TP-Link Archer C9 Tips & Tweaks

Stop It · 02-01-2016, 12:49

Good afternoon all

After much deliberation, I decided to finally get a "proper" router as my Superhub has too many little niggles that stop it from working properly.

I managed to get the Archer C9 for £50 from Amazon Warehouse (On the last day of the 30% off promotion at that) so am hoping for an improvement in Wireless stability, a much better interface and overall control over my interwebs.

Firstly, does anyone here have experience with this series (The Archer series in general)? I see that the device has advanced QoS options but using them requires turning a feature called NAT Boost off, is this worth it?

Also, I see there are DD-WRT builds for this router, again, is this worth using? I don't mind tinkering and will play with this router a bit when it arrives on Monday, I'm just hoping to benefit from some experience if possible as I've been lazy and haven't used a separate router with VM kit for a long time!

alferret · 04-01-2016, 19:36

We have the C9 dual band router.
Not really played with it that much.
WiFi is more consistent with higher speeds around our home. Connected a 5tb drive to the USB 3 port on the router for file access out and about and at home. Easy to set up, not tried any other firmware.

Stop It · 04-01-2016, 20:31

Thank you for your post.

I'm going to invest in a new USB HDD for sharing files as that would be useful!

I got my C9 today. Despite being "Used and repackaged" it came in the original TP-Link box and was completely new in the original plastic film etc. My only problem was 5Ghz didn't work. I tried to change firmware, SSID, security etc and it just wouldn't broadcast. In the end I tried the good old "take the power out for 5 minutes and try again" trick and now it works perfectly.

UPnP is doing the trick, NAT reporting Open for my Xbox One with no messing about as is my PC via games like The Crew. My Superhub is no happily in modem mode and hopefully wont need to be out of it. If I have time to tinker I may play with the QoS settings but don't see a dire need just yet.

alferret · 05-01-2016, 14:29

If you want Stats, turn off NAT Boost. Apparently NB on is better for high through-put.
Also use a different username/password from your login if you intend to use the USB for hosting files, just adds another layer of security.

Tony_saunders · 07-01-2016, 22:04

Yes I agree, I have TP-Link Archer C9 as well and have NAT Boost turned on. I do not see any need to turn it off as it improves my NAT throughput.

Unless I need to enable QoS such as Bandwidth Control, I will like to keep it turned on. As the TP-Link prefers to turn off NAT Boost to enable QoS.