TP-LINK N600 Wireless N Dual Band Gigabit Router w/ 2x USB Ports (TL-WDR3600) $39 after $15 rebate + Free Shipping

I've had this router for about two months now and it has worked great. Signal reaches all the way from the basement to the upstairs. The Gigabit ports have held up well when having about ten people over for a LAN party. My wife can watch Netflix while I play games online. My one complaint would be the WPS button is hit and miss. Sometimes it connects laptops, sometimes it doesn't. So I usually just enter the password stuff manually.

I haven't installed DD-WRT or Tomato or whatever. I honestly don't see the point of going through that trouble. The stock firmware seems to work fine for me and the TP-Link interface is easy to use but still gives access to some advanced options. Honestly, why does every thread on a router deal have to go on and on about installing the 3rd party firmwares?

Quote from dealmonkey : I was looking at buying the Asus N66U, but I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger at $170. This router has the external antennas, dual band, and the speed I want. I'm willing to spend more money if it means better reliability. Anyone use both routers? Is it like comparing a Kia to a Mercedes?

Any reason you are not getting ASUS RT-N56U which costs much less than N66U and has dual-band, gigabit LAN and two USB ports.

I got an open box RT-N56U from newegg (30 day no questions returns) for $60. The out of the box asus firmware was not stable as I had to restart the router every day but once I put the open source firmware [google.com]this thing has been rocksteady. The router has been up past 8 days and I have downloaded over 100GB of stuff from newsnet the past week!

Using this router with DD-WRT and it works wonderfully on 2.4 and 5GHz. I am using guest wifi multiplexing, dynamic dns and local dns resolution and it has been rock solid. I recently updated to the latest release and have experience no issues (or improvements).

DD-WRT v24-sp2 (02/11/13) std
(SVN revision 20675)

I upgraded from the WRT-160Nv3 which is functionally equivalent to the E1000, on which I ran DD-WRT.

Quote from schezwan : And the connection type is??????

http://www.tp-link.com/us/product...TL-WDR3600

I've tried 2 TP-Link routers in the last 2 years and neither of them lasted long.

I am new to router technology development........

what's the fundamental difference between G series and N series routers?

I have an old Linksys router as well as Verizon Westell FiOS device and both are G series devices. Both devices tend to give almost 50% of speed (at approx. 15 to 20 feet away from router) on wireless compare to what I get on ethernet. I tried to change channel band for both routers and that did not help as well. In order to get wireless speed close to wired, device must be within 5 feets range. Will N series router help much?

Quote from BMFPitt : I've tried 2 TP-Link routers in the last 2 years and neither of them lasted long.

CISCO / Linksys is best

Does anyone have any experience with the USB ports? Specifically, can I hang a HDD off it and back up every PC in my house to the drive via the router. I ask this b/c for my case a 25.00 router works just as good s a 150.00 router. Each time I have had problems with dropped connections it turnedout to be a bad cat5 wire fromrouter to modem or the Virus software and an occasional stale ip, so I see a lot of discussions about range and software I have yet to see anyone mention print servers or hard drivesor the use of the USB ports. TIA.

I just got a refurb airport extreme for $90 but this router seems to have all the same features. How does it compare and should I return it and buy this to save some cash?

Quote from dealmonkey : So its safe to say for a reliable router that you dont want worry about using 3rd party firmware, the Asus is the way to go? (Granted its 4x the price)

Even if I had the Asus router I would still put a third party firmware on it. Asus routers have in general been great for me because I slapped the third party on there.

Quote from Tnyc : According to one of the reviews, yes you can configure the router to disable one of the bands. The 5Ghz is usually the sucky band that people might want to disable it.

Quote from Tnyc : Well I meant the 5Ghz sucks in its current form (wireless N) due to the short range and other issues. It will be MUCH better implimented with the coming AC format/routers. I'm still tempted to get this router and once they thoroughly improve on the AC format, I will jump on that and abandon wireless N routers all together.

You'd have to be a numbnuts to disable 5Ghz. There's no reason not to use it and absolutely none of my neighbors have started running 5Ghz so it's open and clear and fast. Yes, the transmission distance isn't as far, but as long as you connect at all, it's very likely going ot be faster than 2.4Ghz.

Quote from schezwan : What type of connection are the antennas? I'd like to connect a cable for an outdoor mounted antenna. Anyone have experience with this routers antennas and connection type?

Watch out for your cable length and signal attenuation. You can't just hook up a 20ft cable to the back and expect results. Typically outdoor antennas are tied into the router in an outdoor enclosure and the cable is no more than 1 foot.

Quote from pioneercom : CISCO / Linksys is best

Yeah that's why Cisco is selling Linksys right.


I got this router in the last sale and it's been incredible with OpenWRT. I no longer have Skype latency issues. My last set of devices would kill skype for any network transfer or any download. Haven't had any issues yet. Just this past weekend I had three downloads running, one network transfer to the NAS, and the roomy was streaming netflix in HD, not a single issue.

Quote from sbx007 : Does anyone have any experience with the USB ports? Specifically, can I hang a HDD off it and back up every PC in my house to the drive via the router. I ask this b/c for my case a 25.00 router works just as good s a 150.00 router. Each time I have had problems with dropped connections it turnedout to be a bad cat5 wire fromrouter to modem or the Virus software and an occasional stale ip, so I see a lot of discussions about range and software I have yet to see anyone mention print servers or hard drivesor the use of the USB ports. TIA.

In theory you can do it but I wouldn't advise it. The USB connection is slow and the security minimal. You are much better off attaching the drive to one of the PCs and sharing fom there to backup to. Haven't tried the print server.

I have no interest either for installing another parties firmware. I just want to turn it on, set a password, and be done with it.

Is there any router out there that "DDWRT/TOMATO" ENTHUSIAST would recommend that would meet this criteria? I also have 2 machines with "B" antenna's but the remaining 7 devices are all "N" capable.

Please tell me there is one such device. This forum is my only hope.

Quote from AaronDotNET : I've had this router for about two months now and it has worked great. Signal reaches all the way from the basement to the upstairs. The Gigabit ports have held up well when having about ten people over for a LAN party. My wife can watch Netflix while I play games online. My one complaint would be the WPS button is hit and miss. Sometimes it connects laptops, sometimes it doesn't. So I usually just enter the password stuff manually. I haven't installed DD-WRT or Tomato or whatever. I honestly don't see the point of going through that trouble. The stock firmware seems to work fine for me and the TP-Link interface is easy to use but still gives access to some advanced options. Honestly, why does every thread on a router deal have to go on and on about installing the 3rd party firmwares?

Quote from dealmonkey : I was looking at buying the Asus N66U, but I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger at $170. This router has the external antennas, dual band, and the speed I want. I'm willing to spend more money if it means better reliability. Anyone use both routers? Is it like comparing a Kia to a Mercedes?

I got the asus 56u, an older model for $100. It works really well, surprisingly. I stream Netflix, hulu every night; fast forwarding etc. is quick. Also my range increased. Like you, the $170 price tag just not justifiable. 56u is a good option if that's the case.

I was stuck with a dlink for 3 years before. I wouldn't even touch the cheap routers anymore.

Quote from sbx007 : Does anyone have any experience with the USB ports? Specifically, can I hang a HDD off it and back up every PC in my house to the drive via the router. I ask this b/c for my case a 25.00 router works just as good s a 150.00 router. Each time I have had problems with dropped connections it turnedout to be a bad cat5 wire fromrouter to modem or the Virus software and an occasional stale ip, so I see a lot of discussions about range and software I have yet to see anyone mention print servers or hard drivesor the use of the USB ports. TIA.

Im in the same boat. I want to see if i can attach a hard drive to the USB ports so I can back up my Macs with Time Machine. I'm still trying to find a definitive answer if it will work with this router though.