Need help finding a wireless router
 

Switching providers and cutting the cord.

Currently have Uverse with ~ 40mb internet and switching to Spectrum which starts at ~200mb up to 400mb. Only options in my area.

Need to get a wireless router but there are SO MANY. I need one that can cover a lot of space well (up and down stairs) and can support TV streaming on at least 2 tvs a pc, and and also a few other gadgets connected to wifi.

Like I said.. there are so freakin many options. I went to Frys Electronics and they said I should get the Linksys EA9300.. granted the guy did admit he was biased and favored Linksys or Asus most.

Any other suggestions? Max I want to spend is $300, which is weird because apparently some that are $100 are supposedly just as good as some that are $300. I am kind of out of my realm here.. I just want fast as fuck wifi so I have no disruptions streaming TV upstairs and downstairs and pc gaming etc.

Could future proof with 802.11ad (or whatever the hell they're calling it now). My Linksys is $180 from B&H (WRT1900ACS) and I've been happy with it. Usually has at least 2-3 computers and 3-4 iPhones, plus an Apple TV or two on it and never had connection issues. My network bottleneck is the 60/25 connection from Optimum, but it's consistent with delivering what's getting piped into the house.

Got the same and also happy.

And damn, you can still get a WRT54GL new from Amazon. Cult following for those things. I got one in my desk drawer.

Next standard is Wi-Fi 6 (AKA 802.11ax).

https://www.zdnet.com/article/wi-fi-...rsion-numbers/

Although Wi-Fi 6 won't be finalized until late next year,

Asus has already announced their ax routers.

- ASUS Announces a Complete Lineup of 802.11ax Routers

Last I checked, none were available for purchase yet. And I have no idea what pricing will be. I'm guess over $300. Besides that, there are currently (that I'm aware of) no ax devices to take advantage of ax benefits yet and probably won't be for at least another year or until after the ax standard has been finalized.

All that said, I'm happy with my Asus RT-AC3100. I played around with several N and AC routers. I used the app Wi-Fi SweetSpots to check the range and speed of each. And based on price, performance, and support, the Asus RT-AC3100 was the best for me.

If you don't want to go through all the range and speed testing and buying and returning, a good site where they test and review routers is https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tool...ts/router/view

I did a quick check at slickdeals and didn't see any good stand-out deals on routers. Black Friday/Cyber Monday is a little over a month away. But one now to use as a temp and return later for a BF/CM deal? :shrug:

If you don't mind going with a refurb unit, there's the Netgear Nighthawk R8000 AC3200 (really really good router) for $160 @ https://computers.woot.com/offers/ne...f=w_cnt_wp_0_3

Amazon has it for $229 brand new.

If you like to tinker, there's the T-Mobile (Asus) AC1900 for $40

- https://slickdeals.net/f/12059855-t-...-free-shipping
- https://www.t-mobile.com/accessory/t...fied-pre-owned

It can be flashed to become an Asus RT-AC68U

Are we still talking about routers?

Can't comment on the Google Home as I've never used it and would never put a smart speaker in my house. Attachment 120154

If you mean the Google Wi-Fi router, it's a decent price at $99 (single) / $249 (3 pack). But it lacks features you may want such as MU-MIMO since you said you want a router that can "support TV streaming on at least 2 tvs a pc, and and also a few other gadgets connected to wifi."

It also does not support separate frequency band names (you cannot have separate 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz band)

and it's slower since it's AC1200. I also hate that you control it through an app on your smartphone/tablet, and that it doesn't give you advanced control settings. It's a very simple (i.e. dumbed-down) product for the masses.

If you're looking for a pre-built mesh system, the Netgear Orbi seems to still be the best unit you can buy. But it's also a bit more expensive ($300).

If you want or may want to set up a mesh network, I'd rather get https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RT-AC86U/overview/. It's currently ranked #5 at https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tool...rs/router/view (Their review for it)

It's faster (AC2900), supports MU MIMO, has a lot more LAN ports, has 2 USB ports (good for connecting an external hard drive to turn it into a NAS or a printer with no wifi into a network shared printer), etc.

You can start with 1, then add another 1 or 2 later to create a mesh network.

It's $177.54 (after clipping coupon) on Amazon now:
You can also get a like new but with damaged packaging unit from Amazon (Warehouse) for $161.63

If you have a Micro Center nearby and want 2 for a mesh network, they're $149.99 each when you buy 2.

And unlike the Linksys EA9300 router the Fry's guy tried to sell you, Asus provides great support and frequent firmware updates to fix security vulnerabilities, improve performance, and even add features. Asus has been putting out firmware updates for it almost on a monthly basis (14 firmware updates) since RT-AC86U was released last year (https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/R...HelpDesk_BIOS/)

Meanwhile, Linksys has only put out 4 firmware updates for EA9300 during that same time (came out in 2017 too) (http://downloads.linksys.com/downloa...ease_Notes.txt). And they never addressed the Wi-Fi KRACK issue Stunna posted about last October.

You guys are smart. Which is why I came here.

Yes I was talking about the Google Wifi Mesh Home thing.

I read a review of that Linksys one I was stold to buy and saw bad reviews for it. I am thinking of an Asus or that Nighthawk one. But I'd rather get new.. I know it might be certified refurbished but I still think things can go wrong if refurbished.

Ok last question..

Should I buy certified refurbished? It is like $100 cheaper than new.. both on Amazon and on the product's website.

have you bought refurbished electronics before? if you dont mind, then yes..save the $100 by going refurbished.

I have not.. always bought new for that peace of mind. But if it really works the same as new then why not..

I've had a couple Netgear nighthawks but honestly hate the UI.. I really enjoy ASUS' WebuUI.

Is it possible to hardwire your TVs with Cat6a? Takes a lot of strain off the wireless radios and frees up the bandwith.

Well got a refurbed Linksys.

I know one tv can be hardwired since it's right next to where the modem will be. The other two .. the installer will have to go fishing possibly. I will ask if other two can be.

Refurbs are fine. Just depends on who does the refurbishing.

Yeah I got them mixed up. 802.11ad AP's had been out for a while now, but I haven't seen much mention of any computers with support for it. Guess 802.11ax will have some traction.

Like 802.11ah and 802.11af, 802.11ad is a flop. Consumer market size, demand, and use case for it is too small.

Maybe 802.11ay (significantly improved version of 802.11ad) will catch on? Biggest road block to mass consumer adoption of these newer Wi-Fi standards is probably backwards compatibility. Don't think too may people will want to toss out their just purchased $200-$300 802.11ac router and spend another $200+ on a 802.11ay router. It's also harder for signal to penetrate :naughty: through walls.

Qualcomm just started shipping their 802.11ay chipsets a few days ago.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3314...y-silicon.html
https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/16/...m-60ghz-chips/

Pretty good deal on Netgear Nighthawk X6S AC3000 router at Costco for Black Friday.

$129.99


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...ec9c0e7054.png

New Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) Netgear Orbi coming later this year.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbrea...outer-ces-2019


And chips to support it coming from Intel later this year too.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18...-demo-ces-2019

Sigh, router woes...

For three or four years, I have been (happily) using a Netgear AC1750. Actually, I have one at home and one at the office, I really like them and they are stable as a rock. Once configured, zero issues.

Lately at home I have added a few new wifi cameras (Wyze) for watching the kids, a Roku, a few other wifi devices, combined with the wife's incessant Zoom-ing for work, and I have noticed bandwith issues.

We have Cox Gigablast fiber, which used to be so fast it hurt, but with network saturation I do not get nearly the throughput I used to get. When it was first installed, I would regularly get 400 Mb per sec up and down. Now I get about 30 Mb/s down and 80-100 Mb/s up. Maybe that changes when people go back to work, maybe not... Some of the cameras are buffering from time to time or freezing and the wifey keeps complaining about her facetimes/zooms stuttering and crapping out.

Regardless, I wanted to add some juice to my internal wifi, so I dumped $250 into a Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000 AC3200 router.

Worst. Decision. Ever.

I am not a neophyte with these things (although no networking guru either) and I don't hate Netgear. I used to run dd-wrt on another router and feel very comfortable configuring a home wifi router.

After 28 days of constant internet connection drops, the AC1750 is back up and running like a champ.

The R8000 was impossible to set up without using the rediculous Nighthawk App on my cell phone. That's right, out of the box I could not go to 192.168.1.1 and set it up from scratch. It required an active internet connection to configure it (WTF?) and since it was not seeing my modem signal, it was a real treat to set up. Furthermore, once I finally got the router to recognize the internet signal from the modem, if I made ANY changes to the router config (turn QOS on/off, activate the meshed 5g bands, etc.) the whole think would take a dirt nap and once again, would not see the internet connection.

I used multiple different Cat5/6 cables to link the modem to the router, and found the best results (still not good) with an old Cat5e cable. Is it possible the RJ45 port for the internet cable was bad? Maybe. But the glitchiness of the software was too much to bear.

It just went back to Amazon.


Anyone have a suggestion for a good, high throughput wifi router? I don't have a lot of SqFt to cover, just a lot of data moving around the wifi Channels.

Unifi.


/endthread

Any particular model Thoiboi?

ive good luck with tp link products, would recommend that for you. easy interface to setup and can reach it from 192.168.1.1

for $250 you would be in wifi 6 territory (802.11ax), the next gen wifi standard. it is better suited for high density areas, but to get full benefits one would need wifi 6 compatible devices. the netgear nighthawk you had is a generation behind (802.11ac)

if you looking for a suggestion off amazon maybe this one for reference ive been using a tp link ac2600 since 2016. ive got it hooked up to a cheapo battery backup and have no issues. before the battery backup sometimes whenever there would be a power surge the router would get factory reset. ive had backups of my config so it was easy to restore, but still super annoying

all the issues you had mentioned with the netgear sounds like the device needed a firmware update, but who knows. maybe it was truly a piece of junk

just some thoughts from a network engineer. good luck to you


edit: always update firmware on new routers

uap-ac-pro is the one i currently have, upgraded feom an AC-lite. Its an access point only though so you’ll still need a Router but unifi also has routers if you’d like to go down that route

Yvuru, I agree on the firmware recommendation, I updated t straight out of the box. Problem existed with new firmware, older firmware... No difference.

Thoiboi, any significant disadvantage to using the uap-ac-pro with a non-ubiquiti brand router?

None... i was using it with my Frontier-issued modem for a bit before switching over to a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter but the performance never changed. If you have an always on server, you can also install the Unifi controller on there and be able to manage the AP remotely.

My Linksys has been working like a champ the past 1.5 years.

If you want more Unifi testimonials, @CCColtsicehockey just added more to his arsenal and i helped @TylerT upgrade and add more to his house as well. He has the AC-LITE’s but got two and has pretty good coverage around his house

Thoughts on an Edgerouter4 and a uap-ac-pro?

Will I need a dedicated machine to manage this or can I use GUI/CLI from a connected W7/W10 machine?

I plan to put an unmanaged 8 port trendnet switch on Eth1 of the router (Eth0 being WAN) and connect my wired devices through that.

Ok @stogie1020 read through what you are looking for and curious as to thoughts on another all in one device. Depending on your house size a UDM (Unifi Dream Machine) should be a perfect fit for you. https://store.ui.com/collections/uni...-dream-machine

I know you don't like the thought of having to have an active internet connection to set this up but you only need it to see it for the setup. You can set it up from the GUI using the web browser from your computer. You don't have to use the their app. I recently installed a UDM-Pro (rack mount version that also includes 8 port switch and DVR for cameras all in one) and used the web interface for easy quick setup. It does not have a command line at all and it provides some advanced detailed information for your network. The UDM and UDM-Pro can also run threat prevention and threat detection if you are interested in that feature.

The Edgerouter4 I think has been around for a while and is due for an upgrade at some point soon it would seem. That said you can run it and the AC-Pro although I might suggest looking at the Nano HD. It doesn't have as good of 2.4 performance but the 5ghz performance is just as good if not better. At this point and time, I would suggest running everything at 5ghz that is capable of it. If you are after something that is CLI based though this is your only option at this point as I would not go backwards and buy any of the older UniFi stuff.

+1 for Unifis.

I don't have the Pros, but they provide great coverage for what I need them for. Total of 2 installed in a 1200sq/ft house on a 1/4 acre, 1 upstairs / 1 downstairs in the gararge. Both serve inside & outside with good connectivity.

Even my last Unifi access point (that was almost 5 years old) never gave me problems and didn't need reboots for better coverage unless I did firmware updates ... solid product.

I currently am running an EdgeRouterX connected to my FiOS ONT. It then is connected to a Unifi Switch and then the UAP AC Pro. If you're looking to cut costs, you can always disable AP on your current router and use that to route to the AP. I use the web GUI to set them up, not CLI although they all have SSH capability

It looks like the AUP AC Pro is still only a AC1750 device (same as my current R6400).

I think I am as concerned now about my router as the AP. When I plug directly into the ONT, I get ~400Mbps up and down (Cox Gigablast fiber). When I run the same cable through my Netgear R6400, (with no other clients on it) I get much slower speeds...

If I went with the EdgeRouterX or EdgeRouter4 along with the AC Pro or Nano, would I need a dedicated computer to host the software? It seems like you have to have a dedicated computer (or a cloud key) to run the software.

Shit if your router is bad, then get rid of it!

I had it on my PC before migrating over to a Ubuntu server running in a Docker container with no problems. So long as the computer is on, you'll have access to configure your Unifi stuff. Just note that Edgerouter and the UAP are managed using two different software: Edgemax/UNMS versus Unifi Controller. They work fine together but a minor clarification.

Also contemplating just getting a Synology RT2600ac

Synology making routers now? :chuckle:

Thoiboi,

So EdgeRouterX + AUP AC Pro + Win7 machine that is always on = home network boner?

=profit! :thumbsup:


i don't think you'll be disappointed with that setup! (mainly because that's my setup :bitelip:)

If this suck, I am going to find you, break into your home, and very slightly rearrange the furniture to mildly annoy you.

They arrived. There will be configuration fun this evening. I watched a few videos on the interweb, so now I am an expert. :smirk:

66 Templeton St., NJ. Come at me Punk.


and if you knew me, you'd know that'd more than just mildly annoy me :annoyed: Let me know if you have any questions on it, happy to guide you in the right direction.