TP-Link C7 or some AC1900 router

[ronin_cse]

Hello all! First post here .

Anyways yet another "which router should I get post". I'm currently running an old WRT54GL and I think it's finally time to upgrade. While the C7 rates high on the ranker, seems to have a good amount of features, and is priced awesomely, I just can't help lusting after the R7000 and the rt-68u. I understand that unless I buy a second router for bridging (not likely at $200 each!) I won't benefit going for AC1900 over AC1750, but it seems like the AC1900 routers also have much better hardware and specs. So basically I'm wondering if there would be any real benefit in spending double the amount to get one of the AC1900 routers or if I need to just suppress my "awesome new technology" lust for now.

As far as what I want to do with it: I currently have a 12 Mbps connection so not pushing the limits there, but I am planning on getting a basic 1 drive NAS soon and putting my media and such on there so I can stream it around the house so being able to stream 1080p video is needed. I'm really sick of having cables everywhere so I'm hoping to have most of my entertainment devices run off the wireless and just have our desktops wired.

Current devices that I want to be wireless:
Moto X
iPhone5
2 iPads (4th and 5th gen)
Xbox One
PS4
WiiU
PS3
Nintendo 3DS

Out of all of them the Moto X is the only device that supports AC (although when we upgrade to the iPhone6 that may change), most everything else are N devices. I believe the PS4 is only a single band N device and honestly I'm not sure what kind of adapter the WiiU has. Obviously the PS3 and 3DS are only G devices but I plan on keeping the WRT54GL running as a G AP.

So let me know what you all think. Getting my wife to agree to a router upgrade at all has been a challenge so I don't think the normal suggestion of buying both and trying them out will fly...but maybe I'll just do that anyways and not tell her until I return one!

Edit: Also considering the Asus RT-AC56U, seems like a solid router but the TP-Link is AC1750 vs AC1200 and $20-$30 cheaper.

 

[microchip]

I've got both the Archer C7 and the ASUS RT-AC66U (AC1750). From working with them for the past few months, I favor the AC66U slightly over the C7, mostly because it's more capable of being customized. Not just through the Web Interface, but through the command line too (using telnet). It runs an embedded Linux and as I'm very familiar with Linux, it's an advantage to me thus I'm slightly biased. Also, the C7 has a rather old-looking, archaic interface, but it's very functional so I don't mind the interface: here is a simulator http://www.tp-link.com/resources/simulator/Archer_C7/index.htm

Performance-wise and stability-wise, both routers have never let me down. They perform almost equally on the wireless side, with the AC66U having a slight edge over the C7. If you have many devices from Apple (iPhone, iPad, etc) I'd really recommend the AC66U or similar. There are a lot of people who have compatibility issues with the combination of the C7 + Apple devices. Maybe it has something to do with the Atheros chips used, but it could be fixable with a firmware upgrade. I'm not sure as I don't have Apple devices but I've seen many people complain on the TP-Link's forum

Stability-wise, never had issues with both routers. The ASUS runs hotter and has a slower CPU (600 MHz vs 720 MHz for the C7) but it's designed to sustain the temps. I should mention that I run on Merlin's firmware on the AC66U. I have little experience with the original firmware from ASUS as I flashed it with the Merlin one a few days later after I bought it.

 

[RogerSC]

I think that an OEM refurbished RT-AC66R would be a good choice for you at this point. The refurbished RT-AC66R is about $140 at Newegg, which seems like a good price-point to me. You are able to return it if it doesn't work right for you, but I haven't had any problems with refurbished electronics. This router would meet all your needs, and allow you grow into wireless-ac without breaking the bank, if you get more computers or wireless clients that support wireless-ac. Getting a NAS is an excellent idea, and the Asus RT-AC66 would handle that as well.

Of the two others that you mentioned, the Asus RT-AC68U or the Netgear R7000, I would pick the Netgear R7000. These routers have a lot of capabilities that you wouldn't be using, though, so it's up to you if you want to pay extra for those. If you think that you might use those capabilities in the future, then consider the extra costs to use them as well. For example, to use the extra 150Mbps 2.4GHz. bandwidth, you would have to have wireless adapters on your client(s) that support TurboQAM, and have to use the extra bandwidth as well. Which may not make your neighbors happy *smile*. Given that a lot of people are de-emphasizing 2.4GHz. use anyways due to crowding and interference, I would question thinking that TurboQAM is where you want to go.

These are my opinions, anyways, I don't doubt that others will differ *smile*.

 

[ronin_cse]

Well as I said I'm not so much concerned about the extra theoretical speed that the AC1900 routers provide, I'm more curious if the higher-end hardware would be a benefit over the AC1750 and AC1200 routers.

 

[RogerSC]

Well as I said I'm not so much concerned about the extra theoretical speed that the AC1900 routers provide, I'm more curious if the higher-end hardware would be a benefit over the AC1750 and AC1200 routers.

The AC1900 routers will not provide much benefit over the RT-AC66U or RT-AC66R, unless you plan to use the extra capabilities. The major extra capability of the AC1900 routers is the "extra theoretical speed" (well put *smile*). The other one is USB 2.0 for the RT-AC66U versus USB 3.0 for the RT-AC68U, but if you intend to get a NAS (a good decision), that doesn't affect you a lot. There are great reviews on this site that have wireless testing for these routers laid out. I'd suggest looking at thiese, routers are compared in these reviews.

Between the RT-AC56 and RT-AC66, I'd choose the RT-AC66 based on the external antennas, for one thing. I like being able to aim the antennas on a router, it's helpful for optimizing wireless coverage. Also, you can replace external antennas with higher-gain ones, but that's a whole other discussion *smile*. The other advantage is 3-streams on 2.4GHz. (max. 450Mbps) that the RT-AC66U provides versus the 2-streams (max. 300Mbps) provided by the RT-AC56U on that band.

 

[ronin_cse]

Yeah looking like the ac66u is the way I'm going to go. Seeing them refurbished for about $130 certainly makes them much more attractive than $160-$170 new. I have read just about every recent AC router review but sometimes it's hard to tell if something will give a real world benefit or not so it's just nice to get a second opinion .

Anyways thank you both for the good advice and helping me curb my new tech lust (and saving me like $70 in the process)!

 

[azazel1024]

The only bit you might be interested in is that 256QAM does seem to be making a wide spread debut to 2.4GHz. That is what makes it AC1900, that the 2.4GHz band adopts the 256QAM that 11ac uses for 5GHz, making each 2.4GHz stream "up to 200Mbps" capable instead of 150Mbps capable.

Qualcomm just announced that their new 11ac stuff is going to support it and Broadcom is rolling it out in all of their higher end stuff. Doesn't mean Intel will support it or Raylink and Realtek...but I'd imagine it has a decent chance of actually getting wide spread support given a couple of years. Which is a big difference over a lot of other proprietary Wifi techniques, like Broadcoms Xpress and Afterburner, which never saw anyone adopt outside of Broadcom devices.

Beyond, that I see no real reason to get anything beyond AC1200. Just like older gear, my bet is that 97% of all wireless clients will never see more than 2 streams max, with a very small number capable of 3 streams (a handful of high end laptops or AiO). Now an AC1300 capable, with 400Mbps on 2.4GHz and 866Mbps on 5GHz would be really sweet (they always seem to round that last bit, but I guess that would be AC1266).

In the interim, I'd look at the C7v2. Its what I am eyeing up. Both price and performance are nice.

It may not matter to you, but the mention of the heat. From what I know, the C7 uses around 6w of power and the Asus AC routers use around 11-13w. Beyond possibly short life time from the extra heat (maybe not at all, they have chunky heat sinks)...that is going to be $5-8 a year in extra operating costs (or more if you have really expensive electric rates). The thing is going to be on 24x7 I assume.

Now if performance was vastly different, I'd say go for the better performing one and be damned the costs upfront and in operation...but since they seem rather close...

 

[stevech]

I'd think that 256QAM in WiFi would make sense only for across-the-room distances. That high QAM needs 30dB + signal to noise ratio. It's used on cable modems' downstream - and being cable, there's lots less noise and interference than in wireless.

Maybe 256QAM is best in the 5.8GHz band where it's easier to get that 30dB SNR (for now).

Footnote: 256QAM is the term for the way the transmitted RF signal is modulated with data, in these phase/amplitude systems. Higher the QAM, higher the required signal to noise & interference is. And this is common sense, too (nothing's free).

 

[azazel1024]

Maybe/possibly. Without much 11ac experience, the little I've seen/heard of annecdotally seems like 256QAM is rather possible at resonable ranges on 5GHz, which should mean it should be supported further away with 2.4GHz indoors (outside it makes little difference the frequency if LoS).

Of course sources of interferance can reduce that greatly...but some of us are lucky enough to have the nearest neighbor networks be >>>50dBm lower strength than the networks in our house (even my outdoor network is >20dBm stronger at all distances in my yard than any of my neighbors Wifi networks and in most cases 30-40dBm stronger). So, at least for me (and some) its more the signal strength than it is any issues of noise.

2.4GHz 256QAM very well might be very, very useful for bridging on a router that can support simultaneous dual band bridging on one frequency and utilizing the other frequency for clients.

 

[ronin_cse]

Ok well after checking out the ac66u more in depth I'm thinking I may not go with it. I am hoping to share my printer using the router and it seems like the ASUS ones are very limited as far as what printers they can share. Haven't checked out the TP-Link yet but the Netgears can share just about any USB printer.

Edit: So of course my specific printer isn't on the list that are compatible with the tp-link. They have the model right above it and the one right below it so it MIGHT work, but no real way to tell. It's a Canon MP500 in case anyone is curious.

 

[sfx2000]

I'd think that 256QAM in WiFi would make sense only for across-the-room distances. That high QAM needs 30dB + signal to noise ratio. It's used on cable modems' downstream - and being cable, there's lots less noise and interference than in wireless.

Maybe 256QAM is best in the 5.8GHz band where it's easier to get that 30dB SNR (for now).

Footnote: 256QAM is the term for the way the transmitted RF signal is modulated with data, in these phase/amplitude systems. Higher the QAM, higher the required signal to noise & interference is. And this is common sense, too (nothing's free).

Bingo!

Steve's dead-on here - 256QAM is possible, but it really takes a quiet link to get there - this is more about spec-sheet marketeering - and like others mentioned, it takes both ends to get there in 2.4Ghz.

 

[azazel1024]

Yup, but that is why it may be interesting. Qualcomm is talking up 256QAM 2.4GHz client and router chipsets and Broadcom has both too now.

So two of the bigger Wifi chipset/radio suppliers are producing them. I'd be a little suprised if it doesn't become a defacto standard at some point.

Yes, a quiet and/or strong link is required...but its required in 5GHz as well. The only difference is, quiet is typically harder to get in 2.4GHz than it is in 5GHz...however if interference isn't a concern (and for many, though NOT most, interference isn't a concern), a stronger link is easier to do on 2.4GHz than it is on 5GHz.

The big difference remaining that 5GHz allows 80MHz and soonish 160MHz bonded channels instead of 40MHz of 2.4GHz. Indoors though, odds are better of getting a strong 2.4GHz link than a strong 5GHz.

Its just a bigger question of...what evens out first, the likely stronger 2.4GHz signal, or the fact that you have two or four times the channel width on 5GHz. This at least makes 2.4GHz a bit of a stronger contender (both sides supporting it) than it was previously.

 

[ronin_cse]

Screw it, my printer is like 9 years old (holy crap!) and it sounds like it's on its last legs so I'll probably be getting a new one soon anyway. The ASUS routers are the only ones that include a download manager that can download torrent files, which is something I really want. So I'll probably just be going with the ac66u.