Linksys E5600 or TP Link Archer A7

prohank

Disciple
Hi there,

I have shortlisted these two routers and confused about which one to get between Linksys E5600 and TP-Link Archer A7.

Primary Requirements -
1. To use as my daily driver Router (and converting my old one to a wireless AP)
2. Budget - 3k, at max 3.5k
3. Openwrt/Tomato support

Some differences-
1. Linksys E5600 used MediaTek MT7621DAT (880MHz dual-core) whereas A7 uses Qualcomm Atheros QCA9563 (750 MHz) with a higher price tag but probably because of Mediatek vs. Qualcomm. - Thoughts on reliability, support, quality?
2. A7 has a USB port whereas E5600 does not. - For the price difference I can ignore the USB
3. One is Chinese and the other is non-Chinese - choice varies from person to person
4. E5600 has 4 internal antennas, A7 has 3 external ones - Which would be better in terms of signal strength and coverage? E5600 certainly wins in the looks department for me
5. A7 is Wireless class AC1750 whereas E5600 is AC1200 - How much of a difference does it really make IRL? I certainly don't have a 1200Mbps Internet connection at present.

Please share your views and anyone using any one of the two can also feel free to share their experience which might help me in making a purchase decision.

Thanks a lot! Appreciate your inputs.
 
e5600 doesn't have 3rd party support last i checked!!
That's right. It's a fairly recent device launched in the last quarter of 2020. So it might take time for it to get some support but considering that it uses the same chipset as Archer A6 I'm hopeful it will get ported in some time.
 
I've been using archer A7 with default firmware from last 6 months on a 100 MBPS connections. It's stable and running without any issues with 2 other access point routers connected to it. I've even connected a HDD using USB to use as a home data sharing device.
Don't have any experience with Linksys E5600, so no comments on that.
 
That's right. It's a fairly recent device launched in the last quarter of 2020. So it might take time for it to get some support but considering that it uses the same chipset as Archer A6 I'm hopeful it will get ported in some time.
99%, will never be ported.
 
I've been using archer A7 with default firmware from last 6 months on a 100 MBPS connections. It's stable and running without any issues with 2 other access point routers connected to it. I've even connected a HDD using USB to use as a home data sharing device.
Don't have any experience with Linksys E5600, so no comments on that.

What sort of transfer speeds do you get to and from the HDD?
Will most external HDD work?

I am thinking about this D-Link-DIR-825 https://www.amazon.in/D-Link-DIR-825-Dual-Band-Gigabit-Router/dp/B078L5J7G1

Any opinion? Compared to A6?
 
I get good enough speeds. Mostly backup my phone photos to it and store live cam feeds from 2 cameras.
I think most HDDs should work.
Have no idea about other routers though.

Which cameras are you using?
The footage is directly stored into the USB HDD over wifi?
 
Which cameras are you using?
The footage is directly stored into the USB HDD over wifi?
Cameras from Mi.
Yes, directly stored to hdd over wifi.

Actually the HDD attached using usb serves as an FTP server. You have an option in most security cameras these days to setup network storage. Using that you can add this ftp server in camera settings and select how many days feed you want to keep.
 
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