TP-Link Archer C7 (V2)

amazon TP-Link Archer C7 (V2) reviews

For $99.99, TP-Link’s Archer C7 AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router (V2) is an affordable router that acts like a more expensive router. Its scores in our 2.4GHz and 5GHz transfer rate tests are significantly faster than the competition, and it offers a great feature set, including four Gigabit LAN ports and a pair of ports USB 2.0. Management settings are plentiful, but the web control panel is slow to respond and lacks user-friendly icons to help you navigate the menu system.

Design and Features

The latest Archer C7 is a dual-band AC1750 router using a 720MHz CPU. It can reach speeds of up to 450Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1,300Mbps on the 5GHz band. In terms of design, the C7 is unchanged from the TP-Link Archer C7 AC1750 Dual-Band Wireless Gigabit Router we reviewed in 2014. It uses the same glossy black housing 9,6 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches. The back of the router is home to three detachable, adjustable antennas, four Gigabit LAN ports, one Gigabit WAN port, and two USB 2.0 ports. Combined with them are an On/Off button, a Reset/WPS button, a Wi-Fi On/Off button, and two USB activity LEDs. The front of the router has LEDs indicating power, both radio, all four LAN ports, WAN ports, and WPS activity.

The web control panel is the older, text-based version used on the original TP-Link Archer C7 and lacks the graphical elements you’ll find on newer TP-Link Routers, such as the Bandwidth Router. Wireless Dual Band AC2600 Archer C2600 and Gigabit Router AC3150 MU-MIMO Gigabit Archer C3150. There is also a noticeable delay between the time you make the change and the time the change is saved; in some cases, I have to wait up to 30 seconds. That said, it offers tons of basic and advanced settings. The main Status page lists settings on the left and the center’s LAN, WAN, Wireless, and Traffic Statistics information.

On the right is a detailed explanation for each setting. Network settings include WAN, LAN, MAC Clone, and IPTV options.

Settings and Performance

Installing Archer C7 is easy. After connecting it to my desktop and the Internet, I booted it up and typed http://tplinkwifi.net into the browser address bar to access the management console. I click on the Quick Settings tab on the left and select Autodiscover. The control panel found my internet connection and asked if I wanted to run Wi-Fi Simultaneously (dual band) or just single-band (2.4GHz or 5GHz, but not both). I selected Simultaneous and was taken to the wireless settings screen to configure the security settings. Once configured, I’m ready to use.

The Archer C7 rocked our transfer speed tests. Its score of 91.3 Mbps on our 2.4GHz proximity test (same room) is significantly higher than that of other budget routers, including the Netgear AC1200 Smart Wi-Fi Router (R6220) (74.1 Mbps), D-Link AC1200 Wi-Fi Router (DIR-842) (75Mbps), and Linksys EA6350 AC1200+ Dual-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router (72.5Mbps). Similarly, its 62.8Mbps score in our 30-foot test dominated the competition; The Netgear R6220 reached 48.3Mbps, the D-Link DIR-842 had a transfer rate of 41.5Mbps, and the Linksys EA6350 had a speed of 39.3Mbps.

In our 5GHz transfer rate test, the Archer C7’s performance was excellent for a budget router. It scored 509Mbps on the proximity test, compared to the Netgear R6220 (331Mbps), the D-Link AC1200 Wi-Fi Router (DIR-842) (332Mbps), and the Linksys EA6350 (427Mbps). At 30 feet, its 250Mbps score once again took the top spot, beating the Netgear R6220 (104Mbps), D-Link DIR-842 (111Mbps), and Linksys EA6350 (199Mbps).

To test the router’s file read and write speed, we used a USB drive and a 1.5 GB folder containing a mix of photo, music, video, and document files. As with other budget routers, the Archer C7’s file transfer speeds are average; Its write speed of 21.5MBps is the same as the Linksys EA6350 and slightly faster than the Netgear R6220’s score of 17.6MBps. The Linksys EA6100 AC1200 Dual-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router (also a budget router) hit 27.4 MBps. In the reading test, the Archer C7 had a transfer rate of 27.5MBps, again only slightly slower than the Linksys EA6350 (28MBps) and Linksys EA6100 (28.3MBps) and slightly faster than the Netgear R6220 (25,6MBps). The D-Link DIR-842 was not included in these tests as it does not have a USB port.

Conclusion

TP-Link Archer C7 (V2) may be under $100, but you’ll never know it based on its performance and feature set. Its 2.4GHz and 5GHz transfer rate scores are better than similarly priced budget models, including the $90 Linksys EA6350 AC1200+ Dual-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router, and it offers plenty of management settings and multiple I/O ports. However, the Archer C7’s user interface could update, and its file-transfer performance could be better. That said, it’s the fastest dual-band router in its class.

where can you get a TP-Link Archer C7 (V2) online

TP-LINK Archer C7 AC1750 Dual Band Wireless AC Gigabit Router, 2.4GHz 450Mbps+5Ghz 1300Mbps, 2 USB Port, IPv6, Guest Network (Renewed): Buy it now