Router for a steal: Popular TP-Link with code costs 631 CZK. Who is it good for and who won't it be enough for?

Not every household needs an expensive router. If you have an internet connection up to 100 Mb/s at home and connect a few phones, a laptop, and a TV, an ordinary piece that simply works will often suffice. The TP-Link Archer C50 now costs only 631 CZK on Alza with the code ALZADNY20, which is a fifth less than it has been for the entire last year. Over 5,000 units have been sold on Alza, but its technology has aged and is not suitable for fast connections.

Quick summary:
✅ Makes sense for internet up to 100 Mb/s in an apartment, for example, at parents’ or a cottage.
⚠️ Consider if you have fiber optics or a plan above 100 Mb/s – the router would slow it down. It does not offer Wi-Fi 6 or WPA3 security.
💡 For 631 CZK you get dual-band Wi-Fi with IPTV support and the option to expand the network with mesh.

All ports are only 100 Mb/s and will slow down faster internet

The WAN port, into which you connect the cable from your provider, and the four LAN ports for a computer or TV, according to TP-Link, have a speed of only 10/100 Mb/s. If you are paying for a 250 or 500 Mb/s plan, or gigabit fiber optics, the router will only allow about a hundred into your home. It doesn’t matter if you are connected by cable or via Wi-Fi. You can find the speed of your plan in your contract or in the provider’s customer zone.

Therefore, you won’t utilize the 867 Mb/s figure in the 5 GHz band for internet, it will at most manifest during transfers between devices on your home network. A computer or network storage connected by cable will also hit a hundred. However, if you have internet up to 100 Mb/s, for example, a cheaper plan over copper or a wireless connection in a village, the ports will not slow you down. The speed in other rooms will then primarily be determined by the Wi-Fi range.

Wi-Fi 5 will cover an apartment, but less so a large house

The Archer C50 broadcasts in two bands: 2.4 GHz with speeds up to 300 Mb/s and 5 GHz with up to 867 Mb/s. The signal is distributed by four fixed antennas. Alza describes the router as ideal for larger households, but the manufacturer is more conservative. TP-Link states the range for an apartment or smaller house and describes the capacity for connected devices as medium. Inside, a single-core processor operates.

Wi-Fi 5 has now been replaced by newer Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7. According to manufacturers, newer standards handle many devices simultaneously better, which will be especially appreciated by households full of mobile phones, laptops, and cameras. Furthermore, the Archer C50 does not support WPA3 security, only WPA2 at most. For a typical household, this is still sufficient, but it is not the latest standard.

In addition to a standard guest network and parental controls, the router supports IPTV (for example, for TV from an operator) and can also function as an access point. You can also manage it from the TP-Link Tether app. According to the manufacturer, it also supports EasyMesh and OneMesh, so you can compensate for a weak spot in your apartment with a compatible extender.

Customers praise easy setup, several people complain about the range

On Alza, the Archer C50 has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 from 342 customers, and 94% of them recommend it. The return rate is low, at 1.4%. In written reviews, easy and quick installation is most frequently mentioned. Several users state that their router has been running without issues for years.

Drawbacks also appear in the reviews. Some people complain that the web interface for settings is not in Czech, and a few buyers expected a greater range from the four antennas. One buyer misses a USB port, and two buyers point out the 100 Mb/s ports.

Who the Archer C50 makes sense for and when to pay extra for Wi-Fi 6

The router makes sense where the internet is slower and demands are modest. Typically, this would be for parents or grandparents with a basic plan, a cottage, or a smaller apartment where an old router has served its purpose and it’s enough for a few devices to connect to the network. For 631 CZK, such use will be covered without problems.

If you have fiber optics or cable internet above 100 Mb/s, the Archer C50 will take away a large portion of your paid connection. In a large house or with many devices, you will again encounter its range and capacity limitations. In that case, it makes sense to pay extra. For example, the Xiaomi Router AX3000T with Wi-Fi 6 costs 1,349 CZK at the time of writing on Alza and, according to Xiaomi, offers gigabit ports and WPA3. The 718 CZK difference is worth it for fast internet.

Would a router that allows a maximum of one hundred megabits be enough for you at home?