Good alternative with great potential

The TP Link Archer VR200v replaced me with a senior Thomson Gateway which WLAN with 54Mbit simply was not up to date. I still use a real ISDN connection, for me the VoIP functionality is still unused. But once here VDSL coming, this will change and therefore a device has been chosen so that I can continue to use.

The choice fell on this router because it is significantly less expensive than a comparable Fritzbox and because I have already done with devices of TP-Link in the circle positive experience with the WLAN.

The first time the web interface in the browser came the first unpleasant surprise. The web interface does not work in Seamonkey (the Suite offshoot from Firefox)! Only in Chrome was the first facility of quick hand. With Firefox it works. Although my current regional providers was not on the list, but any defaults under other suppliers fit and so we went to enter username and password online. Incidentally advisable before setting up a look on the homepage, if there is not a new firmware is already present. TP-Link developed the firmware is currently still very intensively.

After the first Connect was the first of the worried glance towards the ADSL speed. My 16.000er line is hard to physical limit, usually my Sync is at about 16,000 instead of the maximum possible 18.000Kbit / s gross data rate. That was the reason for the purchase of a router from Thomson who got along very well, in contrast to the then available Fritz boxes with my line seven years ago. The Archer VR200v stops here with very good. A Bruttosync of 17318kbit / s is very good in my direction, even if then with 6 or 6.1dB SNR remains no more reserve in the download. The error packet rate is loud Status Index after a day operation is still at 0 packets almost unbelievable low. Own speed measurements show, however, that the speed indication is likely to fit.

The WiFi works very well and has a bit more power. The Automatic really seems to look, what channel is the best choice. While disturbing in the neighborhood half a dozen Vodafone and Fritz boxes on channel 1 each, the Archer met with Channel 13 the choice I would have made for a search with inSSIDer (PC software). So there is no reason not to let the automatic work.

Very convenient and the guest network, which allows you to just let friends go online without having access to the NAS or the printer can get. The router can even isolate the guests with each other.

Very nicely solved has TP-Link bridge the gap of the claims of various customers. There is a quick installation that allows the commissioning also very inexperienced users and which could well go through phone with a friend / acquaintance also, so coming online and you can do the rest, for example with TeamViewer. Under basic settings you can then adjust later everything rudimentary or adapt. Under Advanced, the ambionierten users (almost) everything to find settings.

Let's talk about the things that do not work or I did not like:

As would be the first the list of connected clients. Mir shows the router tenaciously to too few active clients. A check with Zenmap returned 7 active clients on the LAN, the Archer shows in the status overview often only three and in the client list even just two participants. The details vary greatly. A newly registered notebook was only example shown, three minutes later no longer, although carried out the access to the web interface of the router of this very device. An absolute NOGO! For devices that are not displayed, you can not take in a whitelist or assign you a fixed IP for example. Also, check if really are only participants in the LAN / WLAN, who may then, can not take place so naturally. This is unacceptable, because admin tools like Zenmap but nobody wants to struggle, just because he wants to know who has connected to its router.

When checking with Zenmap same fell to the next mistake. While the router on the client side, which he displays, indicating also the client name, it does not transmit. Therefore Zenmap indicates no client names. Hello? This creates even a 10 Euro router from Grabbeltisch!

Annoying is the fact that the router it dissolves the local hostname and where no adjustable TLD Sufix assigns, as do other manufacturers. Instead eg volumio.local typing in the browser you have to http: // volumio enter because the router except for himself no TLD suffix and uses naturally interpret the browser without TLD entries immediately as a search term. Lack of resolution Hotnamen through the router does the call to local clients with hostname anyway only to Windows machines. Why has so resolved, is a mystery to me. I know that the local TLD suffixes are very controversial, but the alternative would be setting a valid own TLD and this feature left the manufacturer devices like a different price range.

But since we're on the next tangible safety risk. The CT criticized at AVM, that in some Fritz boxes the backup IP address can not change and so criminals can try to attack the machine via a drive-by. Even when Archer VR200v there is such a problem. The internal address TPLINKMODEM.NET can not be changed or disabled. Love TP-Link Developer: One must not imitate everything AVM! Please change quickly! Drive-by attacks are known for almost 10 years and the fact that a VoIP router is an extremely lucrative target for criminals should also be new.

Speaking of security: the security ct Test for routers was my Archer VR200v without problems. It is factory so really not a port from the outside open. That's very good and expect in 2015 also by a router.

In the LAN settings I have missed the opportunity to specify a Windows workgroup. Although this is only at the moment important where eg a USB data carrier is released as network storage, but because the router responds requests without clearances on SMB, workgroup would be useful.

Let's come to the exterior. The white plastic housing in high-gloss finish looks very high. Personally, I liked the black Archer housing but also very good. The blue LEDs are a real eye-catcher. Although the silver strap has an aluminum look, but is also only made of plastic. And it is so carried out in the field of antennas that you can not tighten properly the wireless antennas. And you can use the device only as a desktop unit. A wall mounting is simply not possible. It would be actually quite easy to solve. One would only silver construct removable and offer (possibly as a paid option) a wall bracket, where you can mount the device with the necessary distance so that the cables from the back is still plenty of room.

Conclusion: Actually, a great device that you can recommend without reservation. From housing apart most quirks and errors are a matter of firmware and could be probably off quickly from TP-Link, as there are some really small items. Until that is the case, there are only four out of five stars.

Despite the vulnerability of the unchangeable name of the router is pretty sure, the very fact of its currently low penetration currently protects quite well. Because criminals are currently the red sleeves of the market leader much more interesting, because millions of widespread and often still with an outdated firmware on the net. And so I see where Archer VR200v a good alternative to the established devices and speak not least because of the price and the very good WLANs a strong buy recommendation.

Addendum of 04/18/2015:

The router is now more than a good week in the house. And the error list is getting longer. By an indication of another customer, I noticed that the local host name resolution does not happen through the router, but only by a NetBIOS Service Windows. In fact, the resolution does not work with Android clients.

The alternative would be fixed IPs. But either I'm too stupid or here is the next mistake, because the allocation of a fixed IP address via DHCP I do not get out. The arg concise guidance is silent on whether the fixed address must be within or outside of the normal address space. I tried both without success.

Then I had on Friday night again one of the most mysterious conduction abnormalities that occur in the evening every few months around 21:30 with me. Then the router can of course nothing for, but if takes place a Neusync and the SNR value lies partially below 5 dB, then reads the error packet number "0" simply not credible. That can not be fact, especially since it also several times came to crashes as a result. A working display of error packets or error seconds is mandatory. It would be better, of course, a spectrum display, as they are known from the tool DMT and AVM this presentation rather 1: 1 has taken over in the web interface of the Fritz boxes. A button for a DSL Resync without rebooting would also be very helpful and is with other manufacturers actually standard.

A documentation of the Telnet access, the router has (access with "admin" and password router) does not exist unfortunately. Overall, the documentation is not sufficient for a device of this type.

After all, the German Support interested in these errors and shortcomings and so remains the hope that fixes these things. Therefore, it remains at the four points, even when the potential has become now larger.