Review: tp - Hardware 2024

Today we are going to test another of the TP-Link routers, in this case the Archer C7, a fairly inexpensive option to mount an AC network, obtaining performances close to the RJ-45 cable over WiFi 802.11ac 3 × 3 (theoretical 1300mbps). We are in a higher range than the already analyzed Archer C5, with a similar SoC but going from 2 to 3 streams in the wireless part, with which we gained 433mbps theoretical. What more could you want?

Technical characteristics


HARDWARE FEATURES
Interfaces	4 10/100 / 1000Mbps LAN ports 1 10/100 / 1000Mbps WAN port 2 USB 2.0 ports
Buttons	WPS / Reset button Wireless On / Off switch Power On / Off Button
External power supply	12VDC / 2.5A
Dimensions (WXDXH)	9.6 × 6.4 × 1.3 in. (243 × 160.6 × 32.5mm)
Antenna type	3 detachable 5dBi antennas (RP-SMA) for 5GHz 3 internal antennas for 2.4GHz


WIRELESS FEATURES
Wireless Standards	IEEE 802.11ac / n / a 5GHz IEEE 802.11b / g / n 2.4GHz
Frequency	2.4GHz and 5GHz
Transfer fees	5GHz: Up to 1300Mbps 2.4GHz: Up to 450Mbps
PIRE	<20dBm (PIRE)
Receive Sensitivity	5GHz ： 11a 6Mbps-96dBm 11a 54Mbps: -79dBm 11ac HT20: -71dBm 11ac HT40: -66dBm 11ac HT80: -63dBm 2.4GHz 11g 54M: -77dBm 11n HT20: -74dBm 11n HT40: -72dBm
Wireless Features	Wireless Radio On / Off, Bridge WDS, WMM, Wireless Statistics
Wireless Security	64/128-bit WEP encryption, WPA / WPA2, WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK


SOFTWARE FEATURES
WAN type	Dynamic IP / Static IP / PPPoE / PPTP (Dual Access) / L2TP (Dual Access) / BigPond
DHCP	Server, Client, DHCP Client List, Address Reservation
Quality of service	WMM, Bandwidth Control
Port Forwarding	Virtual Server, Port Triggering, UPnP, DMZ
Dynamic DNS	DynDns, Comexe, NO-IP
VPN Pass-Through	PPTP, L2TP, IPSec
Access control	Parental Control, Local Management Control, Hosts List, Access Hours, Rules Management
Security firewall	SPI Firewall, DoS IP Address Filter / MAC Address Filter / Domain Filter Association of IP and MAC Addresses
Protocols	Supports IPv4 and IPv6
Shared usb	Supports Samba (Storage) / FTP Server / Multimedia Server / Print Server
Management	Access control Local management Remote management
Guest Network	1 x 2.4GHz guest network 1 x 5GHz guest network

Introduction and appearance

The box is not surprising, with the typical TP-LINK logo and tones, exhibiting the AC1750 rating, which is the range that corresponds to this router due to its 3 × 3 configuration.

Opening the box, we find the space very well used and all the components packed as expected in a router of this range

The accessories are reduced to the usual, a network cable, the three antennas, and the power supply. We also don't want anything else on a router.

The router looks really good with the antennas mounted

Detail of the included documentation, consisting of manual, quick installation guide, warranty information and a copy of the GNU license

As for the router itself, aesthetically it stands out with the typical glossy black of the archer series, with green LEDs. Nothing surprising at this point, and no complaints about it, it is a nice and relatively discreet router, for what it is a router of this category. It does not offer the possibility of turning off the LEDs, but due to their position they can be easily covered with adhesive tape if they disturb.

In the back of the router we find all the connections, on the left side, in order, the power plug, the power button, a practical switch to turn off the Wifi, a pair of USB2.0 ports to connect storage, with their respective status LEDs, and the WAN port, to connect to our modem or old router.

On the right side are the four Gigabit Etherne ports, in yellow, and next to it the button used for WPS or to restart the device. From Professional Review we recommend in any case to deactivate the WPS option from the firmware due to the serious security problems that this entails (leaving our password at the mercy of any user who knows how to use tools such as reaver, no matter how secure it is).

Going a little deeper

As it happened with its lower model, the Archer C5, we are facing a very complete router, supporting the latest technology in terms of wireless networks (wave 1), and again it is a router with a very adjusted price for what it offers, this time obtaining a 3 × 3 router (AC1300 in 5Ghz) instead of the 867 of the C5 in exchange for just € 20 more. In N networks we maintain 450mbps (3 × 3). In total 1300mbps + 450mbps = 1750mbps (which we note, as in all routers, are not simultaneous to one device, but two independent networks).

In normal use, we have the typical 450mbps of a 802.11n 3 × 3 connection in the 2.4Ghz band, although devices with 3 × 3 network cards are a large minority, the vast majority of 2 × 2 laptops and practically all 1 × 1 (150mbps) mobile phones that will not take advantage of the full capabilities of this router. As in any router, we recommend once again using the 5Ghz network with all the devices that support it, even if it is with the N standard, since it is usually much less saturated than the usual 2.4 (used widely by other networks, telephones). phones, car alarms, bluetooth devices, microwaves…) and offer better performance, in exchange for a little less range in very adverse environments, that is, many walls on the road. Likewise, the default router emits both, excellent for not leaving old devices outside our Wi-Fi network.

The hardware of this router is in charge of a company with great reputation in the sector, Qualcomm Atheros, both the SoC and the wireless network, although in AC networks it is having a hard time making its way against the pioneer in the sector, Broadcom.

The distribution of the board reminds us enormously of the Archer C5, we do not have heatsinks on the components, but it does not seem to be a problem, since these chips consume considerably less than their Broadcom counterparts and have a very low TDP, that is, although they do not They are potential pointers, nor is it an excessively hot router and no more price is needed on this side. With light use (usual internet browsing, videos, online games) during the time of our review we have not observed temperatures above 50º in the SoC at any time. On the board we see all the components, the three 2.4Ghz antennas scattered around the edge, the SoC in the central area and the wireless module presiding over the left area. The welding in general is good, although of course the point of the 2.4Ghz antennas can be improved on both sides of the cable.

The SoC of this router is as we anticipated identical to that of the archer C5, it is a MIPS processor, specifically a QCA9558 with 1 core operating at 720mhz, an option far from the top models but quite acceptable for the range of the router, comparable to the processors that mounted the first top-of-the-range AC routers, such as the Asus RT-AC66U. More than enough for the usual tasks of the router, it will probably show something scarce when it comes to using USB disks, as we will see in the next section.

The QCA9880 is in charge of the wireless network, again the same as that found in the archer C5, although the review is different. It is a 3 × 3 chip according to the manufacturer's specifications, in this model it is fully used while in the C5 it is coated.

The whole set is accompanied by 8MiB of flash memory for the firmware and 128MiB of RAM, more than satisfactory amount for the needs of a router.

Testing equipment

To make the performance measurements we will use the following components:

TP-LINK Archer C7 router with firmware version 3.13.33 Build 130729 and hardware revision v1

Asus PCE-AC68 Network Card. Beamforming enabled.Pendrive USB3.0 Sandisk Extreme (approximately 200mbps read / write maximum), formatted as NTFSE Team 1, with Intel (R) 82579VJperf network card version 2.0.2 (a convenient Java graphical interface for IPerf use)

Performance with external storage

Like its little brother the Archer C5, this Archer C7 includes two USB2.0 ports that can be used to share the data from a USB flash drive via DLNA, to play it from a smart TV or similar devices, via FTP, or via SMB to view files on windows computers. All services are deactivable and with configurable access permissions.

To evaluate this section we will copy a mkv video file of approximately 5gb from our PC to a USB flash drive shared by NFS in the router, one way and the other, obtaining the average speed in both cases. Note that USB read / write is one of the tasks where the processor performance of a router is most noticeable, since all wireless communication, NAT and switch functions are accelerated by hardware and, except for unrealistic loads, the processor does not have too much work. In this case we are facing a mid-range SoC, so we do not expect a spectacular performance.

Since it is increasingly common for high-end routers to include USB3.0 ports, and more than an addition is a basic feature, from this review we will include a single table with the performance of the routers using their fastest port, since obviously any router with a USB3.0 port has sufficient performance so that in USB2.0 connections the limitation is the interface.

The performance as we see is very limited, in addition to the use of USB3.0 ports, by the power of the SoC, obtaining identical results to those seen in the Archer C5, which go through just half the bandwidth available in realistic conditions on a USB2.0 connection. The level is similar to that already seen on the Asus RT-AC66U. As with the C5, this performance is more than enough to use this router as a multimedia server, watch our movies on the network, and have our private storage in the cloud (after all, 10MiB / s is already more than enough speed so that the limitation is the upload / download capacity of our connection and not the router). To share files within our network, it is also shown as a solid option, although we will have to have some patience with larger files, especially if we are used to Gigabit network connections. In summary, the best companion of this router to use as storage is a USB2.0 mid-range USB flash drive, with at least 10MiB / s read and write, and we will have cheap storage, very low consumption, and with acceptable performance for our network.

Unlike more expensive routers with a USB3.0 port and better SoC, we do not recommend using this router as a substitute for a NAS, but rather as a complement to a dedicated NAS if you really need this service.

Wireless Performance

We come to the most interesting part of the review, since as we will see, the speeds achieved with an AC1300 connection allow to perfectly replace, with good enough conditions, a cable connection, both for reliability and speed. As is common with wireless connections, under ideal conditions, a good approximation to actual maximum performance is around 50% of theoretical maximum speed.

To carry out the tests, we will use JPerf 2.0.2, with a team in our network acting as a server and connected to router 1, and another as a client connected to router 2, one way at a time. We will also see how the number of streams affects speed and if the router correctly manages its 2 links if there is only one active connection.

As it happened to us when doing the review of the RT-AC87U, we found very good values but somewhat contradictory feelings. On the one hand, this router offers the best performance on short-range upload of all that we have tested. On the other hand, the rise value is quite mediocre, and the long-distance results are a small step below what we would consider excellent performance. Improvement in everything to the Archer C5, but it is not enough to rub shoulders with the top routers, although given its tight price, which is around € 100 on Amazon.es, do not kid ourselves, it does not have to do it, it already fully exceeds.

We reiterate that, as in the C5 review, the long distance comparison with Asus routers is somewhat unfair, since the latter since their last firmware revision support the new DFS channels that have been recently released for use in wireless networks., a totally necessary step since, according to European regulations, there were only 4 channels available for AC networks, an obviously insufficient quantity. Using these channels, which in the Archer C5 and C7 are not yet selectable (although we hope they are in future firmware revisions), the Asus has gained around 30% bandwidth. All in all, the result of the Archer C7 is quite good even over long distances, allowing online games and sufficient speeds to take advantage of even the fastest internet connections at a very high level.

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We already know that in 5Ghz networks, the greatest enemy of high speeds are the obstacles that are in the way (walls, doors…), in this router, with more reason if possible, minimizing the distance and obstacles is mandatory. This is a highly recommended router for fast connection users, both for downloads and games. The most demanding have better options, but also much more expensive.

Firmware and configuration

The firmware is quite complete, in English yes, but the sections are clear and well organized. We can create guest networks, configure access to the FTP or the file sharing service in a few clicks. We are missing some more advanced configuration, such as the channel bandwidth in the 5Ghz network (which in our case was set to 80mhz), or a system to use a repeater in WiFi networks without depending on the awkward WDS.

Below you can see screenshots of many of the most relevant sections, with this one can get an idea of what to expect from the firmware of this router.

DD-WRT support

Unfortunately, the DD-WRT support of this router is limited to the hardware corresponding to the second revision (v2), so we strongly recommend that all users who plan to use this powerful firmware with this router consult the store for the revision of hardware before purchasing. The version we have received for testing corresponds to v1, so we will not be able to show the installation and configuration process. On the reasons, there is an extensive post in the forums of this project that can be consulted at the following URL: http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=895605. We just translate the explanation from Brainslayer, one of the main developers of this project.

the whole story is the following

atheros / qualcomm tried to leave the ath9k way and took away the control for driver quality from the driver developers.

all driver is now hardcoded into a on board firmware. and i mean everything from frequency, power and also wireless stack control. everything in a closed source firmware.

but then they found out that the on board flash memory is too small for the features required and they stuck with it.

thats why combined ap and client feature is not possible with that device up to now. and the ap only as well as the client firmware are both buggy as hell The full story is as follows

Atheros / Qualcomm tried to get out of the way of ath9k and removed driver quality control from driver developers. Now all the driver is programmed in the firmware of the board. And I mean everything, frequency, power, and even wireless battery control. Everything is closed source firmware.

But then they found that the flash memory on the board is too small for all the features you need, and they are blocked at that point.

So the combined AP and client feature is not possible with that device at the moment. And the AP-only mode too, since the client firmware is also fully dubbed.

conclusion

As with its younger brother, this router is one of the cheapest options to upgrade our wireless network to the AC standard, and it is also a qualitative leap compared to routers that rent or give away ISPs, with stability and a performance that touch very good level. This router is highly recommended as we anticipate to replace that of our ISP in any case, and we will also have very good speeds if we accompany it with AC clients.

The performance in short distances is really good, leading to our tables in some tests (mainly uphill, as was the case with the C5). At long distances it is situated in a medium performance, which also together with the powerful firmware will be more than enough even for demanding users.

We have two USB2.0 ports on this router, which open up a whole range of possibilities to share files between our computers or via UPnP for smart TVs and other players. Unfortunately, the SoC limits us quite a bit, the performance is identical to that obtained in the Archer C5, we see discrete numbers that do not reach 20mbps, it may be fair to handle the largest files quickly.

With a price of around € 100, it ranks as the cheapest AC1750 router at the time of writing these lines, almost € 40 less than the comparable RT-AC66U, a really excellent value / price. In exchange for the savings, we have a more limited firmware in options than in the Asus, for example we do not have a repeater mode, and the SoC is slightly lower and the WiFi chip is less friendly than Broadcom in order to install custom firmwares.

We recommend that users who are thinking of buying this router make sure that they buy the v2 revision, in order to have support for DD-WRT and increase the possibilities of this router.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ VERY GOOD PERFORMANCE IN SHORT AND MEDIUM DISTANCES, ENOUGH GOOD IN LENGTHS	-… ALTHOUGH UNFORTUNATELY ONLY IN REVISION V2, VERY UNBEATABLE EVEN IN THE FUTURE THE SUPPORT FOR V1
+ VERY ADJUSTED PRICE TO BE AN AC ROUTER	- DISCREET USB2.0 PERFORMANCE, THE PROCESSOR MAKES A NOTE HERE
+ DOUBLE BAND 2.4 / 5GHZ
+ SUPPORT FOR DD-WRT...