Sponsored Links

TP Link VR2100 vs VR2800

Retro~Burn

Member
I've just ordered a replacement VR2800 router as my old one developed a power fault following the power being tripped by a light switch (router was connected to a surge protector). However, I've just noticed the VR2100 which was released this year. You can see a comparison between the two here.

Unless I'm missing something. The key distinctions seems to be:

1) The VR2800 has 2167Mbps on 5GHz and 600Mbps on 2.4GHz whereas the VR2100 has 1733 Mbps on 5GHz and 300 Mbps on 2.4 GHz.
2) The VR2100 has support for TP Link's 'One Mesh' networking whilst the VR2800 doesn't.
3) The VR2100 has Super VDSL (VDSL2 Profile 35b) with speeds up to 350Mbps whilst the VR2800 has just the standard VDSL up to 100Mbps.
4) The VR2100 uses a MediaTek chipset whilst the VR2800 uses a Broadcom chipset (see post by Pirate Steve on the Whirlpool forum).
5) The VR2100 is cheaper (£115 on Amazon) than the VR2800 (£159)

Both utilise 4×4 MU-MIMO so the two can handle a lot of fast connections.

At the moment we only get just over 40Mbps download so we won't be be able to take advantage of the Super VDSL but it's good future proofing. I'm also keen to switch to a mesh network but the VR2800 doesn't support it (I'd rather not use an extender again).

Can anyone advise if it's best sticking to the VR2800 in the hope TP Link release a firmware to support OneMesh? Or time to switch the VR2100 and take advantage of the new features?
 
I think I'd be tempted to stick with the faster WiFi and Broadcom chipset of the VR2800. Sure Mesh support is nice, but the thing about Mesh is that you don't strictly have to use the router for WiFi and so it's not the end of the world if the router itself isn't part of your Mesh (except for handling the broadband side of course).

As for VDSL2 35b, that will almost certainly never be deployed on Openreach's network in the UK, where the focus is now on FTTP and the other changes needed to make it happen have shown no signs of occurring.
 
Thanks @Mark.J. I've posted on other forums and was told to stick with the VR2800 which I'm now using. Interestingly others didn't seem too keen on the MediaTek chipset either!

I did find the different VDSL standards confusing. Since we're on VDSL I thought G.Fast/FTTP would make use of Super VDSL but evidently not.

Have BT halted the roll out of G.Fast in favour of FTTP? I understand G.Fast involves installing a small add-on box to the cabinet to boost the bandwidth on copper line connections. I thought that would be cheaper? But FTTP is the fastest and countries like Japan and South Korea who are way ahead in broadband technology are using it as standard, so it's about time.
 
Sponsored Links
G.fast has been largely shelved since March 2020 and I doubt we'll see it going much further than it is now, except maybe for a few targeted deployments. FTTP is now the focus.
 
Top
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £24.00
132Mbps
Gift: None
Shell Energy UK ISP Logo
Shell Energy £26.99
109Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £27.99
145Mbps
Gift: None
Zen Internet UK ISP Logo
Zen Internet £28.00 - 35.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £15.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
YouFibre UK ISP Logo
YouFibre £19.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
BeFibre UK ISP Logo
BeFibre £21.00
150Mbps
Gift: £25 Love2Shop Card
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All

Helpful ISP Guides and Tips

Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (5473)
  2. BT (3505)
  3. Politics (2525)
  4. Openreach (2291)
  5. Business (2251)
  6. Building Digital UK (2234)
  7. FTTC (2041)
  8. Mobile Broadband (1961)
  9. Statistics (1780)
  10. 4G (1654)
  11. Virgin Media (1608)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1451)
  13. Fibre Optic (1392)
  14. Wireless Internet (1386)
  15. FTTH (1381)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules