TP-LINK TD-W8960N 300 Mbps Wireless N ADSL2+ Modem Router for BT Connections

You will spend ages looking at all the various component bits (I did) and features you need for your home network (maybe also small business). You will probably buy a few bits only later to realise they are wrong.This is the one you want to buy. It's got all the features and it's the cheapest. AND it seems to work for me.1. It's 2011 so you need 300MBPS wireless N - this unit has it. this is the fastest furthest reaching signal.2. You might have a fast ADSL2 broadband connections - this baby can handle that.3. Has the holes you need for a wired networkthe old technology is wireless B and G. That's slower and does not go as far. If any of your PCs still have these components then your connection will not be improved in terms of speed or distance probably. That is why some reviewers do not notice an improvement. So if you buy this then also buy wireless N adapters for your PCs.If you have a mostly wired network like me) then you might wonder why I say you should buy this as it only does a WIRED network at 10/100 speed ie NOT gigabit. Well when you have to reboot your modem all your open files will be lost...that is the problem with relying on a bit such as this as the central 'hub' of your network So you want to buy this unit AND a gigabit switch. Link all your wired connections into the switch and the switch into this modem router. The speed of your broadband connection is less than the 10/100 speed so that is why you only need 10/100 speed to go from this unit to your switch.If you really want only one network hub device (all-in-one) AND you have wired gigabit connections then you DO NOT want this device. Go for the next one up with faster gigabit lan ports.This unit easily connects my blackberries and my sons WII and the kid's XP and my windows 7 computers. They all work.-ve pointsother than above none. The configuration software is easy enough. The only thing i couldn't configure was the MRU the maximum recieve packet size...not a key feature!! don't worry. The config software seemed tolose my previous config if ever i tried to redo any of it so i had to re-enter all the info...a bit annoying. Have updated to the latest firmware but not yet tested if that makes any difference.UPDATE: July 2011All is mostly good. Works for weeks without needing restarting.On the downside I did have to re-enter all the settings (ie effectively re-install it) as the wifi connection to my son's zen touch 2 would just not work. Rebuilding/re-starting did work. This time i remembered to save the configuration settings afterwards to make it easier next time i might have to do this.I do have some issues with "internet pausing" thos this could be my pc or the ISP or this unit....I don't know and will probably never find out! Never last for more than a minute or so though.A negative point i have just discovered. I had this great super secure home network for my kids. Controlling their internet access via microsoft family safety (which is free and nice). However as soon as you let them access the net from their Wii or their ipad or their zen touch or whatever you lose all that control and they have free access to everything!!! THE ONLY SOLUTION to that will rely on a router (ie the unit in this review) having control features. Now this unit does have features you COULD use but it would be impractical to do so in reality. All you can sensibly do is stop internet access for a certain device at a certain time and that involves using MAC addresses and I have to say is not straightforward and I'm technical. However I would not place this as a bad point against this product as Iwould imagine all the competitors are the same!

I received this item on the 4th April 2012. A few gripes:1. Out of the box, I was a bit surprised to see one of those old-school mini CD ROMS for installation. I have a Macbook Pro i.e. no CD tray, and as the manual strongly recommends using the CD over installing it through Ethernet, I had to use the home desktop PC as it's the only machine that has a CD tray. So, for anyone without a CD tray you'll have to use Ethernet (against TP-Link's recommendation of using the CD, but an option).2. In the box I was provided with no less than 5 (roughly) sets of documents, two of them were manuals that look identical except one appeared to be for a different model of router - then what use is that to me? - nothing, but another inconvenience.3. To configure the TP-Link router I had to get some details from my ISP, Virgin; Virgin provided me with:VPIVCIConnection TypeAuthentication TypeMTUUsername and Password.Note: when you purchase your router from an external source, ISP's will only provide you with the information necessary to configure the router to their network, there is no extra support for setting up the router itself, which is logical I guess. But, for someone not used to setting up a router, this stuff might seem quite intimidating to do on their own.4. After following the instructions on the installation CD, I noticed that the Ethernet was working, but the Wi-Fi was not. I contacted TP-Link technical support (more on them later), and after running some diagnostics they concluded that I had a faulty router. They advised me to return the device, so I unplugged the Ethernet cable from the back of my PC, and for some strange reason all the computers in the house detected the TP-Link wireless network. Great. I assumed that TP-Link technical support may have overlooked something in their diagnostic check, and as everything was working fine I decided NOT to return the router - who wouldn't?5. Bad idea. Roughly about four days ago after a month of use, the Wi-Fi stopped working all of a sudden. Back to the same problem with only the Ethernet working. I contacted TP-Link technical support, and after another round of diagnostic checks, they concluded that it was a faulty device. So basically, what I got from this, is that the model I have is a faulty device that works most of the time, then shuts down on you. Generally, when something works for a good month, I assume it's not faulty. My mistake.6. On to TP-Link technical support - it's awful. Unfortunately, I don't think it's down to their technical know-how - it's the accent. Just before I started the call, my brother said to me that call centres were being moved back to the UK because of the problems with us understanding people over the other end of the line, but I quickly dismissed it as I've never had any issues with that. Well, that was with the Indian accent, but TP-Link use what I think are Chinese people in their call centres and in all honesty, I couldn't understand 75% of what they were saying. I had to constantly repeat my questions, and had to constantly ask them to repeat their answers. It took SO MUCH time. Add to that the volume on their line is AWFUL (I tested it with different phones to make sure it wasn't mine that was the problem). Horrible experience. Now I can sympathise with the lady on the other side of the phone, after all it's clearly not her first language and I wouldn't do any better at speaking Chinese, but from a customers point of view none of that helps. When you look for the technical support number on their website, they give you a list of countries, so when the UK number is displayed I'm inclined to think that I will be speaking to someone from the UK - unfortunately that's not the case - very misleading. They need to get some good English-speaking call centre agents.However, after all of this I've decided to order the same router again. Why? Because of the simple fact that TP-Link say the device I have is faulty. AND, when the router was working, it worked like a charm. So, I'm gonna give it another go, and hopefully I'll be able to update this report with more positive things to say. So, here are my current scores:Router (when working): 4/5Technical Support: 1/5 (The reason why I PERSONALLY don't put too much emphasis on tech support is because I'm reasonably tech savvy. )