[REVIEW] TP-Link TL-WDR7500 / Archer C7

Swiftbladez

Master Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Messages
4,383
Reaction score
10
Unboxing and video review:


Full written review: TP-Link TL-WDR7500 Wireless AC Router Review | Swift World

Summary:

One of the best value for money Wireless AC routers out there. The software/firmware is a little bit buggy but this can and should be fixed with updates in time. Performance isn't outstanding but is average enough to justify its great budget value.

A quick benchmark:
Location A
Wireless AC 5 GHz
DL: 369.29 mbps
UL: 174.69 mbps

Wireless N 2.4GHz
DL: 95.05 mbps
UL: 78.79 mbps

Location B
Wireless AC 5 GHz
DL: 186.68 mbps
UL: 120.19 mbps

Wireless N 2.4GHz
DL: 73.94 mbps
UL: 66.51 mbps

Location A: 2m in clear sight.
Location B: connecting client is a floor directly above router. Concrete ceiling and wooden tiled floor inbetween. Roughly 6m.
 

liangtam

High Supremacy Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Messages
38,771
Reaction score
85
Why the box design so different from TP-Link green or blue packaging?
Looks like some 山寨版 product.
 

richneo

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
17,463
Reaction score
1
A quick benchmark:
Location A
Wireless AC 5 GHz
DL: 369.29 mbps
UL: 174.69 mbps

Wireless N 2.4GHz
DL: 95.05 mbps
UL: 78.79 mbps

Location B
Wireless AC 5 GHz
DL: 186.68 mbps
UL: 120.19 mbps

Wireless N 2.4GHz
DL: 73.94 mbps
UL: 66.51 mbps

Location A: 2m in clear sight.
Location B: connecting client is a floor directly above router. Concrete ceiling and wooden tiled floor inbetween. Roughly 6m.

can show pic and share what tools you used to measure?
 

Swiftbladez

Master Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Messages
4,383
Reaction score
10
its in the full written review but alright then:

I bought two of these routers, one of which will act as the router itself and the other as a connecting client (using wireless bridge mode). Think of the second one as if it were a wireless USB stick or say an internal PCI Wireless card. This is done mainly to test the Wireless AC performance of the router. Now there are two test locations. Location A will be when the routers are roughly 2m apart in clear sight. Location B will be when the client is roughly 6m directly above the router, separated by a concrete ceiling and wooden tiled floor (think a two-story house with the router being on the first floor). There are other wireless routers within the neighboring region so results will be geared more towards a “real world” performance. Tools used are my home sever connected to the router, my computer connected to the bridged router and lastly the application LAN Speed Test that provides the numbers.

TLDR: Two TL-WDR7500. One connecting to my computer, the other acting as the router with my NAS connected to it. Ran LAN Speed test for the results.
 

richneo

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
17,463
Reaction score
1
Can post screen shot of the speed obtained with "LAN speed test"?
 

Swiftbladez

Master Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Messages
4,383
Reaction score
10
Can post screen shot of the speed obtained with "LAN speed test"?

its the lite version: LAN Speed Test

Unfortunately I do not have any screenshots of the program with the results as I simply recorded the results in an excel spreadsheet.

Unless someone can figure out if its possible to bridge 5GHz Wireless N using the router, don't plan on setting up the second router just for that though. :o
 

S750WP

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2005
Messages
668
Reaction score
0
Got the TPlink router, WDR7500 V3, the packaging was huge and the shipping cost from China is almost half the cost of router RMB150.

The router UI is Chinese (not good for those whom do not understand Chinese) but the instructions is very clear to setup. As I dont use the VOIP service the router works fine for me.

Coverage and wifi strength is far superior to the SH Dlink router( 8Mbps vs 180Mbps). At RMB460 inclusive of shipping it is the best value Wireless 11AC router.
 
Last edited:

tuntun

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
726
Reaction score
17
Got the TPlink router, WDR7500 V3, the packaging was huge and the shipping cost from China is almost half the cost of router RMB150.

The router UI is Chinese (not good for those whom do not understand Chinese) but the instructions is very clear to setup. As I dont use the VOIP service the router works fine for me.

Coverage and wifi strength is far superior to the SH Dlink router( 8Mbps vs 180Mbps). At RMB460 inclusive of shipping it is the best value Wireless 11AC router.

Have you tried english interface conversion?
 

S750WP

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2005
Messages
668
Reaction score
0
I do not have issue as I can read and understand Chinese. User can also refer to international version Archer C7 manual for English instruction for parameters settings.

The V3 HW and FW so far has been working good for me, I have not encounter drop connection issues as feedback from V2 owners, so far it has been stable at both frequency. However I am not gamer use mostly for video streaming and some simple games for kids with apple and android handheld.
 
Last edited:

S750WP

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2005
Messages
668
Reaction score
0
ISP: Starhub 300Mbps
Wireless router: TP -Link WDR7500 / Dlink DVG-N5402SP (Living Room)
Wireless Client: Sony Xperia Z2 (Bedroom)
Distance: 5 meters

WDR7500 5Ghz Speed Test
Screenshot_2014-08-21-16-53-52.png


WDR7500 2.4Ghz Speed Test (disregard result 13 Aug from old SH router)
Screenshot_2014-08-21-16-54-12.png


Starhub Dlink DVG-N5402SP
Screenshot_2014-08-21-16-54-30.png
 
Last edited:

nanoprobe

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2011
Messages
687
Reaction score
0
Just picked this up from Taobao via a fren.
Initial tests shows it beats previous AC1750 router by a little in terms of throughput. Nice and cheap device, half or 1/3 the price popular routers.

Since no warranty outside China, any rec of stable 3rd party firmware? Keen on trying to set it up as a bridge.
 

Philz

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2001
Messages
530
Reaction score
0
Very tempted to buy this router from taobao, is the preloaded firmware stable and can work with M1? Any problem of needing to reboot the router every now and then?
Currently using the Asus N56U router, will this router (WDR7500) wifi coverage be a lot more?
Advise?
 
Last edited:

nemesisz

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2000
Messages
279
Reaction score
0
Just to add:

DO NOT BOTHER flashing to Archer C7.
This model is actually Archer C7R. But its only available in China.
There are 6 antenna instead 3 and the firmware is far better than the original C7 firmware.

BTW, Archer C7 and C8 has been rated the most stable router by Wirecutter after 200+ hours of test... So I would say its a worthy buy.
(In fact I am getting... shipping on the way)
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-router/
 

nemesisz

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2000
Messages
279
Reaction score
0
My Archer C7R aka TL-WDR7500 is here and set up for about 2 weeks. The setup is striaght forward, there are now v1.0 - v5.0. Mine happen to be v4.0 and no firmware upgrade is required so far.

The reason why I even bothered to buy this since I already have blackknight aka asus ac87u is that that is too HOT. And this TP-Link is going to be the first router right at the door next to the ONT as the first router. I want 2 things. Cool, very very stable requiring almost no reboot. EVER. And If have to, by remote login. Because my power is conceived and blocked by shoe rack etc. Bad house design, but maximizing space. I had even bought a router shelf. Anyone interested, reply and I can share some photo. Its pretty cheap ($6 or less) and quite pretty.

Anyway, after I re-wired the existing phone cable to cat 6 (not really rewiring actually, just DIY change all the connectors), I need to have a first level router and this AC7R ends up inside. Door closed, and trapped by my shoe rack and a lot of things. The result?

I can get full bar at the lift (not really sure if that is even a good thing) and I can get some bar from 10 over floors down at the shelter. (Again as above). So the wireless is definitely uber. Maybe even more uber than my black knight (only 3 antenna and I suspect they likely cheated since all 3 antenna could be for 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz only and not both.)

Stable or not? It has been more than 2 weeks and I havent even login. So kinda reach my goal of not rebooting. And I had been home, played FPS, RTS, Action MMORPG. Download all sort of crap using torrent (Linux image ok... don't want to comment further :p) and also I got legit Microsoft sub, so BITS a lot and not to mentioned Windows 10 upgrade over the last whole week. I watch and stream my movies from my NAS, internet. I got legit netflix and pandora via VPN too. And I also watch taiwan and japan live channels during dinner. So that is stability.

Some of you might want to ask how I put the ONT and the router inside the stupid door when there is only 1 powerpoint. I "pasted" a extension cord inside for 4 or 5 power points inside so that next time, I dunno what else I might want to put in. And just to be fair, all my cables are Cat6, some are Cat7. Just in case people complain so theirs like cannot make it and it because of the router.

Lastly hor, dun say I sell medcine for TP-Link. A good product is worth commenting. I also did slam TP-Link last time when their firmware got so many holes that almost any TP-Link fall into my hand sure can get admin/root access one. But at least now getting better. (Or maybe harder to find bugs, I dunno). TP-Link also damn worth your $ because its likely only 50% or less compare to Netgear nighthawk or Asus $400 router. So I say if it works well enough, save yourself some $$ to pay for subscriptions to vpn or netflix better.

Just my very long 2 cents.
 

Ah-Pin-Kor

Great Supremacy Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
Messages
54,433
Reaction score
1,334
My Archer C7R aka TL-WDR7500 ....

I can get full bar at the lift (not really sure if that is even a good thing) and I can get some bar from 10 over floors down at the shelter. (Again as above). So the wireless is definitely uber. Maybe even more uber than my black knight (only 3 antenna and I suspect they likely cheated since all 3 antenna could be for 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz only and not both.)
If you can get signal from 10 floors away, even 1 bar, moi is sold. What phone/device you were using, btw?

Also, what's the damage?
 
Important Forum Advisory Note
This forum is moderated by volunteer moderators who will react only to members' feedback on posts. Moderators are not employees or representatives of HWZ. Forum members and moderators are responsible for their own posts.

Please refer to our Community Guidelines and Standards, Terms of Service and Member T&Cs for more information.
Top