Archer C7 vs C8

[megamawax]

Hello,

The prices on the TP-Link Archer C7 and C8 are pretty close to each other. When you factor in used/refurbished units, the C8 can sometimes be had for less than the C7. Is it basically a toss-up as to which one I should get or do they each have not-insignificant advantages over the other?

For me, I currently have a Dlink DIR-655. I've had it for 6 years, and it's done extremely well for me. However, I feel it's time to upgrade. I have a 2000 sq.ft. house that's two stories (3 if you count the basement, 4 if you include the attic), and I sit on half an acre. I have a detached garage in my backyard. My router currently sits at one end on the main floor. I can't connect to some devices if they're on the second floor, though I can connect to some others. I'd like to be able to get a connection anywhere in my house and also in my garage.

I currently have 10-12 devices, including 2 networked cameras (though I'd like to get a couple more), and I do a lot of video streaming (netflix, youtube, etc.).

I have only 1 AC device, and I plan on making use of its miracast capabilities (though I'm not sure if the router would play any role in the use of the 5ghz band since it's a wifi direct connect between two devices).

If it makes any further difference, AT&T is my ISP.

Thanks!

 

[thiggins]

The C8 is Broadcom based, the C7 V1 and V2 are QCA. The C8 ranked higher.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/rankers/router/ranking/AC1750/rev8/6

 

[red_pope]

I hope my forum will help you decide.
I own one Archer C-8.
It meets my budget and demand.
Honestly, I'm a happy camper.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/is-an-archer-c5-right-for-me.23696/

 

[L&LD]

I hope my forum will help you decide.
I own one Archer C-8.
It meets my budget and demand.
Honestly, I'm a happy camper.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/is-an-archer-c5-right-for-me.23696/

Just a gentle correction. The correct term is 'thread', not 'forum'.

And yes, that thread does have some good info there.

 

[megamawax]

Thanks guys. So the C8 is superior, but does that account for 3rd party firmware? I've read that the C7 can make use of dd-wrt but that the C8 can't.

 

[red_pope]

I cant contribute an answer or neither haven't tried testing other 3rd party router firmware. Maybe in the future, but not this time.
I rather keep and maintain my router with the most current and most latest factory updates of my router. Respectfully, I rather not tried, to fix something, that is already working perfectly for my home use.

Unless all WIFI guru's are graduated from outer space academy and some kind of modern day alchemist college, converting lead into gold, that will be a different tell tale to read about.

Thank You

 

[red_pope]

Just a gentle correction. The correct term is 'thread', not 'forum'.

And yes, that thread does have some good info there.

Thank You for your correction.

 

[zakoh]

Archer C7 has a solid third party firmware support, while the support for the C8 is in infancy. The dd-wrt project already has beta builds for Archer C9, which uses similar hardware, but C8 support is listed as "work in progress". I assume its down to whether the developers have access to the hardware. I am guessing that the C8 should probably have dd-wrt support some time soon, maybe this year.

Personally, I jumped the gun and bought a C8 when there was a temporary sale, only $10 more expensive than the C7, but I probably won't be setting it up for a while.

The first thing to do is to place your router in a more central location. One mistake people often make is letting the ISP install their equipment in some corner of a house, and then connect a wireless access point right there. If your router is in a suboptimal location, consider using a powerline link in order to relocate your wireless access point to a position that's roughly equidistant from the farthest wireless clients. You might as well buy a third powerline adapter and place it on the third floor, and have your old wireless router connected to it on the second floor, but configured as a plain access point, as explained in many tutorials.

 

[zakoh]

By the way, if you look at the pictures of C7 and C8 internals on smallnetbuilder, one apparent thing is that C8 has a massive heatsink, but C7 does not. I have run into various instability problems with similar looking Tp-Link WDR-3600 (no heatsink), and in order to discount the possibility that this may have to do with inadequate heat dissipation in routers with no heatsinks, I decided to get a C8 because of that.

 

[zakoh]

Just setup my C8. No issues whatsoever. I use it as an access point (so NAT, DHCP, routing are turned off, assigned a "fake" 10.0.2.0/255.255.255.0 IP address to the WAN port) connecting to the AT&T Uverse router with a powerline. I might connect a hard drive to its USB2 port in future (I don't trust using USB3 on devices with 2.4GHz wireless) Typical TP-Link firmware, fairly easy to navigate for someone familiar with networking concepts. My only complaint is that there is no explicit support for access point mode.