TP-Link VX230v modem-router review: Modem-routed

Despite its clunky name, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a modem-router that’s more popular in terms of Google search traffic than the TP-Link VX230v. And that makes sense, with five of the NBN providers that we track in our database offering it as an affordable NBN plan add-on. The thing is, while it had a relatively decent start during my testing, the longer I used the VX230v, the less I wanted to use it.

Good luck finding the TP-Link VX230v at a retail store. I got mine off eBay from someone who apparently had a spare. If, however, you have an NBN plan with or want one from Activ8me, Mate, Moose NBN, Southern Phone or Spintel, you can pay between $139.95 and $165 to pair a preconfigured VX230v with your plan. Activ8me and Spintel also offer a bundle with the excellent TP-Link HX510 for $279.95 and $249.95, respectively.

As far as NBN provider bundle modem-routers go, you can potentially get the ZTE H1600 for less from Exetel, Origin Broadband or Superloop, but it costs more for the NetComm NF20MESH from Aussie Broadband or Tangerine. If you’re in the market for a new NBN plan, check out the popular picks below.

Despite its age, the TP-Link VX230v mercifully allows for guided installation via the Aginet companion app. I ended up using a mix of Aginet and the VX230v’s browser-based web portal because of some initial internet weirdness. At first, the internet worked on my wired PC after following the Aginet prompts but refused to work on wireless devices.

After I factory reset the VX230v, I used the web portal, which is definitely more intimidating for networking newbies, littered with acronyms that aren’t self-explanatory. While somewhat annoying, I did find it promising that Aginet seemingly had fuller control of the VX230v’s functions because it would kick my web portal connection whenever I was using both simultaneously.

Then the web portal stopped working entirely, which also meant that Aginet stopped working. Restarting the VX230v fixed the issue, but only for an hour or so. Access to the web portal or Aginet didn’t return during the two weeks I spent testing the VX230v.

I do internet speed tests right after initial configuration to gauge speed potential, not just overall but also relative to wired and wireless performance in different parts of my apartment. While the front part of my apartment typically never has WiFi issues, the back part has issues with any networking equipment that can’t penetrate thick walls. Given its price, I figured the standalone TP-Link VX230v would struggle with WiFi dead spots and would need the assistance of an extender to provide proper full-apartment wireless coverage in my home. Thankfully, I still had the TP-Link HX510 when that particular suspicion proved true.

All of my router internet speed tests are conducted with an Exetel NBN 100/20 FTTC apartment connection, using Ethernet for the first test then a Google Pixel 7 Pro for the WiFi tests (via WiFi 6). All of the tests below were done in the evening. Lower numbers are best for latency (measured in milliseconds), while larger numbers are better for download and upload speeds (both measured in megabits-per-second). Use the top line of results in the tables as an idea of best-case speeds at that time of day, then every line below as comparative. Signal strength according to Google is ranked from best to worst as excellent, good, fair and poor.

Below are the results for my everyday Synology RT6600ax WiFi 6 router.

It’s normal for the RT6600ax to fail during the garage tests, but it’s a handy comparison that other networking devices can pass (even if those results are slow). Below are the results for the standalone VX230v, then the results when paired with the HX510 in extender mode.

Even standalone, there are some decent initial results worth highlighting. The VX230v kept pace with the RT6600ax for most of the key rooms in my apartment, even beating the Synology router in the kitchen and laundry tests. (Note to self: don’t conduct tests with a washer-dryer running its dryer function, as that can impact speed tests.) While slow, the VX230v registered some speeds and workable latency for the garage tests.

Still, the study and bathroom results weren’t up to spec, and the same is true of the slower speeds at the property fence line and across the road. I suspected that the 2.4GHz band wasn’t keeping up, and these suspicions were confirmed when I connected the HX510 as a network extender. The only anomaly is the garage test, which failed this time around, assumedly because the network was having difficulty prioritising the HX510 over the VX230v. It’s also worth flagging that the property fence speeds were also slower with the HX510 as part of the network.

All of the other WiFi tests looked great, though, with the study and bathroom being much improved and latency consistently low at every test point. Given how impressed I was by the HX510 when I tested it as a standalone router, I figured that the VX230v was set up for success. How wrong I was.

One of the initial tweaks I do while testing networking gear is checking how easy it is to switch the default IP address. For me, this step helps preserve some of the systems of my existing network, including straightforward access to my network-attached streaming (NAS) drive and network wake-up functionality for multiple devices. So, I was impressed that updating the IP address wasn’t only very straightforward in the TP-Link VX230v’s web portal, it also automatically updated the DHCP IP range.

But that was before losing access to said web portal. That’s a big issue if you’re looking to extend the network with an HX510, like I did. Ironically, that IP address change triggered a restart, so I had access to the web portal and Aginet app. For the life of me, I couldn’t get the HX510 to connect via the Aginet companion app, but I did eventually get it going via the web portal while it was still available.

During most of my two weeks of testing the VX230v, it was mostly internet as usual with some minor cracks: a Google Nest dropout here, and a flaky online video call there. I was frustrated that I didn’t remember to check for Quality of Service (QoS) settings while I still had access to the web portal, because it clearly wasn’t enabled by default. That meant I was manually throttling max download speeds to preserve finite internet bandwidth for latency-sensitive tasks like online gaming, VoIP calls and video streaming.

These foibles weren’t too annoying. But those smaller cuts eventually haemorrhaged my patience when all of the WiFi devices in my home stopped working. It was trickier to notice initially because I spend most of my day on an Ethernet-connected PC, but the lack of connectivity was consistent across the four wireless devices I checked. As you may have guessed from the breadcrumbs throughout this article, the solution would have been to power cycle the VX230v, but this was the rather large piece of straw that broke this camel’s back. I disconnected the VX230v in a huff and went back to my RT6600ax.