TP Link AC 1900 Touch P5 Router

[#1]

I've been looking at VR200 and comparing it to the VR900, as you say, apart from the Wifi speed it seems to be similar to the VR900.
The difference in cost is a substantial saving as well.  Looks like a good buy and gets fairly good reviews.
If anyone is using this router with plusnet I would appreciate any comments, good or bad.

[#2]

Quote

The difference in cost is a substantial saving as well

Fortunately for me, cost isn't an issue!!

[#3]

Quote from: tijara33

Why not buy the excellent TP-LINK Archer VR 900 AC? It does everything you want at £125.12 & comes highly recommended by 1 of the senior PN staff members!! https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18606945&page=93

Im having issues with the Modem intermittently losing sync (internet dropouts) & delays in re-establishing a connection with the VR900, im on my 3rd & had the same issue with all three, im currently in discussion with their tech support & trying out some beta firmware at present, you can check reviews on Amazon & other places, its not an isolated incident, whether it specific to fibre via Plusnet i can't say, just be warned.
Its on par with the early issues faced with the Asus DSL-AC68U (high error rates causing DLM to kick in) that i think has only just been resolved with a recent firmware update https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18606945&page=88 Its suspected that the issues are down to the type of fibre connection you have, if your fibre VDSL2 is set to fastpath & G.INP capable then the Asus dsl68U will likely be stable, generally those without G.INP, such as those unlucky enough to be on ECI DSLAM's at the cabinet will find it to be unstable with their VDSL2 service
Regarding TP-Link VR1900
"Hi Bionic,
Apologies for the problems caused to you by the TP-Link product.
We have already forwarded this case to our HQ and they are looking further into it.
We have received the similar feedback from other customers as well, regarding the VDSL Dropouts and Modem unable to synchronise again.
Would it be possible for you to provide me with the System Log files for the router, when it experiences dropouts and I will forward it to our HQ for further analysis. This will help us to get a more clearer picture of the issue.
Please Do keep me updated."
Melvit Cardozo
Technical support engineer
TP-Link UK Ltd.
Email: Melvit.Cardozo@tp-link.com
Website: http://uk.tp-link.com/

[#4]

Quote from: MisterW

Has anyone looked at the VR200 http://www.tplink.com/be/products/details/?model=Archer+VR200#spec £76 as opposed to £126 and from what I can see the only difference is AC750 Wifi rather than AC1900...

TP-Link VR900 has a Broadcom chipset (same as BT HG612 modem, said to be better especially if your cabinet is Broadcom also) vs VR200 Lantiq chipset
If i was buying again id try the Netgear D7000 which also has a Broadcom chipset 

[#5]

Hi
Received the router today and must set up was so easy and I have noticed a massive increase in speed on the Wi-Fi.
Average download speed on my laptop with the PlusNet router was 1.82 MB/s and with the TP Link 7.87 MB/s
Ivan

[#6]

Would be good to know if you suffer any internet disconnections / modem sync issues as i do with the VR900, to help pinpoint one set up a Think Broadband Monitor, it will turn red when the disconnection happens, you can cross reference the time it happens by looking in the routers log files, since drops can be missed if your not online http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping
You will need to enable ICMP Ping: Remote & Local in Advanced > System Tools > Administration in the Routers interface for the graph to work
dick:quote

[#7]

Quote from: swinburneivan

Average download speed on my laptop with the PlusNet router was 1.82 MB/s and with the TP Link 7.87 MB/s

Is that using the 5G band rather than 2G on PN router?

[#8]

Hi
I am very much a newbie (and an old one at that) with this type of thing and pings/latency/2gz/5g etc mean nothing to me at all.

I was very disappointed with the speed on the plusnet router which was installed by the BT engineere and someone at work suggested replacing it with a new one which is why I came here for advice which is very much appreciated.
I have no idea as to if it was set on 2g or 5g but all I know is that my downloads on the laptop are much faster and now I don't suffer from loads of drop outs when facetiming the grandchildren on the ipad.
I will have a look at setting up the monitor but fear that it may be a bit complicated for an old timer like me who just wants plug and play.
Ivan

[#9]

New forthcoming router in the new year is the Billion Bipac 8900-AX http://www.billion.com/Communication/xDSL%20Wireless%20AP%20Series/BiPAC%208900AX-2400
Features look good & it has 4 aerials for better wifi transmission plus a Broadcom chipset but i suspect it won't be cheap, about £180 i think

[#10]

Quote

plus a Broadcom chipset but i suspect it won't be cheap, about £180 i think

£170.00 I've been told, Broadbandbuyer should have the first supplies.

[#11]

I may get that if Box (not the easiest company to deal with check T&Cs) will give me a refund but ill wait until it gets cheaper as Broadband Buyer charges more than others to buy routers. I only have 30 days to return the TP-Link & im long over that now (11th Dec), i did email them on that day asking to return it but didn't get a reply back for a week (holiday period further delayed it). They then told me to do a return online which i tried but got an error message, probably because the date has expired on the invoice. Also there is always the risk with them that they could charge me a £20 handling fee if their technician doesn't find a fault, plus they wouldn't refund me the £7 postage costs for the last two returns because they had emailed me a collect+ label which i couldn't print out as i don't have a printer, so got shafted there.
So far i have not made any progress with TP-Link, they have me running a DSL Diagnostics debug tool to log my connection for any drops, which means having to connect the desktop by ethernet cable & set up a PPPOE connection to the modem from within Windows & not the router, so i have to leave the computer switched on until there is a drop. A real pain as this means its costing me electricity to keep it on & no other mobile or tablet devices can connect to the internet with that configuration. I sent them one test result where there appeared to be a drop (i was not online at the time), my Think Broadband Monitor turned red & my IP Address changed, indicating a disconnection but having sent them the log file for the test they couldn't find a drop, further more they requested two more samples. Its a lot of hassle from my side & i have been more than patient trying to help them fix it but there comes a point when enough is enough, easier to just send it back.
On top of that DLM has capped my line from turning off / on / swapping out the modem one too many times & its possible there is now a fault developing on my line which complicates the issue even further (see graph for red spikes in packet loss)
mav:quote

[#12]

Like you shylok I'll wait a while for a price drop & availability from Amazon. I also want to see a few user reports before I take such a big step. At the moment my trusty Asus RT-N56U conected to my old ECI modem is providing steady, if unspectacular speeds. Touch wood it does maintain a reliable connection.

[#13]

Broadband Buyer have it priced at £232  so won't be buying that any time soon
Billion Bipac 8900-AX
https://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/products/25004-billion-bipac-8900ax-2400/

[#14]

Yesterday I bought a TP-LINK VR900 AC1900 for £89.99 in an Amazon lightning deal, it should be a good compromise. 

[#15]

Great price, good luck, let us know if you experience dropouts, i sent mine back on Friday, not heard nothing from TP Link support for 2 weeks, was hoping for a firmware update, so it looks like ill be trying the Netgear D7000 router next