TP-Link AC1200 Archer A6 v3.0 or 2.0

[drshreenivaas]

Hi friends, I a getting BSNL FTTH connection tomorrow and I am in market for a decent router. Till now I had ADSL connection and don't have any prior experience with FTTH. I am getting UTSTARCOM ONT 4842W-I modem with installation and have had shortlisted TP-Link AC1200 Archer C6 and A6 routers by skimming through this forum.
Right now, I am getting TP-Link A6 v2.0 for Rs. 2040 on Flipkart and A6 v3.0 for Rs. 2249 on Amazon. I have placed order for both as I don't know which will be better.
As per info available on net, v2.0 has a internal antenna which v3.0 lacks resulting in little bit drop in range.
v3.0 comes with dual core Mediatek processor, whereas v2.0 comes with single core QUALCOMM processor. Also v3.0 comes with DDR3 RAM instead of DDR2. This results in faster boot, better memory management, less heating and less reboots.
v3.0 also comes with Airtime Fairness feature which according to TP-Link website, Improves network efficiency by limiting excessive occupation.
I want to know if anybody has used both routers in real life and if possible, has compared them?
Plz help me as my both orders will be delivered in three days and I have to cancel one of them, but I don't know which one.
Thanks in advance.

 

[drshreenivaas]

@razpor, no, I am not tech savvy enough to configure it in bridge mode.

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[razpor]

@drshreenivaas thanks for your reply.
one last question,does this router have a wireless repeater/extender mode/WDS bridging or only wired ??

 

[drshreenivaas]

@razpor, no, it doesn't have a wireless repeater/extender mode.
PS - Dynamic IP, Static IP, PPPoE, L2TP, PPTP are the modes listed.

 

[razpor]

@drshreenivaas thanks for the help.
i got the router and have been using it for a few days now.
The 2.4 g range is pretty good ,even with 1 tower it gives impressive speeds.
However i have been really disappointed with 5g range which doesnt even reach the area exactly above the router,a floor above,unlike what this guy says in this review. @ 4:05

Source


either he is lying or my unit is bad ,cause i get no 5g range floor ,above.

what has been your experience with 5 g range ,does it reach the floor above?

 

[drshreenivaas]

No, 5G range doesn't cross a floor. That's why, I got another router for a ground floor interconnected with LAN cable. 2G coverage is great and speed is also good for me. I use 60 MBPS BSNL Fibre connection.

 

[razpor]

@drshreenivaas yeah 2g coverage is really great , especially for the price.
However one thing i noticed is over distance download speeds decrease much more drastically compared to upload speed. which is not ideal.
i still get around 80-90 mbps upload speed in farther room but upload speed drops to around 30-50 mbps.
Whats your experience?

 

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[shashankb]

That is because Upload is performed by your Mobile's wifi chip and download operation is performed by your Router's chip. If you have a good phone , its upload will be good

 

[igloo]

I think thats because wireless is shared medium. Other network comes in ploy over a long distance. And most are dling so dl speed are affected as freq is divided equally between up n down.

 

[razpor]

@shashankb @igloo
thanks for your insight.
That does make sense.
However even in close range download hovers between 60-100 ,never reaches 120 that i usually get over wired ,upload is exactly like the wired even on wifi,even over medium range.
From all the reviews ,this router should be doing better.
Maybe a faulty part?? thats doesnt make sense , everything else seems to be in order.

One thing i can think of is that i am not dialing from this router,i am using it as access point ,the modem is the one connected to the device on other end ,over a netplus connection setup as ipos/dynamic ip

 

[drshreenivaas]

@razpor, My download and upload speeds are as promised by BSNL in vicinity of router. speeds tend to decrease once you cross the room, but not to the extent as compared to TP-Link a6. I am also using auto-configuration mode with Netlink modem as access point.
Make sure that router is attached to gigabit port. i was facing problem with modem supplied by BSNL, hence bought netlink one from their site.