I would suggest the Archer C5 or the C7, and the powerline, TL-WPA4530-Kit. I would not suggest an extender as it effectively cut the thoroughput to half, unless your house has separate wiring or three phase-wiring, as the powerline would not work then.

Get a better router first then just decide on whether you need a powerline extender.

In that case, C1200 is decent. If budget allows, consider the Archer C7.

Use powerline extender whenever possible as the performance and stability is much better than a wireless repeater.

Is there a proper manual configuration setting for IPv6 for "orange" firmware modem/routers like the TD-W8961N? I managed to get IPv6 + Google DNS working after a few days of trial and error but I'm not sure if the settings are ideal. Also I'm getting a lot of "dns2str too long" errors in the modem/router logs so I suspect that its got to do with my manual DNS configuration for IPv6. Can anyone help?

This post has been edited by naith_kk: Jul 3 2017, 10:02 AM

like i say u can get both but that also depends on the barrier or location of your router (main). basically i used extender at ground floor but changed to access point mode.

i only used extender but change to access point mode for my tplink plug. i cannot used powerline cos it is separate wiring although it can be supported but not much different if used access point. just for me la cos the main router at 2nd floor and the first floot used xtender/ap only. if used power line for each room no problem for coverage but when it installed on the 1st floor gg cos signal losses.

like i say u can get both but that also depends on the barrier or location of your router (main). basically i used extender at ground floor but changed to access point mode.

i only used extender but change to access point mode for my tplink plug. i cannot used powerline cos it is separate wiring although it can be supported but not much different if used access point. just for me la cos the main router at 2nd floor and the first floot used xtender/ap only. if used power line for each room no problem for coverage but when it installed on the 1st floor gg cos signal losses.

powerline if you dont want messy cabling.

my house cannot support powerline, so i went for traditional RJ45 cabling to another AP. full gigabit speed. no issue at all.

wireless repeater sux. not very useful in congested area/zone.

Hi guys, need your advise.
Recently i purchased the, 300Mbps AV500 Wi-Fi Powerline Extender Starter Kit (TL-WPA4220KIT).
How do i test that my installation/pairing/sync have been successfully done?

Thank you.

I need suggestion here. I used tplink archer c7 as wifi router and tplink wifi extender (WA850RE). My problem is my smart tv got intermittent connection due to low signal. My router is located far from the tv. my wifi extender only using 2.4Ghz and regularly disconnect. Do i need to buy powerline adapters, or any better solution for this?

Download the tpPLC app. It is able to show a lot of things including link speed.

Thank you very much.

I suggest you try using powerline adapters if possible, rather than the wifi extender. Connect the one of the powerline adapter directly to your router, and the other adapter to a power plug near the tv, and connect the tv to the adapter directly, via an Ethernet cable. Just be sure that your house does not have separate or three phase wiring, otherwise the powerline adapter won't work.

Thanks. How to identify separate or three phase wiring?

Hard to identify if you're not involved in the construction of the house. Best thing you could do is to get an inexpensive powerline adapter and if it doesn't work, you could sell it or use it somewhere else. I would recommend the TP-Link PA-4010KIT of you don't need extra Wi-Fi capability, and if you do, the TP-Link WPA4530KIT.

Check your power meter if you have 3 wires going through the meter.

You can check your distribution box as well. If you have a 3 phase MCB then you are probably on 3 phase power supply.

I got only 1 wires going through. But my TV located in new section (after renovation) which it got new distribution box installed by wireman.
Is that consider as separate line?

Probably just extending from your current DB.

Anyway, powerline is working even on my 3 phase power as they share the same neutral. Newer PLC works on 3 phase.

This post has been edited by blacktubi: Jul 3 2017, 05:31 PM

blacktubi how's the performance for C5400 ? Still considering which should i get C5400 or C3150 to replace my soon gonna faulty router.
Anyway is there any recommendation TP-Link Switch ?

C5400 is basically the C3150 with an extra 5Ghz band. Unless you really need the extra band, the C3150 is more than enough.

Both have good signal reception. As for switch, there's not much difference in their dumb switch range. Just specs difference. Get at least a Gigabit switch and the number of ports you need.

C3150 = 2167+1000
C5400 = 2167+2167+1000

for term of wifi coverage, which one will your recommend ?
The router will be at 2nd floor, while 1st floor currently using RE450. However, wifi signal sometimes seems unstable.
House radius around 12k sf.

This post has been edited by Raymond T.: Jul 3 2017, 10:05 PM

I recommend using a power line wireless extender as a wireless repeater need a good connection from the main router in order to rebroadcast it.

Well, I do not notice a big difference in terms of coverage. Maybe the C5400 have slight an edge but it’s minimal.