TP-Link Archer C2300 A Reliable Router For The Home. A modern home TP-Link router should not only be powerful, but also stylish network equipment. This is exactly what the new dual-band TP-Link Archer C2300 is.

Content

How is he interesting?
Specifications
Kit and first impressions
Quality and style of execution
Lots of ports and connectors
Functionality
Setup and getting started
Impressions of the TP-Link Archer C2300 router
Should I buy the TP-Link Archer C2300?
Questions from Telegram

Unnoticed, our life has leaked onto the Internet. We communicate with friends and colleagues in Telegram, Messenger, read news on Facebook or Twitter, buy movie or train tickets, and make purchases in online stores. For a modern person this is a familiar way of life. But for the comfortable use of all the benefits of civilization, we need a fast Internet connection. Here loyal helpers come to the rescue – Wi-Fi routers .

Wireless Internet systems are growing rapidly. Now, when there are a lot of devices in the house, we often face Internet access problems. We want our oldest router not to slow down or spoil our nerves. Of course. Powerful, antenna-filled devices are still often the most efficient routers, but more aesthetically appealing technical innovations with especially small sizes are starting to catch up with in terms of reliability.

One of such compact, attractive, but at the same time powerful devices is the TP-Link Archer C2300 . This new product from a well-known company was introduced recently and is intended mainly for home use.
How is he interesting?

Before us is a device that is intended primarily for home use. In other words, the TP-Link Archer C2300 is a mid-range router at a reasonable price, providing high bandwidth at close range and streaming MU-MIMO data. It also has robust virus and malware protection, quality of service settings and parental controls, and it is very easy to install and configure.

TP-Link Archer C2300 A Reliable Router For The Home

The TP-Link Archer C2300 boasts its new processor, increased clock speed, plenty of flash memory and some new features. Outwardly, it is very similar to the TP-Link Archer C3150 model , which we already examined earlier , but it is more compact and, of course, not so powerful. At the same time it costs a little cheaper, although it is hardly inferior to the older brother in functionality.

Specifications

Kit and first impressions

And now, just such a device from TP-Link came to me for a review. I note that for almost a year now I have been using at home one of the most powerful routers on the market – TP-Link Archer C5400 . Therefore, I really wanted to compare them in work. And I’ll say right away that the TP-Link Archer C2300 managed to pleasantly surprise me. But first things first.

TP-Link network equipment

The router itself arrived in a flickering box in bluish tones already familiar to the company’s devices. Recognizable style, worked out to the smallest detail.

Opening the box, you will see there a practically familiar set for any modern device. Everything is neatly packed, laid out. So, inside, neatly placed in a form of white cellulose, I saw the router itself, a power supply with 12 V / 2 A parameters, three antennas, a white patch cord of category 5E and some waste paper.

I must admit that I was surprised by the manufacturer’s decision to use the most ordinary twisted pair of white rubber. With this class of equipment, I would expect a flat cable that I would not have to hide behind a TV cabinet.

If we talk briefly about the first impression, then it is very pleasant. An elegant device came to me, having a small weight and an attractive design. The TP-Link Archer C2300 seemed like a child’s play on the table near my spider-like monster TP-Link Archer C5400.

Quality and style of execution

It is with these words that one can characterize the appearance of the hero of my review. Everything looks amazingly beautiful and elegant. I have not seen such a powerful Wi-Fi router in such an elegant case for a long time.

The upper part of the device is decorated with a plastic panel, divided into two sections. The first of them, closer to the antennas and network ports, has a checkered pattern, which is of great aesthetic value and is a source of warm air.

The other half has a glossy black surface, which, unfortunately, likes to collect dust. The central part of the router is “decorated” with an elongated silver button that divides it into two parts.

TP-Link-Arcer-C2300 router

The upper part contains LEDs that display the status of the USB / USB ports and the power source, the lower part is convex and serves as a button to turn off the LEDs. Everything is complemented by a minimalistic TP-Link logo on the left.

tp-link archer c2300 review

The manufacturer, remembering that this device, which we are looking at from above, did not engage in aesthetics from the side and bottom. The lower part of the case is separated from the upper part by a silver strip through ¾ of the device.

A few words about the diode off button. This is a pretty good decision, given that at night their light is quite bright, I would say annoying.

tp-link archer c2300 manual

The bottom panel is almost like a grill. Of course, the manufacturer wanted the router to cool as efficiently as possible.

This is very good, but be prepared for the fact that dust can easily get inside the device. TP-Link Archer C2300 can be placed on a table or suspended.

TP-Link AC2300 Wireless WiFi Router

This will allow you to place the router anywhere. I’ll also note the rubber feet below, which allow the router not to slide on a smooth surface, but, unfortunately, there is no special stand for vertical placement.

Due to its rather compact dimensions (216 × 164 × 36.8 mm), the router will easily fit into the design of your apartment or private house. Of course, it would be possible to replace the glossy surface with a matte one, which would give more aesthetics to the appearance of the device. In addition, in all likelihood, be prepared that over time, small scratches from wiping will appear on the glossy surface. Yet she clearly attracts dust.

In general, the appearance pleased. Finally, a powerful router can also be compact.

Lots of ports and connectors

I was really amazed at the number of various ports and connection sockets. I looked at the router in real surprise, counting them all. Not surprisingly, in the TP-Link Archer C2300 network equipment they did not fit on the familiar rear panel, and there is also on the left side.

TP-Link-Arcer-C2300 Lots of ports and connectors

On the rear panel, you will find, in addition to the three antennas, which you have to screw in yourself, since they are removable, you will find a gigabit WAN connector, four gigabit network connectors, a DC port for power and a device shutdown button.

TP-Link-Arcer-C2300 Functionality

But on the left there are two USB ports, one in the standard 2.0, and the other 3.0, the WPS button, here you will see the Wi-Fi shutdown and deep reset buttons.

As you can see, there is no reason to complain about the lack of ports and buttons, if you just do not use the router in the office or want to connect more than 4 devices via cable at the same time.

Functionality Network Equipment

Under the hood are the dual-core Broadcom BCM4365E Wi-Fi processor (1.8 GHz), 512 MB RAM and 128 MB flash memory. The TP-Link Archer C2300 is a dual-band router capable of developing bandwidths up to 600 Mbps in the range 2.4 GHz and 1625 Mbps in the 5 GHz band. It supports the latest 802.11ac technologies, including multi-user input, multi-stream data input (MU-MIMO), which allows you to simultaneously transfer data to multiple clients with MU-MIMO support network equipment. Add here also the formation of a signal transmission, which sends data directly to the client.

The router also supports TP-Link Smart Connect, a type of band management technology that selects the best radio band for optimal performance, and HomeCare, which offers Trend Micro protection against malware and antivirus programs network equipment, as well as parental control with web filtering for certain age groups, Internet access planning and online monitoring tools.

Now you probably ask: “What does he offer? I want to have good Wi-Fi and fast internet. ” He has it all. The list is so extensive that I decided to list the most important functions:

• access to the extended router preview table – from addressing to consuming physical resources, connected clients and USB devices
• operation mode as a router or access point
• IPTV server (for monitoring), DHCP and static routing settings, as well as DDNS for network access from anywhere in the world
• WiFi settings, WPS button setup and wireless shutdown schedule
• separate guest networks with the ability to disable access to devices connected via twisted pair, and depriving communication between users of such a network
• higher level port forwarding with a simple graphical interface
• the configuration of a file server or other devices (for these two USB ports) can easily be considered as saving on a printer without Wi-Fi and an external drive instead of a cheap NAS
• parental control, profile creation, device assignment and absolute power over what your children / friends / colleagues see
• QoS with two modes: the first with a single click determines the priority of network traffic for games / broadcasts / surfing / conversations, and the second allows you to determine device priorities
• security, built-in antivirus, firewall and DoS protection
• ability to implement IP v6 support on a network
• VPN server to enhance network security

Checking all the features took me two weeks of good evenings spent with the Archer configuration panel. I still admire TP-Link network equipment programmers for how this software looks and how it is designed and stable. A big plus for them!

Setup and getting started

TP-Link gives you the freedom to choose. You can use the TP-Link Tether app for Android or iOS or a browser-based interface to configure the system. This means that you can configure the TP-Link Archer C2300 on your PC , Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android device .

The Tether app provides step-by-step instructions filled with informative illustrations. After I agreed to the license agreement, I clicked to configure the C2300 as a router, and followed its instructions, connecting the device and allowing it to start. After a couple of minutes, the application detected a router. The device comes with randomized network names and passwords. That is, you already have the name and password of your Wi-Fi network, but still it’s worth changing them for something more personal and secure. Using the Tether app, it took me about 5 minutes to launch and configure TP-LINK router network equipment.

Similarly, the browser method uses the quick install wizard that guided me through this process. It all started with the input of “tplinkwifi.net” in the address window of the connected system. Going to the IP address of the router 192.168.1.0.1 also works.

Along the way, the settings wizard asks questions, for example, what type of broadband connection you have or if you want to clone the MAC address of your PC. After completing all the steps, the program showed a summary of the settings. In general, about 10 minutes passed from start to finish. I will not paint everything in detail. Anyone interested can see the screenshots.

The only thing that bothered me during the installation was that the router never asked me to update the firmware. This must be done by going to the “Advanced” tab, then click “System Tools” network equipment in the left column, then click “Update Firmware” and finally check the update. The latest firmware version ensures that your router will have the latest performance and security updates.

Overall, the web interface is a pleasant experience. It is well organized with three tabs for customization, basic and advanced. Novice users can stay on the main tab and at the same time easily control and use their network equipment. This includes a network map of connected devices, Wi-Fi passwords, a guest network, and USB sharing for connected storage and printers.

In Advanced mode, you can really have fun. The menu has settings for everything basic, as well as VPN, IPv6, security, NAT forwarding, ping testing and much more. This is a good solution for people who like to fully configure their router.

As you can see, you definitely should not have any problems with setting up the router from TP-Link network equipment. But I was more interested in what kind of work he was? Will he be able to cope with his task by replacing my TP-Link Archer C5400 network equipment. Looking ahead, I note that, at least, I did not experience any problems.

Impressions of the TP-Link Archer C2300 router

I have been using high-speed gigabit Internet for many years, and there are many devices at home that are constantly connected to a Wi-Fi connection. Of course, I need a fairly powerful modern router. That is why I bought and use the TP-Link Archer C5400, which perfectly copes with all tasks. I was very interested in whether the TP-Link Archer C2300, who came to the test, will be able to replace my router.

Impressions of the TP-Link Archer C2300 router

From the first day of using the router network equipment, I caught myself thinking that there is practically no big difference. Yes, my home router has three ranges of action and it has more features, but dual-band was enough for normal use. I note that I mainly use 5 GHz, as I have already seen many times that it works more quickly and stably. Here is a test example in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands network equipment. If you look at the screenshots, you will see that we have an almost four-fold advantage.

There can be many reasons. I do not want to dwell on them. Although the fact remains. But if your devices do not support the 5 GHz band, you will have to use the first band. But this does not mean that when using the 2.4 GHz band, you will experience some kind of connection problems. This is absolutely not the case. I’m just talking about connection speed, but not about its stability. As my friends sometimes say, it’s just me who is so scrupulous about such things network equipment TP-Link Archer C2300.

But there is one drawback. It is true that MU-MIMO is one of the best technologies that have been implemented in the consumer router. But most of you really will not be able to use it, and this is because your wirelessly connected devices must have a compatible MU-MIMO adapter (and there are not many of them on the market, and those that can be found are very expensive).

If we talk about the Wi-Fi signal level, then it is constantly stable. At any point in my apartment, the connection speed was always almost the same. I could easily watch movies in 4K resolution, calmly play games, chat on the Web. At least 6 devices were constantly connected. And not one of them had communication problems. That is, for home use, this router is almost perfect.

A little bit about heating the device. I was pleasantly surprised that for all 3 months of continuous use of some kind of overheating or malfunctioning, I did not observe. The router always worked stably, never arbitrarily overloaded, stably providing all devices with a stable connection. I even caught myself thinking that I practically didn’t notice that TP-Link Archer C2300 is working now.

Should I buy the TP-Link Archer C2300?

At the end of testing, I asked myself this question and, to my surprise, answered yes to it. I really liked the router. In TP-Link Archer C2300 has all chances to please everyone. The average consumer will be attracted by its unobtrusive design and the easy-to-use TP-Link Tether application, while the more advanced user will be impressed by its technical capabilities and performance according to its price.

So who is this device for? First of all, TP-Link Archer C2300 is really a router for home use. To this list could be added more small offices, shops where there is a small coverage area and it is not required to connect many computers via wires.

If you are looking for a modern device TP-LINK router network equipment that will please you with a stable Wi-Fi connection for more than a year, then TP-Link Archer C2300 will be an excellent choice. He will please you not only with stable work, but also fit into the interior of your house, which is also important. This is a truly elegant and powerful router, which is the best offer in its price category.

Questions from Telegram

1. Can I connect a USB flash drive or other storage devices to store files?

There really is such an opportunity, since the router on the left side has two USB ports, one in the 2.0 standard, and the other 3.0. You can connect both a USB flash drive and an external hard drive.

Orbit Brain

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