TP-link Archer C9 Vs EA6900 Vs DIR-

880
by Ali H · Published • October 5, 2015 · Updated December 4, 2017

TP-link Archer C9 is shining, full features economical wireless AC1900 router

with excellent customer ratings in Amazon. How do you compare it with other
AC1900 routers such as Linksys EA6900 and D-link Dir-880?

Budget and needs

Most people who would like to upgrade their home wifi network certainly also
think about the budget in choosing which wireless router to meet their needs, of
course, the router that are featuring the latest technology and is affordable with
existing budget. There are also some people who just think about the needs
without thinking how much the budget to spend, the important thing is
sophisticated and meets all their needs.

The first group would consider which wireless router or wireless gateway that
meets their needs and still under the budget plan. For thatʼs why you need to
compare some of the wireless routers in order to determine which one should
be purchased and in accordance with needs. letʼs say that your budget is
around $150, which wifi router to purchase that allows you to stream HD video
and online gaming smoothly, no lag and no jitter. You may consider three of the
following gears; the TP-link Archer C9, or its rival is Linksys EA6900 or even
something that sounds powerful for advanced users – the D-link DIR-880 that
supports DD-WRT open source firmware.

AC1900

You can find couple of routers in wireless AC1900 technology which the budget
is under $200. Why wireless AC1900? This class of wifi represents middle class
of wireless AC routers based on speeds. You can taste the fast lane of wireless
AC standard in wireless AC750 routers such as TP-link Archer C2 and Linksys
EA6200 routers, this is the lowest class in wireless AC technology. Or you can
drive in high way of three band routers of wireless AC5300 technology such as
Asus RT-AC5300 router or Nighthawk X8.

TP-link Archer C9

With this AC1900 your router can deliver speeds of up to 1,300Mbps @ 5GHz
band wireless AC, and up to 600Mbps @ 2.4GHz band wireless N for total
bandwidth of up to 1,900Mbps. You can speedup laptops that are still
embedded with legacy wireless G adapter with high speed of wireless AC1200
USB adapter such as Asus USB-AC56 adapter and Linksys WUSB6300 wireless
AC1200 USB adapter.

Comparison

Now letʼs back to Wireless AC1900 routers to help you consider which one is
best to meet your need while it is still under your budget scheme. In this case
we will compare three wireless AC1900 routers, TP-link Archer C9, Linksys
EA6900 and D-link DIR-880.

The following two tables compare the main spec of them, separating into two
separate tables will help readers with small mobile devices to view better than in
a single four column table. Table 1 shows you comparison between Archer C9
and Linksys EA6900, and table 2 shows you comparison between TP-link Archer
C9 and D-link 880.

D-link DIR-880L

Wifi

As I am comparing routers at the same class of wireless AC1900 routers, I

shouldʼve gotten rid of those rows of wifi technology and speeds, however it is
better to show them all just to emphasize that they are based on wireless
AC1900 technology.

Many people think that wifi with external antenna rods provide better signal
coverage and stronger signal. Yes, even though not always true. Antenna design
and high gain power amplifiers can provide solid signal and longer distance
coverage. D-link 880 antenna is designed with power amplifier for better signal
strength and coverage.

Note:

D-link released new high gain routers including DIR-879 wireless AC1900 router
with high power amplifier (1,000mW), and DIR-869 AC1750 high power
1,000mW router.

Beamforming technology provides solid beam of signal to compliant wifi clients

while they are moving around within home. Thanks that all the three routers
come with this smart antenna technology. Smart Connect technology is typically
applied to three band routers to automatically connect the clients to the best
appropriate band available based on the speeds. And only D-link 880 applies
this technology while the other two routers donʼt.

Processor

Itʼs becoming the general rule that the better processor, the processing power
becomes much better. All the processing power needed to run clientʼs
applications that connect to the router, the more tasks the processor need to
handle. The more heavy applications run by clients the more power the
processor need to handle. Dual core processor gives you all the power your
router needs to handle all the clients and the application they run. The faster the
processor clock, the faster processing time it take to complete the tasks.

All the three routers come with dual core processor with different frequency
speed, D-link 880 and Linksys 6900 come with the same processor clock of
800Mhz while Archer C9 is 1GHz clock – the better processor compared with
the other two. The new Linksys WRT1900ACS with Open Source firmware
comes with 1.6 GHz dual core processor, while the new D-link 885 comes with
1.4 GHz dual core processor.

Linksys Wireless AC1900 router

Other features

All the port interfaces are the same for the three routers, the number of Gigabit
Ethernet ports and dual USB ports have similar function – or probably slightly
different something like D-link with mydlink SharePort allows you connect disk
to router and sync, share like personal cloud via your mobile devices. Network
management via your mobile devices is almost similar with different free app
they support things like TP-link Tether, Linksys Smart wifi, and mydlink Lite
apps.

Table 1 TP-link Archer C9 Vs Linksys EA6900

Archer C9 Linksys EA6900

Wifi technology AC1900 AC1900

Simultaneous 2.4GHz up to Simultaneous 2.4GHz up to

Speeds 600Mbps and 5GHz up to 600Mbps and 5GHz up to
1300Mbps 1300Mbps

3x dual band detachable 3x adjustable external

Antenna
antennas antennas

Beamforming Yes Yes

Smart connect No No

4x 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
4x 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
Ports,
Ports,
Ethernet Ports
1x 10/100/1000Mbps WAN
1x 10/100/1000Mbps WAN Port
Port

1x USB 3.0 Port

1x USB 2.0 Port 1x USB 3.0 Port

USB Ports
Media server, FTP server, 1x USB 2.0 Port

Storage / printer sharing

Processor 1GHz dual core processor 800Mhz dual core processor

Open source
No No
supports

TP-LINK Tether app to allow

Linksys smart wifi app to allow
you to access and manage
Mobile apps you monitor and control your
your router with your smart
home network
devices.

WPS
WPS/Reset Button,
Reset

Buttons Wireless On/Off Button,

No wifi on-off button
Power On/off Button (controlled by app via your
mobile devices)

Average customer
rating (Amazon per 4.2 out of 5 stars 3.9 out of 5 stars
Oct 2016)

Price (Oct 2016) $115.00 $104.00

Table 2 TP-link Archer C9 Vs D-link DIR-880

Archer C9 D-link DIR-880

Wifi technology AC1900 AC1900

Simultaneous 2.4GHz up to Simultaneous 2.4GHz up to

Speeds 600Mbps and 5GHz up to 600Mbps and 5GHz up to
1300Mbps 1300Mbps

3x detachable dual band

3x dual band detachable
Antenna antennas and 3 power
antennas
amplifiers

Yes, itsʼ Smart beam

Beamforming Yes
technology

Smart Connect No Yes

4x 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
4x 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
Ports,
Ports,
Ethernet Ports
1x 10/100/1000Mbps WAN
1x 10/100/1000Mbps WAN Port
Port

1x USB 3.0 Port 1x USB 3.0 Port

USB Ports
1x USB 2.0 Port 1x USB 2.0 Port

Processor 1GHz dual core processor 800Mhz dual core processor

Open source Yes, DD-WRT Open source

No
supports firmware support

mydlink Lite – manage and

control your network

TP-LINK Tether app to allow mydlink SharePort – stream

you to access and manage
Free Mobile apps
your router with your smart
devices.
media to your mobile devices
Quick Router Setup (QRS) –
easy setup with your mobile
device

WPS/Reset Button, WPS

Wireless On/Off Button, Reset

Buttons

Power On/off Button power On-off button

Average customer
rating (Amazon per 4.2 out of 5 stars 4.3 out of 5 stars
Oct 2016)

Price (Oct 2016) $115.00 $129.99

You might need to learn more manufacturerʼs description and spec details about
each of the product including the current price and rating in Amazon – click the
following links:

Click here for TP-link Archer C9ʼs spec details

Click here for D-link DIR-880ʼs spec details
Click here for Linksys EA6900ʼs spec details

Summary

All the three routers provide powerful wifi network with wireless AC1900
technology, and with faster dual core processor TP-link Archer C9 provides
better performance and is more economical compared with Linksys EA6900 and
D-link 880. For advanced users, D-link 880 is beneficial the fact that it supports
DD-WRT open source firmware.

Instead of Linksys EA6900, you may also consider new model of Linksys Max
STream EA7500 which performs much better than EA6900. It comes with MU-
MIMO technology

Cheers, Ki G