Unable to find any firmware downloads for the device/router - Archer C5
I bought a Archer C5 V4 on Amazon India from a seller. Now this IS NOT the Archer C50. It is Archer C5 (ISP Managed router) and I was able to get my hands on one. Though, I understand that this router is for usage in specific scenarios such as ISP config management, etc., and that these are deployed by the ISP on the end-user premises, I was able to get my hands on a retail pack.
I went with this model as it offered, 4 antenna dual band WiFi, Gigabit WAN/LAN ports and USB for file sharing and network failsafe 3G/4G handover features.
Now, the problem is that I don't see any firmware downloads whatsoever for this router model.
I did a little bit of digging and found out that TP-Link pushes back people to the ISP who wants router specific support for these models. But, in my case, the router isn't supplied by the ISP. I bought it retail.
The router initially performed over and above my expectations. When I thought everything was going fine, I started facing issues with the 5GHz band(s). I have tried tweaking all the settings that there are, to try and fix this issue. But, I ran out of all options with no luck.
I have a 100Mbps connection coming into my home/WAN of the router. when I do a "ookla" or "fast.com" speedtest, I get close to 80-90 Mbps speed on 2.4GHz band. But, when I do the same thing on 5GHz band, I get about 40-50 or sometimes 60Mbps if I am lucky. PS: I am about 5-6 feet away from the router in all the tests that I do.
I have tried all settings: mode, channel, channel width, transmit power, etc. But, I couldn't get it to work at the "advertised" speeds.
The 5GHz 802.11ac connection/link on this router boasts 867Mbps speeds. But, I couldn't not even get it to 300Mbps (I run a NAS via RaspberryPi through the Gigabit link/interface. So, Router-RaspberryPi interface speeds shouldn't be any cause for bottleneck issues here)
I did couple of iperf tests on the LAN interface to confirm if Raspberry negotiated 1000BaseT Full duplex and is working on the same speeds. I got Gigabit Speeds over LAN.
When I tried over WLAN, I couldn't get speeds over 200Mbps. The speed of the connection is reported as 866Mbps capable under WiFi Properties > Status.
Also, the wireless device/card that I am using is Killer AX1650x (Intel AX200) WiFi 6. So, there's no question of bottleneck here. Also, it isn't driver fault as the router pretty much provides identical speeds on all devices such as Raspberry-Pi, Mobile phones, Laptops, etc. (all tests carried out 5-6 feet away from router without any obstructions).
I though a firmmware update may fix this problem... But, alas! This router does not have any firmware update files available on the TP-Link download repositories.
I did not get in touch with the TP-Link support... But, I am sure that they will push me back stating some or the other reasons.
Any ideas on what's happening or what I should be doing now?
I can attach all the screenshots of the iperf tests, TaskManager WiFi throughoutput graphs, Ookla, fast.com speed tests. But, I am away from my laptop now and all of the test research is on my Predator laptop. Will update when I get time.
Any help is apprecciated!
Thank you!