24.6.2013

Please note this is a review for the "TP-Link Archer C7 AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Cable Router "which will only work with setups that have a separate modem like the BT Infinity set up.. Amazon have been cutting and pasting lots of reviews so the reviews are not always for the item at the top of the page.EDITAt the time of writing the review I had not tested the 5Ghz band, since then I have tried to use it with an ipad 2. I have been able to see the 5Ghz channels good signal strength but unable to access the internet on 5Ghz. It may be a problem with the ipad or a compatibility issue, UPDATE It is a problem with my ipad2 I am not sure if it is just mine or they all give problems.I have now bought a BD-F6500 Blu-ray player and that has no problems with 5Ghz.I had been having problems with my current internet set up for a while and it has been getting progressively worse with numerous drop outs. It is difficult to find where the problem is with an internet set up particularly with intermittent faults. When I was offered this router I thought that it would be a good opportunity to change the BT Home hub 2 for this, since I have made the change I have had no further drop outs. I will update this review if things change.Out of the box it is an attractive very shiny black with a blue light for every occasion on the front, I encountered the only problem with the change at this point the Home hub stands vertically and this router horizontally so I had to move things about to give more desk space. The 3 aerials screw into the back for the 5 GHz band and although effective I thought they moved about too easily if just touched gently.Rather than set it all up manually I used the setup wizard that came with the router on a mini CD. I just plugged the router in to replace the Home hub and ran the programme, it proceeded to do a number of tests and then brought up a box asking for a user ID and password. The user ID was no problem for BT infinity it is "bthomehub (at) btbroadband.com" (I have shown it this way as Amazon do not like internet addresses being shown in reviews and other ISPs will have different user names and possibly need a pasword) The password however had me scratching my head as one is not needed but the router requires one, in the end I found I could enter anything so long as I confirmed it was correct (I used BT).After this there were some options most of which could be left as the default one however for the Infinity set up the important one to select is PPPOE. As it is dual band there is also the option to set a different password for each band.I was then able to access the Internet, I measured the speed before and after but there was no difference however it certainly seemed faster this may have been down to the increase in signal strength which increased from -50 to -35.I also have a printer and a NAS drive on my set up so the next task was getting them to work, I originally had an additional switch as there were not enough LAN connections on the BT home hub the new router has 4 so I could plug the NAS and printer directly into the router LAN ports. This gave no problems and certainly speeded up access to the NAS drives.In addition to the standard set up there are many options that can be selected from the management page, I have set up a short cut to this for when I lose the paperwork that came with the router and forget the web address.I do not need all of the other things it can do but these I have tried:-Local storage sharing: Allows up to two external drives to be connected to the routers usb ports, this works well but it is a pity that they are usb 2 rather than 3 as the additional speed would be useful.Usb printer sharing: I don't need this as I have a network printer but I have an old HP laser printer with a parallel to usb converter and while I did not expect this to work as not surprisingly it is not on the printer compatibility list it worked well as a printer but I was unable to get printer information back such as out of paper, it probably works OK with a compatible printer.Parental control: I tried this and it was easy to set up so that particular PCs were blocked from particular sites this is a very flexible approach as it also allows time restriction so it would be possible to stop a child's ipad accessing the internet after bed time.I did not try the remote Access via FTP server or Media sharing.In summary an excellent router and although I have used it to replace a BT home hub I am sure it will be as easy to set up with other ISP providers equipment.

30.3.2020

My review is for TP-LINK Archer AX11000.I don't understand why Amazon aggregates star ratings for ALL variants, so if the lowest priced variant is terrible but the highest priced variant is great, you will look at the star ratings and think they are both bad.I wrote a review for the ASUS GT-AX11000 - feel free to see that one. It is AWFUL. Three replacements later and several firmware updates that took months to arrive, it is still full of bugs, devices drop connection, signal is unstable, generally a terrible product.I decided to give TP-LINK a go and wow I am glad I did. From the start, even putting it together it's a pleasure. The antennas are not twisted and cannot come loose, they are pushed in,and are therefore optimized in the best way possible since TP-LINK knows what's the best position. Unlike the ASUS AX11000, you do not have to fiddle with the antennas, you set it and forget it. I don't mind that they have red accents, they work and that's all I care about.There are fewer options on the setup GUI if compared to ASUS, however it JUST WORKS. The ASUS AX11000 has many options most of them are buggy and don't work well, so what is the point? I have found that ASUS is fond of doing this - marketing a thousand things but they are terribly supported. In 2016 I purchased a ASUS Rampage V Edition 10 motherboard, the most expensive at the time to use with my 5960x processor. That board had several BIOS updates which caused all sorts of issues, especially with USB ports. It took ASUS until around 2019 to make it stable - 3 years.... absolutely insane.You simply do not release a buggy product into the market just to shout "FIRST!!". ASUS loves the marketing aspect of things, but not the support one which is the most important. They care about being first to release and selling stuff, but they don't care that it works, as long as their review samples are carefully tuned so that they get good scores in magazines or YouTube then they're golden.I found that this is the case for their routers also.Why am I spending so much time talking about ASUS when this is a TP-LINK review? Well, because if you were like me you are researching which one is going to do the job and I want you to know that I tried the ASUS router for almost 6 months, waited for updates, applied them, and when it would fix one thing it would break others, so please don't make the same mistake and support that awful company with your money.The TP-LINK AX11000 will simply work out of the box. An example is my Nest doorbell, it would drop connection like crazy on the ASUS AX11000, but it's been running flawlessly with no drops on the TP-LINK.The most shocking thing is that both routers use the exact same Broadcom chipset, which is the radio chip that makes WiFi 6 work inside these routers. So the issue is entirely software related. ASUS programmers are just incapable of coding.Speed-wise this is not much different than the ASUS model since as I said above, they use the same radio chip to make the WiFi signals, however this is stable, so I am very happy with this purchase. Oh, and the UI is also more responsive, not to mention this has 8 Gigabit ports. This TP-LINK Archer AX11000 is worth the price. Signal range is good.Just one thing: to get the most out of this, you will need to use AX clients like the latest top Samsung or iPhone models, and on your laptop any PCI card with the Intel AX200 chip. You need to set the TP-LINK to use 160MHz on both bands, and set the channels manually rather than leaving on Auto. I picked channel 36 for the first 5GHz band, and channel 100 for the 2nd 5GHz band. It will allow clients that use AC/WiFi 5 with no issues. It will also let N/WiFi 4 connect no problem. If you leave everything on Auto then you are likely not going to get the full speed on offer, and bear in mind it depends on how thick your walls are, distance, etcetera.

22.10.2015

This is a nice mid-level router, that has more features than some of the very basic devices, and will give you a bit more control if you want to do more advanced networking, but the quick setup will get you up and running in a couple of minutes for people who don't know very much about it.The install guide is pretty straightforward, all you generally need to do is plug it in, connect via the wifi using the default key on the label if needed, go to the supplied web page, login using the provided details, follow the on-screen quick set-up, selecting auto and fill in the ISP username and password. That's it for basic install.The web page user interface is nice and quick and very responsive.Better than many I've used in the past, saving a lot of frustration in setting up. The language defaults to US, and so the time zone is also set to default US time, so remember to change that if needed or all your logs will be a bit confusing.The wireless link speed is generally better than my old one that came free from my ISP, but I would expect it to be as this device has 3 external antennae whereas my previous one only has the internal antenna. So I'm getting my laptop hopping around 58/78/116/130/144 Mbps upstairs with the router downstairs, on the old router I was only getting 5.5/9/11 Mbps a lot of the time. When in the same room as the TP-Link router I'm getting 144 Mbps most of the time with the occasional drop down to 116 where the previous one was getting 100Mbps, and this is despite the router being very close to a DECT base unit which will interfere with the signal strength.The weak point for speed is really the 4 Ethernet ports which are only 100Mbps on this model. If you need to transfer large files across the wired connections it can be a little slower when compared to the more powerful models with 1000Mbps ports. This is perfectly fine though for general use for all machines to get to the internet.There is a nice feature for parental control, which allows you to restrict which devices are allowed access to what websites during certain times of the day. This enables you to set-up any parental PC's that are allowed to get anywhere unrestricted and set the kids' mobiles, etc. so that, for example, they can only get to certain sites after 7pm to do homework, etc. Unfortunately you have to configure the permitted websites repeatedly for each child's device rather than setting up a common list of web sites and assigning that list to each restricted device.The firmware update page just takes you to a generic website page rather than direct to the firmware for this device which is a little disappointing, though a basic site search for the model no. WR940N did find the model straight away without any more work, just selecting the hardware revision, the latest v3 in this case, them took you to a firmware download option. The firmware available (build 150206) actually appears to be older than the installed version (build 150312)There is a really good feature on the TP-Link website, which is an actual emulator for the device you are interested in. Amazon won't let me post a link but if anybody wants to know then please put a comment on, though you should easily find it through a search. This allows you to go through the device configuration web set-up screens in a simulation so that you can actually see what features are there and how they work. Using this enables you to check if it has the features or functions you are wanting before you buy it, such as security features, which ddns providers are supported, etc. This is a very good level of support, although obviously it's only a demo and therefore you can't actually change anything, but you get the feel of how it works and how easy it is.

20.2.2020

Going from an Archer C9, then to an Archer C3150 v1, I finally bought an Archer AX11000.Finally a router worth while.I really can't stand TP-Link's customer service or "technical" help. I was having problems with the C3150 v1, because it was only seeing my 10G network card as 100M, not 1G, like it should be doing. They wanted me to test wifi, and some other crazy hoops to jump through. If it wasn't for I dislike ASUS just as much, I wouldn't have bothered with the this Archer AX11000.Thankfully, setting up went smoothly. It updated its own firmware, and then setting everything up through its app or webpage is easy enough.As expected the range is better than the C3150,and everything seems more stable with having over 20 different items connected to it. To a point where I no longer need to use an extender to cover my smallish three floor, three bedroom house.It's got it's own built in Ookla speed test, which comes in hand, because you at least know what you're starting point is, for the wifi drop off as you move further away. (The drop off is fully expected)I really didn't feel like having to spend more money on my network, but this works nicely with Virgin's 500 package. The eight built-in ports have meant I could also take out a 1G networking switch from the loop.I've had it for 1 week so far, and never had to reset it, apart from setting different bits up, which it does itself. A whole 6 days with no new settings, and everything is still going fine. Since I'll never get the use of 10G networking, and most likely never go faster than 2.5G on the internet (Most likely stay at 1G if it ever gets here), I'm fully hoping to get a good ten years out of this thing, five at the very least.So, so far, money worth while spending? I hope so, because the cash I saved moving from Sky to Virgin for a year, and now been swallowed up by this thing! It's just the C3150 wasn't cutting it any more!Be warded though, this thing isn't small, and has some weight to it. My front room window sill, has only just enough room to it, to hide behind the curtain.Are there cheaper options? Most likely, but if you want something that gets the job done, covers a largish areas of your home, and you've got gamers in that home, I'd say, make the investment, then instead of arguing with cheap rubbish.You don't have to be super techie, just able to read instructions to set this thing up.Just don't expect great help from TP-Link directly, if my experience with them, is anything to go by. Only one out of three people seemed to know what they were actually talking about. Then a simple "Sorry" email from a manager after from three hours of my time wasted. Such a shame!So, buy directly from Amazon, so if anything does go wrong, you can send it back, and start again!

27.6.2013

While I'm in agreement with the other positive reviews of this product, I do feel that for those among us not proficient in the technology there are some basic points it's worth mentioning:1) To clarify, this router cannot be used in place of the existing router that is connected to your phone line. At least, that was my experience having read the manual and going through the set-up procedure. I don't think this is adequately explained in the product description, not as plainly that I think is necessary for those people who are unfamiliar with internet connections. In fact, I think it's misleading to call this is a router- consider it an additional booster hub.2) Contrary to the views of some other reviewers,

24.9.2015

I got this to free up a slightly faster router from our hallway, which sounds strange I know, but I have an Amazon fire TV stick that was screaming out for faster bandwidth. I didn't wont to leave a wifi hole downstairs either.The setup is really easy and I plugged this in to our ADSL modem then plugged my laptop into the cable router network socket. The setup was very easy, then I adjusted the settings to make this an access point. That is a less straight forward thing to do but the web interface was pretty clear and I was able to achieve this in no time at all. So that shows how easy the set up was.I then connected a few laptops and a desktop and moved around to see what the connection was like and it was pretty solid.

3.7.2020

Archer C4000 and Virgin Media success:We lurched along with a Virgin V3 hub & 350Mbit package for six months until we could take no more. Virgin could never answer why aggregate across all devices topped out at 150mbit on the odd occasion it managed to hold five or more connections for two minutes without locking up. It was as if tech support had been told not to engage on the topic of the V3 being rubbish and talk around it.If you live in a UK standard construction three storey house and have VM coming in in the ground floor you don’t need mesh or repeaters or hybrid or power line or anything fancy - you just need an Archer C4000.Download the TP link tether app before you start.Log into your V3,

15.6.2015

As others have commented the descriptions are rubbish. It is not ADSL (that's the D7). Worse is that it doesn't say if it is Version 1 or Version 2. It must be Version 2. I suspect most bad reviews were either not for the C7 or were for Version 1 .For complex reasons Amazon sent me mine for no charge on a 1 day delivery and it arrived on the Sunday before my travel. It was Version 2. Well done Amazon!It is obvious from the Amazon reviews here that this is a good piece of kit but when I saw the link http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-router/ containing an excellent long term test review my mind was made up. I needed a router with USB Ports. There are 2 USB Ports. Each Port takes 8 drives so 1-8 & 9-16.

30.6.2013

Linksys Archer 7What is it,This unit is designed to be added to an existing router system to improve broadband speed, reliability and wireless range.In the box.The main unit, mains power pack, 3 aerials to fit to the back, brief instructions, Setup CD and warrantee.Setting up.This is very straight forward in most cases. Power off your router, connect up the Archer and follow on the switch on instructions. Load the CD and it auto runs and sets everything up. Min e worked first time when connected to an Orange router. My computer detected the Linksys and auto configured.Set up was easy but in case it does not work there is a manual setup guide on the flip side of the instructions.

2.7.2019

I bought the AX6000 after my 3rd Asus RT-AC88U failed. It's probably safe to say I'm a power user but this thing hasn't skipped a beat since I set it up.To touch on the set up very briefly, it was a doddle.. Literally did it on my phone via the app. I was almost a little annoyed that it didn't require more effort on my part. I was able to set up the router, set up separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSIDs, hide them, create a guest network (of which you can also split into a separate 2.4 and 5GHz) assign static IPs etc, all from the app. You can get into the more advanced settings from the web interface.This isn't a review of my previous Asus router but to say this is an upgrade is an understatement.

19.1.2020

I got this to get decent wi-fi upstairs as my virgin hub 2 isn't powerful enough to reliably send wi-fi to the top floor of my family's house. I will start by saying that this router provides really fast wi-fi over both 2 and especially 5ghz with a really respectable range, plus even with multiple devices connected the speed is very good and stable.Rather than just adding and extra internet connection upstairs I wanted to be able to still connect to other devices on the existing network, so when I read that this router can act as an access point rather than just it's own network I chose this one and I'm very glad that I did. One of the really useful features of this tplink is that you can easily set up and configure it via an app called tplink tether.

7.7.2013

The router supports a range of wireless standards, and was pretty straightforward to set up. NAT forwarding and DHCP address pre-assignment was possible without too much trouble, and you can set up a guest network which gives access to the internet without access to your internal network.Switching the SuperHub to modem mode and plugging this in, I couldn't use the configuration software because this is Windows only, but enter the configuration URL and it gives you the admin interface, and you can set it all up from there easily enough.One slight niggle is that there are various changes to Wireless configuration that require a reboot, which seems a little unnecessary.

6.10.2015

My internet connection is in the living room at one side of the house and thus my wireless coverage over the other side and in the garden could be better.Plus I have a FireTV stick in that room on the TV which is now less than a metre from the Wi-Fi transmitter, thus receiving an excellent signal.Install...From the living room I have and ethernet cable running up to the main bedroom and thus I have located this upstairs.To use in Bridge Mode, the first challenge is to give the device a static IP address on the existing network, in my case 192.168.1.4, my main router is at 192.168.1.1It is also wise to then disable the built-in in DHCP server as this will be dealt with by your existing one.You only get to use the four main ports (3 for other devices connected by cable,

26.9.2015

This wireless router was very easy to install. You literally have to turn it on and plug the modem in, and it immediately started broadcasting wirelessly using the username and password on the bottom of the device. You could just stop there if you chose to. If you want to change the wireless network name, username, password or any other settings you can either connect from one of the four Ethernet ports on the device or wirelessly. I changed my network name and set a password, and didn't need to make any other changes.I got this device because I have a combined modem-router where the modem works but the wireless connection keeps stopping and you have to keep turning the modem on and off even though it works fine with a wired connection.

27.6.2013

I have sky broadband and I thought this would simply replace the old sky broadband netgear router; it doesn't. It still requires a modem such as the sky broadband box/router (if i am wrong about this (please tell me!) I apologise but I could not get it to work without it). The main reason for replacing the broadband box was because I could not get a signal in parts of the house or the signal was inadequate. Once I realised that this still required the modem and plugged it in, it was easy enough to set up for my PC, a laptop, an iPad and the X-Box. Just a mamtter of following the instructions, entering the PIN number (bottom of unit) and setting up a password. Easily and fairly quickly done.

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