I am writing this review on the item that I already got replaced thinking the previous one was faulty. Today when I received the replaced one I understand that the earlier product was not faulty rather the product line itself is poor.
Let me explain - It has dual band and the 2.4 ghz band should be used either for clients that don;t support 5ghz band or the client is too far that 5 ghz does not have enough signal strength. For a flat spanning 30 ft, if the router is kept in one of the edge rooms, it is evident that from the room on the other end it is difficult to get 5ghz, so need to fallback to 2.4 ghz band. The router does auto switching based on signal strength if Smart switching is enabled. Now the problem is the 2.4 ghz band has some serious issue handling data volume. I just copied a video file from my desktop (wired connection) to my laptop on 2.4 band, and within a minute it stopped transmission, ping go so high that Request timeout started coming, and the situation never gets better unless I pause the copy. The speed was merely below 2 MBps, meaning ~16 mbps whereas it claims 300 mbps. 16 mbps is not the problem, I can live with that but the problem is under this load it stops functioning at all. This situation only happens with 2.4 ghz radio. It looks like it is not able to handle any load beyond 5 mbps. The same issue happens whenever I play any youtube video on 2k or 4k resolution. It starts with ~10 mbps, but very soon it drops to 400 kbps. You can understand that such unstable connection is of no use especially where my 4k tv can't get the 5ghz in range and has to rely on the 2.4 ghz. On the contrary when I ran the same test with my old dlink 605L router (only 2.4 ghz band) it could consistently give ~25-30 mbps without a single ping loss. Both the router are placed very close so I won't say that the dlink gets location advantage here.
It looks like this router fails to deliver basic functionality in pursuit to provide advanced features like band switching MU-MIMO etc. The radio is not faulty because I get ~-40-50 db strength on the radio. It seems the firmware is not optimized and the processor is of low grade that can't send the data in a sustained manner.
I bought it to upgrade from my old router to new so that data handling and transmission rates improved but I end up using two router with total of 6 antennas with messy wires everywhere.
I don't want to keep the router because it is not solving my problem, but Amazon is not allowing me to raise a refund request. So its a earnest request to Amazon to kindly refund me so that I can bought another dlink router and run it as a range extender to resolve my problem.
Another warning to the buyers - its boot time is ~3-4 minutes that is huge as compared to my dlink router (< 15 secs). So make sure to use a ups otherwise frequent power cut would be pain is the ***.
Another caution about TPlink call center in India - I called them explaining the fact they said to manually allocate the router on Ch-11. And said "WAIT FOR SOME TIME IT WILL IMPROVE". As if it has got some machine learning or AI enabled.
I hope buyers get a good idea about this product. Again as long as you are on 5 ghz you are happy. Don't let any device to use 2.4 radio then you are frustrated for life.
Thanks,
Debojit
Thanks,
Debojit
| Brand | TP-Link |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | TP-Link Technologies Co.,Ltd |
| Model | ARCHER A7 |
| Model Name | Archer |
| Model Year | 2018 |
| Product Dimensions | 18.6 x 24.3 x 3.2 cm; 420 Grams |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. |
| Item model number | ARCHER A7 |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Compatible Devices | Alexa |
| Special Features | QoS, Access Point Mode, Remote Access |
| Mounting Hardware | Archer A7 AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router, Power supply unit, Ethernet Cable, Quick Installation Guide |
| Voltage | 12 Volts |
| Batteries Included | No |
| Batteries Required | No |
| Data Transfer Rate | 1750 Megabits Per Second |
| Wireless Type | 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g |
| GSM frequencies | 5 GHz |
| Number of Ports | 4 |
| Total USB ports | 1 |
| Connector Type | Wi-Fi, USB, Ethernet |
| Includes Rechargable Battery | No |
| Manufacturer | TP-Link Technologies Co.,Ltd |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Imported By | TP-LINK India Private Limited,Green Industrial Park, Dongri Pada, Poman, Kaman-Bhiwandi Road, Vasai East, Palghar, Maharashtra – 401208 |
| Item Weight | 420 g |
