TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N300 Router, Gigabit, 300Mbps, USB port, 3 Detachable Antennas / IP QoS/ QSS Button TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND Ultimate Wireless N300 Router, Gigabit, 300Mbps, USB port, 3 Detachable Antennas / IP QoS/ QSS Button

Pros: Good range, Three Detachable Antennas, Easy Set-up

Cons: Would not work correctly, "Excellent Signal Strength but Limited or No Connectivity", Poor support,

Other Thoughts: I reviewed this product about a month ago as a good product because I was able to get some "bugs" out of it originally. I was getting a "Excellent Signal Strength but Limited Connectivity" message when I tried to connect certain wireless devices to my network. The router would not assign a network/IP address to my devices. After re-installing the router, I thought all the problems were worked out, but after a few days, it was right back to the same thing. I e-mailed TP Link's support, which responded with some suggestions that ended up not helping. Next I moved on to TP Link's support call center (which was a huge mistake). It was headquartered in China, and I could not understand a word either of the people I talked to said...and, they had the same problem with me. With a couple hours invested trying everything they said with no improvements or explanations, I just hung up the phone. I eventually called my ISP and they did a service call. They messed around with some of the settings and had the router working correctly for about a day, like I did, but, then, after a day or two, right back to the same problems. I decided to just cut my losses and return the product. Although it had some features that were really nice, I could never get it to work correctly. It did have good range, and, the main reason I had bought it was because of the three detachable antennas. However, I could not manage not being able to use my Laptop or my Xbox 360. Not to mention, occasionally, it would not even let my phone connect. I went ahead and ordered a different router (Engenius). I set it up, and, within 30 minutes, everything was working correctly. Now I am just waiting for my return to go through Newegg so I can get my money back on this TP Link. It was a big waste of time. I would not recommend it.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear customer,
We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the router and thank you for your effort on troubleshooting with us.
The issue is very strange that the router actually worked and provided Internet access for one or two days but fail.
Can the reboot of the router reconnects the Internet?
If the reboot helps, I would suggest you try to upgrade the latest firmware, which fixes the hang issue. Otherwise, maybe the router is not functioning well, TP-LINK USA could provide you a replacement.

Please feel free to contact me: howard.he@tp-link.com

We really appreciate you taking the time to check out our TP-Link products and we hope that you will be able to check out more in the future.

Best Regards!

TP-LINK Support Team
support@tp-link.com
(866) 225-8139
http://www.tp-link.com/us/support
http://www.facebook.com/TPLINK

Pros: Its a Decent Wireless Router for the price, But not for me

Cons: Could not handle all my Devices (About 25) and would have issues

Other Thoughts: Bought me an ASUS RT-N16

Manufacturer Response:

Dear customer,
Thank you for reviewing our router.
For a network more than 20 clients, I recommend you higher level products, for example the SMB router TL-R470T+/TL-R480T+.

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=227&model=TL-R470T%2b
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/?categoryid=227&model=TL-R480T%2b

They can provide stable and load balance connection to such network.

If you need further info, you may also contact me:
howard.he@tp-link.com

We really appreciate you taking the time to check out our TP-Link products and we hope that you will be able to check out more in the future.

Best Regards!

TP-LINK Support Team
support@tp-link.com
(866) 225-8139
http://www.tp-link.com/us/support
http://www.facebook.com/TPLINK

Pros: quick and fast. good signal.

this broke and i bought the very poorly made 4300.

the 1043...consistant better ping to router than 4300. its right there with a 825 dlink. even in a crowded area im hitting router pings <1ms. i max the ip bandwidth easily.

when testing throughput...the 1043 responds 5ms better than 4300. all newest firmware. same dhcp reservations etc. even 5ghz turned off.

signal is 6db better on the 1043 using inssider program.

forget the dir 825. it doesnt have the oomph this has. its up ther with the orignal 655 with removable network card. my 655 burned out on wireless. swapped internal card but no dice...i digress.

the 1043 has pretty good user features. good signal. good speed and quickness.

love the ip based bandwidth control. i drop it to dial up when cod mw3 gives me the easy kill host. that game is poorly made too. another subject for another day. no reboots needed when changing the bandwidth. its 5 second time from click to implement.

ooh...2 tvs, 2 blue rays, 2 phones, 2 wireless printers, 2 lan pcs, 2 tablets, 2 laptops, squeezebox, xbox 360. all connect at same time. no problems with pings or bandwidth.

Cons: ive had it for a while. every now and then needed a reboot like all routers ive owned. now? it completely dropped wireless and would randomly drop lan. upgraded firmware...BAM. quick and fast. but it stops intermittently. connection bars are full. but speed drops to dial up and pings almost 1000ms.

Other Thoughts: had to throw the poorly made 4300 back in. tried to save the 1043 but it refuses.

will buy another tonight and try the 8dbi antennas. dont need them but why not?

will give another review let you all know how the new models fair vs the old.

Pros: This an update to my previous posts. Up-time: 115 days-- No more issues since I flashed it with Gargoyle firmware (ver. 1.59), several months ago. It has been running like a champ. It now has been up 115 days straight w/ no loss of connections. I have several devices running off it simultaneously with no hiccups. Signal strength is relatively strong with a WiFi adapter, from the 1st floor to the second floor of our approx. 3000 sq.ft house. I love my cheap NAS via the USB port. Great router for the price!

Cons: No more cons since dumping the stock firmware!!

Pros: Good design, Detachable antennas, Good ratings, Great price

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I ordered this from Newegg due to the fact that I had tried to order the same product from Wal-Mart.com twice and did not receieve the item. The item was cheaper through Newegg, and I received the item in a timely manner. I should have ordered from Newegg in the beginning.

As far as the product, it is really good. I wanted the detachable antennas due to the fact that I have a large antenna to increase my signal that attaches in place of one of the stock antennas. It worked as expected.

This router took the place of the junky router our ISP came and installed in place of an old one the other day. The old one would not even pick up full signal in our downstairs. Once I installed the Tp Link, signal is great. Even without my external antenna, signal was much better than the router installed by my ISP.

Set up was easy. I popped in the disk that came with it, and it walked me through it. It helped with all the options. It was less than a 10 minute process. However, I did have an issue with it giving an "excellent signal strength but limited or no connectivity" message on my laptop and xbox 360, but I think that had something to do with my ISP. And once I re-installed the router, it started working correctly and sent out the correct ip address information.

I would recommend this product. Price is good, set-up was easy. The 3 detachable antennas are nice, especially is you have an additonal high-powered antenna like I do.

Pros: good price,

Cons: I own this router for about 8 months but never been happy with this. I lost wifi connection so many times and it turned out to be "automatic channel switching" problem. By unselect that option and fixing to a channel solved the problem. And it is very affected by other electronics so whenever I turn on my DVD player, this router starts freezing or hiccuping. Now these days, another problem started : internal home networking is fine ( file transfer between two computers or NAS) but internet is so slow or needs to reload a page so many time to open. I am contacting the company to get a new replacement but what a lost of my time and shipping fee..And no guarantee to work.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear customer,
We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the router and thank you for your effort on troubleshooting.

Upgrading the router's firmware will usually fix some issues.
Since you've applied a RMA service, I hope the replacement can fix trouble you experienced.

If you need further info, please feel free to let me know:
howard.he@tp-link.com

We really appreciate you taking the time to check out our TP-Link products and we hope that you will be able to check out more in the future.

Best Regards!

TP-LINK Support Team
support@tp-link.com
(866) 225-8139
http://www.tp-link.com/us/support
http://www.facebook.com/TPLINK

Pros: I was initially excited about this router - seemed to have good build quality, was pretty easy to setup, and worked pretty well for about 4 months.

Cons: After a few months of us it began to become very unstable. Constantly losing connection to internet, and/or slow intranet transfer speeds - power cycling usually resolves - but what a pain. Lately I've been resetting multiple times per week - seems to be getting worse. Does not have great wireless range - ok at best. For some reason I get Gigabyte speeds sometimes, other times not . . .

Manufacturer Response:

Dear customer,
We're happy to hear you like this router.

I would suggest you upgrade the firmware to the latest one for a try.
We just released a new firmware for this router in March.
You may download it here:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/?model=TL-WR1043ND&version=V1

Another thing, TP-LINK USA provides 2-year warranty to this router and we would like to provide you a replacement upon your request.
Please feel free to contact me:
howard.he@tp-link.com

We really appreciate you taking the time to check out our TP-Link products and we hope that you will be able to check out more in the future.

Best Regards!

TP-LINK Support Team
support@tp-link.com
(866) 225-8139
http://www.tp-link.com/us/support
http://www.facebook.com/TPLINK

Pros: Second review--Works well most of the time esp just using the wireless..

Cons: When I use my desktop with the wired connection it has quit working 3 times for no reason at all ? have to reboot it-Why ? This should not be happening

Manufacturer Response:

Dear oakwood40,
Thank you for your second review to this router and apologize for any inconvenience caused.

We just released a new firmware for WR1043ND a few days ago, would you like to have a try?
http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/?model=TL-WR1043ND&version=V1

Please feel free to contact me if you need further info.
My email is

howard.he@tp-link.com

We really appreciate you taking the time to check out our TP-Link products and we hope that you will be able to check out more in the future.

Best Regards!

TP-LINK Support Team
support@tp-link.com
(866) 225-8139
http://www.tp-link.com/us/support
http://www.facebook.com/TPLINK

Pros: Stable, runs great, doesn't crash. Low heat, low power consumption, and decent GUI.

Cons: Won't let my GS3 connect at 150Mbps or anything above 65.

Other Thoughts: I should have sprung the extra $20 for the DualBand version of this router. Oh well, you live and learn.

Pros: I thought it was a easy set up,,Up and running in no time,,Reviews with connection issues? - I did not have any problems wireless or wired,or connecting to my service provider..

Cons: none yet.