TP-LINK WR1043ND slow wireless speed

[rothingham]

I've this router (TL WR1043ND V1) for about two years, and to be honest, our speed never has been really "great" +- 40mbps (when my our ISP provided 60mbps). But I though it was normal we didn't get the most out of it.
Recently, we've got an update to 160mbps, but our wifi speed has stayed the same...
This goes for all of our devices at home (and we've got quite a few laptops, smartphones, ...).
When I connect my laptop directly (as is LAN) to the modem we've got of our ISP, I get about 153mbps. When I put our router in between (model -> LAN -> TP-LINK router -> LAN -> laptop), I get about 105 mpbs (quite a drop already...). I used multiple cables to test this, all give the same result. But when I connect wirelessly to the router, I only get 40mpbs (very seldomly! Usually its more like 15-25mpbs) when my laptop is placed about a meter from the router.
I've already updated the router's firmware, but that didn't help (it actually made it a bit worse).
I don't think the problem is interference with other routers, since there aren't many other houses nearby.

Is there something else I can try? I thought of maybe switching to open wrt, but I'm not doing that until I'm convinced that's really a good idea.
If I missed out some information, please let me know.
Thanks.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

You're getting good speeds without the router added to the network. That tells me it's the router so I suggest you change it, but preferably not the same make. Try a Netgear or a D-Link.

 

[g90814]

I think your current router is just fine, hardware wise.

Have you done a full factory reset?

[strike]Have you updated the firmware?[/strike] oops re-read original post.

Sometimes DOWNGRADING firmware will fix issues... odd, but sometimes it works.

Are you comfortable with installing open-source firmware (DD-WRT)? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Muv1KWxdKU shows the steps, you just need to make sure you get the right dd-wrt version for your exact router hardware version.

I think this is a good version for your router, but you may want to do a bit of research to confirm: ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2015/01-16-2015-r25934/tplink_tl-wr1043nd/tl-wr1043nd-webflash.bin gotten from t his thread http://wwwn.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=62217&postdays=0&postorder=...