UPDATE 2/7/17 - Still lovin' it. Just an exceptional, solid router that just plain works. Range is amazing, and it just delivers with a fairly complicated setup (again, I have Fire sticks, half a dozen tablets, multiple wireless desktops upstairs and downstairs, PlayStations, multiple IP cameras including one outdoors about 100 feet away from the router, you get the picture). THE ONE HANGUP I had was that it didn't have a dedicated WPS button; well, I was just flat out wrong. There IS a tiny WPS button on the backside right next to the base of an antenna next to the LAN ports. I'm used to seeing the button on the front of routers, and it is so small I just didn't see it on the back, and there was no mention in the basic documentation (but a helpful Amazon user found more info on the TP-Link website and let me know - thanks for that and thanks for reading my review!).
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I recently gave Uverse the boot, and went back with Time Warner (now Spectrum). Uverse forced me to use their lousy router (replaced 5 times - don't even get me started - horrible couple of years). I also had a router that was about 5 years old (Cisco / Linksys), and so I figured I would be good to go. Well, performance of my IP cameras, laptops, and Amazon Fire Stick were not so great with my new setup. I figured it was Time Warner's fault, but decided to take a gamble and just flat-out replace my router.
So I arrived on the TP-Link AC1200 due to the low price but high performance specs. And I have to say I am blown away with the performance. I have been running it for over a month, and not ONCE have I had a hiccup where I needed to reboot the router. I have now been able to easily do port forwarding for my IP cameras, and connect as many devices as I want, with zero issues. Even my Fire Stick now performs like a champ (almost zero hesitation, even running wirelessly in a bedroom about 50 feet from the router). The range is excellent, signal strength excellent, reliability excellent, and I'm thrilled.
My ONLY complaint is that much to my surprise (and maybe because I still have a mindset and skillset more relevant to 2010?!?), there is not a dedicated WPS connection button. All of my IP cameras use WPS to connect, and so each time I had to open up a browser window, log into the router, and go to the advanced settings in the wireless screen to temporarily enable WPS. Not a show stopper because I rarely need this function, but it is a pain to have to go through those steps. Who knows, maybe that is a "security feature", but for me it is just a little extra trouble.
Regardless, the incredible performance and stability of this unit has made it WELL WORTH the upgrade over my previous router which on paper still "should" have been good enough for my needs. Very highly recommended!
| RAM | 16 GB |
|---|---|
| Wireless Type | 802.11ac |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 2 |
