The TP-Link Archer C2300 ($149.99) is a moderately priced midrange router that offers solid close-range throughput performance and MU-MIMO data streaming.
It also has robust antivirus and malware protection, Quality of Service options, and parental controls, and it is very easy to install and configure.
However, its long-range throughput and file-transfer performance come up short compared with our Editors' Choice, the Asus RT-AC86U.
Packed With Features
The C2300 ($139.50 at Amazon) looks similar to its older sibling, the Archer C3150, which we reviewed a few years back.
Half of the two-toned black enclosure has a matte textured finish and the other half is glossy.
It measures 1.4 by 8.5 by 6.5 inches (HWD) and has a strip of LED indicators on the top of the router that shows status for power, both radio bands, internet and Ethernet activity, WPS activity, and USB activity.
On the left side of the router are WPS and Reset buttons, a Wi-Fi On/Off button, a USB 2.0 port, and a USB 3.0 port.
Around back are four Gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port, a power jack and power button, and three screw-in connectors for the included adjustable antennas.
The C2300 supports Link Aggregation, which allows you to combine two LAN ports for data rates of up to 2GB.
Under the hood are a dual-core CPU (1.8GHz), 512MB of RAM, and 128MB of flash memory.
The C2300 is a dual-band AC2300 router capable of throughput speeds of up to 600Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1625Mbps on the 5GHz band.
It supports the latest 802.11ac technologies including Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) data streaming, which allows for simultaneous data transmissions to multiple MU-MIMO-enabled clients, and beamforming, which sends data directly to a client rather than over a broad spectrum.
It also supports TP-Link's Smart Connect, a type of band steering technology that picks the best radio band for optimal performance, and HomeCare, which offers Trend Micro anti-malware and antivirus protection and parental controls with web filtering for specific age groups, internet access scheduling, and online-monitoring tools.
HomeCare also offers preset and custom Quality of Service settings for specific applications (Standard, Gaming, Streaming, Chatting, Surfing) and for specific client devices.
You can use either the TP-Link Tether mobile app (iOS and Android) or the more extensive web console to manage the C2300.
The main screen contains a network map and a SpeedTest button that measures internet upload and download speeds.
Off to the left is a menu for adjusting Internet, Wireless, USB Sharing, and HomeCare settings.
There's also a menu tab for configuring guest networks for each band and a tab for configuring the router to work with the TP-Link Cloud, which lets you access the router and its settings from anywhere via the internet.
Advanced settings include LAN (DHCP, Static, Link Aggregation) and Wireless (WPS/WPS2, WEP, Channel Width, Wireless Scheduling) adjustments along with things like Port Forwarding, Port Triggering, ALG (Application Layer Gateway), and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) settings.
Here you can also configure the device to operate as a router or as an access point.
Mixed Performance
Installing the Archer C2300 is quick and easy.
I connected it to my cable modem and to my desktop PC, powered it up, and typed http://tplinkwifi.net in my browser address bar.
This launched the Quick Setup screen, where I created a password, entered my time zone, and selected Auto Detect for my internet type.
I confirmed that both radio bands were enabled, checked for the latest firmware, and was ready to test.
The C2300 turned in mixed results on our throughput tests.
Its score of 90Mbps on our 2.4GHz close-proximity (same room) test was slightly faster than the Phicomm K3C router and just a tad slower than the D-Link DIR-885L/R and the Asus RT-AC86U.
However, at a distance of 30 feet, the C2300's score of 42Mbps trailed the pack and was only half as fast as the D-Link and the Asus routers.
On our 5GHz tests, the C2300 led the field with an impressive score of 581Mbps, but its score of 185Mbps came up way short of the Asus and the D-Link routers, both of which were more than 100Mbps faster.
The Phicomm K3C came in last with a score of 137Mbps.
See How We Test Wireless Routers
To test how the C2300 handles simultaneous data streaming using MU-MIMO technology, we use three identical Acer Aspire R13 laptops equipped with Qualcomm's QCA61x4A MU-MIMO circuitry.
On the close-proximity test, the C2300's score of 155Mbps was just 23Mbps slower than the Asus RT-AC86U and 46Mbps slower than the Phicomm K3C, but trailed the D-Link Dir-885L/R by 82Mbps.
Its performance on the 30-foot MU-MIMO test was dismal: it garnered only 44Mbps.
The Phicomm scored 110Mbps, the Asus RT-AC86U scored 150Mbps, and the D-Link DIR-885L/R scored 165Mbps.
To test file-transfer performance, we move a 1.5GB folder containing a mix of music, video, photo, and document files between a USB drive and a wired desktop PC and time its read and write speeds.
The C2300's read score of 29MBps was slower than the scores we saw from the Phicomm (32.6MBps), the D-Link (44.1MBps), and the Asus (38.4MBps) routers.
On our write test, the C2300's score of 26MBps was a hair faster than the Phicomm (25.6MBps), but slower than the D-Link (33.2MBps) and the Asus (30.7MBps).
Keeping Your Network Safe
The TP-Link Archer C2300 isn't the fastest midrange router out there.
However, it does pack some useful tools designed to help keep your network safe and secure, including Trend Micro-powered malware and antivirus protection and parental controls.
It also offers QoS settings that let you prioritize network bandwidth for specific applications and clients, and it supports the latest 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology.
That said, the Asus RT-AC86U also offers robust malware and antivirus protection, and it delivered superior throughput performance in our tests.
That's why it remains our Editors' Choice for midrange routers.
The TP-Link Archer C2300 may not be quite as fast as some of its competitors, but it's packed with customization and safety features.
The TP-Link Archer C2300 ($149.99) is a moderately priced midrange router that offers solid close-range throughput performance and MU-MIMO data streaming.
It also has robust antivirus and malware protection, Quality of Service options, and parental controls, and it is very easy to install and configure.
However, its long-range throughput and file-transfer performance come up short compared with our Editors' Choice, the Asus RT-AC86U.
Packed With Features
The C2300 ($139.50 at Amazon) looks similar to its older sibling, the Archer C3150, which we reviewed a few years back.
Half of the two-toned black enclosure has a matte textured finish and the other half is glossy.
It measures 1.4 by 8.5 by 6.5 inches (HWD) and has a strip of LED indicators on the top of the router that shows status for power, both radio bands, internet and Ethernet activity, WPS activity, and USB activity.
On the left side of the router are WPS and Reset buttons, a Wi-Fi On/Off button, a USB 2.0 port, and a USB 3.0 port.
Around back are four Gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port, a power jack and power button, and three screw-in connectors for the included adjustable antennas.
The C2300 supports Link Aggregation, which allows you to combine two LAN ports for data rates of up to 2GB.
Under the hood are a dual-core CPU (1.8GHz), 512MB of RAM, and 128MB of flash memory.
The C2300 is a dual-band AC2300 router capable of throughput speeds of up to 600Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 1625Mbps on the 5GHz band.
It supports the latest 802.11ac technologies including Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) data streaming, which allows for simultaneous data transmissions to multiple MU-MIMO-enabled clients, and beamforming, which sends data directly to a client rather than over a broad spectrum.
It also supports TP-Link's Smart Connect, a type of band steering technology that picks the best radio band for optimal performance, and HomeCare, which offers Trend Micro anti-malware and antivirus protection and parental controls with web filtering for specific age groups, internet access scheduling, and online-monitoring tools.
HomeCare also offers preset and custom Quality of Service settings for specific applications (Standard, Gaming, Streaming, Chatting, Surfing) and for specific client devices.
You can use either the TP-Link Tether mobile app (iOS and Android) or the more extensive web console to manage the C2300.
The main screen contains a network map and a SpeedTest button that measures internet upload and download speeds.
Off to the left is a menu for adjusting Internet, Wireless, USB Sharing, and HomeCare settings.
There's also a menu tab for configuring guest networks for each band and a tab for configuring the router to work with the TP-Link Cloud, which lets you access the router and its settings from anywhere via the internet.
Advanced settings include LAN (DHCP, Static, Link Aggregation) and Wireless (WPS/WPS2, WEP, Channel Width, Wireless Scheduling) adjustments along with things like Port Forwarding, Port Triggering, ALG (Application Layer Gateway), and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) settings.
Here you can also configure the device to operate as a router or as an access point.
Mixed Performance
Installing the Archer C2300 is quick and easy.
I connected it to my cable modem and to my desktop PC, powered it up, and typed http://tplinkwifi.net in my browser address bar.
This launched the Quick Setup screen, where I created a password, entered my time zone, and selected Auto Detect for my internet type.
I confirmed that both radio bands were enabled, checked for the latest firmware, and was ready to test.
The C2300 turned in mixed results on our throughput tests.
Its score of 90Mbps on our 2.4GHz close-proximity (same room) test was slightly faster than the Phicomm K3C router and just a tad slower than the D-Link DIR-885L/R and the Asus RT-AC86U.
However, at a distance of 30 feet, the C2300's score of 42Mbps trailed the pack and was only half as fast as the D-Link and the Asus routers.
On our 5GHz tests, the C2300 led the field with an impressive score of 581Mbps, but its score of 185Mbps came up way short of the Asus and the D-Link routers, both of which were more than 100Mbps faster.
The Phicomm K3C came in last with a score of 137Mbps.
See How We Test Wireless Routers
To test how the C2300 handles simultaneous data streaming using MU-MIMO technology, we use three identical Acer Aspire R13 laptops equipped with Qualcomm's QCA61x4A MU-MIMO circuitry.
On the close-proximity test, the C2300's score of 155Mbps was just 23Mbps slower than the Asus RT-AC86U and 46Mbps slower than the Phicomm K3C, but trailed the D-Link Dir-885L/R by 82Mbps.
Its performance on the 30-foot MU-MIMO test was dismal: it garnered only 44Mbps.
The Phicomm scored 110Mbps, the Asus RT-AC86U scored 150Mbps, and the D-Link DIR-885L/R scored 165Mbps.
To test file-transfer performance, we move a 1.5GB folder containing a mix of music, video, photo, and document files between a USB drive and a wired desktop PC and time its read and write speeds.
The C2300's read score of 29MBps was slower than the scores we saw from the Phicomm (32.6MBps), the D-Link (44.1MBps), and the Asus (38.4MBps) routers.
On our write test, the C2300's score of 26MBps was a hair faster than the Phicomm (25.6MBps), but slower than the D-Link (33.2MBps) and the Asus (30.7MBps).
Keeping Your Network Safe
The TP-Link Archer C2300 isn't the fastest midrange router out there.
However, it does pack some useful tools designed to help keep your network safe and secure, including Trend Micro-powered malware and antivirus protection and parental controls.
It also offers QoS settings that let you prioritize network bandwidth for specific applications and clients, and it supports the latest 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology.
That said, the Asus RT-AC86U also offers robust malware and antivirus protection, and it delivered superior throughput performance in our tests.
That's why it remains our Editors' Choice for midrange routers.
