In modern homes, there are already a lot of different devices that require an Internet connection. For example, along with a banal set of several computers, smartphones and, possibly, a tablet, game consoles, TVs or set-top boxes for them, alarms, various IoT devices and other gadgets are additionally connected to the Network. There may also be speakers, a drive and, say, a printer on this local network. For this whole set of devices, it’s not enough to just have a router, because in addition to covering the room with a Wi-Fi network, it will need to cope with the influx of all these devices and provide them with comfortable access to the Internet or interaction with each other. In a similar case, TP-Link has older models, and today we are getting acquainted with the TP-Link Archer C4000.

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TP-Link Archer C4000 Package Contents

Those who have been following devices in this category for a long time will recognize the design. The kit together with the Archer C4000 differs from the previous models only in a more modest power supply. Otherwise, even the packaging of the device is the same as the rest of the company’s routers.

If the user upgrades from simpler TP-Link models, the setup procedure will be as familiar as possible, because the appearance of the administrative panel and the mobile application here is exactly the same as that of other manufacturer’s routers, except that there are correspondingly more opportunities. For all other users, there will be no “dark forest” here, everything is very simple and accessible in the settings.

Design and Usability

Appearance of new TP-Link models  can completely repeat already existing devices. So it happened with the C4000. Before that, we had models C3200 and C5400 , which even three years ago were almost identical (except that the C5400 has 8 antennas, not 6, and it is larger).

Like the C3200, today’s guest has 200×200×39 mm case dimensions. Such a router needs to find a place, or there is an option to install it on the wall. But it will still look massive. The device is made of the same black matte plastic, which is very practical compared to cheaper Archers, which are completely glossy.

A rather unusual moment is still the folding antennas, which, when folded, hide in the top cover. They have fixed positions and they open at most a little more than 90 ° and do not turn in any way. Taking into account the rest of the design of the case, the router still looks quite strict, especially against the background of the new Mesh systems, which fit more easily into the home environment and can be completely invisible among other things.

The set of connectors also remained unchanged, where there is USB 3.0, a WAN port, four LAN ports, USB 2.0, reset and power buttons, and a power connector. All this is placed at the back, and on the front side there are blue diodes for the status of networks and connections, as well as three buttons for turning on Wi-Fi, activating WPS and turning off the indicators.

Of course, I would like to somehow refresh the appearance of the structure, because it really cannot be distinguished from the previous model, and for some apartments it can become a black spot that will have to be hidden somewhere, and not just installed in any convenient place. Fortunately, this practically does not affect the possibilities.

Functionality TP-Link Archer C4000

When there are a large number of devices at home, the quality of which can directly depend on the speed and stability of the network connection, a simple router may not be enough. For example, the non-trivial task of streaming video from a computer to a TV can ruin the evening if the router’s performance is not enough. It is for this case that there are higher-class routers that should not fail under high load.

So, TP-Link Archer C4000 supports three bands, creating one network at 2.4 GHz, and two at 5 GHz. At the same time, the speed is also declared rather big – 750 and 1625 Mbps each in accordance with the ranges. For greater convenience, with the help of SmartConnect, the user can see one network, and the router will figure out the distribution of connected clients over suitable ranges (but I’m sure that more advanced owners will choose which network to connect their gadgets to). Naturally, there is also support for MU-MIMO, Beamforming, Airtime Fairness, RangeBoost and NitroQAM.

There are 4 gigabit ports for wired connection. Unlike basic devices, there is support for Link Aggregation technology, which will be useful for NAS owners.

The general view of the administrative panel and the TP-Link Tether application did not change. In addition to network settings, here you can find guest networks, connected drives settings (there is Time Machine support for Apple computers), parental control profiles, QoS, security features from Trend Micro, VPN, and more. Automation enthusiasts may be interested in connecting to Amazon Alexa and IFTTT services.

The mobile application, as before, is not as functional as the classic “admin panel” in the browser, but it has the basic settings, as well as control of connected devices.

Thus, the TP-Link Archer C4000 took its place in the middle of the already mentioned routers of the same line, in which the main difference was the bandwidth, because all other features of these models are globally no different.

In work

The router was tested in the home environment of a small apartment with a couple of rooms. Such a room, of course, is not a very difficult task for such a device. But even with this in mind, you should not expect the declared speed of more than one and a half gigabits in Wi-Fi, because there are so many factors that will ultimately affect the connectivity.

Let’s start with simple indicators. A 100-megabit connection from the provider, even in the 2.4 GHz band, was available at almost maximum speed throughout the apartment (routers usually rarely show such numbers in this range). There were a couple of Mbps more in 5 GHz band networks. With weaker routers in remote locations, you can see a loss of 20-60% of speed, while with TP-Link Archer C4000 everything is better, it practically does not lose power.

Client-to-client speed testing was done using an Acer Swift 7 ultrabook and a ROG Zephyrus G gaming laptop. In real conditions, it is precisely such clients that such a router will meet. In the 2.4 GHz band, between them exclusively via Wi-Fi, one could see quite modest 35-40 Mbps, while leaving one of them connected via Lan, the speed rose to more interesting 100-110 Mbps.

In both 5 GHz networks, the results of the measurements were expectedly similar. So, when both clients are not “attached” to the router, depending on the remoteness of the laptops from the point, the speed can be 140-200 Mbps. By connecting one of the clients to Ethernet, the speed increased to 300 Mbps in remote places, and up to 500-550 in closer ones.

The speed of the wired connection corresponds to the declared.

During the use of the Archer C4000, at home with a 100-megabit connection and a rather modest set of gadgets (2-3 smartphones, up to four computers, an Apple TV and a couple of “smart” devices), there was no such task that was difficult for the router. Of course, it all depends on the specific case, but for small apartments or houses that have a standard set of gadgets, entertainment devices and often have guests, such a router should obviously be more than enough.