TP Link C2300 VS Asus RT-AC68U

[techboy]

Hi there.

Which of the two is better? Especially for VPN speeds? The TP Link has a 1.8 GHz dual core CPU. 86U isn’t available in India.

R7000 doesn’t support L2TP with dynamic IP for Express VPN I think. Can somebody correct me if I’m wrong?

So would the TP Link be a faster router?

P.S. My first post was about a new house we maybe shifting in to.

However, our current apartment is just 1600 sq ft and range isn’t an issue with any of these high end single units.

 

[eastavin]

Hi there.

Which of the two is better?

Its really depends on 'what you want' type of answer.

My experience with TP-link is that the devices are attractively priced and often fast but leave one wondering about how clean the code is and how effective the security is with all the new threats appearing daily. Reason being that the TP-L's I have seen seldom have any new firmware releases from the manufacturer and no one writes perfect code. Usually you get the original f/w that came from the factory and years go by before you ever see another f/w if ever.

The value I see in Asus for what its worth is the gear is fast, f/w updates are reasonably frequent, there is a strong reliable alternative with Merlin if stock does not do it for you, there is a large, active, friendly and helpful community here on snb. Huge pluses. I feel this stuff is more important than simply looking at a single factor like device speed or coverage. But thats just me.

I have tried the rest. My money is on Asus.

Edward

 

[techboy]

I don’t care about updates or security. Those aren’t a problem in India.

Will the VPN of the TP be much faster?

 

[st3v3n]

techboy, It's difficult to give someone advice without knowing factors of your ISP connection, bandwidth etc. There's no realistic way for anyone to tell you what's going to be 'faster in India' concerning a given router's speed based which depends more on your connection, in addition to the implementation of any form of VPN protocols or tunnel you choose to use.

If you don't care about security or updates, you're in for a shock at some point. I agree with castavin; from our ownership of those models, Asus is the better router, with better engineering and firmware, which helps you achieve better speed, if you set your VPN configuration up correctly. It's unfortunate, you've decided to ignore security, personal safety and data protection in the hope that VPN 'speed' will take care of everything. There are so many hackers on the planet waiting to invade your router, they'll find you quickly enough and being in India doesn't make you safe.

TPL is cheap, that's why you can pick one up anywhere for a song. All of the TPL router models we had failed early and often. Dealing with TPL's customer service was the worst I ever experienced with any product; the TPL boilerplate replies quoting the tiny router setup guide won't help you much after your router fails. Receiving the same broken chinglish boilerplate answers from every TPL CSR is a common experience.

If your last question,"will the VPN of the TP be much faster?' meant that you want to know if using whatever VPN provisions are built into a TPL router will make your VPN tunnels faster than a different router, I can say that Asus's implementation and frequent fixes will make the router and VPN function as fast as it can over your connection therefore your data should be transmitted quickly and accurately. There are many variables involved. Using different VPN protocols and services with any router won't give you any special speed; it always depends on your ISP and the amount of bandwidth provided.

Asus routers cost a bit more than TPLink, but you get a real warranty and actual customer service that can try to help you should the worst happen. Most member's will advise that Asus routers will provide you with quality that helps you achieve as much VPN speed over your router as is possible. If your VPN tunnel is set up properly, you'll get whatever your ISP can deliver; using VPN can reduce your overall speed, so it's better to pay for quality, if you're really after as much speed as possible. You could buy one of each brand and find out which works best for you. Good luck getting up to speed.

 

[techboy]

I am on a 40 Mbps line. Will be upgraded to 100+ Mbps in the near future. My TP Link C1200 with Express VPN and a US server averages around 25-30 Mbps.

Can an Asus RT-AC68U give me 70+ Mbps when I have a 100 Mbps line?

I’m in India.

 

[microchip]

No, it can't, its CPU is to weak. Go for the router with the fastest CPU within your budget. The C2300 will outperform the AC68U virtually always

 

[techboy]

The C2300 and RT-AC86U have the same CPU and RAM, right?

 

[microchip]

I think so, but it is also more expensive than the C2300

 

[Fyodor]

If you are using a US based VPN server from India I would be surprised if you got 70mbps no matter what you put in your apartment. I would contact your VPN provider's tech support and ask what kinds of speeds they'd expect you to get before investing in new hardware.

 

[techboy]

Just got my C2300. Unable to figure out how to make Time Machine work. With my AirPort Extreme it was always a breeze. Can somebody help me?

 

[techboy]

If you are using a US based VPN server from India I would be surprised if you got 70mbps no matter what you put in your apartment. I would contact your VPN provider's tech support and ask what kinds of speeds they'd expect you to get before investing in new hardware.

Currently my ISP is 40 Mbps and I’m getting up to 35+ Mbps to US servers already. And ExpressVPN CC says that their servers can manage 500+ Mbps as well from US servers.