TP-Link Archer C9

[HEXUS]

A stylish wireless AC router for speedy home networking.

Read more.

[CustardInc]

After seeing the numbers in review I thought maybe it was time to upgrade my router, after all, the conclusion has this as 'Competitively Priced'. At £120 I was a little surprised, I guess I haven't been paying attention to router pricing. I reckon I'll put off the upgrade for a little while

[RyanM]

After seeing the numbers in review I thought maybe it was time to upgrade my router, after all, the conclusion has this as 'Competitively Priced'. At £120 I was a little surprised, I guess I haven't been paying attention to router pricing. I reckon I'll put off the upgrade for a little while

Competitively priced for an AC1900 unit, it's among the lowest priced out there. Of course there are many other much cheaper routers out there using lower spec'd AC standards. AC750 is the entry-level sweet spot at around £50~, next step up is AC1200 for approximately £70.

[3dcandy]

Pricing of routers is a moot point as in this country currently routers are quite often given away...

[kingpotnoodle]

Pricing of routers is a moot point as in this country currently routers are quite often given away...

Assuming you want a total crap router then yes, given away. Most of the freebie ones are severely limited.

[3dcandy]

Still stops the majority of users shelling out for something that is effectively free...

[aniilv]

I have virgin 2AC router/modem thingy that came with internet. Once I enable 5ghz antenna the speed on it is 10mbps While on 2.4ghz its about 60+mbps. Even if they are called "AC" does not mean they actually work as intended.

If I would need a wifi of over 60mbps Id be more than willing to pay the premium. Or when I would be ok with 60mbps then the price on tp-link router that would do that is about 10 quid. So they pretty much already are free.

[crossy]

I have virgin 2AC router/modem thingy that came with internet. Once I enable 5ghz antenna the speed on it is 10mbps While on 2.4ghz its about 60+mbps. Even if they are called "AC" does not mean they actually work as intended.

If I would need a wifi of over 60mbps Id be more than willing to pay the premium. Or when I would be ok with 60mbps then the price on tp-link router that would do that is about 10 quid. So they pretty much already are free.

That'll be one of those "SuperHubs" then? Problem I've found (and seen others reporting) is that the Netgear-made SuperHubs are pretty good on the "Short" benchmark, but mediocre on "Medium" and sometimes fail to do the "Long" one, or do it badly.

I've got an old (3.5 years old) Linksys 802.11n router that I'd like rid of, but I need good Medium and Long performance. So is this TP-Link (not a company I've bought any gear from) worth getting or should I keep looking?

[cheesemp]

I recently bought a the tp-link archer C2 model for £40 (by 'flubit'ing the £44 amazon price). I'd love to see how it compares at a third of the price. Its AC also (limited to 433Mb) with gigabit ethernet so plenty good enough for the average home user. I'd love to know what extra I would have got for the extra £85 apart from extra speed (that little in a home network uses) and a USB3 port...

[crossy]

I recently bought a the tp-link archer C2 model for £40 (by 'flubit'ing the £44 amazon price). I'd love to see how it compares at a third of the price. Its AC also (limited to 433Mb) with gigabit ethernet so plenty good enough for the average home user. I'd love to know what extra I would have got for the extra £85 apart from extra speed (that little in a home network uses) and a USB3 port...

Dear Hexus,
Any chance on following up on what 'cheesemp' is saying above and doing a "Is there much real difference between 802.11ac levels..." piece of investigative journalism?

Signed, a longterm Hexus reader

I thought the big deal about the higher AC ratings were that they were good if you'd got a couple of high-draw devices, typically tablets streaming high-res Netflix content. Would be nice to know if that actually is the case, or if it's just marketing, especially as some of the AC1900/2400 devices are more than £200! Personally, I'm also very interested in the speed dropoff with range, i.e. can you watch Breaking Bad on your iPad/Galaxy-Tab at the bottom of the garden?

[Brewster0101]

D9 has just made my Amazon wish list to replace my home hub 5 - which just can't hack more than 2 wifi connections pulling from it at a time.

[Noli]

"TP-Link also offers the Archer C9 with a DSL modem and that particular model is aptly named the Archer D9 and retails for around £145."

I'm probably being stupid but if the C9 doesn't have a DSL modem built in to take a signal from the phone line, then why is it called a "Router" (which I thought had to have a modem built in to be called such)?

[3dcandy]

It still routes things though doesn't it

[crossy]

"TP-Link also offers the Archer C9 with a DSL modem and that particular model is aptly named the Archer D9 and retails for around £145."

I'm probably being stupid but if the C9 doesn't have a DSL modem built in to take a signal from the phone line, then why is it called a "Router" (which I thought had to have a modem built in to be called such)?

From What is a Network Switch vs. a Router? (Cisco):

Most business networks today use switches to connect computers, printers and servers within a building or campus. A switch serves as a controller, enabling networked devices to talk to each other efficiently.

Switches create a network. Routers connect networks. A router links computers to the Internet, so users can share the connection. A router acts as a dispatcher, choosing the best path for information to travel so it's received quickly.

So it's entirely possible for a router to rely on an external modem to provide that connection to the Internet. The setup I'm using at the moment is just that:

Internet -> Virgin Superhub (in modem mode because it sucks) -> Linksys router -> Devolo Powerline Ethernet (x2: tx/rx) -> Belkin Switch -> my works laptop (via NX) -> my personal laptop

Basically I've got a series of nets/hops:
1. The Internet - a WAN;
2. Linksys router LAN - mainly wireless but also has that Devolo connection;
3. My Devolo Powerline network - bridging the Linksys-powered LAN to the devices that aren't wireless;
4. My switch network - setup because I needed a fast connection between two laptops and a NAS box;