TP-Link Archer C2300 – Full Review and Benchmarks
Our Verdict
TP-Link's Archer C2300 is fast, inexpensive and secure. The router excels in Wi-Fi functioning and includes antivirus protection.
For
- Top performer
- Inexpensive
- Built-in antivirus protection
- Two-year warranty
Tom's Guide Verdict
TP-Link's Archer C2300 is fast, cheap and secure. The router excels in Wi-Fi performance and includes antivirus protection.
Pros
- +
Pinnacle performer
- +
Cheap
- +
Built-in antivirus protection
- +
Two-year warranty
TP-Link Archer C2300 Fundamental Specs
Wi-Fi spec: AC2300
Number of antennas/removable: 3/Yes
Ports: 1 WAN/4LAN gigabit per second, USB two.0, USB 3.0
Processor/memory/storage: Broadcom dual-core ane.8GHz/512MB/128MB
Wi-Fi flake: Broadcom BCM4365E
Peak 802.11ac performance: 939.6Mbps (at v anxiety)
Range: 110 feet
Size: 8.five 10 7.5 1.five inches
The TP-Link Archer C2300 ($149) is and then ordinary-looking that information technology can hide in plain sight, but it'due south i of the most powerful wireless routers you tin can buy. Information technology led the field in information delivery, and it comes with anti-malware filtering, easy-to-utilize quality of service and a ii-year warranty. As our TP-Link Archer C2300 review makes clear, it'southward a big deal in a small parcel, and ane of the best Wi-Fi routers y'all tin can buy.
Editor's Note: We periodically update our reviews to make certain that pricing and information is upwardly to date. The rating and recommendation in our TP-Link Archer C2300 review is unchanged from when it originally published in August of 2018.
TP-Link Archer C2300 review: Design
Don't let the TP-Link Archer C2300's appearance fool you. It may look like a mild-mannered, run-of-the-mill home router, but information technology has the center of an online tiger. Aimed at habitation networking, the C2300 rivals highfliers like the Linksys WRT 32X and Netgear Nighthawk XR500 in operation. The closest thing to a dwelling house-networking version of the stealth fighter, it'due south powerful, yet blends in with the background.
This is a hot router in more ways than one. The blackness, rectangular design has a huge heat sink below the surface and a vented superlative to dissipate rut. Its case was warm to the touch on, topping out at 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
The 8.five 10 7.5 ten one.v inch C2300 is about the size of a cigar box, or roughly ane-third the size of the Nighthawk XR500. TP-Link'due south router hands fits on a shelf, and the lesser has cutouts for wall mounting.
Inside, the C2300 has Broadcom'due south BCM4365E Wi-Fi flake, which sets upwards a dual-band network to motility three contained lanes of information traffic. Behind the scenes, there'due south 512MB of RAM and 128MB of flash storage, which adds up to a maximum throughput of 600 Mbps in 2.4GHz fashion and 1.625 Gbps in 5GHz mode. Full theoretical bandwidth: 2.225 Gbps.
Don't permit the TP-Link Archer C2300's appearance fool you lot. It may look like a balmy-mannered, run-of-the-manufactory home router, merely information technology has the eye of an online tiger.
This router may do without the WRT 32X'south Killer Prioritization engine and the Nighthawk XR500's geo-filtering characteristic, simply the C2300 uses TP-Link's Quality of Service (QOS) software to apportion available bandwidth. The C2300 adds Broadcom's NitroQAM modulation engineering, which can boost data-delivery speeds by as much every bit 25 percent by squeezing more data into the available frequencies. In other words, it'southward a high-operation router in everything just name.
Rather than an array of flashing lights, the C2300 has four demure, light blueish indicators. They bear witness whether the system is turned on, if it has an cyberspace connection, and if there's action on the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. You can turn these lights off with a unmarried switch on top.
On the back, in that location's an on/off switch, a WAN and four LAN gigabit-per-2d Ethernet ports. On the side, are USB ii.0 and USB 3.0 ports for attaching a hard drive or printer, alongside a recessed reset switch and a Wi-Fi Protected Setup push for quick connections. At that place'due south a handy central for turning the router's Wi-Fi transmissions off, which transforms it into a wired router.
The router has iii spiral-on antennas, only dissimilar with the Nighthawk XR500, it doesn't affair which goes where. They tin rotate and hinge to catch the best betoken.
TP-Link Archer C2300 review: Operation
Under its black beat, the C2300 is powered by a Broadcom BCM4365E Wi-Fi flake that uses the latest Mu-MIMO and beam-forming techniques to accomplish excellent range and speed. At our Utah facility, using Ixia'south ixChariot software, the router apace established itself as the router to beat.
With a top speed of 963.6 Mbps, it is the pinnacle dog in the router world and comes shut to distributing 1 Gbps of data. It was 42 percent faster than the WRT 32X (544.5 Mbps at fifteen anxiety), 28 percent faster than the Norton Cadre (672.2 Mbps at v anxiety) and 24 percentage faster than the Nighthawk XR500 (715.four Mbps at 15 feet).
This throughput changes as you become further from the router, with 682.3 Mbps available at xv anxiety, which jumps to 913.eight Mbps on tap at 50 feet, making this an excellent midrange router. At 100 and 150 anxiety, the C2300 pumped out 613.ii and 342.five Mbps. Only the Norton Core did amend, providing 384.1 Mbps at 150 feet.
The C2300 set the pace when we tested how well the router pushed its signal through walls and ceilings, with 921.7 Mbps available on the other side of our soundboard wall. That'southward more than 200 Mbps more data than the 700 Mbps that Norton Core managed.
With a top speed of 963.vi Mbps, this device is the top dog in the router globe and comes close to distributing 1 Gbps of information.
TP-Link's router delivered 620.eight and 629.8 Mbps on the other side of our metal wall and ceiling. Those are practiced rates, but Core was a lilliputian better, at 662.6 and 705.8 Mbps for the metal wall and ceiling tests. Still, the C2300 should excel at distributing a data betoken in homes with lots of walls and thick ceilings.
This manual ability was plenty to make full my old, 3,500-square-foot dwelling. The C2300 had a range of 110 feet with my iPad Pro, but curt of the Nighthawk XR500'due south 115 anxiety, only impressive nonetheless. For larger homes, TP-Link's Deco mesh system can exist linked to the C2300.
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Along with my regular use of email, video watching and web browsing, I watched League of Legends players zap each other on Twitch and played a few rounds of online games, including Fighter Patrol 42 and Existent Racing 3. The router easily passed my informal saturation test, in which I play HD and 4K videos on a Surface Pro 3 and iPad Pro while my Macbook Air plays an cyberspace radio station and a Samsung TabPro South transfers information onto and off of a network storage organization. During this conditioning, there were no skips, dropped frames or artifacts.
TP-Link Archer C2300 review: Setup
TP-Link gives you the freedom of selection to apply its Tether Android or iOS app or a browser-based interface to ready the system up and customize it. This ways you can configure the C2300 with PCs, Macs, iPhones, iPads and Android devices. It can run equally either a router or an access point.
The Tether app provides prepare-past-footstep instructions filled with informative illustrations. After agreeing to the company's license, I clicked to prepare the C2300 up as a router and followed its instructions past plugging the device in and assuasive it to start up. A couple of minutes later, the app found the C2300 router. The device comes with its randomized network names and laissez passer codes printed on a carte du jour, but it'due south still a good idea to change them to something more personal and secure. Using the Tether app, it took about 5 minutes to get the C2300 going.
In a like vein, the browser method uses a Quick Setup Magician that took me through the setup process. Information technology started with typing, "tplinkwifi.net," into the address window of a connected system. Going right to the router'due south IP address, 192.168.1.0.i, works just every bit well.
Along the fashion, the wizard asks questions, similar what type of broadband connexion yous have. Fortunately, information technology guesses the respond and was correct for my cablevision modem. When done, the software showed a summary of the settings. All told, information technology took about ten minutes from start to finish.
TP-Link Archer C2300 review: Configuration
In addition to showing how many clients are continued and the network's current speed, the router lets you check on the HomeCare antivirus, QOS and parental controls. I took a moment to give my master computer the network'due south top priority for data so it could assure me the malware filters were active.
The Avant-garde section is a cornucopia of customization that allowed me to set the router up for IPv6 use and plant an online usage schedule for a child. I was able to adjust the router'due south manual power to avoid having as well much signal spill over the boundaries of the house.
In addition to using WPA2 encryption for client data, the C2300 has a firewall that has been designed to finish a denial-of-service attack. It'southward one of the rare routers that has antivirus software built-in, to cease malware from attacking your network and its clients. The software comes from Trend Micro and can quarantine infected systems. On the other mitt, it lacks the deep-packet inspection of incoming data that Norton's Core provides.
It took near a infinitesimal to set up a guest network with divide network name and laissez passer codes. I set it up so that occasional users could connect with websites but not to local resources, like my network storage drive.
TP-Link Cloud Service lets you manage your network from across the room or across the world. In one case you take an account, you lot can log on and do things like modify passwords, update the router'south firmware, cull which devices can connect and change the parental controls.
It's 1 of the rare routers with antivirus software born to stop malware from attacking your network and its clients.
In addition to setup videos and downloads of the most recent firmware, the TP-Link support site has FAQs and access to the Tether apps. There's a thorough manual and a browser-based emulator for trying things out before they are permanent changes to the router.
MORE: Your Router's Security Stinks: Here's How to Fix Information technology
Happily, TP-Link provides two years of warranty coverage and support. That is a step and a one-half alee of Netgear's 90 days of support help.
TP-Link Archer C2300 review: Verdict
Not only is the TP-Link Archer C2300 the fastest router we've seen, but it'southward too pocket-sized, unobtrusive and clogged of high-end features. It tin protect the network from viral and hacker attacks, and you can customize it the manner you desire. At $149, information technology costs less than half what the Linksys WRT 32X or Netgear Nighthawk XR500 routers get for, while doubling their warranties to ii-years of coverage.
While newer standards like Wi-Fi 6 have come forth to offer better speeds and operation, the TP-Link Archer C2300 is still our favorite wireless-AC router, offer peachy operation for a very affordable price.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/tp-link-archer-c2300,review-5625.html
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