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

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• TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 N600 Wireless N Dual Band Gigabit Router w/ 2x USB Ports [newegg.com]
  • $38.99 after $15 Rebate [newegg.com] + Free Shipping
  • Promo Code: EMCXVWL24

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

Newegg.com has TP-LINK N600 Wireless N Dual Band Gigabit Router w/ 2x USB Ports (TL-WDR3600) for $68.99 - $15 w/ promo code EMCXVWL24 - $15 rebate = $38.99 with free shipping. Thanks Discombobulated

Price Research: Our research indicates that this TP-LINK TL-WDR3600 N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router w/ 2x USB Ports is $27 lower (41% savings) than the next best available price from a reputable merchant with prices starting from $66. - brisar

Update to latest stock firmware if not planning to use a 3rd party firmware (OpenWrt, DD-WRT). The latest stock version includes several important stability fixes:
http://www.tp-link.us/support/dow...version=V1

Note: flashing to a 3rd party firmware will void your warranty. Proceed with caution. If you follow the directions carefully, you will be fine.


Note also (unsupported 3rd party feature): 3rd party firmware does not currently support the hardware NAT feature of this router and probably will not any time soon. Flashing back to stock will restore this functionality.



This router is the cheapest router to get OpenWRT's newest branch, Attitude adjustment which implements CoDEL a new parameterless bufferbloat solution.

Bufferbloat = latency lag when network approaches full usage.

Example: VoIP, VidChat, gaming, latency sensitive apps start stuttering once that other dude in your house starts his NetFlix streaming. You cry and stop doing what you were doing until he's done. OR you can buy this and setup codel and be happy. ^^

Installing OpenWRT isn't necessarily quite as easy but it's straightforward. If you've installed dd-wrt or Tomato, I have confidence in you that you can install OpenWRT ;)
If you know someone who would probably struggle putting dd-wrt/tomato on a router... don't have them install this. They might mess it up.

Got mine and got OpenWRT installed, so far so good....

Here's what I did (Disclaimer, if you are technically challenged I do not suggest doing this or find the beta builds of DDWRT or Gargoyle):

Original link stopped working here's a new link, if it no longer works see below.
http://downloads.openwrt.org/atti...actory.bin

If that still doesn't work here's the path from the openwrt downloads page.
Attitude adjustment...
12.09-rc1...
Ar71xx...
Generic...
Openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wdr3600-v1-squashfs-factory.bin

1.) Connect an ethernet cable to the LAN side of the router, navigate to 192.168.1.1 (It may be 192.168.0.1). Username is "admin" password is "admin".
2.) Rename your OpenWRT image to "factory.bin". Navigate to the firmware upgrade page and update the firmware with your OpenWRT image.
3.) Once upgrade is done, manually set your computer's IP to 192.168.1.X (whatever you want on 1.X subnet). this step wasn't necessary for me, I got an IP via DHCP right after flashing just fine
4.) Use Putty or some other program to telnet into 192.168.1.1. Type "passwd" at command prompt and set a root password. Type "exit" and get out of the telnet session.
5.) Connect an ethernet cable from your modem to the WAN (Internet) side of the router. The blue port. The router needs internet access for the next step.
5.) Reopen Putty and do an SSH session to the same IP, login as root with your new password. Type "opkg update" and return. Type "opkg install luci" and return. To enable Luci to start on boot, type "/etc/init.d/uhttpd enable" and return and then type "/etc/init.d/uhttpd start" and return. I would also install the Luci qos module, type "opkg install luci-app-qos" and return.
6.) You can now login to Luci via an HTTP interface at 192.168.1.1. Good luck with the rest, just make sure you enable your wifi interfaces and configure them.

NOTE: It has been widely reported that LuCi is already installed and running after the install of OpenWRT. After you do the initial upgrade try navigating to 192.168.1.1 to see if the LuCI interface is up and running. If it is not then you should run through the steps listed above.

7.) Optionally, you may change to a more user friendly interface by installing the bootstrap theme (now available from the software installation function built into the web interface).
Info about bootstrap theme: http://nut-bolt.nl/2012/openwrt-b...-for-luci/
To install: System --> Software --> search for bootstrap in available package --> click install
To activate theme go to: System ---> Language and Style ---> Design ---> Bootstrap :)

More info, including instructions for setting up Codel on OpenWrt: https://gist.github.com/petedoyle/4129668. (he does it in a bit more complicated way than necessary, if anyone has easier instructions, please update).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gargoyle install: (i.e. the easy way)
If you want the simple method and are ok with a simplified interface then download the gargoyle image here http://www.gargoyle-router.com/do...actory.bin and do the upgrade with that. It already has the GUI installed and running so you can go directly to 192.168.1.1.

Although very functional, Gargoyle is kind of ugly by default, so if you care about that sort of thing, install a theme :)

NOTE: Gargoyle does not have all the options that LuCi does, it was designed this way. It has QOS and Codel installed by default. If you don't know why you want all the options available in Luci, then you probably don't need them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some other helpful links that I used: bimologist
DDNS Client: http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto...using.luci
OpenVPN Setup: http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/vpn.openvpn
Guest WLan: http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/guest-wlan (non Luci) (I could not get the Luci directions to work)
Guest WLAN via Luci (does not work for some): https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=34092

Instructions for setting up QoS and CoDel for OpenWRT peeps:

Pulled from OpenWRT forums:
Also see, https://gist.github.com/petedoyle/4129668

To add a USB flash-drive to expand the capacity of your router, follow: http://klseet.com/index.php/tl-mr...ap-extroot

In for one. Just bought a refurbished Linksys E1200 for $23.39, but will use one or the other as a backup.

Thanks OP!

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?

Thanks OP

Out of the box, this router is nothing to brag about. Add OpenWRT or DDWRT, and all of a sudden its rock solid.

Has anyone tried both OpenWRT and DD-WRT on this router? I've used DD-WRT on all of my routers, so it makes sense for me to put that on this router. However, I've heard mixed results from both sides.

FP stuff :D

OpenWrt is much better than DD-WRT, especially for atheros routers such as this one where there is support for codel to reduce bufferbloat, which reduces latency quite a bit during heavy traffic.

Unfortunately, OpenWrt is definitely more complicated to set up initially. Gargoyle is an OpenWrt-based firmware designed to be easier to use and is probably a better alternative for most people. Luckily, this router is supported by Gargoyle. Biggest downside of Gargoyle IMO is the ugly default skin, but this is easily fixed. Previous posts on this router (and the N750 version WDR4300) discuss getting Gargoyle installed.

Of course, if you're used to DD-WRT you may be more comfortable sticking with that.

What is the range on these routers with Open-WRT? I managed to brick a Belkin N300, so I need a good replacement but one that has better range than the Belkin.

I have DD-WRT on one of these routers. It's still buggy but it works for the most part at this point (using the latest nightly builds).

seems like this has tomato support.

No Tomato for Atheros-based routers, such as this one.

Note that it's now a manufacturer's rebate, not a newegg rebate.

Hmm..I'm fairly technical, but have never dabbled into OpenWRT. How do I know which build to use?

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)

So how are Tiplink rebates?? Any chance of getting back?

If it supported Tomato, I'd be in.

As an FYI - I've been using this router for almost 2 months now on stock firmware, and have had no problems. Granted, my apartment is very small, so I can't comment on the range.

Do u need a compatible network card for dual band? Can u disable one of the bands?

It is 4 * rated on newegg and Amazon. Many of the bad reviews are old ones when it shipped with bad firmware. I see most people telling that once you update the firmware it is very good.

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.

I had wireless issues on DD WRT where the either the 2.4 or 5 Ghz band would not show up. It was usually the 2.4 Ghz band which most devices used. Also would get slow connections sometimes randomly.


I used both so look above for DD-WRT results. I switched to OpenWRT and it's been much better with wireless. I did have issues with the 2.4Ghz band disapperaring when I was trying to change settings such as 20 or 40Mhz and channel. I think the problem is that you need to know which channels has a 20 or 40 mhz band. Not all channels 1-11 can do it and if you choose one of these channels the router will just disable the wireless. It kind of sucks cause you need to get to your hardwired PC to fix it.

As for OpenWRT it's more lightweight than DDWRT. You need to install packages to get things you want. I needed a DDNS service so you go to software section in the routers gui and download the DDNS package. If you need the Qos then you download the Codel package. There are torrent and usenet packages although I didn't install it. Once you set it up then you should back up your firmware with the settings you like.

If you don't like to mess around with flashing I would go Asus. I read great things about stock firmware although there are custom firmwares out for that router also. I looked at the Asus but couldn't bear to spend $180 for the AC version. I decided to try this out for only $40 and flashed it to OpenWRT.

Flashing is very easy. I used the version and instructions from the Wiki from the last deal.

http://slickdeals.net/f/5793456-T...outer-39AR

I switched from a DDWRT Linksys wrt 54g and so happy I made the change to OpenWRT. I am now able to stream 1080p MKV wirelessly on the 5GHZ band and 2.4ghz most of the time. My phone and iPad mini have the 5GHZ bands which makes streaming so much consistent.

nm. google lied to me.

Hmm...interesting. I might have to mess around with this and see what I can do.

How do you know what packages are available, and which ones will I need? All I really want is a router which can reliably do Ethernet and WiFi (both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz). Wireless security is a must.

So, is the signal strength reliable? I don't want a router that constantly drops or slows randomly

In for 1 , I know SDers love N66. It is too pricey for me . Just got the ATV2 from newegg for 89 and now this . yay !

Does this support IPV6? I dont see it on the specs page.

Yes, you can disable a band or just not use it, but you're wrong about 5 Ghz being "sucky." Yes, the range is lower with the higher frequency band (can't beat physics here), but there is much less congestion and interference on 5 GHz as compared to 2.4 GHz, so the speed tends to be much faster. This will vary depending on whether you live in an apartment or a house, in the city or in a more rural area. Don't forget there are also cordless phones, bluetooth, and good old fashioned microwaves in the 2.4 GHz spectrum.

If you don't have a dual band wireless adapter in your laptop (or whatever), then you only have 2.4 GHz available and the choice is simple.

I go to the router gui and go to the software section. The have a couple of pages list that is in alpahbetical order. You can search it also. Then you choose download or install option and then in a few minutes it's on your router. As for security I am using WPA2 AES on both bands. I gave each band it's own SSID so I know which I am hooked up to.

It's all explained in the OpenWrt or Gargoyle wiki. The OpenWrt wiki has information specifically on this router. The build will say tl-wdr3600 in the filename. Instructions are also in the other SD threads on these routers.

Just to note again, wireless (and usually the web interface) are disabled by default in OpenWrt.

Got a Netgear WNDR4300 a while back for this price. Not sure which is better. Maybe I can use this as a repeater?

Thanks OP. Just bought one.

It is shockingly easy to add software packages. Actually, almost too easy to the point that you may go crazy with it and bog down your router! OpenWrt is very lean to start, which is part of what keeps it so reliable and fast. Add the packages you need. If you want something really easy to use with QOS and even bandwidth limits already included, go Gargoyle (with a skin).

Gargoyle should have access to the same packages as OpenWrt (with the exception of the GUI) since the underlying firmware is the same.

Same chipset in the Netgear WNDR4300 but OpenWrt/DD-WRT aren't there just yet. Netgear firmware is probably better than TP-Link if you're staying stock. Great price for that router though!

Awesome information guys, I think I'm going to try the latest "attitude adjustment" build of OpenWRT and see how it goes.

One last question - do you guys know if there are any specific steps I have to take if I want to revert back to stock firmware? With DD-WRT, there is a special "revert" firmware that you simply have to load to go back to stock.

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?

There are some special steps - all in the OpenWrt wiki :)

well... you'll need 2 antennas if you want to take full advantage of the wireless speeds.

Are you talking about this page?
http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wdr3600

There doesn't seem to be a lot of information here...and it's linking to a fairly old firmware. The old Slickdeals wiki suggests using the latest attitude adjustment build.

Oops, check the WDR4300 wiki page. It's the same router, but with 3 antennas. Instructions are conceptually the same, but obviously you want the firmware with wdr3600 in the name!

Updated the wiki here with instructions from the last wdr3600 deal.

Follow the wiki here:
http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/8...-usb-ports


I used similar instructions on the TP-LINK TL-WDR4300 N750 i bought from amazon about two weeks ago. I never tried the stock firmware, but this is my first experience with OpenWRT and it has been running solid. Zero reboots, slowdowns (other than ISP caused ones.. but that's an ongoing issue -_-) The only packages i installed were the ones in the wki and the QoS package.

https://gist.github.com/petedoyle/4129668 has some good info, too.

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.

And the connection type is??????

Looks like a good deal

Thanks for all the info!

One last thing - it says in the wiki:
NOTE: It has been widely reported that LuCi is already installed and running after the install of OpenWRT. After you do the initial upgrade try navigating to 192.168.1.1 to see if the LuCI interface is up and running. If it is not then you should run through the steps listed above.

Can anyone confirm if the latest Attitude Adjustment firmware needs the LuCi install via Putty?

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?

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.

Asus rt-n56u?
 

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!

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?

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?

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.

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.


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.

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.

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. :)

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.

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.

It has been solid for me with the latest stock firmware as well.

3rd party firmware have long been so much superior to router stock firmware that it has been a no-brainer to use them. It is slowly changing as the 3rd party fimware have plateaued in features and stock firmware is catching up.

But these TP-Links in particular get overzealous promotion from OpenWRT fanbois because for a change they get to gloat over the DD-WRT given the respective states of development. It is like a football fan thing. :)

Could never bring myself to buy anything from this manufacturer. Got an access point from a buddy for free and it was the worst. Felt cheap and had to be rebooted several times a day.

Tomato USB has not been updated for a few years now.

I read that nobody wants to open the source code the 5Ghz. Why is that?

How does this router compare to the Linksys E3000?

Can DDW-WRT support alot of DDNS? I need this, not just 4 of the popular DNS.

Thank OP!

I've been a tomato fanboy for years, but I'll go to whatever works well. I think everyone is getting a boner over OpenWRT due to the CoDel support, which is very very impressive.

No, there is no support for Time Machine from the Router in terms of Time Machine discovery, etc. It is just available as a mountable drive from the router. It can be mounted on a Mac and used as a Time Machine Drive but you will have problems if you want to do so from multiple Macs and/or also want to use it for non Macs. This is what NAS systems are for. People seem to want to convert their routers to be a NAS which is not their strongpoint.

The only good usage for the USB port in routers, in my opinion, is for a drive that can be used by third party firmware add-ons such as stand-alone torrent downloads, etc.

Thanks, OP! My brother's been needing a router and bought one.

Can be added via third party firmware, but speeds will be kinda slow. Agree that a real NAS is the way to go.

Tomato is being updated, but it's sort of confusing how to get to those updates. The core tomatousb is not update and hence the webpage is not. But there are "mods" out there that are updated regularly and add support to a lot of devices, including those with 5 GHz band support. Click on the "mods" link on the left side of the tomatousb home page for some links. Tomato Shibby mod seems to be the most popular, but Toastman is nice and has a very robust built-in QOS configuration. Wikipedia has a nice table detailing the difference between all the tomato mods. They're all version 1.28 with different build numbers, which makes it confusing regarding when it was last updated.
Note: The drivers are actually not open source, but Broadcom did release enough to enable updated tomato builds. Note that the closed source Broadcom drivers that only work with linux kernel 2.6.xx are the reason that codel is not supported on Tomato.

Isn't wireless printing also a good reason for a router with usb ports? Right now to print a document from my laptop on my wired printer, I upload the file to dropbox, go to my desktop to retrieve the file from dropbox, then print. I would love to be able to share a printer via wifi somehow. Maybe it's a lot more complicated than just plugging my printer in to this router though.

Bought one of these during BF, this thing is junk, it lost wireless capability on the second time I turned it on.

Not really...Kia has a better warranty because its owned by Hyundai.

Asus (who I love) is great if you want all the fancy features built in that ddwrt or Openwrt will give you, you are basically paying for the advanced software. So if you are afraid of flashing a diff firmware and rather have a working out-of-box product with support for said advanced software, go with the Asus, otherwise you will LOVE this router.

I bought it first time around and running OpenWRT, using a USB as root partition (have more space for more packages), I have a:

1. swap partition so I can transfer larger files without the system crashing,
2. I have a USB 3.0 (no support for 3.0 but backwards compatible to 2.0) powered Hub connected to it,
3. that powered hub has a HDD (formated with EXT4 as more efficient than NTFS) and a USB printer connected (didn't have to buy a new network/wireless :bounce: ) to it working with CUPS to turn the printer into a wireless printer,
4. Samba installed and sharing the HDD over the network, specially to my raspberry pi :D ,
4. I also have OpenVPN installed and setup so I can remotely connect to my network over a secured connection to access my shared files on the HDD when needed.

OpenWrt is awesome, and this router for this price makes it more that worth the Asus in my opinion.

If anyone has questions on how I accomplished this or needs help let me know, don't mind helping you out. (oh look at that someone to support your newly purchased router)

Yes, it can. I have used OpenWRT,DDWRT, and TomatoUSB and all of these popular router firmware's support DDNS, but depends on the router and the version you are using, typically newer versions only have them (aka past year 2012/2011 builds).

Yes, works great with CUPS, this is exactly what I used to do, albeit I shared the files over the network instead of Dropbox. If you get OpenWRT working, then follow this simple guide to get it working for you:
http://mattie47.com/getting-cups-...n-openwrt/

You probably just got a defective one, as quality control now-a-days sucks, so i would get it replaced. I have one from last deal was posted without any problems with either stock or custom firmware, but you HAVE to updated the firmware to the latest (stock) as i heard someone else having same problems on forums I have read.

Asus rt-n56u!
 

+1

I got an openbox ASUS RT-N56U from newegg for $60 and once I put the open source firmware [google.com]this thing has been rock solid! Have 3 connections wired in (PS3, Viera ST50 & Vonage) and use both bands for ipad, iphone, laptop and desktop. Love it!

Thanks OP, scored one. Repped

For anyone using dd-wrt w/ this router, do you happen to know the memory/flash capacity? Best I could find was the following link suggesting 128MB/8MB.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/view...p?p=713686

TIA

Quick question. I'm using an older Linksys wireless G router for going on about 7 years. It streams Netflix to my Bluray player without any hiccups. I can also stream video to my netbook while Netflix is running and still I have no issues. It has ran for over 2 years without having to be reset. Do I gain anything by upgrading to wireless N?

I'm paying $54 a month for my ISP so I guess my thought process is heading in the direction of upgrading my router and then stepping down a tier speed wise for my connection to save some money. Is that plausible or should I stay where I'm at?

yes 128/8 - see openwrt wiki

Price went up. OP, update title.

You will still want those high speeds you get from the ISP. A wireless N router will give you better throughput on your LAN, doesn't do anything for the WAN.

Any thoughts on this router vs an Asus RT-N16? I've heard the n16 is very good but no dual band.

I wasn't able to see the GUI right after installation. However I didn't complete the steps with Putty to get the GUI.

I tried changing my computer to a static IP and was then able to see the GUI e.g. 192.158.1.14 and subnet 255.255.255.0 and I am able to access with 192.168.1.1.

Once you change the password to enter the router and wifi ssid and security I was able to switch to gettting IP automatically (not static) on my PC and I was able to access the router via 192.168.1.1 as long as you don't change the any settings in the routers DHCP.

It didn't. Don't forget to apply the promo code

USb 2.00 vs USB 3.00 on this router
 

Folks,

First post, but a quick question. This router has USB 2.0 port.
Will it make a difference as compared to a router with USB 3.0 port.

I would like to access (stream), copy files from all over my network to the hard drive connected to the USB port.

Thanks

I bought it on the last deal and installed OPEnWRT. I achieved my goals of having a guest Network, Main network and port forwards . This time I decided to give OpenWRT a chance to learn. the Guest network was easy to build using SSH , could not achieve through Luci, which is preinstalled given in the Wiki directions.

I have yet to reboot it and has been workign fine. I have a synology NAS already so no need for the USB ports. I needed to replace my Buffalo one which I was rebooting every few days as wireless would drop out on it.

Can't you just setup your printer to print via the other computer by setting it up as a netowrk printer? No need for Dropbox.

Agreed 100%. OotB it dropped the wireless signal multiple times over the course of three days. I installed Gargoyle (OpenWRT) and it's been solid since, not a single dropped signal.

Noob Question..

When a router has USB ports, what are the functions of these ports?? Can I plug an external hd into these ports and access them over the network?? Thanks

On stock I lost the 2.4GHZ band also. From my previous post I flashed on DDWRT and lost 2.4Ghz band also. Even a reset didn't bring back the 2.4ghz band. It happened during heavy downloads.

I then tried OpenWRT and only once did it lose the 2.4ghz band. I figured it out, in Open WRT there are USA settings and I was trying to change my channels and to 40hz wide options for more speed. If I didn't set it to a correct channel with a 40hz upper then the wireless would disappear.

The chart in this wiki shows what you need to select. It is in the middle of the page.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index....figuration

Try OpenWRT, it has been working great and no more loss of wifi.

I installed Luci. How do I setup a guest network? I didn't see that option.

I also bought it from the last deal and it's been great so far and have yet to flash it. On stock firmware it's not bad, better than what i had before that's for sure. It dropped connection maybe 1-2 times every couple weeks when i was running 2.4 and 5ghz. I ended up disabling the 5ghz band since i don't live in a crowded area and just didn't need it now, since then, have had no connectivity issues at all.

It's pretty bulky as well, but not really a legit con. For the price, a good deal

I believe I would still have to go turn on or wake up from sleep my desktop pc everytime I wanted to print something if I add the printer to the network so I may as well print from the desktop if I'm already in that room to turn the computer on. I thought if I could connect the printer directly to a router (like this TP-Link) then it wouldn't matter if the desktop was off or asleep. Am I getting it all wrong?

Can I hook my DSL line from the phone company straight into this or do I still need a DSL modem? Thanks!

I added the links in the Wiki for the Guest Network. I could not get it to work via Luci.
http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/guest-wlan
with luci
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=34092

Yes, transfer speeds will be less when using usb 2.0 router than a 3.0, BUT good luck finding one, esp at this price.

Correct, wireless printing and storage are capable with USB ports therefore expanding your network options.

Add a psuedo wireless interface and "bind" it to the wan interface (and lan if you want guests to access any shares over the network).
I know I saw a step by step somewhere...


Here it is:
http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/guest-wlan

You still need a DSL modem.

Used to have the N16. When it has third party firmware it works well, but mine started going wonky after 6 months. Underclocked it and it was back to normal then tried slapping a heatsink on there and somehow hosed it.

Either way, feature wise N16 is a very very old product with outdated features. Can't hold a candle to the 3600 for the price.

the reviews seem to state that the range for this router is mediocre. Tech support suggests to disable the 5Ghz band and increase the transmitting power to HIGH which it is by default. Anyway, would OpenWRT help improve the range of this router? I live in a 3-story 4800sq ft' home so I need good range since the router will be placed in the basement of the house.

Sounds like you had an interference issue as opposed to a router issue. Did you ever do a site survey?

I need an AP and I have been wanting to try out DD-WRT or Open WRT..I am in

Anybody know what receipt you need for the rebate? Does it have to be the invoice that comes with the router, or can I print something from Newegg?

OpenWRT will let you boost the output, but I've never seen that much of an improvement for that, mine was at max automatically after installing OpenWRT.

Honestly, no router can perform miracles. Going from a basement to a third story is no small feat. If you are having issues getting coverage everywhere you might want to put in a second access point or look at something like OpenMesh. NOTE: OpenWRT does have some sort of installable mesh software support, but I've never used it.

Thanks, Subby. Gonna try my luck with this after the recent disappointment of receiving a WR841 with v8 hardware - unsupported by dd-wrt.

I agree, buy 2 and bridge them for best coverage, TBH. This is what I would do in this case.

I got the thanks giving deal rebate in about 6 week.

Did anybody follow the instructions in the wiki for OpenWRT and have the router not able to receive internet. I have the modem connected to the internet jack of the router and my computer connected to one of the ports of the router yet my computer is unable to access the internet. However, when I reverted back to stock firmware it was normal.

Anybody else have this problem?

There are router firmware fanboys? Haha, that would explain it. Anyways, glad to see at least one other person agrees with me.

I would say the Asus RT-N66U would be able to perform miracles. As always, you get what you paid for though.

I prefer to have just ONE router that will do its job beautifully and reliably. If you are using two and bridge them, you are not only increasing your electrical usage, you also have to concern about not one, but two separate units now. I just want one one kickass and worry free router where I can plug it in, set it and forget it. It's a residential house, not a business or a mansion so no need for multiple units :). Besides, the rebate is for one/router/address only.

what? did you read what brbubba said?

you're not going to get a crazy amazing single router. there are physical and fcc limitations.

basically if youre current router in the basement doesn't reach the top floor, then a new router won't help either.
just run a second AP. the electrical usage is minimal, and the 2nd unit is a dumb unit. get a cheap junk router and disable everything on it.

LAN - Jumbo Frames Supported?
Can't seem to find this detail anywhere. I have an open ticket with their support team. Wondering if anyone with one of these can confirm if jumbo frames are supported on the LAN switch side of the router. Ideal would be support for 9k frames but having multiple options is also a plus.

my relative has this out of the box with stock firmware, and it's already rock solid.

The SoC (processor) in any of these home routers is not nearly fast enough to take advantage of USB 3.0. Any current router with that feature is just checking a box for the marketing department.

Will his help my porn streaming capabilities?

Buffering will be great but it wont help with the pixelation of the poor quality videos.

Broke down and bought one of these. I also bought Asus RT-N56U that popped up for $78. I plan on testing both, returning whatever one performs the weakest.

Same here... I love tomato...

Upgrade the firmware and let us know your results. I'm very interested in moving to the 5Ghz spectrum before AC crowds us in a box.

Does anyone know the size of the power adapter, I'm looking for physical measurement ID/OD in mm. Thanks!!!

I had no issue with my last TP-Link rebate. I was very hesitant, both with the rebate and the product... I've been pleasantly surprised by both. I purchased a 24 port gigabit switch and I have not had a single issue with it.

Its was added in the latest firmware from 1-29-13 LINK [tp-link.com]

Just print the invoice from the Newegg site. Your package won't arrive with a receipt or an invoice... just a packing slip which is of no use to the rebate process.

A great deal on a great device. OpenWRT is very powerful on this hardware.

Be aware that TP-Link rebates are glacially slow. I'm still waiting on one I sent to them in December!

Thank you for the response, I've been looking for an 802.11N router for some time now as I am unable to stream from my home server with my old Linksys WRT54G. I jumped on this deal so hopefully it works great with OpenWRT or DDWRT.

Will the code EMCXVWL24 stack with NEWCUSTOMER?

Any one know if I will be able to return the router if I am not able to flash new firmware? I have never done anything like it before and don't have much confidence in the stock firmware.

I was kidding but I do stream a lot of sports. I feel partially retarded after reading this thread because I have no idea what a lot of people are talking about. I have a Belkin Wireless G router. I guess I have two questions:

1) this should improve video streaming quality in terms of load times and buffering issues.. correct? The Wireless G router works fine now but the signal is a bit weak from my bedroom to living room.
2) Will the signal strength be improved or the same? What are some simple ways to improve the router signal strength?

I apologize for the retard questions but these are coming from a guy who only knows how to fix electronics by unplugging them and plugging them back in. Once that doesn't work, I'm screwed!

THese types of questions always are a head scratcher. In the time you took to write that, you could have probably tried that yourself. Just sayin'

This depends on if the devices you have support N. If so, then yes, it will be faster transfer speeds, less buffering, etc. Plus a stronger signal in regards to distance.

You won't be. Was running the N16 before I hosed it then was running pfsense with a netgear doing WiFi and now I've moved everything to the WDR3600 with OpenWRT. Very happy so far. Only downside is that I haven't gotten OpenVPN working yet. Apparently the LUCI OpenVPN package is broken so you have to manually configure it. Tried going through the steps once and it won't work. Gotta figure out what I did wrong when I have time.

It CAN be a good reason IF the printer is supported by the router and without glitches. It doesn't require another device or computer to be powered on all the time as a print server. But the printer support will never be as good as a computer and some of the features like checking for ink levels, using different trays, two-sided printing, etc., may not become available for certain partially supported printers but the basic functions might work. Same thing as using the router for a shared drive rather than using a NAS with the limitations. Might be OK for limited use, for a single user, etc.

lousy Wifi and CPU are always around 50% idle. My E3000 CPU usage are ~5% idle and Wifi works much better. Seems to be a junk. Though, i am using it as my outsideIn router since it have more RAM to abuse.

Depends, are you streaming in or streaming out? ;)

Limit one promo code per order, so sorry but no.

LMAO!

This is great information, which I will research further; potential issues I never even considered. Thank you for your reply.

Edit: Link to compatible printer list from TP-Link [tp-link.com] if anyone else is curious.
(Epson Stylus cx4700 is listed but my cx4600 did not make the list)

I think there are some "crazy amazing" routers out there. You just have to be willing to pay for them. Asus made some realllly good routers that people seem to love. But they are expensive. Once the AC Gigabit wireless specs are finalized later on this year, you will see some more amazing routers but probably very pricey at first. Heck, some of the current AC routers are pretty great already. I will always go with ONE amazing router over multiple routers in a bridge set up. It's about streamlining your gears and let them do more with less. I have a 3-4 years old Netgear WNDR3500 that can reach the third floor from the basement of my house will full signal strength. Unfortunately its a single band router and the speed drops a bit once I switched to WPA2 security mode. I want something with faster speed and even better range. If a refurbished 3 years old Netgear router which i paid about $30 for back then can deliver the range without bridging, I think a current, up to date router can at least match it in performance, no?

Thanks OP! in for 1. Gonna return the buffalo that was on here yesterday.

I have WRT610N and EA2700, do I get advantage by buying this? My both are working fine.
More so I am not sure why people are so fond of DD-WRT, I have used DD-WRT more than
three years back, on Buffalo, all other routers but now I am using stock. There is another
reason, I was sick in hospital and my shared drive died because kids dropped it. They could
not recover anything out of it and all my history was gone. I want something which anyone
can help them with and usually dumb stock firmware has that kind of situation.

I got this thing

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BDP-S5...B006U1YUZE

A droid bionic and an Ipad 3.

So it looks like this should be an improvement.

There are applications where this isn't possible. Sometimes you have to use multiple routers to cover all areas, has nothing to do with streamlining. And OpenMesh stuff is rock solid in case you are curious. Not only does it have onboard hardware monitoring, auto restarts itself if it freezes, but it has online monitoring which can be checked anywhere in the world.

If your 3-4 year old Netgear will reach the third floor, I don't think you'll have problems with this. However, remember that 5Ghz does not penetrate objects as well as 2.4Ghz. So while 2.4Ghz might make it, it's entirely possible that 5Ghz won't make it.

Another thing to consider is a wireless site survey, have you done one yet? Helps to make sure you are using 2.4Ghz bands without neighboring interference.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wi...rove-range


fyi, wireless is two way communication.

I wouldn't trust this manufacture. I had a router take a crap on me and it was within the warranty. I emailed these people and support to get another or repair this one and never ever got an answer from these people. Phone - just keeps ringing. Won't buy this brand ever!.

So guys - just put on OpenWRT and had absolutely no issues. Got QoS up and running, and WiFi is working great so far.

That's not to say that I had any issues with the stock firmware...but it's nice to have the extra customization!

Can this be used as a access point without any firmware upgrade?

I can't wait when people try to RMA this "hot" deal lol

It's possible, but most likely not. If you have a "standard" type cable modem setup, you're looking at ~15 megabits per second (depending of course on provider / region / etc); even 802.11G is capable of speeds over five times that.

Basically: unless your wireless situation is really poor or you have a "premium" level of broadband service, the bottleneck for streaming something over the internet is likely to be your ISP, not your wireless access point.

It greatly depends, and it's really hard to know without testing it yourself. One relatively cheap way to improve range is to purchase an external antenna (this device supports them, I don't know whether your existing device does).

picked two up!

anyone have an opinion? thanks

Can u set power output with original firmware?

Can you set up two wifi names with original firmware? One guest login with restrictions including to filesharing and a regular login.

If you are going to be using Time Machine and Print services I would just stick with that. From what I've gathered setting up either of those can be tricky on OpenWRT. If you don't care about any of those and you think you can get OpenWRT up and running on the TPlink then return or sell the Airport Extreme.

so this is not a hot deal?
i am about to pull the trigger just because it's cheap.

I have had a cheap N-150 router by TP-Link running dd-wrt for the last six months and I couldn't ask for more in a budget router. I decided to upgrade to this one without hesitation.

can anyone who has this router tell me if it has any ipv6 connectivity with either stock or custom firmware, what does it say in the connection status?

also can you change the routers MAC address with the stock firmware?

This has been answered already, but yes, IPv6 via latest firmware.

I asked this in a different thread but no one had an answer for me. This group is obviously more intelligent (and probably better looking) so here goes:

My current router with a USB port does not support external drives larger than 2TB. Does this router (or any others at this point) support drives 3TB or larger?

Thanks for any help I can get!

The router's stock firmware will not support the 3TB hard drive.

However, if you flash this router's firmware to ddwrt or open-wrt, then it will most likely work (I think the key is re-partitioning the 3 TB hard drive i.e 2 x 1.5TB).

What router do you have?

OpenWrt has GPT partition support, which means you can use a single 3TB partition if you like. See https://dev.openwrt.org/ticket/8672

Not sure about DD-WRT.

I did and tried to use a clear channel on the 2.4ghz band 1-11. However not all bands can support both 40 upper and lower. Ex channel 11 only supports 40hz upper. If I do change to channel 11 and 40hz lower the band all of sudden was disabled. No matter what icon I hit to try to enable the 2.4ghz radio it wouldn't change or turn on. I thought the router was broken.

I then changed to channel 11 and 40hz upper and all of a sudden I could enable the 2.4ghz radio. If I didn't mess around with it I would have thought it was broken and returned the router.

After that it has been pretty solid. No problems.

The same thing happens any time there is a deal on whey protein. All of a sudden everyone has a doctorates in chemistry and is acting like your very own personal nutritionist.

In for one, thanks.

Holy moly. I ordered this router a few days ago. Called newegg Customer Service and they offered me a refund of half the promo code or the full 15 in a gift card. I took gift card since I always shop there anyway.

From what I understand the 40M hz is actually also using the nearest non-overlapping channel. So if you have channel 11 set you will obviously only be able to use 40 Mhz below and if you have channel 1 set, conversely, you will only be able to use 40 Mhz above. It's pretty much like taking a giant dump across most of the 2.4 Ghz spectrum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE...4.C2.A0GHz

Thanks for the reply. I have a Belkin N600.

I got it in around a month. I had bought the last FP deal with $ 20 rebate. Good luck!

a model number would be helpful to determine if your current router supports dd-wrt or openwrt.

thanks for your help. I appreciate the advice and thought that was the case. Saved me some $$$$$

Sorry. Model #: F9K1102v1

Just FYI..

Stock Firmware is fine

My other router I switched to DD-WRT because I needed to.

With this router (WDR4300 mine is 3 antenna version) the stock firmware is rock solid.
No need to change it.

Anyone has the idea how fast the data transfer would be when an external hard drive is hooked up on USB?

And does it support NTFS? My current Asus only support FAT32 so no files larger than 4GB can be transferred....

Your router does not support any third party firmware. Its best for you to buy this router and ebay that belkin.

So im currently using a Alfa AWUS036H and have switched my channel around for the best speed i can get but at times I can have issues with speed because of all the interference with a lot of wifi around me and I heard getting a 5ghz router might benefit me. Is this the case and if so since my alfa is set for 2.4ghz would this work or do i also need to get another wireless adapter ?

OK i finally decided to pull the trigger on this router when I read this in the Wiki: This router is the cheapest router to get OpenWRT's newest branch, Attitude adjustment which implements CoDEL a new parameterless bufferbloat solution.

Bufferbloat = latency lag when network approaches full usage.

Example: VoIP, VidChat, gaming, latency sensitive apps start stuttering once that other dude in your house starts his NetFlix streaming. You cry and stop doing what you were doing until he's done. OR you can buy this and setup codel and be happy. ^^

My question is, does the latest or previous STOCK firmware provide a solution for the bufferbloat issue? Also, does OpenWRT provide IPV6 ability for this router? I would prefer to go with the stock firmware because I dont want to fiddle with a third party firmware and accidently brick the router. Any comment will be appreciated.

Does anyone have experience with the signal strength on this router? Since it has two external antennas, I assume it has decent signal?

Stock does not address bufferbloat (nor does any other stock firmware). OpenWrt does support IPV6 with the installation of a package. See the OpenWrt wiki.

Simple question:

Do I buy this and replace my WRT160N v1?

Thanks for taking time to share this deal which is useful to me.

So it looks like i might have to flash it using OpenWRT then. What package support IPV6 are you referring to? I dont see it in the Wiki? Thanks.

Yes, because Linksys/Cisco routers are trash (except back in WRT54G age).

You say that the linksys WRT54G is good? That's a relief, because I've had one for years and now I have to keep unplugging it 2-3x's a day to reset the wireless. I must have it configured wrong, or is it just too outdated? I have 2 computers Wired, 2 Blu-Ray Wired, 1 computer wireless, and 4 smartphones WIFI. Is that too much?? HELP!

This seems to be the obvious starting point... http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/ipv6

I can't check the router from here, but I'm sure it's available on Luci as a package.

Also as an FYI, no other off the shelf router with stock firmware has CoDel. The research paper about the implementation was literally written months ago. They are still developing it as we speak, however, in current form it works pretty darn well. You probably won't see this on a consumer product for a very long time.

The original WRT54G got the ball rolling on the entire third party firmware movement. It was a pretty damn good router with third party firmware and a lot of people still run them today. Unfortunately mine went south years ago, and I've probably been through 5 or 6 devices since then. Yes, I have a problem. :D

Can the experts shed some light on this? I have two Linksys/Cisco E2000 flashed with DDWRT (bought from slickdeals of course) and they have been solid, no reboots for over a year. What would be the advantage with this router? Most of my equipment all run on 2.4 ghz, PS3, Roku 2, even the wifi card from various desktops and laptops, are there any advantage? Thanks for the opinion!!!

The E2000 w/ DDWRT is pretty rock solid, I have two of them set up at the SO's 'rents house. That being said, you obviously can't use 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz at the same time.

If you upgraded the main advantage would be 5Ghz and CoDel. If you don't have any 5Ghz devices, that would spoil that whole idea. I have my WDR3600 set up with two SSIDs, RANDOM-2.4G and RANDOM-5G. Any device that can get on the 5Ghz is forced to connect to it, basically alleviating traffic congestion on 2.4Ghz.

As for CoDel, it's mostly only an issue if you use VoIP, any video chat applications, or possibly gaming.

it's probably dying. you could try flashing tomato or dd-wrt on it. that may help.

I'm confused. From the what I read CoDel is useful if you have a lot of traffic. Does it help if you've only got a few clients? even with a good QOS setup?

Picked up 1 to replace my trusty aged WRT54G (v1.0) which had been rock solid for 10 years, about 3 of those with stock firmware, 3 with hyperwrt, and the last 4 with DDWRT (best of what could run on this unit). Video streaming was beginning to be a pain and required monthly restarts of the WRT54G.

Here's hoping I'll get 10yrs out of the TP-Link unit! time will tell..LOL

Even a single download can cause this situation and it will still help reduce latency even with QoS. Clients won't notice any difference unless you have something like Skype or VoIP going. I can't find it but some guy did a latency test for his setup, either WDR3600 or WDR4300, and got some very good results. Even with QoS he was at like 100ms and with CoDel it dropped to like 10ms.

Also no third-party firmware supports the HARDWARE NAT FEATURE on this router. So it's a trade-off in features.

Stock: Get Hardware NAT and inherent IPv6
Third-party: You don't get Hardware NAT(and never will as is a nightmare to code)... but you may get other features unlocked (Also voids warranty) not all support IPv6

Again... I would try stock before you decide to go with third-party most people will not see a performance increase with third-party firmware on this router and possibly an actual decrease in performance and headaches.

I only change things if I need to... KISS

Check forums about those wanting to go back to stock before you blindly assume third-party firmware is good for you.

buffer bloat = fear-mongering

(for most customers it's a non issue - unless you are an IT supervisor overseeing a college dorm, don't worry about it.)

well, at only $38 I might as well as get it and compare.
though I'm not sure if it's a wise idea to increase my army of routers.

I just read the link regard IPv6 that you gave. Is that written i english???? Common, unless you are an IT expert which most of us on here aren't, we wont have a clue on how to proceed. And there is a mention of obtaining IPv6 address from the ISP? Really?? Is there an easier way to do this?

You know what, I'm just going to update to the latest STOCK firmware first and see how it performs. I dont want to deal with the extra headache and research into using third party firmware and void the 2 years warranty as well. I flashed the classic wrt54gs with hyperWRT firmware years ago and didnt see much benefits since most of the extra features are useless to me anyway.

IPv6 needs to be implemented by you ISP...trust me you'll know when that happens. Most are still on IPv4.

US has plenty of IPv4 addresses ... other parts of the world are forced to IPv6... we will switch eventually.

I would still update to DD-WRT or OPEN-WRT at a minimum.

I am a dd-wrt fan boy since way back, the user interface is what I like the most. if you do need the added features, the menu is extremely well done and user friendly.

Why...have you even tried the stock firmware? Its menu is fine too.

This third party firmware craze sems a lot like those who still "Disable USB drives" before removing them in Windows 7... unnecessary.
TP-LINK actually tries to produce very good firmware unlike other *cough* vendors (Looking at you Linksys)

I too used DD-WRT on two different Linksys lower-end routers and there is no need to on this router and it opens yourself up to possible headaches and decreases in performance.

THIRD-PARTY firmware gained traction because so low end routers "Could be changed into a $400 router" and yes in some cases 3rd party improves performance... this router is a "high-end" router and comes with "high-end" stock firmware certified by TP-LINK.... just like the AC-66 by Asus. On higher end routers any potential gains you see are basically placebo effects. Again think and research before you blindly follow advice. Third party firmware will NEVER support hardware NAT which is a key feature of this router that makes you revert to slower software NAT.

but but but you won't get CoDel and you'll get bufferbloat...

It's personal preference. I use power adjustment and port routing, so I like dd-wrt.

Could you please tell me if I need to install the utilities available on TP-link's website? [tp-link.com] If so, is it like updating the firmware? I assume that you should first update the stock firmware to the latest version and then proceed to add the utility packages? Shouldn't these utility packages already come with the router without having to install them? Thanks.

In case it's not listed in a previous post, here's the most current DD-WRT build: ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/Brain...wdr3600v1/

Just install latest stock firmware and your done..easy. Mine was already latest.

As I said, only a serious concern with VoIP/Skype/Gaming/etc. We were having MAJOR skype issues where even a single download would screw it up.

While these are probably the most important applications, codel will still improve the responsiveness of web browsing when you have any large downloads going (or high bandwidth streaming).

Yep, available from Luci. Just search for ipv6 on the software installation screen.

My parents WRT54G quit working due to the AC adapter sending a noisy signal. A new AC adapter and all was good again. This was on Tomato FWIW.

A lot of traffic could mean a lot of different things, but yes, generally most helpful if you're pushing the limits of your connection in some way (large downloads, lots of streaming, etc.). If you don't, probably any router with a reliable signal will be fine.

Yes, this is true, but I think it's extreme to say it will *never* be supported. Hardware NAT may not be that important unless you have a VERY fast connection. The SoC (CPU) is one of the faster ones available today and is fast enough to handle pretty much any current broadband connection with software NAT. The vast majority of other routers out there are using software NAT as well. I'd say codel > hardware NAT, but everyone's requirements are different.

If you've set up a router before without utilities, you probably won't need these either. They just make things easier. No clue if they're included - I didn't even look at the included CD.

These are pretty extreme statements. Yes, stable stock firmware generally works well for the vast majority of people. In fact, Asus' firmware is a fork of Tomato, which was a fork of HyperWRT, which was a fork of Linksys GPL firmware from the WRT54G.

The problem is that a lot of stock firmwares aren't that stable or don't give all the options/features that some people want. For me, that was codel, better QOS in general, the ability to adjust transmit power, bandwidth monitoring, logging, a better interface, and a consistent interface/features/options when moving to different hardware. Other people have other needs, such as more complicated VLANs, multiple SSIDs, guest SSID, wireless bridging, use as a torrent downloader, file sharing, etc.

TP-Link's firmware is not bad, it just isn't fancy. Most importantly, it is stable. Most people will be perfectly happy with it. In fact, I would go as far as to say that if you don't know why you want 3rd party firmware, you probably don't need it. The exception being if you're router comes with unstable firmware and there is a stable replacement available.

With regards to hardware NAT, I wouldn't say it'll "NEVER" happen because Atheros has released the source code. However, the OpenWrt devs have determined that the code is too ugly and would be difficult to implement without a lot of hacks. That doesn't mean Atheros won't clean it up or that somebody won't try eventually. The information is out there and it is possible, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Most routers don't have hardware NAT anyway (do the ASUS routers?).

Everyone's needs are different. In the end, it's up to the individual to decide what they need and what they want (not always the same thing). There is no right or wrong.

Hmm now I'm not sure if I need CoDel and IPv6(US resident) or would the latest stock firmware will be able to handle my traffic which includes: 3 laptops, 3 desktops, 2 iPhones, 2 Touchpads, 1 iPad, 2 Android phones, 1 Wii and 1 Playstation. All of them are connecting to my Netgear wndr3500 wirelessly except for the Playstation. So the router choke at night during high traffic time when almost everyone is using the internet in some form or another. YouTube video streaming comes to a crawl in HD mode, Skype gets drop. Plus there are about 4-5 other competing router signals in my neighborhood that I can see using inSSIDer. Shit, maybe i should have spent 180 bucks for the ASUS N66U so it can handle all my traffic during peak time :lmao:

you don't need ipv6.

No router is magic!
It depends what your problem is and you may need to do some troubleshooting to figure that out.

Codel might help with Skype latency
QOS if not enabled would certainly help prioritize everything
A faster router (N66U) might help (doubtful) - note the N66U has a processor that is only 10% faster than the TP-Link mentioned here and 25% faster than your current router.
Going to the 5 GHz band might help if wireless interference on the 2.4GHz band is an issue (4-5 other routers, especially if on another channel, is not a big deal). You could test this by seeing if a wired device is impacted during these heavy activity periods. If you still have the problem wired, it's not a wireless interference issue.
Upgrading your connection speed (if that's an option)

IPV6 is almost certainly irrelevant for you and won't impact speed at all.

Tomato and/or DD-WRT might be available for your router. You could at least try out their QOS and see if that helps you. Tomato Toastman builds have pretty comprehensive QOS rules built-in by default, so I would start there. In addition, the bandwidth monitoring would let you see just how much of your available bandwidth you are using, which might help you figure out if the bottleneck is your internet connection.

Would someone please enlighten and educate us IT-ignorant members regarding what exactly is hardware NAT and why it is better than software NAT? Also, if you flash with a third party firmware and loose the hardware NAT feature and then re-flash it back to the stock firmware, wouldn't you get back the hardware NAT feature? Or is it the case that once its gone, its gone forever unless someone puts that feature in the third party firmware.

to a normal user there is no difference.

and dd-wrt and tomato will run on your existing router

You probably would not notice the difference. It lowers the CPU load on your router, but unless you're doing something else intensive on the router (torrents maybe?) or have a VERY fast connection with a lot of users (think a medium to large business), you won't notice the difference.

And yes, you do get it back if you flash back to stock.

:iagree:


Very well stated... I just wanted to get out there that you don't "Have to" ALWAYS GO third-party firmware in EVERY SINGLE CASE like most of these router threads claim.

People think its third-party firmware a miracle worker and a MUST... IT CERTAINLY ISN'T

Like you say OVERALL STABILITY is key. You are lucky this router has decent stock firmware as an option..some don't.