Review TP-Link TL-WR841N Wireless N: Affordable, good performance

TP-Link TL-WR841N wireless router is one of the cheapest WiFi routers. If you live in a small apartment with a modest broadband connection - download speeds of 30Mbps or less - and all you want is to share the Internet with multiple WiFi devices, TP Link 841n will do just fine. service.

TP Link 841 routers are quite affordable, with good data rates and stability, as well as excellent WiFi signals.

Obviously, at this price, you cannot expect maximum speed or many outstanding features. If you're willing to pay more for a Gigabit Ethernet home network with updated WiFi standards, consider one of the best 11 long-range Wifi routers on this market.

Design

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Measuring 13 x 3.3 x 19.3cm and weighing only 230g, TL-WR841N is compact and very light. It looks like a typical WiFi router with a flat body and 2 detachable antennas on the back. On the top, forward, there are a series of small LEDs that show the status of the router. Although affordable, the TL-WR841N feels quite solid.

TL-WR841N has 4 LAN ports and 1 WAN port (Internet) that is connected to an Internet source, such as a broadband modem. All network ports support the Fast Ethernet standard (with a maximum speed of only 100Mbps).

TL-WR841N has no USB port so there is no physical connection option with the storage device or printer.

WiFi standard

For wireless clients, TL-WR841N supports single-band 802.11n WiFi with dual stream setup (2x2). This means that this router only works on the 2.4GHz band (most new routers are dual-band and operates simultaneously on the 5GHz band) and in theory has the highest WiFi speed of 300Mbps.

Easy to set up, standard feature set

TL-WR841N is easy to start and run. All you have to do is plug the router's WAN port into the Internet source and turn it on.

The router comes with a web interface for you to change the settings and the default WiFi network name. To access the interface, from a connected computer, point the browser to the default IP address: 192.168.0.1. Then log in using the default admin account (printed on the router). There are also easy-to-follow setup instructions in case you need help.

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TL-WR841N does not own too many outstanding features. A notable feature is the simple Parental Control, which blocks some computers in the network from the Internet at a given time.

In addition, it has most other common settings, such as port forwarding, dynamic DNS, IPv6 support, and a few others. There is no option to create an additional WiFi network for guests.

Efficiency

The walls shorten the range of WiFi signals and other WiFi devices creating interference when TP-Link TL-WR841N Wireless N operates.

At close range (about 4.5m), the actual WiFi speed maintained was 83Mbps. When increasing the distance to 23m, the average speed is about 34Mbps.

The wide range is not the forte of TL-WR841N. In the test, 23m was the maximum distance before the connection quality started to decrease. However, this distance varies depending on the number of walls and the large objects in between. In general, in a normal house, you probably will not be able to connect to this router from a distance of more than 36m.

TL-WRT841N works well on 2.4GHz band, is faster than many more expensive routers like Asus RT-N66U or Linksys E4200. However, this router does not work on the 5GHz band.

Conclude

For those with simple networking needs, TL-WR841N is a smart choice.

Remember that if you have a very fast broadband connection - download speeds of 50Mbps or more - this router may not be able to seamlessly bring that level of performance to your wireless devices. On the other hand, if your Internet speed is 30Mbps or slower when downloading, the WRT841N will usually be sufficient.

In fact, it is very light, compact and only costs a few cups of coffee. You can take it with you when traveling or use as a backup router

Advantages:

1. There are super affordable prices
2. Has good WiFi performance

Defect:

1. There is a short range
2. The web interface makes it difficult to distinguish which computers are connected