I bought this to use as a replacement for our Virgin Media Super Hub as, when our housing estate was built a couple of years ago, most people took on Virgin Media for their broadband services as they had a special offer for all new owners at the time. This now means that within a few hundred feet there are countless Super Hub ID's and our connection has become more and more unreliable. We have had a couple of replacement Hubs from VM but they haven't really cured the problem so I decided to change tack.
Having read some of the reviews for TP-Link Cable WiFi Router and looking at how other people solved poor VM WiFi problems I decided to purchase for installation our loft space with a view to making the WiFi signal in our home more robust. One the router arrived and was out of the box I switched the Super Hub into Modem mode, ran a CAT5 cable from the Modem port up into the loft space, plugged it into the TP-Link Router and turned on. For first time use I used a wired connection with the laptop to log into the TP-Link Admin page and within a couple of clicks of a mouse the router had found the cable model and the connection was live. A few more clicks later and I had configured the WiFi as we would want it and all of our devices found the new SSID quickly. I then reviewed the basic security setting and made a few simple changes to make sure the router was as secure as I needed to be and, after a quick reboot, we were ready to go. The total installation time was no more than fifteen minutes and that included putting a couple of screws into a joist to mount the router for best signal strength.
The router has been in place for about a month now and so far it has been excellent. Unlike the previous Super Hub there has been no drop out or no need to reboot (albeit I believe there is a setting where you can do this on a daily basis at a set time) and the connection has been very stable. We run 2 PC's, 1 Laptop, 2 FireTV's, 3 Mobile Phones and a CCTV system that can be viewed live and the router is dealing with all of this in it's stride. It not unusual for both Fire TV's to be streaming at the same time without an issue and our work laptop can be quite heavy on data when using a VPN connection and, again, the router has been trouble-free. There are lots of other features of the product such as Guest WiFi, Bridges, DMZ's etc. which are all over and above what we really need but am pleased the features could be used should our requirements change.
All in all, for the price we paid and the issues we were having with a Super Hub, this is an excellent piece of kit for a home WiFi setup. It was quick and simple to set up, provided a good level of security for our devices and so far has been faultless.
| Brand | TP-Link |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 11.68 x 17.53 x 3.3 cm; 907.18 Grams |
| Item model number | TL-WR841N |
| Manufacturer | TP-Link |
| Series | TL-WR841N |
| Color | White |
| Processor Count | 1 |
| Computer Memory Type | DDR3 SDRAM |
| Connectivity Type | Wi-Fi |
| Wireless Type | 802.11bgn |
| Voltage | 100240 Volts |
| Wattage | 8 watts |
| Operating System | Yes |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Item Weight | 907 g |