tp-link BE 3600 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router / Archer BE230

[cobberboy]

Dear TPG Community,
THIS IS A LONG QUESTION but please 🙏 read.
I have been with TPG for just on seven years and have always found them to be receptive and particularly helpful from a technology standpoint.
I was blessed with a high speed, NBN connection, which is called FTTP, the NBN modem (and support system – I am NOT a ‘tech expert’ by any means) was built into the new building in which I live during its construction - completed in 2017. I was surprised to discover modem is in my bedroom cupboard!
TPG originally supplied me with a:
tp-link Archer C1200 / AC1200 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router
(STANDARDS: IEEE 802.11b/g/n + 2.4GHz IEEE 802.11a/n/ac 5GHz)
Which served me very well, until it started to (Glitch) have intermittent problems which started with Wi-Fi dropouts and over a period of months more “technical problems emerged” which became untenable for me as they became more permanent.
Basically from what I’ve been told the lifecycle of this piece of ‘hardy” hardware was coming to an end - the cause? There were lots of theories.
Quite possibly:
because I slowly, but surely - one “thing” at a time - embraced IoT - and the benefits of voice control *and over time* purchased quite a few - almost all my light bulbs (I settled on Nanoleaf) then gradually: smart plugs, an Apple tablet, a JBL sound bar, an Apple TV, a new printer to name but a few smart devices that would assist me now and into the future.
*NOTE* I live with and have to deal with a progressive form of dementia and multifunction decline (physically) that was a lot less of a problem when I first signed up with TPG almost 7 years ago. The benefits of IoT (in my case smart devices) for somebody with a disability, I have discovered through lived experience, is nothing short of miraculous.
I recently (8 weeks?) received a ‘Replacement Modem+Router’ called a:
tp-link AX 1500 (Wi-Fi 6) Wireless Gigabit NBN/DSL/ADSL modem router with VoIP/ Model VX 220–G2v - which is a bit of a mouthful! Unfortunately it has not proven to be much of an improvement - particularly when it came to setting up of all of the IoT devices, which I patiently worked my way through, similarly to how I purchased them, one at a time until I had finished all of them.

So I decided to bite the bullet and use the funds I had saved to purchase a new Router from scratch:

tp-link BE 3600 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router / Archer BE230

My QUESTION - after all that description – probably too much, but I wanted to be thorough, has anybody else purchased or is using this:

Wi-Fi 7 Router / Archer BE230??

[david64]

Hi @cobberboy .

NBNCo install the FTTP box in the most convenient spot for them; usually not convenient for the user.
Does your house have ethernet outlets in each room leading back to a common point (patch panel)? If it does, and there is an outlet in the bedroom, you can put the router at the common point.
With the FTTP box in the cupboard, are you able to use a longer cable to position the router in a better position in the room? Or even run a cable under house or in roof to another room?

With the VX220, what problems are you getting? Just wifi dropouts or internet dropouts? Smart devices disconnect?

The BE230 has not been mentioned in Community. You might be better to check out reviews.
Have you downloaded the user manual? None of the info says how many wifi devices can be connected or how many address reservations can be made.
It does have special wifi arrangement for IoT devices.

[david64]

@cobberboy . I received your post this morning which has now been deleted as spam. I've added it back in this post.

Couple of things: make sure the NBN box and router get ventilation.

With wifi devices, the 2.4 band has greater range for devices further from router.

Is the BE230 giving reliable internet connection?

You can use the VX220 as a cabled extender if you need more ethernet ports in one of the rooms. If the BE230 wifi is ample, disable the VX220 wifi. The VX can be configured as Dynamic IP with DHCP and NAT disabled. In the BE230, you can give the VX a reserved IP address (outside dynamic pool range of BE230) so you can login to its admin easily in future.

When you have finished setting up, you could mention how many wifi devices you were able to add.

NBNCo install the FTTP box in the most convenient spot for them; usually not convenient for the user.
Apologies...I didn't mean to come across as complaining about placement of the NBNCo install of the FTTP box - I was genuinely surprised - that it was there.
After hearing nightmares from quite a few other people with what they ended up with from NBNCo with the positioning of their connecting modem. Although it is in my bedroom cupboard, I realised that "peeling the onion" of the walls and rooms of my apartment, it is in a central position for the layout.

Does your house have ethernet outlets in each room leading back to a common point (patch panel)? If it does, and there is an outlet in the bedroom, you can put the router at the common point.
YES :-) - again, I think I was very lucky with this; there are separate ethernet outlet panels (like powerpoints) in each of the two major rooms of the Apartment.
The Bedroom has 2 of these (as you've described) and the Main Living area has 1 (that leads to the "open plan" Kitchen Area) - the opposing wall of this has 1 - totalling 4 ethernet outlets in all.
There is also a four "plug-in point ethernet inlet? panel" just underneath the FTTP NBNCo modems' hardwired position on the wall in the bedroom cupboard.
With the FTTP box in the cupboard, are you able to use a longer cable to position the router in a better position in the room? Or even run a cable under house or in roof to another room?

Thank you - I will try this - but I think only to get the Router higher?? up towards the ceiling?
I worked out (patiently - trial and error) which of the four 'points of the common point panel ethernet inlets?' built into the wall (below the re: FTTP Box bedroom cupboard panel) "fed a signal" to the 4 (Four) individual ones, as there was no delineation or markings marked on it.
I did some reasearch as they all looked exactly the same.
Patch Panel?? Once I had worked out what connected to what, I bought 4 X RJ45 Cat 6 cables;
and as a result I have been connecting the LAN ports on the back of the Router to the 'corresponding points on the (now demystified) common point (patch panel)

With the VX220, what problems are you getting? Just wifi dropouts or internet dropouts? Smart devices disconnect?

All of the above (you’ve mentioned) in varying degrees, I know that probably sounds really non specific and vague, but if I copy/pasted each time it (the $10 TPG supplied VX220-G2v / WiFi 6 AX 1500 replacement) did one of these things you’ve mentioned (that I patiently wrote down) then this message would be LONGER than it already is.

Needless to say that just the “local?” drop outs after several weeks of patience, were enough for me to “throw in the towel on it” - and I’m a pretty patient person, on a limited budget.

The BE230 has not been mentioned in Community. You might be better to check out reviews.
Have you downloaded the user manual? None of the info says how many wifi devices can be connected or how many address reservations can be made.
It does have special wifi arrangement for IoT devices.

Yep I downloaded the user Manual for the Archer BE230 - BE3600 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router - again, I am no tech expert at all. But am still patiently working my way through what I (think?) I need to read and know, as it is quite large.

I will check the allocation of addresses and the number it can handle & let you know if you would like? It

The choice of dedicated IoT WiFi channels (both 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz) is something that I’ve never come across before, but is proving to be stable and very effective – it just makes sense as I have far more IoT devices than when I first signed up to TPG just under seven years ago as (I’m assuming?) many other customers will do so as well.