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Hi;
I have an Archer C2300 which has been working fine for a year or so.
The router is acting as an access point to extend the range of the main (Verizon FIOS) router. It is connected to the FIOS router via cable to one of its LAN ports.
Today I decided to upgrade the firmware in the C2300. The reason for the upgrade was that I am having an odd problem with one connected device, and the TP-Link C2300 appears to be the culprit.

The hardware version of my Archer C2300 is V1.0.
The original firmware version was V1_170302. The new version is V1_170922.
I successfully upgraded the firmware, but I had trouble getting back into the router's management pages. I eventually regained access to the management, and I set it up.
Because this is a secondary router on the same network as the FIOS router, I needed to change the IP address of the C2300 from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.1.2, which is a static IP address reserved on the FIOS router.
I have DHCP turned OFF on the C2300, as it is active on the FIOS router.

After having the C2300 set up in Router mode, I decided to change it to Access Point mode. After I did that, the router rebooted, and I lost access to the C2300's management pages.
Despite this, the C2300 continued to function in both wired Ethernet and Wireless mode.
But I was dismayed at not having access to the C2300's management pages, as I had with the old firmware.

I reverted the C2300 back to Router mode by resetting it, then re-entering all of the settings. Now it is functioning properly (as an access point) in the Router mode.
While I don't absolutely need to have management access to the router when it is in the Access Point mode, I feel uncomfortable without it.
I attempted to revert to the old firmware, but the router refused to install it. I understand that the system was programmed to reject an older firmware than the one already installed.

I tried to get a solution by using the TP-Link Live Chat, but was told that I needed to call the phone number instead.
What I really wanted to do is revert to the older firmware.

When I called the phone number, and after several minutes explaining to the poor woman (who was having trouble understanding my problem), she finally did understand my problem.
She told me that the new firmware causes the router to copy the IP address of the main router when it is in Access Point mode. Therefore, trying to access its management web server at the address I had assigned (192.168.1.2) or the default (192.168.0.1) would not work, since the main router's IP was 192.168.1.1. She told me that if I typed that address into my browser that I would have access to the C2300's management web pages. The problem is that in order to open the management url on the C2300, I would need to first disconnect the cable that connects it to the main (FIOS) router. Otherwise, I just get the "oops" error page.

I have not yet tried to change the C2300 back to Access Point mode and try to access the management url after unplugging the cable from the FIOS router. I really don't want the frustration of going through the whole reset and setup again if I cannot gain access, and want to restore the C2300 to Router mode.

I am very annoyed that "upgrading" the firmware has caused this issue. I have also read here that this new firmware may have bugs that prevent it from working properly in some cases. So far I haven't had a problem, but it has only been up for about an hour or two since the firmware upgrade.

All of the frustration I had today would have been worthwhile if the new firmware had solved my original issue. But it did not.
The issue I was trying to solve involves a Raspberry pi 3 b+ which I have connected to one of the LAN ports on the C2300. For some reason, the download speed I get (when running speedtest-cli) is much slower than the upload speed. I get only about 100 Mib/sec download but 250 Mbit/sec upload when connected to the C2300's LAN port.
But if I unplug the cable coming into the C2300's LAN port from the FIOS router, and plug it directly into the pi, I get download speeds of about 250 Mbit/sec and upload speeds about the same. So I was hoping that the new firmware for the C2300 would fix this issue. It did not.

I am ordering a USB to Ethernet dongle for the Raspberry pi, in hopes that it will at least connect at the higher (250 Mbit/sec) speed for both download and upload, while connected to the C2300 LAN port.
I was told by someone in the Raspberry pi forum that my problem might have something to do with Flow Control or Pause Frame.
Anyway; That is my horror story.

I come away from all of this with one important lesson: Never - Ever, upgrade a device's firmware unless it has failed to work, or is working so poorly that upgrading the firmware is a last resort before replacing it.

Ultrarunner