At first we would like to thank TP-LINK for offering me a sample of their Archer C9 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router for testing and reviewing.

 

About TP-LINK:

"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."

Product Features:

 

SIGNAL RATE

5GHz: Up to 1300Mbps

2.4GHz: Up to 600Mbps

 

1GHz Dual-core CPU

A great ‘heart’ for fast, stable performance with WiFi

 

Dual USB ports

1 USB 3.0 Port + 1 USB 2.0 Port

 

Gigabit WAN/LAN ports

4 10/100/1000Mbps LAN Ports

1 10/100/1000Mbps WAN Port

 

Antenna

3 Detachable Dual Band Antennas

 

Dimensions (W X D X H)

8.7 X 3.4 X 6.6 in.

(221 X 86 X 168.5mm)

 

Package Contents

Archer C9

3 Detachable Antennas

Power Supply Unit

Resource CD

Ethernet Cable

Quick Installation Guide

 

Product Specifications:

 

In this article we will be happy to take a look at one of the latest products from TP-LINK, the Archer C9 AC1900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router. This router supports simultaneous 2.4GHz 600Mbps and 5GHz 1300Mbps connections for 1.9Gbps of total available bandwidth. The product has arrived inside a fully-sealed cardboard enclosure, with a box art we have been accustomed with before, and shows on the frontal area a photo of the main product along with some of the main features:

 

 

 

 

 

The product sides also have some product details listed:

 

 

 

 

On the back side of the packaging, TP-LINK explains the product interfaces in more details, but also makes a comparison between different models, in order to help us which one suits us best:

 

 

 

After removing the top packaging layer, we will get to see the router along with the bundle in a cardboard mold:

 

 

 

Besides the Archer C9, we will also receive the power adapter, one LAN cable and three antennas:

 

 

 

The power adapter is rated on the output as 12V, 3300mA:

 

 

 

The supplied 5dBi omnidirectional antennas are TP-LINK branded:

 

 

 

 

Besides those, we will also receive Quick Installation Guides, a disk with documentation in electronic format and utilities, a Technical Support leaflet, one GNU General Public Notice leaflet, but also one Declaration of Conformity document:

 

 

 

Inside the manual, we will find all the information we need with pictures in order to perform the initial setup procedure:

 

 

 

 

The Archer C9 shares some design elements with the C8, is built from good quality materials and does not take a lot of space on the table:

 

 

 

On the top area we have the activity LEDs, which stay always on when active and do not blink for the LAN/Wi-Fi interfaces as we have seen with older models; here we have the LEDs for Power, Wi-Fi 2.4GHz, Wi-Fi 5GHz, LAN, WAN, WPS function but also for each USB port:

 

 

 

In the middle of the frontal area, we will get to see the TP-LINK logo:

 

 

 

On the top area of the router we will see a chromed plastic frame which also offers support to the product:

 

 

 

 

The antenna ports are also available here:

 

 

 

On the back side of the product, we will get to see a large ventilation grill, while on the lower area we have the available interfaces present:

 

 

 

From left to right, we have the USB 2.0 port available, one Reset/WPS function button, but also the WAN (Internet) port:

 

 

 

Moving on, we will get to see four LAN ports, the Power button but also the DC-IN port:

 

 

 

On the right side of the router, we will also find one USB 3.0 port along with one Wi-Fi On/Off button:

 

 

 

 

Three rubber feet are available on the bottom area of the product:

 

 

 

 

Here is how the Archer C9 does look, in its final form with the antennas attached:

 

 

 

 

After browsing to the default web address, we will be first prompted to log in:

 

 

 

 

Archer C9 offers us three ways to configure the product: via a specialized wizard, from the Basic (simplified interface), but also via the Advanced (classic menu); we will go on straight to the Advanced section since there we will find all options available to us:

 

 

 

We will begin with the Status menu, which allows us to see the LAN, Wi-Fi and Traffic Statistics data:

 

 

 

The Network menu comes with several sub-sections; here we have the WAN one which allows us to configure the router interface depending on the details from our ISP; here we will be also able to configure the DNS addresses or configure the host name:

 

 

 

For certain purposes, MAC Cloning ability is available to us:

 

 

 

Next, we have the LAN menu, which allows setting the internal network address for the router:

 

 

 

From the next menu we are able to choose which wireless interfaces should remain active:

 

 

 

The Wireless 2.4GHz menu allows configuration of the network name (SSID), region, wireless mode, channel width but also the channel number:

 

 

 

WPS configuration menu is next:

 

 

 

The Wireless Security menu allows us to set the security mode for the current network:

 

 

 

Wireless MAC filtering rules can be also applied when needed:

 

 

From the Wireless Advanced menu we can fine-tune the connection options:

 

 

Next, we have the Wireless Statistics menu, which shows the MAC addresses of the connected stations, but also the number of received and sent packets:

 

 

The 5GHz Wireless menu is organized in about the same way:

 

 

The Archer C9 has Guest Network capabilities, for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies:

 

 

From the DHCP menu, we can work with the DHCP Settings sub-section for defining the range, gateway and custom DNS:

 

 

 

The DHCP Client List is next:

 

 

We can also do MAC addresses reservations:

 

 

 

Removable devices have a dedicated menu:

 

 

 

 

File Sharing services can be enabled via different users:

 

 

 

The Print Server can be enabled from the next sub-section but in order to use it we will have to install the TP-LINK USB Printer Controller utility on our computer:

 

 

 

 

NAT Boost option can be enabled from the next menu:

 

 

 

 

From the Forwarding menu, we will be able to choose between the usual features like: Virtual Servers, Port Triggering, DMZ or UPnP:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Security services come with sub-sections in order to enable protections against external attacks:

 

 

 

 

We can then define which machines will be allowed to control the GUI:

 

 

 

 

Parental Control Settings are also available:

 

 

 

We can also create Access Control Rules from the next menus:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we have the Advanced Routing menu, with the Static Routing List and System Routing Table sub-sections:

 

 

 

 

The Bandwidth Control section allows us to enable Bandwidth Control and set up a Rule List:

 

 

 

 

From the IP & MAC Binding menu, we will be able to check out the Binding Settings or see the ARP list:

 

 

 

 

Dynamic DNS menu allows us to configure one of the available free providers:

 

 

 

We also have a separate menu dedicated to IPv6 Support:

 

 

The Time Settings menu is pretty self-explanatory:

 

 

If the connection is not working properly, we can check it thanks to the included Diagnostic Tools:

 

 

 

Firmware Upgrade can be initiated by specifying the respective file:

 

 

Besides the Reset button, we can bring the device to the Factory Defaults via the respective menu:

 

 

Next, we have the Backup & Restore menu:

 

 

 

 

Reboot function has a sub-menu of its own:

 

 

We can also modify the login credentials from the Password menu:

 

 

A closer look at what resides “under the hood” is available in the System Log:

 

 

Lastly we have the Statistics feature, but this one works only when NAT Boost function is disabled:

 

 

Wired Station

 

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.

 

Wired Test

 

 

 

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. The transfer speeds have been improved considerably when compared with the Archer C8.

 

Copy

Read

 

2.4GHz

 

802.11 b/g

 

 

802.11 b/g/n

 

802.11 n

 

5Ghz

 

802.11 a/n/ac

 

 

802.11 ac

 

 

 

 

Based on a second generation Broadcom chipset, the Archer C9 AC1900 router shares many characteristics with the C8 which we have reviewed previously, including elements of design. The router takes quite little space on the table and is ventilated properly thanks to the grill located in the back. We again have two USB ports available for data transfer or for connecting printers; in our tests, the USB 3.0 transfer speeds seem to be quite improved, but it won’t be able to match low-end NAS capabilities yet.

 

Speaking of the transfer rates via Wi-Fi, we have seen slower performance in 802.11 n mode (2.4GHz), while in 802.11 b/g/n the performance stays the same. However, at 5GHz we have seen much improved transfer rates when using 802.11 a/n/ac mode, but a bit lower rates VS C8 when working with 802.11 ac-only mode.

 

The TP-LINK Archer C9 is a very stable router as its predecessor (it did not act weird, lock in some way even once), and can be ordered online for about 138 Euros. Considering that the Archer C8 is now available for about 104 Euros and the little performance difference between these two models, we would be tempted to recommend the older model for budget-conscious people.

 

We would like to thank again to TP-LINK for making this review possible!