TP-Link TL-WR820N N300-Review, Speed and Coating Test Wi-Fi Network

Budget routers are always very popular. This is understandable, as for a small price you can get a simple router, which in most cases will cope with daily tasks without any problems. At TP-Link, the top three most affordable devices until recently were the TL-WR840N, TL-WR740N, and TL-WR841N. These are good, inexpensive and very popular routers that are time-tested. But probably due to the fact that there are a lot of cheaper routers from other companies on the market lately, TP-Link developed the TP-Link TL-WR820N router, which we are going to review now.

TL-WR820N (N300) is the most affordable router from TP-Link at the moment. Its price is about 399 UAH (14 dollars, or 950 rubles). For this price we get a router from one of the best manufacturers of network equipment. Among the competitors this model has devices from less well-known, recently appeared on the market and frankly Chinese manufacturers. I am sure that this budget model will sell very well in our market.

If you need a simple router for a small house or apartment, the task of which is to provide Internet connection for several computers, phones, tablets and other devices, and most importantly – there is a task to save money when buying, then TL-WR820N will definitely suit you. This router provides connection to the Internet via Wi-Fi network at speeds up to 300 Mbps. Besides, it has powerful enough antennas, support for MIMO 2×2, IPTV, IPv6 and many other features that will really work and will most likely be useful for you.

Let’s take a closer look at the TP-Link TL-WR820N specifications:

300 Mbps wireless connection speed. Support for 802.11b/g/n standards.
Two 5 dBi antennas are responsible for a powerful and stable Wi-Fi signal. The antennas are not removable.
1 WAN-port and 2 LAN-ports. Port speed is standard for devices of this class – up to 100 Mbps.
There is support for IPTV (bridge mode, VLAN tag, IGMP Proxy/Snooping).
IPv6 support.
TL-WR820N can run a separate Wi-Fi network for your guests and friends (with special settings).
Parental control, access control, ability to quickly block Wi-Fi clients in the web-interface of the router.

We can talk for a long time about technical specifications and features, but I think that the appearance of the device itself and the control panel (web-interface) are of great importance. We’re going to look at the TL-WR820N appearance in more detail now. I’d like to add just a few words about the web-interface (control panel, router settings page – whatever you like). This model has a new control panel. I understand that it was designed specifically for simple, budget routers. Very simple, clear and modern control panel. I’ll attach some screenshots at the end of the review.

TP-Link TL-WR820N review

This router comes in a small package, which is already in a new style. The packaging itself has information about some of the specifications and features of this model.

Inside I found the router itself, a 0.6A power adapter, a network cable and a manual.

Let’s return directly to the router itself. Absolutely new design. TP-Link didn’t have devices even in a similar design before. The top is white matte plastic of good quality. The bottom part and antennas are made of gray plastic. The white part is diluted with the company’s logo and a gray strip with three indicators (LAN, WAN and wi-fi). There are also cooling holes on the top (on the sides).

The indicators are not bright. They burn green color. The WAN indicator may light up orange (or red) when there are problems with Internet connection.

At the bottom there are also holes for ventilation, small feet (though not rubber), a sticker with factory information and holes for mounting the router on the wall.

As for the ports and buttons, everything is very modest. There are 1 WAN and 2 LAN ports at the back. There is a WPS/Reset button and a power connector. That’s all.

The router itself is of medium size. Do not forget that this is a budget model.

I liked the appearance of this router. It definitely looks better than most of its competitors (and even more expensive models). This applies to the build quality and the plastic itself.

Control panel

I’ve already written that TP-Link TL-WR820N runs on a new firmware with a new control panel. It looks like this:

There is a simple quick setup wizard. The web-interface itself consists of 4 sections:

Device main page, which displays the devices connected to the router. There is an opportunity to quickly block the desired device.
The “Network” tab, where you can change the settings of the Internet connection.
“Wireless mode” – here you can change the name of the Wi-Fi network, password, or disable the Wi-Fi network.
And the last section is “Advanced Settings”. There are all the settings of this router.

You can change the language of the control panel.

TL-WR820N: speed and Wi-Fi network coverage

I rarely test the connection speed and write about Wi-Fi network coverage in my reviews (as a lot depends not only on the router), but I decided to test TL-WR820N, because it is a budget router and many people are afraid that such devices cut the speed and give very poor coverage of the wireless network.

I have a regular Internet connection with a speed of 100 Mbps. Connection type: Dynamic IP (DHCP). It so happens that I’m going to compare TL-WR820N with ASUS RT-N18U router. Which I currently have installed, and which is 5 times more expensive than TP-Link TL-WR820N!

I simply unplugged the RT-N18U and plugged in the TP-Link router in its place. I didn’t change any settings on the TL-WR820N, only put a password on the Wi-Fi network.

The first thing that surprised me was that the budget 820 turned out to be more powerful in terms of wi-fi coverage. On the computer (with TP-Link Archer T2UH AC600 adapter) where ASUS always had 3 divisions coverage, when connected to TP-Link the network level was maximum – 4 divisions.

On iPhone the network level was also one division higher than usual (when connected to ASUS). All the same, 5 dBi antennas do their job. The ASUS has 2 dBi antennas. True, there are 3 of them. But we know that the number of antennas doesn’t affect the wireless network coverage radius.

As for the speed, I was even more surprised. Through TP-Link TL-WR820N the connection speed was almost 2 times faster compared to my Asus. I did about 5 measurements each. On my computer the speed is always about 35 – 50 Mbps. The router is mounted about 10 meters away and across two walls. And for the 2.4 GHz range this is in principle a normal speed. But TL-WR820N showed an average download speed of 70 – 80 Mbps, and the upload speed is almost 100 Mbps (maximum!). The average ping is 2 – 4 ms.

Here are more measurements from iPhone X:

This is also about 10 meters away from the TP-Link router (which was installed instead of Asus) and through 2 walls (not concrete). Near the computer. The third screenshot (where the speed is noticeably higher), these are measurements directly near the router itself.

Frankly speaking, I don’t know why such results. Ideally, through my ASUS RT-N18U, in which I was a bit disappointed, the speed should be higher. And the Wi-Fi coverage is better. The router itself is more powerful and much more expensive. But the TP-Link TL-WR820N beats it on all counts. Of course, because of more powerful hardware, RT-N18U may be more resistant to loads. But it’s very difficult to test it. Maybe Asus is already a bit tired (it’s been working for several years), or it was necessary to experiment with the settings (channel, width, operating mode). But the fact remains that even a budget router can show excellent results in terms of connection speed and wireless range.

This is by no means a comparison of these two routers. I just wanted to show you what TL-WR820N is capable of under normal conditions.

Conclusions

A good, budget router. You can already find reviews of the TP-Link TL-WR820N on the Internet, and they are mostly positive (except for various quibbles like rubber feet, only two LAN ports, etc.). The only thing that upset me a bit in this router is the lack of wireless bridge mode (WDS). It would have been a nice feature to have. I hope they will be able to add it in the next firmware versions. Or at least in the new hardware version. Of course, I was very pleased with the Wi-Fi connection speed and strong wireless signal.

Be sure to leave your opinion and reviews about TL-WR820N in the comments.