TP-LINK AC3150 Wireless MU-MIMO Gigabit Router Reviewed

[thiggins]

TP-LINK's AC3150 Wireless MU-MIMO Gigabit Router provides no practical benefit over its less expensive AC2600 cousins.

Read on SmallNetBuilder

 

[sm00thpapa]

Thanks for the review Tim. You're right the R7800 seems to be the router to stick with at this time.

 

[Razor512]

Seems pretty cool, I wish all router makers would use the brightness of the status light that TP-Link uses (with the exception of that super bright one on the silver button on the top of the unit.

They need to work harder on supporting 3rd party firmware.

I wonder, are there any mobile devices (smartphones, laptops, etc.,) that support 1024 QAM?

 

[sfx2000]

Quick comment here...

from the article....

Maximum Wireless Throughput
<snip>
Note! The Veriwave does not support the 1024-QAM modulation required to reach maximum AC3100 / AC5300 link rates of 1000 Mbps in 2.4 GHz and 2167 Mbps in 5 GHz.. Our tests reflect maximum 4x4 link rates of 600 Mbps for 2.4 GHz and 1733 Mbps for 5 GHz.

That's because 802.11ac in 2.4GHz is I_N_V_A_L_I_D - more importantly - QAM1024 is out of spec, even for 5GHz in 802.11ac.

Veriwave is conforming to 802.11 specs - 802.11ac modes are valid only for 5GHz... 64QAM for 802.11n in 2.4GHz, 512QAM for 802.11ac in 5GHz.

Revise your test plan - and scold the OEM's and Chipset vendors pumping out stuff that breaks things...

 

[RMerlin]

Revise your test plan

Not sure what there would be for Tim to revise here. He's merely explaining why his results are nowhere near what the marketing material advertises.

 

[pete y testing]

hi guys

just doing some initial testing with the c3150 and the asus pce-ac88 and i have to say im quite impressed by the throughput and coverage of this combination , seeing 110MB/s read and 75MB/s write speeds over 10 meters and in the next room , and as suggested by tim on 5 gig the c3150 is slightly better than the 88u

am doing a full set of distance testing to compare the two router and will post when done and replicated for good measure

pete

 

[pete y testing]

hi guys

so here is some initial testing of the c3150 using the asus pce-ac88 wireless adapter

write / read speeds are in MB/s

tests are done with lan speed meter and results are the average through the life of the transfer , test transfer file is a 30 gig

3 meters rssi , sync , write , read

2.4 gig , -25 , 900 , 45.9 , 37.2

  5 gig , -25 , 1500 , 69.2 , 55.7

10 meters rssi , sync , write , read

2.4 gig , -35 , 648 , 43,1 , 37.8

  5 gig , -35 , 1500 , 71.1 , 54.3

25 meters , rssi , sync , write , read

2.4 gig , -53 , 450 , 29.9 , 27.6

  5 gig , -65 , 585 , 42,3 , 40.3

first thing of note is that at no stage did the adapter sync anywhere near to its max 2156M max sync , but i believe this is the adapter as the same result occurs on the asus rt-ac88u

its also interesting to note that the 3 meter and 10 meter results are almost the same indicating at 10 meters im getting a pretty dam good signal

however what im extremely impressed by is the throughput at 25 meters , to get 40MB/s plus at 25 meters through 3 walls and the other end of the house is unheard of at this time

the 2.4 gig results are also dam good , 25 MB/s plus at 25 meters thats dam impressive , it wasnt so long ago we where impressed by 25 MB/s throughput in the same room on 2.4 gig

i will do a full data throughput test post as i usually do once i get a new i7 pc and also do the usb testing with a new usb 3 ssd enclosure as soon as i can afford to buy it lol

however for those looking for really good 5 gig coverage and its resulting throughput the c3150 has it in spades

i will also be doing a direct comparison of all the 2156M routers in the near future so you guys can see the actual real world results and compare each

pete

 

[RMerlin]

(suggestion: try putting your tables inside a code block - will make them much easier to read):

3 meters   rssi ,  sync ,  write ,   read
2.4 gig ,  -25 ,   900 ,    45.9 ,   37.2
5 gig ,    -25 ,  1500 ,    69.2 ,   55.7

 

[pete y testing]

thanks , thats better

 

[Ultragc]

Just bought the Netgear AC1900 for about $120 but now I see these:

- TP-Link AC3150 for for $140.
- Linksys EA9200 AC3200 for $135.

Any suggestions?

 

[sfx2000]

Just bought the Netgear AC1900 for about $120 but now I see these:

You're good to go with the AC1900 - no worries, and shouldn't be any buyer's remorse...

Bigger numbers are marketing for bigger prices - not necessarily better performance, and in most cases, not...

 

[Ultragc]

Thanks SFX2000. I currently have a 5+ years old DLink-825. I am planning to add a few wireless surveilence cameras in the house in the coming years. This is on top of my two boys playing online games, 4+ pcs, 4 phones, and 4+ streaming devices. Just want to make sure it will handle it.

THanks

 

[sfx2000]

I am planning to add a few wireless surveilence cameras in the house in the coming years. This is on top of my two boys playing online games, 4+ pcs, 4 phones, and 4+ streaming devices. Just want to make sure it will handle it.

Life cycle on a consumer Router/AP is about 2 years... if that helps - needs will change as you point out above...

 

[Hank Barta]

Life cycle on a consumer Router/AP is about 2 years... if that helps...

Nooo!!!! I want it to last forever.

<sigh> I just looked up the purchase date on my ASUS RT-AC68W and it is a bit over two years. This makes me wonder if '2 years' is a result of technology change or is that simply how long I can expect the equipment to operate in a normal household. But I digress...


Thanks for the review. SWMBO is complaining about WiFi coverage in our bedroom. (No, I'm just not going to go there...) I arrived here because I'm looking to purchase another router to supplement my RT-AC68W. My first thought was to buy a second one. They can be had refurbished for about $100 US. Then I wandered over here to look at reviews... I started with AC1900 routers (which includes mine) and worked up the scale. I see the TP-LINK 3150 for $130 US and that about covers the cost of a refurbed ASUS + extra warranty coverage. It seems like a no-brainer to get the TP-LINK unit? I would replace the RT-AC68W with the AC3150 and use the RT-AC68W in another location (connected via Ethernet cable) to extend range. (I'll shortly be looking up the dos and don'ts on that.)

Is there anything I'm overlooking?

Is there likely to be an advantage to sticking with the same brand when adding a second WiFi AP/Router to my home LAN?

I guess I should also perform some perfunctory testing to make sure the perceived weak WiFi is really a result of location and not just how SWMBO holds her tablet (Or which band she is on.) I should also see if reorienting the many antennas (OK, three!) the ASUS unit has would make a difference.

Thanks!

 

[Embattle]

I just got this router and it has been stable so far, it replaced a flaking ASUS RT-AC87U although I did get the V1 version which doesn't include Link Aggregation which appears in the V2.

 

[Pierino]

I agree, my v1 also works great.

 

[Mikeharris500]

V2 is out, will it be retested?

 

[occamsrazor]

What's the difference between v1 and v2? All I could find was this which didn't say much:

http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php?92054-Archer-C3150-v1-versus-v2

 

[Alox]

Thank you Pete!!
Those are some really nice results for 2.4GHz at 25 meters through walls!

 

[eikido]

I'm also interested in the C3150 but looking at the review here:

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wir...3150-wireless-mu-mimo-gigabit-router-reviewed

it says that the MU-MIMO barely works.

How do i interpret that ? Don't buy it if you plan to use MU-MIMO?
Any fw upgrade that has fixed that?

I also write this in another thread but this is a more appropriate thread.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...3x3-access-point-or-router-as-ap.38491/page-2