This review has a specific purpose: if you have fiber internet, especially Centurylink, I explain how you can set it up with this router and start loving life again. If that’s not you, then you probably don’t need to bother reading this. Backstory: I have Centurylink fiber optic that is supposed to be 40 Mbps, but I almost never got that much; often it was below 3 or even below 1. I tweaked router settings and often rebooted it, but no help. I just thought high traffic on the line was a fact of life. Centurylink set me up with a C2000T and said very few modem/routers work with fiber, so I should use their set up. Wrong. The C2000T is junk, and you can actually use almost any router with fiber. But setting it up isn’t easy, and neither the people at Centurylink nor TP-Link could help me figure it out, and a how-to for this router was nowhere I could find on the internet. So I will walk you through it in this review in the hopes that I can help out at least one other person avoid the headache I went through to get the speed I was paying for. Btw: this TP-Link Archer C9 is awesome: it is better than the Netgear A1750 and it is cheaper and at least as good as the Netgear A1900. This router always gives me 40 meg service—I’m guessing it will perform just as well at 100 or higher, and it rocks: I can have four kids playing Fortnite on it at the same time as we have several other devices streaming, no problem. So if you are annoyed with the performance you are getting with your fiber or with a C2000T, get this router and follow the directions below. Sorry this explanation is long: it is non-trivial to get this set up if you don’t know how, and people will tell you it won’t work. It doesn’t take technical knowledge but it can be hard to get the exact settings. So here’s the explanation presuming no technical knowledge. The fiber line comes into your house and goes into a box called an ONT. An ethernet line comes out of that going to your C2000T modem/router (the thing with antennas). My ONT actually has “C2000T” printed on it, which is very confusing, because the ONT is not a C2000T modem/router. The ONT has no antennas on it. The ONT is also not a modem; fiber needs no modem. You will run the ethernet cable straight from the ONT to the Archer C9. I’ve read some recommendations that say you should use bridge mode and go from the C2000T to the Archer C9. No, do not do that. Do not use bridge mode at all and you do not go through the C2000T (the thing with the antennas on it). Of course, you DO need to go through the ONT (which mine as I said had “C2000T” printed on it, so don’t let that throw you; maybe yours doesn’t). You also do NOT need a switch or a managed switched with the Archer C9. So first unplug power from your ONT and your C2000T. Second, unplug the ethernet cable from the back of the C2000T. Do NOT unplug the fiber line from the ONT! Send the C2000T back to Centurylink if you’re renting it. Now follow the Archer C9 set up directions, which I’ll repeat quickly: plug the ONT back in and let it fully cycle on; it takes a few minutes. Then plug the ethernet line from the ONT into the Archer C9 in the port colored blue and called “internet”; plug in the power for the C9 and turn it on. It takes a while for it to fully cycle on; eventually the first three lights should be blue, but the internet light will be orange, since it isn’t getting internet yet. Still following the C9 setup guide: If you are fully wireless, then you go to your computer and check your wifi/network; find the two network name SSIDs printed on the back of the C9: TP-LINK_something. I used the 5G one. Once you are connected, open a web browser and go to tplinkwifi.net or 192.etc. Enter your email and set up an admin password and note it somewhere. You will then need a smartphone or some other internet service to access your email to verify before you can get logged in. (If you don’t have phone service, hook the C2000T back up and verify the email, then work through the steps again to get here.) After verifying email, you can log in, follow the setup quick guide software via your web browser. That’s where the C9 guide says “enjoy the internet”, but not for you: the quick setup will fail; over and over again. Here’s where I can help: I’ll walk you through how to do the quick set up to get it working. Step 1: pick your time zone. Step 2: Select your connection type. Don’t use Dynamic IP like it recommends. Click PPPoE. Before clicking Next, you have to click the dropdown arrow for Additional ISP Settings. Then under ISP Profile, scroll all the way to the bottom and click Custom. Now you have to fill some boxes: set Internet VLAN to 201, and check the box that says 802.1Q Tag, and leave Internet VLAN Priority at 0. Now, I don’t have phone or TV through Centurylink, but if you do you’ll need to ask them what numbers to put in the next two boxes. The trouble is that the C9 requires you enter numbers for them, and no one at Centurylink or TP-Link could tell me what to put in them, so I did this: Put 202 in for IP-Phone VLAND ID and put 203 in for IPTV VLAN ID. Leave their priority numbers also at 0 and do not check the box for Enable IPTV Multicast VLAN (unless that applies to you). I left LAN 1-4 on internet, though you might need to change some. Now you’re ready to click next, and then you get to where you enter your PPPoE info. You need a username and pw from Centurylink. You might have got those when you signed up, or just call their customer service line (877-837-5738). Chose option 5 and then 2 for slow internet, and that gets you to a rep who can give you the PPPoE info. When you enter the username, you need to put @centurylink.net at the end; the person forgot to tell me that. Then click next and you can finally set up your networks: chose names and passwords. I kept the 5Ghz as my old network and pw so I didn’t have to reset every device in my house. Now you can finally click through to finish and you’re done! Fast internet for good and no more C2000T. Hope this helps someone else out. (Troubleshooting: If you did everything exactly as I said and it didn't work, try VLAN at 3112.)

10/8/2015 **FINAL EDIT: Having been in our new house since March with the router active as our gateway for nearly that entire time, I'm very confident in the ability of this router to perform (and continue performing) well in the long haul. Other than the issues mentioned in the last edit with my WHS2011 setup (which I resolved by disabling uPnP and setting manual port forwards), everything has been rock solid. The only real disconnects I've had were caused by issues with the RE210 extender dropping its communications with this router; any connection established by an end device to the router itself has performed admirably. I very recently swapped the RE210 extender with a Netgear EX6200 (through Amazon's Warehouse Deals) running in Access Point mode and I'm not noticing the same drops as I had with the RE210 in Extender mode. Firmware updates are still forthcoming with this model, which is heartening as TP-Link's new flagship device is out in the market now. The most recent (non-beta) update to 150811 (mostly) improved on the GUI, though I feel like they should swap the "No" and "Yes" buttons in the confirmation prompts for saving changes and/or logging out of the GUI. All in all, throughput from this device remains great, connections to the WiFi networks and requests for DHCP leases via WiFi are typically processed within two seconds, and stability has been rock solid. All things considered, I have no regrets purchasing this model and would not hesitate to continue purchasing TP-Link products in the future. 6/3/2015 **EDIT: I've had the opportunity to use this in a 2,000+ square foot house for the past few months, and things have been (mostly) great so far. Without wanting to drill more holes through the house to get the cable modem in another, more central location, the modem and router ended up in our basement on the north side of our house. This puts the router directly underneath both the family and living room, which is where most of my internet-connected devices reside. Between Smart TVs, Windows systems (a home server, multiple desktops/laptops, and a Surface 2 tablet), smartphones, and gaming systems, I can have up to 20 devices connected at any given time. Throughput on both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands is great on the first floor of the house, though it starts to drop on the south side of the house, particularly on the second floor. I have a TP-LINK RE210 extender set up in my kitchen below the bedroom, so I've been able to extend the AC range without issue. The only problem I've noticed so far is the interaction of the router with Windows Home Server 2011. I have my Remote Web Access configured and it tends to last a few weeks before the router seems to lock up. WAN and LAN connectivity does not drop for any of the devices; the only symptom I notice is that my Remote Web Access page no longer loads and I cannot repair the site through the Dashboard. Rebooting the router resolves the problem, though I hit a separate issue today where the GUI locked up and I can't remotely cycle the power. 2/10/2015 **EDIT: While we're still not in our own house to use this as the primary router, I did get my hands on an Intel 7260 Wireless-AC card to use in my laptop. Running on just the 2.4 Ghz band right now shows a stable connection (with an excellent/full bars connection one either side of the house) in the 200-270 Mbps range. From a chair in the living room almost all the way across the house, the 5 Ghz band does fluctuate between 130-351 Mbps with a good/three bar to great/four bar connection; I cannot fault the router for this, as 5 Ghz is known for its range limitation and signal degradation when traveling through walls and other solid obstacles. System stability has been great, and I've only restarted this device once when troubleshooting an unrelated connection issue with my old Intel 7260 Wireless-N card. Things have run much nicer with this laptop after swapping out for the Wireless-AC card. 12/22/2014 **EDIT: Things are still running very well with this device; haven't had a blip in performance or any unexpected hangups. I've been randomly checking link speed while at various distances away from this router. I've seen 440+Mbps on the 5Ghz band in my current bedroom (same side of the house on the opposite end, through a larger loft and a few walls). Definitely have nothing to complain about at this point. I should also add that this router sits behind a 600Mbps Powerline device with gigabit ports. Basically, this isn't even this router's final form. 12/18/2014 **FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Having seen the Archer C7 and the TL-WDR4300 prior to this, I had a good idea of how large this would look in person. Opening the package, however, still produced a bit of a surprise at this model's girth. It's definitely "prettier" looking than the C7 with the white shell and the stand, but don't expect this to sit normally on a narrow shelf after plugging everything in. My current positioning actually saved some room from my last AP in this location, and I do like the stand setup. The power switch (rather than the push button on the C7 and TL-WDR4300) is a nice little addition; I've always hated the push button power setups, as I feel they tend to confound non-technical users when they're trying to plug things in and unwittingly power off the device. Performance wise, the GUI seemed very snappy compared to my parent's Archer C7 and my own ASUS RT-N56U before it. I don't believe that regular users should experience issues configuring the access points and getting the device connected to the internet, even just using the "Basic" configuration tab that loaded as the main page through the GUI. The user experience through the menus is aesthetically pleasing, e.g. smooth fonts/symbols and colors that are easy on the eye, though the Advanced menu was a bit cluttered and (personally) could use some menu nesting. Wireless throughput and range so far have been great. I have this running as an AP up a corner of the house, and I've had at least good coverage on the 5Ghz band when through multiple rooms across the house; the 2.4Ghz band has been very strong throughout, and this is a 2,700ish sq ft house. I've hit at least 300Mbps after switching my 5Ghz band to 80Hz channel width. The only thing I need to check on is whether I need NAT Boost off when using this as an AP. I seem to have some load latency I don't experience when using my parent's SSID's, but it may be my imagination. This AP fully utilizes the bandwidth available through our ISP, no complains there. I have no AC devices at this time, though I may try and grab an updated internal radio for my ASUS laptop and see how speeds report back with that configuration.

El pedido llego mucho antes de lo esperado a pesar de ser de importación. Después de unos meses de uso, puedo decir que el broadcasting (transmisión) de mi PC a TV con juegos como Destiny 2, MK 11, Assassin's Creed es muy bueno....mi novia puede estar en una video conferencia al mismo tiempo y el router maneja muy bien la situación. Toma en cuenta que una buena tarjeta de red va muy bien con este router, recuerda que el router no es mágico (en mi caso tengo una killer). Las divisiones de tablaroca eran un problema pero con este router eso cambio, la señal es perfecta con ayuda de su tech Beamforming (piensa que la señal del wifi se iradia en dirección a donde se mueve tu dispositivo en lugar de iradiar en circulo). Si necesitas manejar la prioridad de la red (QoS), es decir entregar más recurso a un video juego o a un dispositivo espeficico puedes hacerlo, pero solo si es extremadamente necesario hacer, de lo contrario deja que el router lo haga por ti. La interfaz Web para configurarlo es muy amigable y fácil si no tienes experiencia en esto, pero si tienes un poquito más de experiencia y necesitas limitar el número de conexiones por WiFi simplemente no podras hacerlo. Lo malo es que la aplicación móvil y las skill de Alexa no estan disponibles para México pero siempre podrás seguramente hacer algo con IFTTT. Finalmente visualmente es hermoso, va justo con el estilo minimalista del departamento. RECOMENDACIÓN, si buscas un router de buena relación - calidad precio para gaming y/o trabajo diario en casa y de un diseño bello, sin duda esta es tu opción muy fuerte. Si eres un Gamer real busca otro router, invierte un más. Con algunos routes puedes incluso hacer uso de opciones avanzadas de juego en linea, como solo jugar con jugadores de UK por ejemplo. Trate de hacer el review no muy técnico para aquellos que no dominan el tema. Espero les ayude. :)

I've had this router for just a bit over a year now and this is probably the best router I've ever owned in 25+ years of being online. The admin dashboard is a pleasure to use and it's very easy to configure settings. The wi-fi signal output is strong and has a great range. This device replaced on older d-link model and the signal strength and range is about 30-40% stronger compared to the old router, and the dual band option is great for if there's a lot of interference in your area. There are probably 8-10 devices in my household connected to it at any given time and there is no lag or performance issues even when someone's streaming HD and/or downloading over our 120Mb cable connection. All this in a well-designed package, the router itself looks very elegant and its clean lines and classy product design blends in nicely with the decor. It feels sturdy and well constructed. The only issue I've had with it so far is that if it's rebooted/powered on, it doesn't detect the WAN connection until I remove the cable to the modem and re-insert it, at which point it detects the connection almost instantly (light goes from yellow to green). This might have more to do with the cable modem, I haven't taken the time to troubleshoot because it's such a rare occurrence.

Tutto bene, prodotto valido. Acquistato perchè avevo problemi di copertura con il WiFi del router di Fastweb nel mio appartamento, e con questo router di TP-LINK ho risolto. Installazione pressochè immediata, senza dover smanettare sul webserver del router. Unico punto a cui fare attenzione: la spina dell'alimentatore. Ho comprato da un venditore in USA, e ovviamente mi è arrivato l'alimentatore con spina americana. Ho risolto con un piccolo adattatore che già avevo, ma mi sembrava giusto ricordarlo a chi acquisterà questo (e simili prodotti)... Fate attenzione da dove arriva. Ribadisco comunque nessun problema, sono molto soddisfatto del prodotto.

It seems I was given, either a used device, or an old stock. The router has scratch marks all over it! Also, the firmware is strange!

The item is very easy to install through it's installation wizard, then go through the advanced settings if you are a techie to tweak all the settings. I like having a guest wifi network kept separate from my internal one. I had problems when I switched on DoS protection to high - it started blocking my internal devices. I had to set it to low to get it working fine. Overall it is an excellent router and very fast both wired and wireless.