This router (Archer C80) probably represents the last generation of Wifi-5 only devices, and as such is likely to be among the best we'll see of this kind. This device's pricing (~4.5K at the time of writing) puts it in the entry level, but make no mistake, this wireless router should work perfectly fine for most people.
It's got a 3x3 MU-MIMO radio, with beam-forming, and every other wireless feature that is associated with Wave2 Wifi 5 routers. While it has excellent hardware features, note that it's quite light on advanced software features - so if you're looking for some specific feature, read the documentation before purchasing. As a basic wireless router, this device is almost perfect.
I used this device to replace an aging TP-Link Archer C50 (v1), which only had a 100Mbit WAN port, and which couldn't handle more than 80Mbps over Wifi under the best of circumstances.
I had two important considerations when purchasing this device:
1. To remove any kind of bottleneck on the 5Ghz frequency band.
2. To improve the usability of Wifi in a distant room (~10m, separated by 3 walls and furniture).
## Close-to-mid range performance
After replacing the C50 with this device, my PC which is about 3m from the router, and seperated by 1 wall gets a flawless 150Mbps that my ISP offers (April 2021 Update: My ISP now offers 300 Mbps, and that works fine as well). External reviews indicate that this device should handle at least 600Mbps on 5Ghz. I have zero complaints about 5Ghz performance.
2.4Ghz is usually a "backup" band for these days, since all recent devices support 5Ghz 802.11ac at minimum. On my Poco F1, at ~3m line of sight, I get about 120 Mbps on 2.4Ghz, which I think is perfectly fine, considering the limitations of this frequency band. I'm always using 5Ghz nowadays anyway, which is now limited only by ISP's plan speed.
## Long-range performance
In the more distant room (~10m, blocked by 3 walls and furniture), I have an old Dell laptop only has a 2.4Ghz radio. This couldn't even get a reliable Wifi signal with the older C50 router.
While picking this device, I'd paid close attention to the wireless sensitivity specifications that TP-Link helpfully provides on its website, and noted that this device, while entry-level, sports some of the best numbers in its entire range, sometimes beating their highest end devices. I had high expectations from this router, and it did not let me down.
After switching to the Archer C80, the old Dell laptop was able to get a solid connection with around 15 to 20 Mbps on the 2.4 Ghz band. However, since that speed wasn't good enough, I purchased a TP-Link T9UH adapter (AC1900) to see if that would improve things, and indeed it did.
With the upgraded Wifi receiver, even the distant room got a reliable ~140 Mbps on the 5Ghz band. In this room, even my Poco F1 is unable to stay connected to the 5Ghz signal, so it probably also has to do with the excellent performance of the T9UH adapter, which is also a modern 3x3 MU-MIMO device that supports beamforming; the router and the adapter have matching specs.
## Conclusion
At this price point, I don't think there is any alternative to this device. The closest modern TP-Link alternative is the Archer AX10, a first-generation Wifi-6 (802.11ax) device that I didn't have a use for. I don't own a single Wifi-6 device and it'll be a few years yet before Wifi-6 devices become commonplace.
Also, Wifi-5 (5Ghz, 802.11ac) is clearly good enough for a couple of years; I doubt that Gigabit internet connections will become standard in the short-term and a ~500 Mbps connection from the ISP should be fine for ~99.99% of people for the next couple of years - a speed which the C80 should be able to handle perfectly fine.
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