TP-Link TL-WR2543ND review
Average Wi-Fi performance and flaky USB device support spoil this budget cable router
We were also disappointed with the laptop’s print server utility, which wouldn’t install on our 64-bit Windows 7 machines. It installed on a 32-bit laptop, but it couldn’t find the router whether we were connected over Wi-Fi or Ethernet. As a consequence, we couldn’t print anything.
We had better luck using the router to share a storage device, although it wasn’t always reliable. It should work with all DLNA-enabled devices, but sometimes it wouldn’t appear as a server in Windows Media Player. When it did work, it worked brilliantly, and we were able to stream 720p movies and music up to 10 metres away when using the 2.4GHz band and even further than that when using the 5GHz band. There were occasional stutters when streaming videos, though.
The TL-WR2543ND isn’t a bad router for its price, but its performance is far from spectacular and its media and print serving functions are not entirely reliable. You’re better off spending around £50 on the D-Link DIR-645.
Basic Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Rating | *** |
| Modem type | none |
| 802.11b support | yes |
| 802.11g support | yes |
| Draft 802.11n support | yes |
| Draft 802.11n 5GHz support | yes |
| MIMO | yes |
| Turbo mode | none |
| Stated speed | 450Mbit/s |
Security | |
| WPA | PSK (AES) |
| WPA2 | yes |
| Firewall | yes |
| MAC address filtering | yes |
| DMZ | yes |
Physical | |
| Size | 36x155x234mm |
| Antennas | 3 |
| Internal/external antennas | external |
| Upgradeable antenna | yes |
| Number of WAN ports | 1 |
| Ethernet ports | 4 |
| Ethernet connection speed | 10/100/1000Mbit/s |
| Other ports | USB |
| Wall mountable | yes |
| Power consumption on | 4W |
Other Features | |
| Dynamic DNS | yes |
| Universal Plug and Play support | yes |
| DHCP server | yes |
| MAC spoofing | yes |
| Port forwarding | yes |
| WDS Support | yes |
| USB device support | yes |
| QoS | no |
Buying Information | |
| Price | £50 |
| Warranty | three years RTB |
| Supplier | http://www.amazon.co.uk |
| Details | uk.tp-link.com |