I bought the TP Link Archer C50 for $45, which was $15 off. So far it works, but I haven't had it long enough to judge if it's better than my Netgear N300. The Archer C70 was sold out, probably because I went after a holiday.
The setup would have been faster if I hadn't let it "auto detect", which it did incorrectly. So I had to do some research just to get past step one. That's always discouraging. I had gotten accustomed to the friendly Netgear interface. Recent versions of the Genie program no longer work on 10.6 but even connecting through a browser has an understandable, if slow interface.
Quantity of features doesn't interest me. Range, speed, stay connected, easy access, easy to understand and set up. That's what I want. Get it done, leave me alone.
The interface for the TP isn't much. You have to know what you're doing to enter any of the settings, because there's no helpful text at all and there's no manual included except for a quick-start foldout. Fortunately, I've learned a few things, but there are still settings here I will have to learn. It's a real bare bones item, not at all like the nice Netgear packaging and hand-holding of the past.
I don't see a place to check for firmware updates. I don't know if that's good or bad. Netgear issued firmware updates about once a year, but that's because their routers had security holes.
My hope was to get a router reliable enough that I never had to call tech support or get support through a company web site. In recent years I spent time on the Netgear site that wasn't v. productive. I was given the wrong information more than once. But that's a normal day in the computer world. It's amazing how much I've had to learn and troubleshoot without getting paid for it.
I have found wireless troubleshooting among the most difficult, prob. because so much of it is out of my hands and hard to understand. But as the years went by routers got better, and the Netgear interface made my life much easier.
