Tp link tl wr841n review tests. Review and tests TP-LINK TL-WDR4300. Dual-band router paired with TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 adapter. Specifications TP-LINK TL-WR841N
With the introduction of the long-awaited 3G and more recently 4G coverage, there are more options for backup connections than before. And even more than that, the Internet is now there, where wired providers did not reach. And if city dwellers do not often have to face such problems, then those who live outside large settlements have recently become a little easier. And more and more relevance has appeared in routers with built-in 4G modems. Today we will get acquainted with the operation of one of such devices - TP-Link TL-MR6400.
Package contents and first impressions
Not so many things are needed for the router to work, so the box with the device contains only a power supply, a short Ethernet cable, and accompanying documentation. TP-Link TL-MR6400 is immediately equipped with two external antennas for receiving the operator's signal, which are permanently attached to the case, two more are built-in.
It doesn't take much time to unpack and install, and to set up 4G reception, you just need to install a SIM card. The network will "rise" in one and a half to two minutes, and the SSID and password (a little more complicated than four units) are immediately on the router. We can say that even an unprepared user can cope with getting started.
Design and usability TP-Link TL-MR6400
Unlike standard simple "boxes", TP-Link TL-MR6400 case is glossy. The entire top panel is one large reflection with a small company logo right in the center. It will be clean for a couple of seconds until the user removes the shipping tape from it. Then the entire body will be covered with magnetized dust, fingerprints, and in the future, small scratches. It's good that the router is usually hidden and it won't be noticeable. But it is also a little offensive, because the device looks pretty nice against the background of such solutions.
As usual, all physical communications and control are collected on the rear panel (when installed horizontally). Namely: a power socket, a power button, four Lan ports (one also performs the WAN function), a combined restart and WPS activation button, Wi-Fi on / off and a Mini-SIM slot (somewhat reminiscent of a memory card slot in some tablets).
Hidden under the gloss are translucent network status indicators. If desired, you can turn them off, or set the time when they will turn off. This will be useful for those who may be disturbed by these indicators at night (or at any other time).
The overall dimensions of the case are relatively similar to most of the dimensions of conventional routers: 202 × 145 × 34 mm. You can install TP-Link TL-MR6400 both horizontally (for this there are legs, albeit without rubber stops), and mounted on the wall, for which there are a couple of holes in the lower part. In the latter case, all the connected wires will "go" up, which is not very aesthetically pleasing. So I'd rather put it on and not hang it on the wall.
Functionality TP-Link TL-MR6400
TP-Link TL-MR6400 is a basic router, and its price is due to the presence of an LTE modem. The data transfer speed from the provider can develop up to 150 Mbit / s (which in the existing conditions is still the ceiling, which no operator can reach yet), and within the Wi-Fi network - up to 300 Mbit / s. Nothing new for the n-standard, which only supports the 2.4GHz band. And from a wired connection, which the manufacturer clearly does not rely on, you should not expect more than 100 Mbps.
All settings are made through the admin panel, accessible from any browser. There are both "quick settings" and advanced, for more experienced users. For those who have seen the control panel of other manufacturers' routers, there will be nothing new here - everything is the same as in the flagship models, only, of course, there will be fewer available functions. The add-on has applications for smartphones (versions for iOS and Android) that allow you to manage connected clients and change some settings.
Administrative panel:
Smartphone App:
What else I would like to get is USB for network devices. True, given the not very high data transfer rate, the port would be more useful to those who often use a printer and would like to bring it to the local network. Otherwise, for basic needs there is everything you need, including support for guest networks and parental controls.
In work
Don't expect high speed and performance from an inexpensive router. But even at the same time, TP-Link TL-MR6400 will be able to cover a small apartment or country house with a network. And if there is an operator's tower nearby, he will also be able to provide a fairly decent connection speed. Two external antennas do not help the Wi-Fi connection, but just serve to receive the signal from the operator. And the local network is occupied by two antennas hidden in the body.
In our office, where the operator's signal is good, it was possible to see indicators in the region of 60 Mbit / s for reception, and 40 for output. Downloading an almost 10 GB file showed an average download speed of 7.2 MB / s, which just fits into the measurements. And here it is also worth considering the rather high load on the operator in the city center during working hours. Even so, speed measurements rarely showed drops of up to 15-20 Mbit / s, which is still enough for working on the Web, watching streaming video and especially office tasks.
At home in a residential area, where the tower is located further away, the indicators were several times lower. There is already someone who is lucky. And even so, it was possible to watch videos in 4K without waiting for downloads and other troubles. Despite the presence of external antennas for receiving 4G, for a better signal, the router should be closer to the windows. In general, this connection is sufficient for normal tasks, but downloading large files can take a long time.
The results of tests of data transmission within the network (two wireless clients / one Lan and Wi-Fi / Lan-Lan) showed that the stability "jumps" a little. This is even noticeable when downloading files from the Internet. But if you do not constantly monitor the download speed, but do something else in parallel, then this does not particularly affect your work. Well, the speed indicators are typical for an inexpensive router.
Minuses: n-standard and only 2.4 GHz band; low productivity; no USB
Conclusion: 4G in Ukraine is still lame in terms of speed, but if coverage is available, it can become an alternative for connecting where there is no wired Internet or a backup channel is needed. TP-Link TL-MR6400 is a 4G / 3G router that offers good network reception and easy setup. However, it is worth remembering that this is a basic solution with support for the n-standard and only 2.4 GHz frequency, which may not be enough to connect a large number of devices.
Specifications
| - | |
|---|---|
| USB connection (external storage / printer / 3G modem) | - |
| Firewall | + |
| NAT | + |
| VPN (virtual networks) support | + |
| DHCP server | + |
| Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) | + |
| Antenna type (indoor / outdoor) | internal + external 4G LTE (SMA) |
| Number of antennas | 2 + 2 |
| MU-MIMO / MIMO support | -/+ |
| Web interface | + |
| Telnet | - |
| SNMP support | - |
| Dimensions, mm | 202x141x33.6 |
| Weight, g | there is no data |
| Advanced encryption modes | - |
| Power (PoE / Adapter) | -/+ |
| Built-in ftp-server | - |
| Outdoor installation | - |
| Bridge mode | + |
| Other | includes two adapters Micro SIM - Standard SIM and Nano SIM - Standard SIM; SIM card slot: 4G: FDD-LTE B1 / B3 / B7 / B8 / B20 (2100/1800/2600/900 / 800MHz) TDD-LTE B38 / B39 / B40 / B41 (2600/1900/2300 / 2500MHz) 3G: DC-HSPA + / HSPA + / HSPA / UMTS B1 / B8 (2100 / 900MHz) 2G: EDGE / GPRS / GSM Quad Band (850/900/1800 / 1900MHz) |
The products of the network brand No. 1 in China have long been known to the domestic user, moreover, they are known as a fairly high-quality product for relatively little money. Not so long ago, we already reviewed one of the top models of routers from this company, TP-Link TL-MR3420, as well as a kit for organizing a local network via an electric TP-Link TL-PA211. Today, two more devices from this manufacturer got to our test laboratory. They do not shine with technical sophistication, but they can please the widest circle of users, as they are designed to organize a wireless Wi-Fi network of 802.11n standard with a bandwidth of up to 300 Mbps. We are talking about a TP-Link TL-WR841ND router and a TP-Link TL-WN822N USB adapter, which we are now starting to study.
⇡ Specifications
| Router TP-Link TL-WR841ND | |
|---|---|
| Standards | 10/100 Base-T |
| Ports | 1 x RJ-45 WAN (10/100 Mbps) 4 x RJ-45 LAN (10/100 Mbps) |
| Frequency range, GHz | 2,4-2,4835 |
| 20 | |
| Antennas | 2 x external detachable omnidirectional, 3dBi |
| Safety | IEEE 802.1x, WEP, WPA / WPA2, WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK Connection Controlled Firewall (SPI) Access Control by MAC Address List |
| Network protocols | PPPoE / PPTP / L2TP |
| Functions | DynDNS, DHCP, DMZ, QSS |
| Nutrition | External power adapter (9 V / 0.85 A) |
| Dimensions, mm | 200x140x28 (excluding antennas) |
| Warranty, month | 12 |
| price, rub. | 1 250 |
| USB Wi-Fi adapter TP-Link TL-WN822N | |
|---|---|
| Standards | IEEE 802.11b / g / n (300Mbps) |
| Ports | 1 x Mini-USB |
| Frequency range, GHz | 2,4-2,4835 |
| Max. wireless signal power, dBm | 20 |
| Antennas | 2 x external foldable omnidirectional, 3dBi |
| Safety | WEP, WPA / WPA2, WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK |
| Modes of operation | Ad-Hoc / in infrastructure |
| Additional functions | support for Sony PSP, QSS |
| Nutrition | from a computer USB port |
| Dimensions, mm | 90x68x17 |
| Warranty, month | 12 |
| price, rub. | 800 |
The TP-Link TL-WR841ND model is a classic 100-megabit router with a wireless access point operating in Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n networks. The device is equipped with two standard detachable antennas with a gain of 3 dBi, which are part of the MIMO technology, which provides high performance of the wireless network segment, as well as wide coverage and high signal stability. The wired segment of the router has four RJ-45 ports for connecting LAN clients and one external WAN port. All of them refer to the 10 / 100Base-TX standard.
The TP-Link TL-WN822N model for a regular USB Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n adapter is not too compact. But she, like the router, had a place for two powerful omnidirectional antennas with a gain of 3 dBi, which should provide greater performance compared to the internal antennas of various devices, including laptops, which do not always cope well with finding weak Wi-Fi signal. Among the interesting features of the novelty, one cannot fail to note the officially declared operation of the adapter with the Sony PSP console.
One of the options for the structure of a wireless network based on the TP-Link TL-WR841ND router, TP-Link TL-WN822N USB adapter, and other TP-Link network devices
It should be noted that both new items are equipped with a built-in QSS (Quick Secure Setup) function for quickly setting up a secure wireless connection. Just press the corresponding button on the body of any device, and the automated QSS tool will automatically establish a connection using WPA2 encryption algorithms. The user will only have to set the desired password. In fact, this function is nothing more than the more well-known WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) technology, only it has a different name.
Quickly set up a secure wireless connection with the QSS function
⇡ Package contents
The boxes in which the new items are supplied are decorated in the usual light green colors for all TP-Link network devices. The delivery kits are no different. Together with the TP-Link TL-WR841ND router, the user will find:
- a pair of foldable antennas,
- power adapter,
- Ethernet cable,
- CD with firmware and operating instructions in PDF format,
- printed guide to quick installation in Russian.
Packaging of new products
TP-Link TL-WR841ND Router Package Contents
The TP-Link TL-WN822N USB adapter has smaller accessories. However, he does not need more:
- miniUSB-USB cable,
- CD with firmware and operating instructions in PDF format.
Package Contents of TP-Link TL-WN822N USB Adapter
⇡ Appearance and ergonomics
With the redesign of the entire TP-Link product line, the network devices of this company began to look modern and somehow lightweight. In some ways, they even surpass the most beautiful samples of various eminent manufacturers. For example, here is one of the heroes of our today's review, the TP-Link TL-WR841ND router. This is the rare case when a live device looks even better than a promotional photo.
Firstly, as it turned out on close acquaintance, the snow-white body of the novelty is made not of easily soiled, easily scratched varnished plastic, but of a slightly rough matte finish. It seems like a trifle, but for many it will turn out to be very pleasant. At the same time, a matte router looks just as good as a glossy one! The secret lies in the fact that the eye is constantly distracted from the black trim elements, then to the original concentric ventilation slots - a beautiful and at the same time practical design idea. By the way, the detachable antennas are also made black, thanks to which the appearance of the TP-Link TL-WR841ND takes on very serious shades. The row of standard LED indicators is slightly tucked in and is also located on the black insert.
External view of the TP-Link TL-WR841ND router
The bottom of the router is just as pretty. It is all cut with small ventilation holes, between which there is a place for two plastic hinges for which you can hang the router on the wall. In addition to the vertical arrangement of the device, the usual horizontal installation on four small rubber feet is also provided.
Bottom case TP-Link TL-WR841ND
All connectors and interfaces are traditionally concentrated on the rear wall of the router. In addition to the RJ-45 ports specified in the specification, there is a socket for connecting a power adapter, a reset button for all settings, a quick setup button for a secure QSS wireless connection, and a pair of RP-SMA connectors for installing the supplied antennas. In addition, on the rear panel of the router there is a place for the power on / off button, which developers often "forget" about. Meanwhile, using this button is much more convenient than each time reaching out with the plug to the outlet, which, as a rule, is located in the far dusty corner.
Back case TP-Link TL-WR841ND
The TP-Link TL-WR841ND router, although it stands out from the general mass of its own kind, still has a classic layout. In contrast, the TP-Link TL-WN822N USB adapter looks completely unusual. With folded antennas, it is a small box of lacquered white plastic with rounded edges, not larger than a pack of cigarettes. The foldable antennas on the sides can be rotated independently up to 180 degrees to obtain the best signal.
Bottom view of TP-Link TL-WN822N USB adapter
The adapter has a single QSS button for quick setup of a secure wireless connection, as well as an LED activity indicator. The developers have provided only one installation method - on a table or other horizontal surface. In this case, it will be connected to the computer with a 1.5-meter USB cable.
External view of the TP-Link TL-WN822N USB adapter
I must say that the new product not only looks attractive, but also easy to use. Such a compact and lightweight box is not difficult at all to carry in a bag with a laptop. At the same time, the adapter still takes up a little space, and its sensitivity is higher compared to more compact samples with internal antennas.
⇡ Internal structure
TP-Link is a partner of the world's largest provider of wireless networking solutions, Atheros, so it's no surprise that chips from this particular manufacturer were found inside the new products. For the router, the developers chose the Atheros AR7241 processor, clocked at 400 MHz. Interestingly, this processor is designed to work with a USB 2.0 interface, but our new product does not provide one.
The internal structure of the TP-Link TL-WR841ND router
Atheros AR7241 processor
The processor does not have its own built-in wireless interface, so another important Atheros AR9287 chip is installed on the motherboard nearby, which plays this role. The controller belongs to the fourth generation of wireless turnkey solutions from Atheros and is compatible with 802.11b / g / d / eassets / external / varn and 2x2 MIMO enhanced reception technology. Interestingly, there is a place for installing a shielding metal casing on the motherboard around the wireless module, but the casing itself is missing from the novelty.
Atheros AR9287 RF Wi-Fi Controller
In addition, the router has a 32 MB DDR SDRAM Zentel A3S56D40FTP-G5 memory module manufactured by Zentel Electronics Corp. The soldering of all components is very neat and not satisfactory.
Zentel A3S56D40FTP-G5 buffer memory module
The compact USB adapter is assembled on a printed circuit board with one-sided assembly of elements. Moreover, the wireless module of this device, unlike the one in the router, is covered with a metal casing, so it is not possible to find out its model. However, we can assume that this is an Atheros AR9102 controller, but we will not assert whether this is so. But the USB interface controller is in sight - this is the Atheros AR9170 microcircuit.
Internal structure of TP-Link TL-WN822N USB adapter
Atheros AR9170 USB interface controller
Grade 3
Advantages: an excellent model, any, except for the 13th version (a MediaTek processor was plugged into the new one)
Disadvantages: revision v.13 with MediaTek processor (all other versions have Atheros)
(description of all revisions of the 841st router - https://goo.gl/6WL1eU)
Stanislav C. October 14, 2017, Belgorod
Grade 2
Advantages: Gives out well when he distributes.
Disadvantages: Every 4 hours, and with a heavy load every 1.5-2 hours, you have to reboot. Zadolbal. Nerves were enough for a week. I handed it over.
Commentary: I don’t know a copy of this or model g ..., but it didn’t work normally for a day.
Grade 4
Advantages: Provider's wafer speed (90-95 Mbit), it is easy to configure, it does not go under torrent load.
Disadvantages: Not suitable for networks with VPN connection. When using iptv, it hangs once every couple of days (it is treated with a reboot)
Comment: I have installed about fifty such routers in different networks. Holds all connections, does not go under load. This router is an excellent choice for networks with DHCP, Static IP, PPPOE connection type. Difficulties may arise with connections of the VPN type. You cannot register IPsec in L2TP, you cannot enable MPPE in PPTP (on native firmware, on ddvrt you can but it will cut the connection speed decently). Now about IPTV. Suitable for wired iptv use, but will freeze once every couple of days. For Wi-Fi, IPTV is suitable for SD channels, everything in HD starts to scatter the picture (checked on several DUNE HD models). The power of the antennas is average, I did not see anything outstanding, it is suitable for a kopeck piece, I would not put it in a three-ruble note. The speed keeps the normal 100MB with a normal receiver will give out easily. From the conclusions: An excellent router for a small apartment, it performs its functions with a bang, if the VPN network and / or you need iptv on the wafer take a closer look at the 842 model, there are more settings and it holds the iptv load much better.
Gosha B. May 23, 2014, Belgorod \ Experience of use: several months
Grade 2
Pluses: Ease of customization and updating.
Some write that it works for a long time without rebooting, but that means I came across a defective model. Because once every 2-3 days you have to overload. Local network only via wi-fi (laptop and two phones with android). Periodically, the wi-fi connection disappears (when the laptop was connected with a cord, no problems were noticed), only a reboot helps, even after updating the firmware to 3.14.19 Build 130122 Rel.43330n the problem did not disappear.
Grade 5
Advantages: price
Disadvantages: cuts speed upward (Upload)
Commentary: there were no problems with wi-fi, the apartment gives quite confident reception (50 m2), the neighbor below also clings without problems. At the same time, there are no problems when connecting any devices: 2 laptops, a tablet, 2 mobile phones - there have never been any problems.
[no problem now - see below]
Problems with the fact that cuts the speed up (over the WAN). Connection 40mbit / s. for uploading, these 40 are stable, for output - a pipe, even a 1MB picture for mail is a problem to upload. At the same time, by connecting the computer directly without a router, I received my 40 Mbps in both directions. it seems that there is a problem with the Ethernet controller: by punching the router, sometimes it is possible to switch it to 10 Mbps mode for Ethernet - then 10 will appear up and down.
As a result, I buy Kinetic ...
P.S. the problem resolved itself - everything with the router is OK. just in case, I decided to re-crimp the cable - it turned out that the cable was poorly crimped when laying the line to the apartment. like that ...
Grade 5
Advantages: Quality of work.
Of course, the price (750 rubles).
On / off toggle switch for wi-fi (when you are not using the network, you can turn it off, and less radiation for the body, and you don’t interfere with neighboring grids).
Range of antennas.
Disadvantages: As a nit-picking - non-removable antennas (someone might be a disadvantage, but it doesn't matter to me).
I didn't find it anymore for such and such money))
Commentary: Now on the merits. The device was purchased 3 days ago. The firmware immediately after the purchase was uploaded with the newest (for the current date) 3.14.19 Build 130122 Rel.43330n, from the official site.
Router v8.3, Beeline provider, L2TP, speed 40/80 (day / night).
I don't use IPTV.
The settings took about 10-15 minutes. I entered logins and passwords, cloned the MAC and everything worked right away. The interface is in Russian completely, for each item the decoding is detailed for beginners. Everything is on a green background, nice to the eyes. Feature: the most correct setting will be through IE (it really is), it is this browser that the manufacturer recommends.
Speed does not cut through the air. Everything is according to the tariff (of course, in the line of sight of the router, i.e. in the same room with it, through 2 walls the speed will naturally be lower - physics is physics).
The power of the antennas set the average - the signal throughout the apartment is not less than 2 strips out of 4. The standard is only N - there are simply no other adapters at home.
At the same time I connect 2 smartphones, 1 tablet and a player via wi-fi - no one feels any discomfort. At the same time, the router is slightly warm. We do not indulge in torrents.
Conclusion - as a workhorse for ordinary needs such as online video and web surfing, that's it. In other conditions, I simply did not check because there is no need.
Anastasia J. June 11, 2013, Ivanovo \ Experience of use: less than a month
Grade 5
Advantages: 1. Very inexpensive
2. Interface in Russian (after flashing)
3. Does not cut the speed (even with a vpn connection, the speed easily reaches 85 megabits), I compare it with DIR-615
4. Has a wifi signal strength setting
5. Allows you to quickly configure the issuance of specific IP-addresses with DHCP on the mac-address
6. Has the function of accessing the settings from the Internet
7. If necessary, allows you to control the channel width for each user
8. The bulbs are not halogen, they do not interfere with sleep at night with their blinking (which can not be said about the DIR-615)
Disadvantages: 1. Can't automatically check / install firmware updates
2. It does not have a "port forwarding" system ... you can of course use "virtual servers" or DMZ, but this does not give the desired effect (you can specify a range, but you cannot specify a set of ranges and individual ports separated by commas)
3. There is no built-in function for determining the correct MTU size, and due to the incorrect default MTU value, with my provider, all owners of such routers initially have problems
4. It is impossible (or very difficult) to determine the fact that the vpn connection is working by the lights on the router (on the DIR-615, when the vpn connection was lost, an orange light shone instead of a green one)
802.11n, the fastest officially adopted WiFi standard today, covers the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. The 802.11n wireless device can support one or both of them, like the TL-WDR3600. 802.11n equipment is capable of working with multiple streams, each of which has a maximum speed of 150 Mbps. The total flow rate in one or both ranges and is implied when the manufacturers indicate the maximum speed on the box. In the case of TP-LINK N600 TL-WDR3600 with two channels in each, this is 150x2 + 150x2 = 600 Mbps. For many manufacturers, such routers, as well as adapters, have the N600 index in the name, therefore, in order not to get confused, the TP-LINK device in the review will be called TL-WDR3600.
Appearance
TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 looks luxurious
Externally, the TL-WDR3600, which belongs to the dual-band family, is very different from the TP-LINK brothers of the younger series, made in black and white and looking simpler. Although now gloss black for top models is quite a common design solution, the company's designers managed to find their own memorable and stylish image. Downright haute couture router.
WiFi indicators - two. The one that is smaller indicates network activity at 2.4 GHz, and the larger one indicates network activity at 5 GHz.
There are ten indicators on the front panel, including 5 for ports and 2 for WiFi. There are several buttons on the back that will save the user time. This is a button for turning off the wireless network (if it is not needed, it makes sense to turn it off and release the downloaded air), a power off button (instead of pulling out the plug) and a button for activating the Wireless Protected Setup mode, combined with the reset function.
For convenience, the local Ethernet ports and the port for connecting to the TP-LINK provider are marked with different colors
Screw holes allow you to hang the router on the wall, up or down with your feet
Equipment
In the box with the TL-WDR3600, the buyer will find a typical set for a TP-LINK router - a gray 1.2 m patch cord, catalogs of network equipment and multilingual instructions for initial connection.
One of the books is a GNU license, its presence is a prerequisite for using freely distributed software components in the firmware
The full PDF manual on a small 8cm CD is available in English only. In addition to it, the CD also contains a utility for network printing from a USB printer and a utility that allows you to configure the router without going into the control panel. The DC adapter is 12V, 1.5A. For comparison: a couple of years ago, routers cost 5 ... 7.5V at 1–1.2A, but now there are home routers running on 19V power supplies, like laptops.
Internal organization
TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 Router Motherboard
TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 uses Atheros chipset. The central chip is Atheros AR9344, which combines both the processor and external interfaces, incl. gigabit switch and USB 2.0 ports. In this router, it operates at 560 MHz, although there are more frequency options. WiFi support for the 2.4GHz band is also built into this semiconductor harvester; a separate Atheros AR9582 (802.11 a / n) chip is responsible for 5GHz. It is important that the router provides hardware acceleration of NAT address translation (i.e. routing between the home and external network), built-in bandwidth control. RAM - 128 MB DDR2, flash memory - 8 MB.
Setting up and working
By default, WiFi networks on the router are active, but password protected (WPA2 encryption is used, the network key is written on the router). So, you won't be able to configure the device without Ethernet at all. The step-by-step configuration can be done via the web panel or using the Windows utility.
TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 router status page
While Netgear decorates the interface of routers with "webdunol" style beauties and actively uses Javascript, TP-LINK remains true to the classics. The control panel in branded green and white colors is divided into three parts. The left frame is a menu with main and drop-down items, the central one is the current section, and the right one is a brief help on it. True, sometimes it is very short, describing the content in the style "The" ON "option turns on the function, the" OFF "option turns off."
Network Diagnostic Tools
TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 diagnostic tools include ping and traceroute. Bandwidth control restricts inbound and outbound traffic in whole, or, using rules, by ports and addresses or their ranges. IPv6 is supported. The WDS function allows you to use the router to link 2 or more wireless networks (on each band separately).
Besides simply forwarding a specific external port to a specific internal IP address, there are two other ways to forward ports. Port Triggering - allows you to create general port forwarding rules that are not tied to a specific intranet address. They are activated for the first client to use these ports. The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) makes the specified internal address available to any Internet connection. There should only be one such DMZ address.
There is no automatic reservation of local addresses distributed via DHCP. Therefore, upon reconnection, computers on the home network will each time receive a new address from the range 192.168.0.100-199 (by default). In order not to create confusion in the rules (for example, setting up port forwarding for torrents on the IP address of a computer with a torrent client), you should manually register all network adapters. The hardware (MAC) and IP addresses of the adapters can be found in the "Support" tab in the state of an active network connection, or with the ipconfig / all command (or ifconfig, if you are using a UNIX-like system), and you can also look at the list of DHCP clients on the router ...
Access restriction "parental settings"
Bandwidth control is configured manually, by IP addresses and ports. Of the dynamic DNS services (DDNS), No-IP, Dyndns and Comexe are supported. By registering on these sites. With this, you can keep at home any server that is accessible from the Internet by url name. Security features include protection against DDoS attacks when attackers "bombard" the address. Protection is enabled if the number of incoming packets per second on the WAN port exceeds the specified threshold.
IPv6 settings
At the time of writing the review, the firmware of the TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 router was not Russified, like the instructions. You can use Russian letters for the name of the rules.
USB
A USB port, especially two at once, like the TL-WDR3600, is an extremely useful part in a router. Two ports (although there could be more of them, taking into account the fact that one will be constantly occupied for a printer) will make it possible in most of the time to do without a USB hub, which means, without unnecessary devices and wires, since a hub is needed to connect external hard drives , as a rule, with their own food.
But for printing, you need to install the TP-LINK USB Printer Controller utility on each computer from which the printer will be used. Then, if the printer is successfully recognized by it (the list of compatible devices can be viewed on the TP-LINK website, although TP-WDR3600 worked with the old model, which was not listed in it), click on it in the utility window and select Auto Connect Printer.
You can access an external USB drive in three ways: as an NFS network share (Windows network folder), via FTP (the server can be assigned any port) and as an upnp media server via network media consoles or (from a computer) via media -players.
A disk with FAT32 when sharing via NFS showed read speeds of 4.5 MB / s and writes of 3.15 MB / s, with an FTP server - about 15 and 17 MB / s, respectively. There is no anonymous mode in FTP. The media supports FAT32 and NTFS file systems. Conveniently, the external IP address of the router is immediately displayed in the FTP settings.
Testing
Test speeds were carried out on computers with Windows XP 32-bit. In 5 GHz mode, a TP-LINK N600 USB adapter (built-in fixed antenna, Ralink RT5572 chipset) was used, for 2.4 GHz - an internal D-Link DWA-547 RangeBooster N650 (3 removable antennas with a gain of 2 dBi, Atheros chipset AR9223). Measurements were made using the Ixia IxChariot package, with heavy traffic simulation.
There were three connection options. First, two pairs of wired-wireless adapter (2.4 and 5 GHz, respectively), then two pairs of wired-wired and wired-wireless for 2.4 and 5 GHz separately. 802.11n is backward compatible with earlier Wi-Fi standards, 802.11a / b / g, but the router was tested in 802.11n only mode for best performance. The router and client computers were in the same room.
For ease of comparison, the results of all 3 tests are shown in one picture.
The main conclusion is that simultaneous work in two bands does not lead to a decrease in WiFi speed. At the same time, the speed of 5 GHz was consistently higher than that of 2.4 GHz, and almost twice - 105 Mbit / s versus 55 Mbit / s. From the graph, the 5GHz transmission was also significantly more stable than the 2.4GHz transmission. In our review, work at 2.4 GHz was negatively affected by the congestion of the air with nearby access points. In 2.4 GHz there were about 30 of them, and in 5 GHz - none.
Many providers provide Internet access using VPN (Virtual Private Network) technology. The transmission speed through the external WAN port in this mode will be lower for the router than with a normal connection with IP addresses. For the test, the VPN server was organized using standard Windows XP tools, and the computer was connected to an external TP-LINK N600 port. Measurements between it and a PC connected to the local port of the router showed a result of about 150-200 Mbit / s, despite the fact that with a normal connection (an IP address is set or issued via DHCP), the speed was several times higher.
Analogs
The products of the TP-LINK brand, which came to the Russian market later than most of the well-known brands, are distinguished (at least for now) by their low price. This router with a print server and a file server costs less than 3000 rubles on average.
New low-cost gigabit dual-band router of the fourth hardware revision. How did he demonstrate himself in the work and what can interest the buyer? Today we will deal with these issues.
Specifications TP-Link Archer C5 v4
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HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS |
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| Interface | 4 LAN ports 10/100/1000 Mbps
1 WAN port 10/100/1000 Mbps 1 x USB 2.0 port |
| Source of power | 12V / 1A |
| Dimensions (edit) | 230 x 144 x 37 mm |
| Antenna type | 4 fixed antennas |
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WIRELESS MODULE PARAMETERS |
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| Wireless Standards | IEEE 802.11n / g / b 2.4GHz IEEE 802.11ac / n / a 5 GHz |
| Frequency range (reception and transmission) | 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz |
| Transfer speed | 2.4 GHz: Up to 300 Mbps 5 GHz: Up to 867 Mbps |
| Sensitivity (reception) | 5 GHz: 11a 54Mbps: -73dBm 11ac VHT20 MCS8: -66dBm 11ac VHT40 MCS9: -61dBm 11ac VHT80 MCS9: -58dBm 11g 54Mbps: -75dBm; 11n HT20 MCS7: -73dBm; 11n HT40 MCS7: -70dBm |
| EIRP (Wireless Signal Strength) | < 20 дБм или < 100 мВт |
| Wireless functions | Enable / Disable Wireless, WDS Bridge, WMM, Wireless Statistics |
| Wireless Security | WPA / WPA2 and WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK authentication and TKIP / AES encryption 64/128-bit WEP and Wireless LAN ACLs |
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SOFTWARE SPECIFICATIONS |
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| QoS (data prioritization) | |
| WAN connection type | Dynamic IP / Static IP / PPPoE / PPTP / L2TP |
| Control | Access Control, Local Management, Remote Management |
| DHCP | Server, client, DHCP client list, address reservation |
| Port forwarding | Virtual Server, Port Triggering, UPnP, DMZ |
| Dynamic DNS | DynDns, NO-IP |
| Access control | WMM, bandwidth control Parental Control, Local Management Control, Host List, Scheduled Access, Rule Management |
| Protocols | IPv4 and IPv6 support |
| IGMP | Supports IGMP Proxy, Bridge Mode and 802.1Q TAG VLAN for IPTV Service |