TP-Link Archer C7 router Review

The TP-Link Archer C7 router is a no-frills router delivering an amazing range and great performance yet it is low price. Actually, it costs between $80 and $100 (around £90), and it has the speed and the capability of covering a larger area than other routers that cost twice as much. It supports the fastest wireless speeds of almost any device. And it comes with a good assortment of basic features including:

• Media streaming
• Guest networks
• Gigabit Ethernet ports
• and parental controls

Inside its glossy black chassis is serious networking hardware. The TP-Link Archer C7 router is a full-speed state-of-the-art 802.11ac 1300mbs router, included with a 3×3 450mbps 802.11n capabilities supporting both 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ bands.

Design

The design has taken a traditional way with external antennas—5dBi antennas serving the 5GHZ band and three more internal antennas serving the 2.4GHZ band range. The rear has four Gigabit LAN ports and a Gigabit WAN port, two USB 2.0 ports and buttons for WPS, wireless and power. The body is covered with a black glossy finish with three gigantic antennas, but the glossy plastic tends to show fingerprints, though. Our Review of the TP-Link Archer C7 router shows it lacks in software interface which is bland compared with the more graphical interface of some other routers as it has only two columns of menus and a simple green header.

Performance

The TP-Link Archer C7 router delivers an impressive performance for most tasks of the average home user would do on a home network. You will be impressed by the C7’s wireless coverage—the 2.4GHZ band throughput slowed by 10 percent when moving from 5 to 30 feet away. The 5GHZ throughput band drops only by 8 percent. This is very impressive since even with very high performing routers, you will experience drops of 15 percent or more. The C7 is very rigid in design and frills, but sufficient in function and performance. Besides 3 external antennas, the C7 router includes 3 internal antennas, the external antennas serving the 5-GHZ band while the 3 internal antennas serving the 2.4-GHZ band. Operating on both 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ, TP-Link Archer C7 produces an incredible performance. The concurrent dual band offers flexibility to dual dedicated networks. 2.4GHZ handles simple tasks like web browsing while 5GHZ band handles intensive tasks like HD video streaming or online gaming.

Setup

You are ready to configure TP-Link Archer C7 once you have everything plugged in and powered up. You just configure with a web browser and any connected device. The C7 comes with a secret name and passcode printed underneath for security setup but you need to change these parameters as soon as possible.