At $99.99, TP-Link’s Archer C7 AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router (V2) is an affordable router that performs like a more expensive one. Neither gripe prevents it from earning our Editors’ Choice for budget routers.
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TP-Link Archer C7 Router Reviews: Design
The latest Archer C7 is a dual-band AC1750 router that uses a 720MHz CPU. Design-wise, the C7 hasn’t changed from the TP-Link Archer C7 AC1750 Dual Band Wireless AC Gigabit Router we reviewed back in 2014. The rear of the router is home to three removable, adjustable antennas, four Gigabit LAN ports, a Gigabit WAN port, and two USB 2.0 ports.
The web console is the older, text-based version used on the original TP-Link Archer C7 and lacks the graphical elements that you’ll find on newer TP-Link routers, such as the AC2600 Wireless Dual Band Router Archer C2600 ($ 472.16 at Amazon Canada) and the AC3150 Wireless MU-MIMO Gigabit Router Archer C3150 ($ 472.16 at Amazon Canada). The main Status page has a list of settings on the left side and LAN, WAN, Wireless, and Traffic Statistic information in the. Network settings include WAN, LAN, MAC Clone, and IPTV options, and each radio band has basic wireless settings (SSID, Mode), as well as WPS, Security (WPA/WPA2 Person and Enterprise), and MAC filtering settings.
Other settings include Advanced Routing, Bandwidth Control, Port Forwarding and Port Triggering, VPN Pass-Through and Firewall settings, and Dual-Band Selection, which lets you enable and disable each radio band. In System Tools you can change time settings, run network diagnostics, update the router’s firmware, back up settings, and view system logs.
TP-Link Archer C7 Router Reviews: Performance
Installing the TP-Link Archer C7 Router was easy. The console found my internet connection and asked me if I wanted to run Concurrent (dual-band) Wi-Fi or just single band (2.4 GHz or 5GHz, but not both). I selected Concurrent and was taken to the wireless settings screen to configure security settings.
The TP-Link Archer C7 Router rocked our throughput tests. Its score of 91.3 Mbps in our 2.4 GHz close-proximity (same-room) test was significantly higher than the other budget routers, including the Netgear AC1200 Smart Wi-Fi Router (R6220) ($ 472.16 at Amazon Canada) (74.1 Mbps), the D-Link AC1200 Wi-Fi Router (DIR-842) (75Mbps), and the Linksys EA6350 AC1200+ Dual-Band Smart Wi-Fi Wireless Router ($ 472.16 at Amazon Canada) (72.5 Mbps). Similarly, its score of 62.8 Mbps in our 30-foot test dominated the competition; the Netgear R6220 scored 48.3 Mbps, the D-Link DIR-842 had a throughput 41.5 Mbps, and the Linksys EA6350 came in at 39.3 Mbps.
In our 5GHz throughput testing, the Archer C7’s performance was outstanding for a budget router. It scored 509Mbps in the close-proximity test, compared with the Netgear R6220 (331Mbps), the D-Link AC1200 Wi-Fi Router (DIR-842) ($ 472.16 at Amazon Canada) (332Mbps), and the Linksys EA6350 (427Mbps). At 30 feet, its score of 250Mbps once again took top honors, beating the Netgear R6220 (104Mbps), the D-Link DIR-842 (111Mbps), and the Linksys EA6350 (199Mbps).
To test the router’s read and write file-transfer speeds, we use a USB drive and a 1.5 GB folder containing a mix of photo, video, music, and document files. As with other budget routers, the TP-Link Archer C7 Router’s file-transfer speeds were middling; its write speed of 21.5 MBps was identical to the Linksys EA6350 and slightly faster than the Netgear R6220’s score of 17.6 MBps. The Linksys EA6100 AC1200 Dual-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router ($ 472.16 at Amazon Canada) (also a budget router) scored 27.4 MBps. In the read test, the Archer C7 had a throughput of 27.5 MBps, which again was just a little slower than the Linksys EA6350 (28MBps) and the Linksys EA6100 (28.3 MBps) and a bit faster than the Netgear R6220 (25.6 MBps). The D-Link DIR-842 was not included in these tests, as it does not have a USB port.
Conclusion
The TP-Link Archer C7 AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router (V2) may cost less than $100, but you ‘d never know it based on its performance and feature set. That said, it’s the fastest dual-band router in its class and our Editors’ Choice for budget routers.
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