TP-Link AC900 Gigabit Router - Reliable Internet Router(Archer C900)

I got this router for my girlfriend's apartment. It's a great router for that purpose because it offers dual band capabilities at a very inexpensive price point. The 5GHz band is almost a must if you want reliable internet in an apartment because there are so many other wifi routers around you that the 2.4GHz band is completely saturated. My girlfriend pays for 30Mbps internet and on the 2.4GHz band I was barely able to attain 12-13Mbps, whereas on the 5GHz band I was able to attain 30-35Mbps, big difference! The AC900 doesn't have the highest available bandwidth on the 5GHz band (only 433Mbps), but considering all her and her roomates do is browse social media and stream Netflix the 433Mbps bandwidth is perfectly sufficient. I would definitely pay the extra $15-20 over the N300 solely for having wireless AC. The 2.4GHz band is slowly becoming a legacy band that should only be used with devices that don't support wireless AC (which, nowadays, is hardly any devices). It's a great budget router for these reasons, it's got all the features that you need for a great price.There is one downside that was slightly disappointing and that was that despite Amazon, TP-Link's official website, and every other source I could find saying this router has Gigabit (10/100/1000) LAN/WAN ports, it does not. As per the box it came in, it only has Fast Ethernet (10/100). It's not a dealbreaker for this router, because if you pay for internet that is 100Mbps or faster you really should look at more capable routers, this router is really designed for internet speeds in the range of 10-50Mbps.For the record: I paird it with a TP Link 7620 modem (it was only $2 more than the 7610 for twice the downstream channel bonding, so it was a no brainer, typically a 7610 would be a more balanced pairing with this router) and the pair works great with Cox!

I bought this for my home office which is separate from the house and requires its own network. Installation and setup is a breeze. Now like any other router your mileage will vary with location of installation. Be sure not to install it near any RFI interferance. TV's, Microwaves, stereo equipment. Also do not install near a window. Or your signal goes right out the window! More times than not when people are complaining about flaky service there is an installation issue or interference. So use good judgement and do some network scans to see what channel works best. 20+ years in technical support on routers I have all kinds of tips :)This router has some excellent applications. One of its great strengths (I actually bought a second one for in the house) is the parent controls. They are absolutely solid. The kids had a Koala with a much higher price point lower quality that this thing does by default. Its really pretty awesome. Even their dad bought one for when they are over. Its just fantastic. Another great strength is simplicity. If you know what you are looking for and how to maneuver the higher features they are there, but not something you will come across accidentally in most cases. The companion app is quite nice actually. Simple and easy to use. I love it.This would be a great router for a small family with limited devices looking for something dependable on a price point. Or like me a home office with limited device. I depend on this router 40-50 hours a week as my work vehicle and I have been using it just over 2 months without a single hiccup. Love it!

TP-Link AC900 Gigabit Router (Archer C900)SUMMARY:If you need a basic router and intend to use the default settings, this device will satisfy your needs. If you intend to made any changes to the router settings, the device reliability becomes hit or miss. Advance users should just overlook this wireless router.DETAILS:I am very familiar with the TP-Link brand. For the most part, their products work well and are very reliable. If you need an inexpensive dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz) router and the extent of your interaction with this device will be the "Quick Setup Wizard", you are all set and there is no need to read further. If the current price is within your budget and cheaper than the routers that they are selling at your local brick and mortar shop, go ahead and add this item to your cart.Unfortunately, TP-Link makes a lame duck device every once and a while. If you require a wireless router with advance features, this would be one of those lame ducks. The router works great out of the box, but becomes very unreliable if you start messing around with the device settings. Several minor issues, one major problem and four hours with TP-Link technical support has quickly placed this product on my "Never Purchase Again" list.Should have know there were going to be issues when I checked the product's support page for the latest firmware. The latest and ONLY firmware is dated 11-30-2016. So this means either TP-Link got it right the first time and this wireless network router has had no issues / security flaws / software bugs over the past four years OR it is junk and TP-Link gave up on it on day #1. Even after several reboots and a factory reset, it appears the device assigned IP addresses to network devices in a predicable non-linear pattern is a example of the weird quirks of this device (after factory reset and reboot of all devices, laptop connects to the router and always given IP address x.x.x.127).The router DHCP's IP Address Reservation feature is buggy and should NOT be used on this router. Once a device is assigned a reserved IP, there may be an issue where any new device that tries to connect to the network failed to obtain a IP address. It appears to be a bug with the DHCP functionality of the router. The only way a device can connect or reconnect to the router (wired or wireless) is to clear the IP address reservation table.TP-Links' tech support can be a challenge. If you decide to call the company, you will end up with an overseas help desk. Based on my experience, the live chat is a better option. If you decide to use the live chat option, make sure you are on a very reliable internet connection. The slightest interruption in network connectivity will terminate the chat session and you will have to start a whole new session with another support agent.It seems it takes an act of God to get an issue escalated to the second tier or engineer level support. I give the technicians credit, they will never give up. But how many times do you want to reboot / factory reset a device in hopes that it will magically fix IP assignment problem.OTHER NOTES:According to the documentation that came in the box, there is a mobile app (TP-Link Tether) for this router. But if you visit the app store, this model number is not listed as one of the compatible routers. Since I was already having issues with direct access to the router, there was not point in trying the mobile app. When the device was able to maintain a reliable wireless connection, the range of the 2.4 GHz was great, but the speed quickly drops based on your distance (this is typical of 2.4 GHz wireless). The 5 GHz offered great speed, but the range was very short (could be a result of the congested WiFi in the area).

Es un buen router para actualizar el que te da tu compañia de internet. Por la banda de 5Ghz funciona bien para conexiones de 100 megas, lo probe con el plan de Axtel de 100 megas y funcionaba a toda velocidad. El alcance es bueno aunque no el mejor (Sobre todo en 5Ghz) pero si vives en un depa o casa no tan grande y lo colocas en un buen lugar, te cubre todo y con buena velocidad.

Lo acabo de instalar y no tuve mayor problema. Instructivo fácil e intuitivo. Solo se conecta a la PC mediante cable de red y te despliega automáticamente la página principal de router. Se configura fácilmente a la red doméstica sin problemas. Tengo poco usándolo y espero no de problemas a futuro. Empaquetado muy bien, llegó 5 días antes de lo estipulado. Todo excelente. La app de TPLink fácil y todo al acceso de un botón.+ Después de 6 meses de uso, el router sigue en perfecto funcionamiento. Excelente calidad, señal, amplitud. Lo recomiendo mucho para agregar al router de tu compañía de internet. Tengo contratado ancho de banda de 100Mb y el router del proveedor solo da 50Mb por Wifi. Con este router conectados por medio de LAN2 me da más de 100MB de bajada y 50Mb de subida. Incluye 2.4G y 5G

Calidad y precio por la dos bandas 2.4 (para pequeños dispositivos) y 5 (para Netflix, PS4, etc.), alcanza una excelente velocidad para tus dispositivos wifi (si estás cerca), lo malo o peor en mi caso fue la distancia, es muy poca, en algunos momentos después de los 2 metros, la señal presenta fallas y ni Twitter actualiza, muy debil señal para atravesar paredes. Pero mientras estes más cerca es mejor, si tienes un poco más de presupuesto compra otro.

Funciona excelente en un cuarto, pero no tiene mucho rango, a comparación de los de TELMEX, este es menos potente a pesar de la doble banda con la que cuenta, esperaba un poco más que el de TELMEX.

Excelente. La instalación es muy sencilla y rápida. Tengo una red de 50mb pero con el módem que me da el proveedor del servicio usualmente tenia unos 10mb pero con este router siempre tengo los 50mb sin alti bajos y en todos los lugares de la casa.