Mark discovers that AC class wi-fi can be had at a reasonable price
The theory of AC class wi-fi is marvellous, and if you happen to have devices that can use both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously, it can be wonderful. But very few people have, and what AC ends up being mostly used for is ‘n’ connections or splitting your devices between the two frequency ranges.
Because of that, I’d probably not recommend a huge investment yet in this technology or finding an affordable router like the TP-LINK Archer C9.
This is an AC1900 cable design (no modem), which provides a theoretical 600Mbps at 2.4GHz and another 1,300MBps at 5GHz, and it allows simultaneous use of both through three detachable antennas mounted on top.
Around the back are two USB ports, one being USB 3.0 spec, and four gigabit Ethernet ports, along with a fifth for connecting to a cable modem.
The white and silver styling is pleasant enough, if a little Apple influenced, and the impression of high quality is somewhat undermined when you realise that the silver stand is plastic and not metal.
However, rather than what it looked like, the critical performance aspect of these devices is how they handle wi-fi, and in that respect the news is generally good.
On 2.4GHz this unit effectively utilises the available broadband, and at 5Hz it is actually better than most of the AC1900 routers I’ve tested so far – a somewhat curious development, given that they almost all use the same Broadcom AC1900 chip that the Archer C9 also employs.
So where does this design fall down? There are a few places, most notably in respect of the web-based user interface, which looks exactly like it was designed on a spreadsheet. Users need more consideration than smacking them with an ‘Advanced Menu’ that contains another 19 submenus. The lack of a defined access point mode was also a little irritating, and other features like VPN support are missing that you’d probably find on a Belkin or Asus design.
My other whine, and it’s becoming incessant, is the USB 3.0 port performance. It doesn’t deliver anything close to that spec, and writing speed is below USB 2.0 levels.
For these reasons I’d put the Archer C9 into the mildly frustrating category, where TP-Link missed having a truly excellent product mostly by assuming the market was exclusively geeks. Most people aren’t, but they’d still like the better wi-fi performance that the Archer C9 can actually deliver.
If TP-Link sorted out the web interface and accepted that it just doesn’t have the power to drive USB 3.0 properly, then this would be a workman like AC1900 router that many might consider owning.
For those that like what they hear about the C9, but need ADSL, TP-Link makes an almost identical D9 model with that features for about £20 more. Mark Pickavance
A solid AC1900 cable router in need of a GUI upgrade.
Specifications:
• Wi-fi: 5GHz up to 1300Mbps, 2.4GHz up to 600Mbps, AC class
• Processor: 1GHz dual-core ARM CPU
• USB ports: 1x USB 3.0 port + 1x USB 2.0 port
• Gigabit WAN/LAN ports: 4x 10/100/1000Mbps LAN, 1x 10/100/1000Mbps WAN port
• Antennas: 3 detachable dual-band antennas
• Dimensions (W x D x H): 221 X 86 X 168.5mm