Top positive review
15 people found this helpful
TP-Link Archer C9 AC1900 router + Centurylink fiber optic internet = awesome!
By 2q2 on Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2018
This review has a specific purpose: if you have fiber internet, especially Centurylink, I explain how you can set it up with this router and start loving life again. If that’s not you, then you probably don’t need to bother reading this. Backstory: I have Centurylink fiber optic that is supposed to be 40 Mbps, but I almost never got that much; often it was below 3 or even below 1. I tweaked router settings and often rebooted it, but no help. I just thought high traffic on the line was a fact of life. Centurylink set me up with a C2000T and said very few modem/routers work with fiber, so I should use their set up. Wrong. The C2000T is junk, and you can actually use almost any router with fiber. But setting it up isn’t easy, and neither the people at Centurylink nor TP-Link could help me figure it out, and a how-to for this router was nowhere I could find on the internet. So I will walk you through it in this review in the hopes that I can help out at least one other person avoid the headache I went through to get the speed I was paying for. Btw: this TP-Link Archer C9 is awesome: it is better than the Netgear A1750 and it is cheaper and at least as good as the Netgear A1900. This router always gives me 40 meg service—I’m guessing it will perform just as well at 100 or higher, and it rocks: I can have four kids playing Fortnite on it at the same time as we have several other devices streaming, no problem. So if you are annoyed with the performance you are getting with your fiber or with a C2000T, get this router and follow the directions below. Sorry this explanation is long: it is non-trivial to get this set up if you don’t know how, and people will tell you it won’t work. It doesn’t take technical knowledge but it can be hard to get the exact settings. So here’s the explanation presuming no technical knowledge. The fiber line comes into your house and goes into a box called an ONT. An ethernet line comes out of that going to your C2000T modem/router (the thing with antennas). My ONT actually has “C2000T” printed on it, which is very confusing, because the ONT is not a C2000T modem/router. The ONT has no antennas on it. The ONT is also not a modem; fiber needs no modem. You will run the ethernet cable straight from the ONT to the Archer C9. I’ve read some recommendations that say you should use bridge mode and go from the C2000T to the Archer C9. No, do not do that. Do not use bridge mode at all and you do not go through the C2000T (the thing with the antennas on it). Of course, you DO need to go through the ONT (which mine as I said had “C2000T” printed on it, so don’t let that throw you; maybe yours doesn’t). You also do NOT need a switch or a managed switched with the Archer C9. So first unplug power from your ONT and your C2000T. Second, unplug the ethernet cable from the back of the C2000T. Do NOT unplug the fiber line from the ONT! Send the C2000T back to Centurylink if you’re renting it. Now follow the Archer C9 set up directions, which I’ll repeat quickly: plug the ONT back in and let it fully cycle on; it takes a few minutes. Then plug the ethernet line from the ONT into the Archer C9 in the port colored blue and called “internet”; plug in the power for the C9 and turn it on. It takes a while for it to fully cycle on; eventually the first three lights should be blue, but the internet light will be orange, since it isn’t getting internet yet. Still following the C9 setup guide: If you are fully wireless, then you go to your computer and check your wifi/network; find the two network name SSIDs printed on the back of the C9: TP-LINK_something. I used the 5G one. Once you are connected, open a web browser and go to tplinkwifi.net or 192.etc. Enter your email and set up an admin password and note it somewhere. You will then need a smartphone or some other internet service to access your email to verify before you can get logged in. (If you don’t have phone service, hook the C2000T back up and verify the email, then work through the steps again to get here.) After verifying email, you can log in, follow the setup quick guide software via your web browser. That’s where the C9 guide says “enjoy the internet”, but not for you: the quick setup will fail; over and over again. Here’s where I can help: I’ll walk you through how to do the quick set up to get it working. Step 1: pick your time zone. Step 2: Select your connection type. Don’t use Dynamic IP like it recommends. Click PPPoE. Before clicking Next, you have to click the dropdown arrow for Additional ISP Settings. Then under ISP Profile, scroll all the way to the bottom and click Custom. Now you have to fill some boxes: set Internet VLAN to 201, and check the box that says 802.1Q Tag, and leave Internet VLAN Priority at 0. Now, I don’t have phone or TV through Centurylink, but if you do you’ll need to ask them what numbers to put in the next two boxes. The trouble is that the C9 requires you enter numbers for them, and no one at Centurylink or TP-Link could tell me what to put in them, so I did this: Put 202 in for IP-Phone VLAND ID and put 203 in for IPTV VLAN ID. Leave their priority numbers also at 0 and do not check the box for Enable IPTV Multicast VLAN (unless that applies to you). I left LAN 1-4 on internet, though you might need to change some. Now you’re ready to click next, and then you get to where you enter your PPPoE info. You need a username and pw from Centurylink. You might have got those when you signed up, or just call their customer service line (877-837-5738). Chose option 5 and then 2 for slow internet, and that gets you to a rep who can give you the PPPoE info. When you enter the username, you need to put @centurylink.net at the end; the person forgot to tell me that. Then click next and you can finally set up your networks: chose names and passwords. I kept the 5Ghz as my old network and pw so I didn’t have to reset every device in my house. Now you can finally click through to finish and you’re done! Fast internet for good and no more C2000T. Hope this helps someone else out. (Troubleshooting: If you did everything exactly as I said and it didn't work, try VLAN at 3112.)
Top critical review
3 people found this helpful
Good product, Bad Customer Service *Revised*
By Nersciple on Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2016
I don't normally write reviews but felt the urge to warn people. I bought this product a little over a year ago and never really had any issues with its performance. I've had to reset it a handful of time, but that's nothing abnormal in consumer electronics. A little background from me. I've always liked TP-Link products. They just seemed to work and at the time their products were better than other brands I had messed with in the past...yeah I'm looking at you Linksys. And so the last couple of routers, modems and external adapters have all been TP-Link. So why the bad review? This router quit working all of a sudden. It happens, electronics aren't supposed to last forever but the silver lining is this router comes with a 2 year warranty...or so they say. I ended up calling TP-Link's customer service and was immediately met with someone with a thick accent. I have nothing against anyone but it took the two of us 20 minutes just to get my Serial Number and my email address. I felt a little bad for her because our conversation was definitely tiresome but good on her for remaining patient. So after she obtained my email we communicated through that means instead of the phone call. She got all my information and within an hour I had my RMA. Well, that's pretty much as far as I've gotten. I've emailed them several times. Called only to get a voicemail to which I've not received a call back. I've done everything in my power to get in touch with them and it feels like I'm beating my head against a wall. So, do yourself a favor and consider the customer service as part of the overall product. I'm also not alone, if you google "TP-Link customer service reviews" you'll find a good many people that echo my frustration. If I eventually hear back from them and get my router replaced then I'll update this review but to be honest I'm doubting that outcome and will definitely go with another brand. I would give the product a 4 out of 5 stars because when it worked it worked and so have their other products in the past but customer service has dropped the ball in an amazingly bad way that just the thought of dealing with their customer service again fills me with rage. ***Update*** As promised I'm back to update my original review. Today I was greeted with a UPS box at my front door. Surprisingly it was from TP-Link. The company sent me what seems to be a new replacement. The reason I was so surprised is that I never officially paid for the Advance RMA service. Is this to make amends for the poor service from before? I checked to see the date at which the box was sent and it was essentially a day or two after my negative review posted. So, I have revised the number of stars given, to 3, to accommodate for the replacement. As I said before, I've always liked TP-Link's products and was very understanding when my router died. I just wasn't happy with the service I was given from tech support or really lack of service. I'm happy I was sent a replacement but am a little concerned with their lack of communication. I wasn't aware they sent me a replacement and never received anything from the company that wasn't an auto-response from me contacting them. I still think TP-Link the company needs to work on how they communicate with the consumer. They already have the products that I believe are top notch but until they can remove the barrier between them and the people they sell products to then I still see my business going somewhere else. Hopefully I can put this migraine of a situation behind me and will cross my fingers the next time I need to contact customer or tech support from this company in the hope that things will have gotten better, cause next time will be the last time if they haven't. ****Update***** Just got an email from TP-Link. Apparently everything regarding customers is left all internally. My replacement router was not a freebie but from my original RMA that they didn't bother to keep me in the loop about. I'm a bit irritated only because while keeping me out of the loop they kept the time frame still running on my end to send back the defective unit and they lied about the time frame at which I have to return the defective unit to them. The clock started the moment my replacement left their faculty. "If the defective product is not received within 14 calandar days of you receiving the replacement, TP-LINK USA will charge the cost of the replacement to the provided credit card. We accept Visa, MasterCard, & Discover." <---That came directly from the RMA email I received a few weeks ago. This may be the worst company I've ever had to deal with when it comes to customer and tech support. I'm lowering the score back to my original 1 star and will stay away from this company in the future. Though I guess the good news is that with all their lack of service I never was contacted for any reason, that includes them getting a form of payment from me. I could be a jerk and not send it back but I'm better than that. Also, I replied to their email to me asking where the communication was to keep me in the loop of my RMA and quickly received a response "I am currently out of the office and will be returning 10/17/16.", today is 9/29/16. I actually laughed pretty hard when I read that. ***Last Update*** It's been some time now. Shortly after my last update I went online to pay for a shipping label to send my defective router back and was greeted with a price that was over twice as much as the Advance RMA service they peddle. I try to be an honest person but I just couldn't stomach paying more than what I was already asked. If TP-Link wanted my money then they should've actually done their jobs and got back with me from all the emails and voicemails I left. Simply put I did not send back my unit, I'm not even sure it would've gotten back to the company within their deadline. But, it seems the replacement unit was a refurbished unit as it constantly breaks connection to the modem or it could just be another defective unit. In any case it doesn't matter. Thank you for the replacement unit TP-Link but I'm afraid I'll be going a different route with my networking needs.
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