Networking Gear by stefan @ 2011-07-06
The TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router from TP-LINK comes packed with a lot of features in its interface, has an USB port for connecting external storage and can be bought at a really affordable price.
At first I would like to thank TP-LINK for offering me a sample of their TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router.
"TP-LINK is a global provider of SOHO networking products and No.1 market share holder in China, with products available in over 100 countries to tens of millions customers. Committed to powerful R&D, effective production and strict quality management, TP-LINK continues to provide awards-winning networking products in Wireless, ADSL, Routers, Switches, IP Cameras, Powerline Adapters, Print Servers, Media Converters and Network Adapters for Global end-users.
Based on the confidence of tens of millions of customers, TP-LINK is now growing to become one of the most competitive providers of networking products with aspirations of becoming one of the top 3 networking brands and striving for a larger global market share, while further advancing in the world of networking to better serve our most valued customers with a product that makes their lives easier."
Wireless N speed up to 300Mbps makes it ideal for bandwidth consuming or interruption sensitive applications like video streaming, online gaming and VoIP
All Gigabit ports ensure ultimate transfer speeds
Centrally storing and content sharing by connecting USB hard drives
WDS wireless bridge provides seamless bridging to expand your wireless network
SST™ dramatically increases link robustness and stability
3T3R MIMO™ delivers greater throughput at range versus conventional 2T2R
CCA™ improves wireless performance while automatically avoiding channel conflicts
Easily setup a WPA encrypted secure connection at a push of the QSS button
Easy Setup Assistant provides quick & hassle free installation
QoS assures the quality of VoIP and multimedia streaming
Backward compatible with 802.11b/g products
External detachable antennas allow for better alignment and stronger antenna upgrades
The 300Mbps Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router from TP-LINK is shipped inside a medium sized box, with lots of information on the outside; on the frontal side we can find the main product highlights listed, along with a photo of the router in operation:
On one of the laterals, we can locate the package contents list:
The full list of technical specifications along with the system requirements are also found here:
Some drawings on the box show us a summary of the steps we need to take during the installation:
On the back of the box, we are shown a product description, the features and benefits, a network solution example, along with a chart that shows us which product to pick, depending on our needs:
Inside the outer packaging, we can find another plain white protective box:
The box contains the router along with its bundle:
Here is what we can expect to find inside:
-Quick Installation Guide
-Purchasing Guide
-Wireless Purchasing Guide
-GNU General Public License Notice
-a Resource CD
-UTP cable
-3 WiFi antennas
-the router
Inside the Purchasing Guide, we can find a list of other products that TP-LINK commercializes:
The Wireless Purchasing Guide contains only WiFi-related products:
Inside the Quick Installation Guide, we can find all the necessary instructions for operating the router (we have two options for beginning the router configuration: by using the Easy Setup Assistant, located on the CD, or by logging in directly to the router web interface):
The power adapter that is shipped with the router is rated on the output 12V, 1.5A:
The supplied antennas are 3dBi Omni Directional:
On the top of the routers' plastic casing, we can find the TP-LINK logo:
The frontal side is protected against scratches during transport with a transparent plastic film:
Here we can find LEDs for Power, System, WLAN, LAN 1 to 4, WAN, USB and QSS:
The QSS feature can be activated by pressing the specific button (it is fully compatible with WPS):
Both laterals are built for evacuating hot air built inside the casing:
The back of the router comes with a pre-applied sticker which instructs us to insert and run the CD that came with the device first; of course, if we decide not to use the software utility, we can login straight to the router web interface at http://192.168.1.1 :
Removing the sticker reveals the LAN ports; here we can also find the antenna ports, one WAN port, the USB 2.0 port, a Reset button and the DC Power jack:
On the bottom of the router we can locate 4 small rubber feet and some other ventilation holes; the router can be also wall-mounted:
The central sticker reveals the model number, version and serial number of the product, its MAC address, a PIN, the power rating and the default login details:
Here is how the router does look with the antennas attached:
For logging into the router web interface, we have to connect to the http://192.168.1.1 address and type in the default user/password, which are admin/admin:
In the Status menu, we can find details regarding the Firmware/Hardware versions of the device, the LAN interface, Wireless connection, WAN, traffic statistics and the system up time:
The Quick Setup is basically a wizard that helps us configure the router faster, without the need of navigating manually through all the menus:
The QSS (Quick Secure Setup) menu helps us add a new device to the wireless network quickly. This feature is fully compatible with WPS:
Inside the WAN menu, we can specify the connection type (usually supplied by our ISP), see the allocated IP address, or even specify our own DNS servers or the router host name:
In the LAN menu, we can set the router IP:
The MAC Clone feature helps changing the WAN MAC address (in case we are connecting to an ISP which does MAC filtering):
The Wireless Settings menu lets us specify the wireless network name, region, WiFi channel, WiFi mode, channel width or Max Tx Rate; here we can also enable/disable the WiFi function, the SSID broadcast or the WDS bridging:
The Wireless Security menu allows us to specify and set the desired type of encryption for the WiFi network:
We can also enable MAC Filtering with the specific menu:
In the Wireless Advanced menu, we can specify the transmitting power, Beacon interval RTS Treshold and so on:
Some statistics are shown in the next menu per connected station:
The DHCP Settings menu lets us modify the IP range, gateway, domain or the DNS:
In the DHCP Client List menu, we can see the currently connected computers, no matter if they are on wireless or wired connection:
In case we want some of the PCs to have the same IP allocated each time they log on, we can add their details inside the Address Reservation list:
If a storage device is connected to the USB 2.0 port of the router, here we will get some info about it:
A FTP Server can be also set up for access to the external storage drive:
A Media Server can be also set up, by using the USB interface:
In this next menu, we can specify user names and passwords for Storage Sharing and FTP Server services:
In the Virtual Servers menu, we can set up public services on the LAN:
Some applications require multiple connections, like online games, video conferencing; Port Triggering is used for some of these applications, that do not work correctly with a pure NAT router:
The DMZ can be enabled or disabled in the following menu; here we can also specify the IP address of the computer that will have unrestricted connection to the Internet:
The UPnP function allows the devices to access the local host resources or devices as needed; the UPnP devices can be automatically detected when this function is turned on:
The router firewall can be enabled or disabled inside the Basic Security menu; here we can set security options regarding VPN or ALG:
Some advanced security settings can be located in the next menu:
In the Local Management menu, we can specify if all computers inside the LAN are permitted to access the router Web interface, or only some of them by specifying their MAC addresses:
Remote Management is also possible; in the following menu we can enter up a fixed IP address that has access, or we can allow any IP, by entering 255.255.255.255:
This router also comes with Parental Control Settings:
Access Control to the Internet settings can be customized in the following menus:
Static routes can be defined by using the following menu:
The System Routing Table menu shows all the valid route entries in use:
If we enable Bandwidth Control, we must specify our Internet connection speeds in the following menu:
Related to the Bandwith Control feature, we can define some rules:
ARP binding is used for controlling access of specific computers inside the LAN:
The ARP list shows the IP addresses on the LAN and the associated MACs:
In the DDNS menu, we can specify one of the service where we have a registered account and enter the additional details for enabling the dynamic DNS service:
The Time Settings menu lets us configure manually, sync the time with a predefined NTP or specify the NTP server IPs of our choice:
Some connection diagnostics can be ran inside the Diagnostic Tools menu:
The firmware of the router can be upgraded from the web interface, by specifying the file which was previously downloaded from the TP-LINK website:
The factory defaults can be restored with only a click of a button:
The current settings can be saved in a file on our HDD to be restored on a later date:
The device can be also rebooted by clicking the respective button:
In the Password menu, we can change the current password (must not exceed 14 characters):
The System Log menu shows us detailed information regarding the router functionality:
Finally, if we have the Statistics feature enabled, we can see detailed information per station regarding the traffic:
CPU: Intel I7 920 @ stock
Motherboard: Foxconn BloodRage with G42 BIOS
RAM: 3x2GB Patriot PVT36G1600LLK 1600MHz
Video: Sparkle GTX 470 with stock and OMNI A.L.C.
Power Supply: Nexus RX-8500 850W modular
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.11
Case: Thermaltake Armor+ LCS, stock cooling
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64
ASUS U3S6 Expansion Card
For the client wireless tests I used an Asus X55SV Laptop.To test the USB Wireless LAN adapters throughput, I have connected the server ( I7 PC ) to the router with a UTP wire and the client ( ASUS X55SV ) had installed the Wireless LAN adapters, one by one.
For the client wired tests, both server and client were linked to the router with UTP wire.
The application I have used to test the speeds was Performance Test 7.0, fully compatible with Windows 7.
By connecting the ADATA Nobility Series NH01 USB 3.0 500Gb External HDD to the spare USB 2.0 port, we have performed some read/write transfer speeds:
The TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit router managed to deliver very good speeds when transferring data to one computer to another inside the LAN (wired connection) and decent WiFi speeds while testing with different USB Wireless adapters. While using the product for several days, I was getting random rare disconnects on some of the stations; the situation got fully fixed after I have set the WiFi channel manually.
The router interface offers lots of options to configure and the USB 2.0 port can be used to connect storage devices; however, the speeds obtained in the transfer tests are pretty average. One of the other advantages of this router is that we can install custom firmwares on it like DD-WRT or OpenWrt, to enable additional functionalities (like the ability to use the router as a print server).
Regarding the router hardware, it would have been nice to see an On/Off switch in the back, along with an On/Off WiFi switch.
The TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit router can be found in stores for as low as 46 Euros.
I would like to thank again to TP-LINK for making this review possible!