Author Topic: Wireless router  (Read 7787 times)

greenmimama

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Wireless router
« on: August 29, 2014, 12:37:24 PM »
Mine is old and hasn't been working well for quite awhile now.

I want to buy a new now but don't know what to get, could you recommend something, I need it to be powerful enough to stream movies and TV in the basement. The router will be upstairs.

Please send me links :)

Verdo

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2014, 01:39:56 PM »
With the money I saved from switching to Netflix and Hulu and getting rid of Directv I figured it would be worth the investment to ensure speed/connection quality.  Payback was only about 3.5 months.

Asus Extreme Wireless-AC2400 Dual Band Gigabit Router - Model:  RT-AC87R  $279 at BBY

sleepyguy

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2014, 01:42:24 PM »
ASUS are awesome.  Even their budget models

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=asus+router&N=-1&isNodeId=1

I personally use their budget N12 model and it hasn't not had a single issue.  Upgrade to models with gigabit ports if you require that though.

TheDude

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2014, 02:00:49 PM »
eek I am hopeuflly going to be upgrading to 1gig internet in the next couple of months the price of those 802.11ac routers does not excited me.

RWD

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #4 on: August 29, 2014, 02:07:44 PM »
I've been running an ASUS RT-N16 (currently $73 on Newegg with rebate and free shipping, or $83 on Amazon). It's fastest speed is 802.11n and I like it because it was extremely easy to change out the firmware. I put EasyTomato on mine which is designed specifically for that model of wireless router.

I don't trust the stock firmware on any wireless routers due to manufacturer backdoors... Some examples:
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/04/22/001239/intentional-backdoor-in-consumer-routers-found
http://it.slashdot.org/story/13/10/14/0120221/d-link-router-backdoor-vulnerability-allows-full-access-to-settings
http://tech-beta.slashdot.org/story/13/03/15/1234217/backdoor-found-in-tp-link-routers
http://it-beta.slashdot.org/story/14/01/02/2314259/backdoor-discovered-in-netgear-and-linkys-routers
http://beta.slashdot.org/submission/3265123/cisco-races-to-patch-backdoor-in-wireless-routers

Scandium

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #5 on: August 29, 2014, 02:58:16 PM »
The AC routers seem like massive overkill. What would you need that speed for? Netflix doesn't even get close to using the N bandwidth. $270 is bananas. The $73 N16 should be more than enough for your needs.

theSchmett

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2014, 03:43:25 PM »
What router do you have now? It should not get slower over time.

Spork

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2014, 04:15:54 PM »
The AC routers seem like massive overkill. What would you need that speed for? Netflix doesn't even get close to using the N bandwidth. $270 is bananas. The $73 N16 should be more than enough for your needs.

I'm with you on this.  But I can't imagine needing that much upstream bandwidth.  Maybe at some point there will be applications where this makes sense.  I have the lowest cable speed (12Mb in my area) and it is way more than enough.  I can't imagine that I'd need 100x that bandwidth. 

Scandium

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2014, 04:30:26 PM »
Netflix recommend 5 mbps for HD.
https://help.netflix.com/en/node/306
You could do that with g.

Also answers your question: they recommend 25 mbps for 4K, if you have a 4k TV.. But if you do what are you doing here?

kokosnuss

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2014, 05:09:29 PM »
Asus RT-N66U  $100-150
Asus RT-N16 $50-100
TP Link WR841 under $50

Anything over $150 is probably an overkill for your situation.

greenmimama

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #10 on: August 29, 2014, 05:59:55 PM »
I have a Linksys 2.4GHz  it says 54Mbps 

It isn't that it is slow, it is constantly kicking me off and not working at all. At this point when I plug it in it won't even hook up at all. That is why I think I need a new one.

It has been doing this for at least 6mo, at first I thought it was my phones issue with connecting through the wifi, but when my DH brought his laptop from work home, it keeps not working at important times.

My one problem is our house is large, and a ranch style, so it is far from one end of the house to the other and especially once you go downstairs, we are hoping to downsize, but we have to sell this one first and that isn't looking too promising.

Thank you for the suggestions already.

jpo

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #11 on: August 29, 2014, 06:15:35 PM »
I've been running an ASUS RT-N16 (currently $73 on Newegg with rebate and free shipping, or $83 on Amazon). It's fastest speed is 802.11n and I like it because it was extremely easy to change out the firmware. I put EasyTomato on mine which is designed specifically for that model of wireless router.
Same here, have had absolutely no issues since buying it.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #12 on: August 29, 2014, 06:37:18 PM »
I've heard the Asus routers are good. I would also recommend the Netgear wndr3400 and wndr3700 routers. We use the wndr3700 at work with dd-wrt firmware, and I have the wndr3400 at home with the stock firmware, and both have performed admirably
« Last Edit: August 30, 2014, 10:41:43 PM by zolotiyeruki »

Paul der Krake

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #13 on: August 29, 2014, 06:58:33 PM »
The N12 from Asus is the N16's little brother and a little cheaper, and has been working very well for me. $40.

space

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #14 on: August 30, 2014, 01:33:03 PM »
There are actually a couple of good reasons for an AC or at least a dual-band N router. First, if you have multiple devices on wireless, be aware that, unlike wired networking, that transmission bandwidth is generally shared among all of your devices. If you're in an area with many Wifi networks, that transmission bandwidth is shared among all devices on a common channel that can see each other. You can see why it tends to slow down quite quickly. Second, AC and N routers also tend to have better range. And last, if you're in a Wifi-congested area, there are far fewer devices and far more channels in the 5 GHz bands, allowing devices which can access that area a better experience overall.

Rube

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #15 on: August 31, 2014, 12:10:21 AM »
I think I have the same router and had this happen about 3 months ago. Did a hard reset with the button on the back. Happened again a few weeks ago. Pain in the ass to set security all over again but better than buying a new one.

agent_clone

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #16 on: August 31, 2014, 04:43:05 AM »
Router or Modem/Router?
For just a router maybe a:
TP-LINK AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router (Archer C7)

Again for routers here is a nice chart thing with throughput comparisons:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/view

I'm not sure for modem/routers as where I moved to these are not required for the net so I did not investigate them (admittedly I ended up taking the internet companies modem/router as it was free...)

Scandium

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #17 on: August 31, 2014, 11:10:12 AM »
I agree N is a good buy. The longer range is nice. I got much better signal on the back porch when I upgraded. But AC is new and costs so much more at this point I don't see a reason to. I held off on N and got a cheaper router for less.

Seems like routers just wear out. Dust collects inside, the cheap components they use wear out. The signal starts to drop out and unfortunately the solution is to buy a new one.

Rube

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Re: Wireless router
« Reply #18 on: January 17, 2015, 07:14:01 PM »
After months of having to reset my router every 7-10 days I finally updated the firmware. That was a month ago and everything works great. Hope I can get another 10 years out of this one!