Networking Gear by stefan @ 2015-01-07
Sporting a new shape, the TP-LINK Archer C8 is built with the latest wireless frequency standards in mind, has USB ports for connecting both storage and printers, allows guest clients to connect with different security levels and the transfer speeds are quite good.
At first I would like to thank TP-LINK for offering me a sample of their Archer C8 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router for testing and reviewing.
"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."
Supports 802.11ac - The next generation of Wi-Fi
Dual band – for combined wireless speeds of up to 1.75Gbps at 2.4GHz and 5GHz band concurrently
3 dual band detachable antennas provide maximum Omni-directional wireless coverage and reliability
Full gigabit ports ensure ultra-fast data transfer speeds
Compatible with 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac products
USB 3.0 + USB 2.0 Ports - easily share a printer locally and files & media with networked devices or remotely via FTP server
Guest Network Access provides secure Wi-Fi access for guests sharing your home or office network
IPv6 supported, meeting the demands for the next generation of Internet
IP-based Bandwidth Control makes it easier for you to manage the bandwidth of devices connected to the router
Wi-Fi On/Off Button allows users to turn their wireless radio on or off
Easy one-touch WPA wireless security encryption with the WPS button
WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK encryptions provide user networks with active defense against security threats
Easy Setup Assistant with multi-language support provides a quick & hassle free installation process
The latest AC1750 router from TP-LINK is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard box, with the usual green color scheme and on the front we will get one photo of the product along with the main highlights:
On one of the box sides, the manufacturer has listed the package contents, system requirements, physical specifications, supported standards but also security modes:
On the back side of the box, we get a quick run through the product characteristics, a presentation of the main interfaces but also a table which helps us choose the router model we need most:
After removing the top packaging layer, we will end up with a cardboard mold, in which the router along with its bundle and documentation sits:
As documentation, we will get two small leaflets, the Installation disk, one Quick Installation Guide but also the Installation Guide in more detail:
Here is a quick look on the two provided installation guides:
Besides, we will also receive one LAN cable, three detachable antennas and one power adapter:
The adapter is rated on the output as 12V, 3300mA:
Compared to the previous generations, the Archer C8 has gone through a complete redesign and thanks to it we will also save a lot of space on the table we will use it on; also, it resembles the appearance of some ADSL routers we have seen from some providers:
On the top side of the unit, we have a chromed plastic frame with three antenna ports:
In the back, TP-LINK has built a mesh for ventilation, while the interfaces are placed further down:
Speaking of the interfaces, we have one USB 2.0 port available, the Reset/WPS button, one WAN (Internet) port, four LAN ports, the Power On/Off button and also the DC-IN port:
Three rubber feet are present on the bottom, one large and two small:
This is not all! On the side there is one extra WiFi On/Off button along with one USB 3.0 port:
Here is also a look from the lateral so you guys can make an idea on the footprint:
On the top we have one Power LED, Wi-Fi interface LED, the LAN LED, one WAN LED, the USB activity LED but also one WPS LED:
The removable antennas can be attached in s snap and these are also branded with the TP-LINK logo:
Here is how the finished product looks like:
For the Archer C8, TP-LINK has done a complete revamp of their simplistic GUI, making it faster than ever; of course, after you enter up the router address, the GUI will ask for the default user and password:
Talking about the new interface, we have a cleaner design, with big pictograms in the Basic mode, while the menu is located on the left side of the screen:
Right after clicking on the Advanced menu, we have all options available to us and the first menu is Status, which tells us the current information about the interfaces:
The Network menu will help us configure the WAN, MAC Clone and LAN settings:
Further down we have the Dual Band Selection from where we can choose which radio bands should we have active:
Next we have the Wireless configuration menus, a separate one for each band; the Wireless 2.4GHz menu is also equipped with WPS, Wireless Security, Wireless MAC Filtering, Wireless Advanced but also Wireless Statistics sub-menus:
The Guest Network menu allows us to create a temporary network for connecting people without the need to enter up credentials; also, those people won’t see our secured network computers by default, but we can allow that by checking the “Allow Guests to Access My Local Network”:
Next we have the DHCP menu, with the usual Settings, DHCP Client List and Address Reservation menus:
The USB Settings menu allows us to work with the connected devices like printers and USB storage:
We can enable NAT Hardware Boost from the next menu in order to have better performance:
Of course, this router features Port Forwarding and as sub-menus we will find Virtual Servers, Port Triggering, DMZ and UPnP:
The Security part has a separate menu which covers Basic Security, Advanced Security, Local Management and Remote Management sub-menus:
Next, we have Parental Control Settings:
Access Control presents itself with the Rule, Host, Target and Schedule sub-menus:
Next, we have Advanced Routing menu, where we can set up the Static Routing list and also watch the System Routing Table:
In order to enable Bandwidth Control we will have to disable NAT Boost; here we can also set up new rules:
The next menus are IP & MAC Binding related:
Dynamic DNS services can be configured from the respective menu:
Inside the IPv6 Support menu we can watch the status but also configure WAN settings:
The last menu is baptized System Tools and here we will be able to configure the Time Settings, run Diagnostics, perform Firmware Upgrades, restore Factory Defaults, Backup & Restore settings, Reboot the system, set a new Password, enable System Log or watch the Statistics:
CPU: Intel I5 3570K Retail
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional
RAM: GeIL Black Dragon 2x4GB DDR2133 (@1600)
Video: Sparkle X560 Calibre
Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840
For testing the router on wireless, we have used a Macbook Air mid-2012 (BootCamp, Windows 8.1) on which we have installed the USB 3.0 TP-LINK T4U wireless adapter. The throughput was measured by using PerformanceTest 8.0, by uploading data to the wired server.
For the wired client tests, both stations were linked to the router via UTP wire.
We have tested the router while using all available modes from the interface, on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies:
To test the USB Storage speeds, we have connected one Patriot Memory 32GB Supersonic Rage XT USB 3.0 Flash Drive to the router and performed file transfers both ways.
802.11 b/g
802.11 b/g/n
802.11 n
802.11 a/n/ac
802.11 ac
TP-LINK is really building its way to the top by releasing newer products which offer a stable connection, while most of the settings can be done on-the-fly, without the need of a router reboot. The new interface is quite light, pleasant to the eye and most of the setting menus are organized on the left side, as we have been seen with the previous versions. Now we also have a Basic menu which includes a lighter version of the interface, for people which do not want to spend time fine-tuning their connection on both wired and wireless.
The Guest feature is available for fast configuration in case we need to work with a tablet/smartphone in order to restore some settings quickly or for letting other people connect without needing a user and password. With this new release, we can configure a password even for the guest users if necessary and to important settings also come to mind: the ability to allow guests to see each other and also to be able to give them access to our network. What is necessary to mention is the fact that these settings must be used only temporary so we won’t have issues with our main, secured connection.
We can configure to have access to the mounted storage devices via SAMBA, but also via FTP and we can also request authentication with user/password. The print server can be enabled or disabled at will but we also need install the TP-LINK USB Printer Controller from the website.
The performances we have obtained along with the T4U USB 3.0 adapter are very good and also the highest so far, which tells us that we are dealing with quite a good product overall.
The TP-LINK Archer C8 does not seem to break the bank, so it is available online for about 120 Euros.
We would like to thank again to TP-LINK for making this review possible!