TL-WR1043ND. Wireless router. Overview and testing

Choose a decent router at an affordable price in the Russian computer market is quite difficult, because over the past few years the range of network equipment has increased several times. Now and then there are many new products that are being promoted by many well-known manufacturers. The manufacturer of TP-Link also did not stand aside and offered its vision of a worthy router for the home and small office - model TL-WR1043ND. In this article, the reader will get acquainted with the novelty, and the review, testing and feedback of the owners will help him decide on the purchase.

The right approach to the buyer

Many potential buyers first of all want to understand why the TP-Link TL-WR1043ND router was awarded such attention, because there are quite a lot of cheaper devices of the same class on the market. It's very simple: after conducting market research, the manufacturer identified several important factors that most owners are guided by. An ideal device was designed for these requirements:

• The ability to choose the firmware for yourself and ease of its installation in the router;
• The presence of removable amplification antennas (many buyers are more likely to have their presence than functional);
• The use of gigabit ports for the organization of a wired network;
• The presence of USB-port (although many buyers could not explain why it is needed);
• Flexible menu settings with support for the Russian language and a detailed description.

First meeting

The habitual cardboard box in light green colors contains on the front side not only the image of the WiFi TP-Link TL-WR1043ND itself, but a complete description of all its functions. And, as it is easy to guess, the most actual requirements to the router of buyers have a more detailed description and are highlighted in bold. Inside the box the device is not fixed, so during the purchase it is necessary to print the packaging and make sure that the router is not damaged during transportation.

The standard equipment, typical of all modifications of the manufacturer, looks practical, but very poor: the router itself, the power supply unit, three removable antennas, a half-meter patchcord, drives with drivers and advertising brochures. Once again, saving on paper, the manufacturer offers all users to use the official website for downloading detailed operating instructions. Judging by the numerous reviews of the owners, it would be nice to see in the bundle a small corporate label with the company logo, in order to somehow decorate the gloomy appearance of the network device case.

Appearance and build quality

The TP-Link router for the first time in many years has changed in appearance, namely the panel with indicators has become much more informative, and it is seen quite well from a long distance. The button for quick connection to the Wi-Fi network is displayed on the front panel and highlighted with a green sticker, this solution will not allow newcomers to push the reset to the factory settings instead of establishing a connection. All the indicators on the panel are signed, which is very convenient when working with a router.

To the quality of assembly there are no complaints: the body is made of high-strength plastic. The coating is glossy, but dust and fingerprints do not collect. Special thanks to the manufacturer TP-Link TL-WR1043ND from the happy owners about the connectors for mounting antennas - the copper base not only conveys the signal better, but also does not allow the thread to be turned off during installation by inept actions.

Interfaces, connectors and motherboard

The nice look of the TP-Link TL-WR1043ND is due not only to the design of the case. The manufacturer made a big step towards future owners and made all the connectors in the device quite informative. The interface of the power supply is signed and has a black contact pad (it is impossible to confuse with the Reset button). The USB 2.0 port has a white marking (in USB 3.0 it is blue). The network interface for Internet connection is signed (WAN) and has a blue color. The manufacturer made a separate network hub for 4 ports and painted it in yellow. All ports are numbered, which is very convenient when resetting ports or configuring IPTV.

All chips in the TL-WR1043ND router, including baseboard and processor, are based on the Atheros chip, which is a good sign for all device owners, because this manufacturer is the world leader in the quality of manufacturing of network equipment. All chips in the case of the device are securely soldered to the motherboard. When the router is transported, it does not knock anything and does not emit any strange sounds.

Worthy functionality of the router TL-WR1043ND

Since the device TL-WR1043ND is positioned not in the budget class (the price is 4000 rubles), then the requirements for its functionality from potential buyers are quite high. Here the manufacturer TP-Link tried and supplied its router with all the existing technologies in the market of network equipment.

1. WAN-connection can be made to any provider in the world (of course, a complex Beeline connection is within its power).
2. The mode of the router and the access point has its own settings, which is very convenient for organizing wireless networks in the office (customer list, reservation of the service address range and similar functions for system administrators).
3. Port forwarding is not only at the UPnP level. There is a demilitarized zone, a virtual server and other traffic redirection functions.
4. Virtual private networks are supported at the hardware level (PPTP, L2TP, IPSec with ESP headers).
5. The built-in firewall in the TL-WR1043ND router at the hardware level is able to protect the entire local network created by the router: access control, filtering (over IP, MAC or domain), SPI and even DoS.

Need for firmware

Initially, the device comes with a basic firmware, with a minimum of settings and no description of the functions. However, the manufacturer strongly recommends to go to the official website and download the software for the TL-WR1043ND router model. The firmware is selected by the user individually for the needs. Many administrators recommend downloading the full version for Russian-speaking users. Yes, there are many functions that are unnecessary for beginners, but at least there is a detailed description of each item, which is very convenient for fine-tuning.

Do not forget that many providers on their websites offer ready-made firmware that are created to connect to their servers. This solution will greatly facilitate the work in the networks of the service provider. The router supports not only the firmware update, but also the hardware flooding of the software via the USB-COM interface cable (PuTTY program and knowledge in the field of administration will be needed).

Easy and convenient setup

For the TL-WR1043ND router, you can set up connections in two ways: using the connection wizard and fine-tuning using the control panel. To access the interface of the router, a web interface is used (the address, login and password are written on the label of the router located on the bottom of the device case). When you first sign in, the user is recommended to change the password for the administrator account. After that, the setup wizard appears, offering to name the wireless interface, select the encryption standard and set the password for Wi-Fi.

If the owner prefers to fine-tune the router, then the services of the wizard should be discarded and go to the "Wireless" menu. A detailed description of the functionality, which can be seen on the right side of the interface, will help very quickly to understand the settings. If you want, you can download the complete user manual from the official website of the manufacturer, there are ready-made examples with a detailed description of all the settings of the TL-WR1043ND, which will greatly facilitate the task for all owners of the device.

Troubleshooting when configuring the router

Some software modifications, proposed by the manufacturer on the official website, incorrectly support the operation of the print server in the TL-WR1043ND router. Feedback from owners in the media recommends a universal solution:

• Connect the printer locally to a computer or laptop and install the driver;
• Connect the printer to the wireless access point;
• Specify the binding of the IP address to the connected printer;
• Connect the printer to a PC or laptop as a network device.

This solution allows you to ensure 100% of the printer even after rebooting the router. However, printing from phones, tablets and other wireless devices will still be limited.

Many owners claim that the TP-Link router often hangs when sending large amounts of information over a wireless channel. No overheating of any device, so it is recommended to place the router in a well-ventilated area, away from heating devices.

Finally

As the review shows, the wireless device TL-WR1043ND, whose price does not exceed 4000 rubles on the Russian market, is a rather interesting solution for all customers. The huge functionality, ease of customization and remarkable appearance can attract the attention of many users. Judging by the feedback of the owners, there are shortcomings in the router, but they are not all that critical. The conclusion suggests one: this is one of the best routers, which, in terms of price-quality ratio, can be recommended to all potential buyers.