First off this is the review of the TP-Link Archer T4U Wireless Dual Band USB 3.0 Adapter that uses 802.11ac for even faster wireless internet and for a longer distance.
This box many be small but does it pack a bigger punch lets find out.
Contents of the box is :-
Wireless Adapter Archer T4U
Resource CD
Quick Installation Guide
USB Extension Cable
| HARDWARE FEATURES | |
|---|---|
| Interface | USB 3.0 |
| Button | WPS button |
| Dimensions (W X D X H) | 3.6×1.2×0.6 in. (92.2×29×14.6mm) |
| Antenna Type | Omni Directional |
| WIRELESS FEATURES | |
|---|---|
| Wireless Standards | IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11b |
| Frequency | 5GHz 2.4GHz |
| Signal Rate | 5GHz 11ac: Up to 867Mbps(dynamic) 11a: Up to 54Mbps(dynamic) 2.4GHz 11n: Up to 300Mbps(dynamic) 11g: Up to 54Mbps(dynamic) 11b: Up to 11Mbps(dynamic) |
| EIRP | <20dBm (EIRP) |
| Reception Sensitivity | 5GHz： 11a 6Mbps: -88dBm 11a 54Mbps: -71dBm 11ac HT20: -65dBm 11ac HT40: -60dBm 11ac HT80: -56dBm 2.4GHz: 11b 11Mbps: -90dBm 11g 54Mbps: -73dBm 11n HT20: -71dBm 11n HT40: -68dBm |
| Wireless Modes | Ad-Hoc / Infrastructure mode |
| Wireless Security | Support 64/128 bit WEP, WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK, 802.1x |
| Modulation Technology | DBPSK, DQPSK, CCK, OFDM, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM |
| OTHERS | |
|---|---|
| Certification | CE, FCC, RoHS |
| Package Contents | Wireless Adapter Archer T4U Resource CD Quick Installation Guide USB Extension Cable |
| System Requirements | Windows 8 (32/64bits), Windows 7 (32/64bits), Windows XP(32/64bits) |
After installing the drivers from the CD that’s included for the drivers and the utility software (or install from the website).
Just plug in the USB adapter into you computer and connect to the wifi signal you are looking and for, and connect.
Here are the speed test, that I tested on a 5GHz router from TP-Link the Archer C7 AC1750 (click for the review of the unit).
After the 5 metre test I was testing the device, with walls etc in the way.
Speed Performance
Using the 5 GHz
1 metre away from router:
Ping – 12ms
D/L Speed – 73.87Mbps
U/L Speed – 6.14 Mbps
5 metre away from router:
Ping – 14ms
D/L Speed – 38.39Mbps
U/L Speed – 6.08Mbps
15 metre away from router:
Ping – 13ms
D/L Speed – 34.09Mbps
U/L Speed – 6.04Mbps
25 metre away from router:
Ping – 11ms
D/L Speed – 33.17Mbps
U/L Speed – 6.08Mbps
If you are looking for a device to a extra distance for you laptop or computer then you can’t go wrong with the TP-Link Archer T4U Wireless Dual Band USB 3.0 Adapter priced around £40.
6.14 Mbps is very low for AC really (less than 1 MB per second). In fact I am using same router (Archer C7) and two wifi adapters: one for client N300 at 5Ghz and one N150 at 2,4 Ghz on some file server.
Additional setup is that both wifi adapters are pretty much next to each other (up to 20 cm) and about 6 meters away from the router. Downloading file from the server is done at stable 11 MB per second which gives over 90 Mbps – far more than whatever is presented in this test.
However those pings are also disturbing. 6m away from C7 but using another adapter (for that purpose I just used N300 with some old Broadcom chip) I got average ping around 4 ms (2 times response was in fact 15 ms, trial repeated 30 times total).
Based on given numbers I am pretty much certain there was some interference that caused this drop of performance. Otherwise this sounds just like a solid N adapter.