TP-LINK Archer C20i AC750 Wireless Dual Band Router

REQUIREMENT: For Use with ISP: BSNL FTTH Broadband Upgraded from: TP-Link W8968 Version V1 ADSL Router (Used for 2 yrs) Tried: TP-Link W8968 Version 3 BUT this V3 is INCOMPATIBLE with BSNL FTTH. Struggled to configure it for 4 days after extensive google search for settings, ALWAYS the DSL CABLE THOUGH Connected SHOWED as DOWN. TP-Link forum was of NO HELP as none of them answered the queries! Sold this off on Ebay!! BUYER is now using it on ADSL (Telephone line RJ11 based internet) WITH BUDGET < Rs: 3000/- My other options before finalizing this router: 1. Zyxel NBG4615 V2 AP/Wireless Extender/Repeater BUT only 2x2DBi antennas (Rs: 2199/-) 2. Asus RT-N12 D1 Router (Rs: 1645/-) 3. Cisco Linksys EA4500 (No NAT and 450 Mbps) OR EA3500 (NAT and 750Mbps) 4. D-Link DSL-2750U (Has good reviews on internet BUT was skeptic to try again an ADSL with past experiences!!) 5. TRENDnet Wireless N600 Concurrent Dual Band Router, TEW-751DR (Rs: 3000/-) 6. Netgear JNR3210 N300 Wireless Gigabit Router (Has good reviews BUT felt OUTDATED with less NEW features when compared with other peer routers (Rs: 2000/-) About the Router: PROS: 1. Network NEVER Dropped in the last 14 days!! I suffered a lot with my W8968 Ver V1 for 2 yrs and always used to refresh/reconnect with commands like ipconfig/Flushdns, ipconfig/Release, ipconfig/Renew in the same sequence at least every 1 or 2 hours!!! 2. Compatible with ALL Mobiles Samsung S Duos, Dell XCD 35, HTC Desire etc. In contrast my OLD W8968 Ver V1 NEVER allowed any access to mobiles!! 3. ADVANTAGE over TP-Link Archer C2 AC750 (Priced a 1000/- EXTRA) is THAT C20i AC750 has AN EXTRA (Totally 3) INTERNAL DUAL BAND ANTENNAS similar to the HIGHER END Version Archer C8 AC1750 4. PERFECT 5 SIGNAL BARS UP ALWAYS in a home which is 3200 Sq feet on 2.4 GHz band In contrast my W8968 used to show me max 4 bars and often ONLY 3 bars in my bedroom. BUT ONLY 3 bars UP on 5 GHz band (REASON: In general, the higher the frequency of a wireless signal, the shorter its range. Thus, 2.4GHz networks cover a substantially larger range than 5GHz wireless networks. In particular, the higher frequency wireless signals of 5GHz networks do not penetrate solid objects nearly as well as 2.4GHz signals, limiting their reach inside homes. ADVANTAGES of 5GHz: The 5GHz band is less likely to be congested. The 2.4GHz frequency range is much more prone to interference, as it is commonly used by other wireless networks in the area, as well as cordless phones, garage door openers and other home appliances and consumer products. PURPOSE of 5GHz: Used mainly for Skype like Video Chats, Online Gaming, and Watching HULU/Youtube videos etc where STABLE HIGH SPEED Connection is required for more enjoyable experience. With a stronger the signal and faster the throughput, less power is required which should result in better battery life in addition to better network performance. 5. VERY VERY LIGHT WEIGHT the ADAPTER SEEMS little heavier than the unit!! CONS: Honestly, I found NONE will report them when I encounter in next few days ARCHER Series has another Router TP Link Archer C2 AC750 which is 1000/- EXTRA for ONLY HAVING an ADDITIONAL feature which is a Full Gigabit Wired Connections for Ultrafast Data Transfer Speeds Some people complain this as a disadvantage! Logically it’s a useless to have a gigabit ports as NO ISP is offering speeds more than 40MBps (Foreign) and 20 MBps (India) BUT in reality 20 Mbps connections never touch or if at all touch never stand for a moment at 10Mbps. (1MBps = 128Kbps) THEN WHAT IS THE USE OF HAVING A GIGABIT LAN PORT ??!! ALL NAMESAKE MARKETING GIMMIKS! UPLOAD & DOWNLOAD SPEEDS: 1TB Connected Via USB port Download: Max 10Mbps Min 7.6Mbps Upload: Average 3.5Mbps Findings: Directly watched a movie from HARD DRIVE on 2.4 Ghz Band with a parallel transfer from Drive Movie suffered a hang little. WITHOUT the parallel transfer movie ran very well. Tried the same feat on 5 GHz Band NO HANG FOUND on either case. It was a smooth ride. Tried with SONY BRAVIA 46 W950A connected without any hassle unlike my OLD W8968! Internet was fine on 2.4 Ghz band will try on 5 GHz as well and give an update soon! UPGRADED from MANUFACTURER Firmware 0.9.11.4 v003a.0 Build 140709 Rel 35297n ----> 0.9.11.5 v003a.0 Build 141117 Rel.54160n (LATEST) ONLY REGRET is Snapdeal sold this on 23rd Dec 2014 for 2230 and was SOLD OUT in a day or two and I bought to for 2549/-. Now, it’s up to you to decide after this lengthy review. Good luck!! P.S: ADSL is RJ11 based telephone cable line used to connect to internet which is at the verge of EXTINCTION used in small towns & STILL SOME ADSL MODELS are compatible with FIBER BASED ETHERNET CABLES (RJ45) with EWAN port. If you are interested to buy any ADSL Routers LOOK FOR ETHERNET PORT (RJ45). Advantage of ADSL based Wireless routers is that they are backward compatible with RJ11 as well as CURRENT FIBER based Ethernet Cables (RJ45).

Just Fab... writing this review after using two and a half years, I'm still using it... As far as range is concerned, It can easily spread its range more or less about 80 metres both the two bands... Rapid fast speed and strong network stability impresses me much... Strongly recommending for your home usage....

UPDATE: After a firmware update everything is working ok, not 100% OK, but still better. Right now the only issue is regarding local network devices connected to the router. For example, my Buffalo NAS partitions does't get auto detected like it used to be so in my old cheaper router. It mounts as a single SMP share now. Also, my Canon Wireless Printer has lots of issues while using it through the wifi on this router but when i plug it in to the old router it works smoothly. Another big issue for me is, this router blocks all OpenVPN connections going out from your devices. It will work for a minute or two after that VPN connection will not work. It will stay connected to the server but you cannot ping any external network or sites. Problem persists even after disabling NAT and SPI and DoS protections that are there in the router. With a traceroute I can see that the packets are getting blocked on the router as they are not able to reach any external IPs while connected through OpenVPN. PPPT works fine though. Same VPN connection in OpenVPN works with other routers. Called customer care, they were clueless and told me to wait for a firmware update. The recent firmware didn't fix it too. OLD REVIEW: I purchased this router to replace TP-Link TL-WR841N router, which served me good for more than a year and is still working properly. The setup process of this new router was easy. Thats where the good stuff ends. The Wireless range is horrible, I am getting just about 75% of the total wireless N coverage compared to my old router in 2.4 Ghz Band. The 5Ghz Band coverage is just limited to about 10 meters, after that it drops out very drastically, tested it with both a Moto X and iPad Mini 2 for the 5Ghz Band. The Wireless 2.4Ghz coverage is so so, but not good compared to my old TP Link router with external antennas, also sometimes the signal drops out for a second or so completely and comes back again. So I if am streaming anything from my Buffalo NAS attached to the router then the streaming stops and restarts again. Thats a big deal breaker. All this is my observation during the 5 days of using it since I got the product from Flipkart. This is not a defective product, upon my advice my friend too ordered this same router from another site, he too says he is facing the same issues with wireless range, not good enough. Now, to add cherry on top of my troubles with this router, emailed Flipkart customer support (2 days after using it) telling them, this product isn't good enough so I want to return it and get the amount I paid refunded to my Flipkart wallet and I will purchase a better higher value router from Flipkart. Got a call from customer care the next day, saying that's not possible as the return policy is that they will replace this router with a newer unit of the same router. I cannot return it and pay more to get a different model. Good return policy Flipkart, this after purchasing products worth lakhs of Rupees from you guys over the years, good to see you guys are standing by your loyal customers! Or not. So, to sum it up, avoid this router and better go for other routers which has external antennas. This router doesn't even have a gigabit ethernet port too. What a waste of money.