireless capabilities are delivered by a Broadcom BCM4360 3×3:3 MIMO chipset and the 5GHz wireless capabilities are delivered by the same Broadcom BCM4360 3×3:3 chipset.

The maximum theoretical speed of the D9 is 600Mbps using the 802.11n WiFi standard and 1300 Mbps using the 802.11ac WiFi standard (1900Mbps if combined). The Archer D9 is compatible with the ADSL2+ technology, which means that there is a maximum theoretical speed of 24 Mbps.
Sure, it may not seem much, especially since there are better performing DOCSIS 2.0 modems out there, but, if the DSL technology is the only one that is available in your area, then the D9 is a good choice (if you want the better VDSL technology, then you can also check out the Netgear Nighthawk D7000).

YOU CAN ALSO HAVE A LOOK AT THE BEST DOCSIS 3.0 CABLE MODEMS

Performance and Connectivity
When I tested the TP-Link Archer C9, I saw that it had a solid WiFi performance, especially using the 5GHz frequency, being able to keep up with better priced, more high-end AC1900 routers like Netgear Nighthawk R7000, Linksys WRT1900ACS or Asus RT-AC68U. So, I have high expectancies regrading the Archer D9.
The Archer D9 is equipped with the Beamforming technology, which is a highly efficient way to serve the wireless connected clients. This means that instead of broadcasting the WiFi signal everywhere and hope to properly reach your clients, you get a specific focus of the signal directly at all your connected devices, highly improving your network connection.

Furthermore, the D9 features the SU-MIMO technology which uses the round-robin technique, so one client is served at a time. If you have been following some tech news, you may have noticed that almost all newly released routers have a new type of technology called MU-MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output). This way, instead of serving one client at a time, multiple simultaneous clients are being served at the same time. Surely, in order to make use of the MU-MIMO technology, you need compatible devices and a more expensive router (like the TP-Link Archer C2600).

In order to test the D9’s wireless performance, I have connected it to an Archer C9 in bridge mode and, as expected, the speed was quite similar to that of C9. So, using the 5GHz frequency and the 802.11ac standard, the D9 managed to deliver a maximum of 332Mbps at close range (no more than 5 feet). After increasing the distance between the two devices to around 30 feet, the speed decreased to 218Mbps. After I put 100 feet between the C9 and the D9, I measured 366Mbps.
Afterwards, I switched to the 802.11n standard, but maintained the 5GHz radio band. At close range, the D9 delivered up to 232Mbps and at 30 feet, I measured 167Mbps. At a longer range (100 feet), the modem router went up to 110 Mbps. In the end, I switched to the 2.4GHz radio band (802.11n) and, at no more than 5 feet, I measured an average of 170Mbps. After increasing the distance to 30 feet, the Archer D9 delivered a maximum of 148Mbps. Furthermore, I increased the distance to 100 feet and the speed decreased to 102Mbps.

Next, since the Archer D9 features a USB 3.0 (while the D7 did not), I connected an external HDD in order to test the modem router’s NAS capabilities. I took a 1GB folder that contained different multimedia files and I tested the reading and the writing speed. So, the Archer D9 delivered 21MBps while writing the folder and 35MBps while reading it.

Setup
In order to connect your modem router, you have to connect the Power Adapter to the D9 and the ADSL cable (you can either connect it directly to the Phone Jack or use the ADSL Splitter, so you can use one port to connect to your phone). Afterwards, you have to launch a web browser of your choice and navigate to https://tplinkmodem.net (or to https://192.168.1.1). Here, you’ll be asked to set a password and then you can Log into the web-based utility.
From here on, it is advisable to click on the Quick Setup, where you’ll be asked to select your ISP and you can also change the SSID and wireless password (if it doesn’t automatically detect your ISP, you can manually setup the connection by going to Basic – Internet and select your ISP from the list, which should automatically insert the VPI and VCI values). After the modem router is configured and there’s an Internet connection, you can log into the interface by inserting the default user name and password (admin for both).

The interface has three main sections: the Quick Setup, which we have already discussed and then there’s the Basic tab and the Advanced tab. The Basic tab features a series of sub-tabs: the Network Map (here you can see the wireless and wired clients that are connected to the network, as well as the connected printers, USB disks and the status of the Internet), the Internet, the Wireless settings (here you can enable either of the wireless networks, change the SSIDs and passwords or hide the SSIDs), the Guest Network (enable the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz wireless networks, allows the guests to see each other and let them access your local network and your USB storage), the USB Settings (Sharing Access and Print Server) and the Parental Controls (allows you to block any inappropriate or malicious websites and you can control the access to some specific websites at a given time; you can also add keywords to the whitelist or blacklist).

The Advanced tab also consists of several sub-tabs: Status (status of the Internet and the LAN connection – IPv4 and IPv6; the status of Wireless network and the guest network – 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Operation Mode (you can choose between the DSL Modem Router Mode and the Wireless Router Mode), Network (Internet, LAN Settings, Interface Grouping, Dynamic DNS, Advanced Routing, IPSec VPN and IPv6 Tunnel), Wireless (Wireless Settings, WPS, MAC Filtering, Wireless Schedule, Statistics and Advanced Settings), NAT Forwarding (add Virtual Servers), USB Settings (Device Settings, Sharing Access and Print Server), Parental Controls, Bandwidth Controls (QoS functions – you can add controlling rules by priority and by min/max upload and download speed), Security (Access Control, IP&MAC Binding) and System Tools (Time Settings, Diagnostics, Firmware Upgrade, Backup and Restore, Administration, System Log, CWMP Settings and SNMP Settings).

Conclusion
Overall, the TP-Link Archer D9 is a complete modem router, featuring a solid WiFi performance and a good coverage, all into an elegantly designed case. The modem side is a bit disappointing because I expected the VDSL technology to be implemented, not the ADSL2+. Also, a surprising thing is that in the US, the price is not as competitive as on the rest of the world (and its availability is also lacking), meaning that there won’t be a major difference between the D7000 and the D9.

Check the product here:

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

Following the success of the Archer C7, it was only natural that TP-Link would release a version with an integrated modem, called the Archer D7.
Now, since we’re talking about a networking product, it is well known, that in order to get an Internet connection to all your devices, wired or wireless, you first need a reliable modem and a capable wireless router to go with it.

Usually, it’s considered better to have the modem and the router separate, but, for people that don’t want to go through the hassle of getting a separate modem (and the eternal enigma if you should rent one or buy one), configure it and then connect the modem to a router and configure it as well, then, a router/modem combo could save your life.

This is where the Archer D7 comes into play, featuring both the performance of an AC1750 router and the versatility of an ADSL2+ modem, so let’s see how can this device improve your home network.

Design
TP-Link Archer D7 features an elegant design, the case consisting of two pieces sandwiched together with airflow vents between the top and the bottom part. The top part is what makes the device look premium and have an overall aesthetically pleasant vibe, thanks to its black glossy finish (that will surely attract fingerprints) and the slight curvature towards the edges.

But, as with many other TP-Link routers, there’s always an odd design addition (for example the P5 looks like a vase and the Archer C2600 looks like a laptop). The Archer D7, on the other hand, has a strange silver bit of plastic, which improves the stability of the router, but at the same time it does take away a bit from its overall elegance, as it looks like those phone or tablet stands that you would find in a shop and the first temptation would be to remove it (you obviously can’t).

The bottom side is solid, filled with a pattern of small rectangles, from which four protrude to become the feet and, along with the silver bit of plastic, keep the D7 from budging and ensure a proper stability. The dimensions and the weight help a bit too, as it measures 9.0 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches and weighs 36.8 ounces. Now, because of its rather large footprint, some people that value every inch of their space may want to either position the router vertically or wall mount it. Unfortunately, they can’t. The only available position is the horizontal one. But, on the bright side, the Archer D7 is living room-friendly because of its slim body and sleek appearance.

On the top of the router, as a continuation of the silver piece of plastic, there are seven status LED lights, positioned vertically and are responsible for Power, ADSL (ON means the ADSL line is synchronized and ready and Flashing means that the ADSL negotiation is in progress), Internet (if it’s Off, it means that there is no Internet connection or that the D7 is operating in Bridge Mode), Wireless, LAN, USB and WPS (ON means that the synchronization is established, Flashing means that a wireless device is connecting to your network via WPS – it can take up to 3 minutes, Off means that the WPS synchronization has been established for more than 5 minutes or that it has failed).

The rear side of the router is home to the three golden connectors for the antennas (left, right and middle), an ADSL port (you can connect it to the splitter or directly to the phone jack via a phone cable), two USB 2.0 ports, a WPS button, a WiFi ON/OFF button, a recessed RESET button (use a paper clip to press and hold the button for 8 seconds to restore the router modem to the factory default settings), four Ethernet LAN ports (the fourth LAN port is also a WAN port), a Power ON/OFF button and a Power port. It’s a shame that there is no USB 3.0, but the C7 also lacked it and since this is a 2014 device after all, so this omission was expected.

Hardware
When browsing through an array of similar devices, you will most likely go for the better looking one, even if it’s not the best among its peers, so it’s clear that appearance is important even to a router/modem. But the truth is that the backbone of any networking device is the internal hardware.
The TP-Link Archer D7 is equipped with a Broadcom BCM6318 clocked at 333MHz chipset (suitable for the DSL capabilities), backed by 64MB of RAM and 8MB of flash storage. Additionally, there’s a Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558 (Atheros AR8327N switch), clocked at 720MHz (used for the wireless router side of the Archer D7), backed by 128MB of RAM and 16MB of flash storage.

Furthermore, there’s a Qualcomm Atheros QCA9558 chipset responsible for the 2.4GHz wireless capabilities of the router and a Qualcomm Atheros QCA9880-BR4A chipset that delivers the 5GHz wireless band capabilities.
The maximum theoretical speed of the Archer D7 is 1,300Mbps using the 802.11ac WiFi standard and 450Mbps using the 802.11n standard. For the modem side of the D7, TP-Link opted for the ADSL2+ technology (instead of at least the VDSL), so the speeds are limited to only 24 Mbps.

The TP-Link Archer D7 is compatible with Verizon, Fairpoint, Windstream and AT&T ADSL. It is not compatible with Verizon FiOS, Windstream VDSL, CenturyLink VDSL and AT&T U-verse.

ALSO CHECK OUT THE BEST DOCSIS 3.0 CABLE MODEMS

Performance and Connectivity
Similarly to the Archer C7, the D7 did well on close range, but had a poor WiFi performance at a longer range (on both the 2.4 and 5GHz radio bands). Furthermore, it features the usually-found SU-MIMO technology (the MU-MIMO technology comes with routers that have a higher price tag) and, unfortunately, it lacks the Beamforming technology, but again, it’s not surprising since this isn’t a recent product (you could check out the Archer D9, which has some of the newer tech implemented).

Now, in order to test the wireless performance of the Archer D7, I connected a 2×2 wireless client (an ASUS laptop) and I got the following results. Using the 5GHz frequency band (and the 802.11ac standard), at close range (no more than 5 feet), I got a maximum speed of 406.3Mbps. After putting some space between the D7 and the client to about 30 feet, I measured up to 324Mbps and after I went further away, to about 100 feet, the speed decreased to 89Mbps.
Afterwards, still remaining within the 5GHz frequency, but using the 802.11n standard, at close range, I measured up to 277Mbps, but after putting some space in between the router and the client to about 30 feet, the speed decreased to 201Mbps and took a steeper fall to 67Mbps when the distance was about 100 feet.

Later, I switched to the 2.4Ghz radio and, at 5 feet, I measured 122 Mbps, and the speed slowly decreased to 74 Mbps at 30 feet and it decreased to 36 Mbps, when at 100 feet.
Lastly, in order to test the storage performance of the Archer D7 I took a 1GB folder of music, videos, books and other type of files and tested the read and write speed. So, while reading the 1Gb folder, I measured 15.6MBps and while writing it, I measured 12.8MBps. Sure, the performance wasn’t praise-worthy, but considering that the D7 doesn’t feature a USB 3.0 port, it did reasonably well.

Setup
The first thing you need to do is connect the ADSL line to the phone jack and the power adapter to the D7. Afterwards, you can setup and configure your modem router using a Web-based utility. To access it, open a browser tab and go to https://192.168.1.1. Here, you’ll be prompted to select a password and click Login. Next, it is advisable to click the Quick Setup option (this method works only if the device is working in DSL Modem Router Mode – you can also select the Wireless Router Mode by going to Advanced > Operation Mode), then you’ll select your ISP from the ISP List, setup the Internet connection and change the wireless settings (you can change the SSIDs and wireless password).

Note: TP-Link features a smartphone app, called Tether that allows you to remotely access and manage the modem router.
After you are done with the initial setup, you can go on with a more in depth configuration. The interface consists of three main tabs placed horizontally for the Quick Setup, Basic and Advanced, as well as two more, smaller tabs for Logout and Reboot.

The Basic tab has six sub-tabs for the Network Map (connection status between the internet and the D7, the number of connected Wireless and Wired Clients, Printers and USB Disks – you can click on them to view more info about every client; there’s also information about the Internet – IP Address, DNS Server, Gateway and Connection Type), Internet (select the Connection Type, it can be PPPoE, Dynamic or Static IP, PPTP or L2TP), Wireless (enable the 2.4 and/or the 5GHz wireless networks, as well as setting up the SSID and the Password for each), Guest Network (allow guests to see each other or access your USB storage, also you can enable the 2.4GHz Guest Network and/or the 5GHz one), USB Setting and Parental Controls (shows all the Devices Under Parental Controls and allows you to create a blacklist and a whitelist).

The Advanced tab has the following sub-tabs: Status (status of the Internet IPv4/IPv6, Wireless 2.4GHz/5GHz, LAN and Guest Network), Operation Mode, Network (Internet – WAN Interface and MAC Clone; LAN Settings – DHCP Server, Client List, Address Reservation, Condition Pool; Interface Grouping; Dynamic DNS; Advanced Routing; IPSec VPN, IPv6 Tunnel), Wireless (Settings, WPS, MAC Filtering, Wireless Schedule, Statistics and Advanced Settings – WDS), Guest Network, NAT Forwarding (Application Layer Gateway, Virtual Servers, DMZ, UPnP), USB Settings, Parental Controls, Bandwidth Controls (you can enable it, set up the Line Type, insert the total upstream and downstream bandwidth and set controlling rules by priorities), Security (Access Control and IP&MAC binding) and System Tools (Time Settings, Diagnosis, Firmware Upgrade, Backup and Restore, Administration, System Log, CWMP Settings, SNMP Settings and Statistics).

Conclusion
Overall, the TP-Link Archer D7 is a reasonable modem router, it has a clean interface (it’s intuitive and easy to use), the design is elegant and the wireless performance is average, but enough for a medium-sized house. The only problem could be that the modem part is only ADSL2+. If you don’t need any more than that, then the Archer D7 will not disappoint.

Check the product here:

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com