Moving in, need advice on new WiFi router

[PLAfiller]

Christ has risen (Easter is today- for the orthodox people on the new calendar in the forum, Bulgaria, Romania, etc)

Hi all,

so here's the deal. I am moving in to a new place with my girl. I need a wifi router that can support out of the box 2 x laptops, 2 x smartphones, 1 x tablet and eventually a desktop down the road and occasionally some guests. My budget is 70 euros and my initial candidate is TL-WDR4300 . However, I am in need more of a direction than a specific model.

See my laptop wifi card is Intel Centrino 2230-N. Definitely not a bright one. It's not a dual band one. Neither is her's. Is there a point for me to buy a new dual band router? Will I see any benefit at all? Because I can easily look for a second hand 2.4ghz router and save some cash. You know how it is with moving in, etc. every penny counts and I am not eager to shell out my budget all the way.

I'd be glad if you share some insights and suggested models from dlink, linksys or may be asus>? (dunno about Netgear- I have some average experience with them) If its a good suggestion I can stretch the budget a bit. Because its important for me to have a reliable connection- all my work depends on it.

 

[Kursah]

I'm not familiar with that option, but I run a dual-band N router from Belkin off the shelf from Walmart for $70USD from years ago...and it's been solid for my needs. I have 2 laptops, 3 workstations, 3 cell phones, 2 tablets, 1 dvd player, 1 bluray player, and one 1PS3 all connected via WiFi and one workstation connected via LAN. No issues.

My best wifi adapters connect full 300Mbps to the router, but the PS3 is G, so it connects at 54, and the other N adapters float between 150 and 250Mbps usually. If I had my way I'd run a switch and wires through the wall (saving that for my house) and run hardware capable of gigabit connections.

Honestly...if you need something simple, get a simple router and save some cash for now...please do a implement a solid password for the network, and setup your network and SSID, then disable the broadcasting if possible. My cell phones and Nexus 7 tablet have issue finding my wifi network without broadcast so I'm forced with it...but my password is solid and changed once a month...though I have nothing much to offer a hacker.

I've had great luck with linksys/cisco, Asus and so far even Belkin on a lower-end consumer router. Connections are solid, I have router set to reset once a week. Wifi isn't hard to manage, and good routers get expensive fast...get what you can afford and get some experience with it. That's my thoughts on it. Research a good password, update the firmware to the router, and go to town. Play with DHCP and Static IP's, play with MAC filtering, etc. All of it's handy, and the more you play with the better imho. It all helps in keeping your network more secure...for cheap wifi that is. If you ever have a question...kill the power to the router for a bit. Run a network scan, or disable wifi and run LAN to verify.

I'll admit I'm not the best network guy here, I am going to school for it and learning as I go...most of my knowledge comes from messing around and lessons learned...so far that's easier to base my suggestions off of.

 

[Jetster]

look at Amped Wireless and the TPLink router you listed is good

 

[PLAfiller]

I'm not familiar with that option, but I run a dual-band N router from Belkin off the shelf from Walmart for $70USD from years ago...and it's been solid for my needs. I have 2 laptops, 3 workstations, 3 cell phones, 2 tablets, 1 dvd player, 1 bluray player, and one 1PS3 all connected via WiFi and one workstation connected via LAN. No issues.

My best wifi adapters connect full 300Mbps to the router, but the PS3 is G, so it connects at 54, and the other N adapters float between 150 and 250Mbps usually. If I had my way I'd run a switch and wires through the wall (saving that for my house) and run hardware capable of gigabit connections.

Honestly...if you need something simple, get a simple router and save some cash for now...please do a implement a solid password for the network, and setup your network and SSID, then disable the broadcasting if possible. My cell phones and Nexus 7 tablet have issue finding my wifi network without broadcast so I'm forced with it...but my password is solid and changed once a month...though I have nothing much to offer a hacker.

I've had great luck with linksys/cisco, Asus and so far even Belkin on a lower-end consumer router. Connections are solid, I have router set to reset once a week. Wifi isn't hard to manage, and good routers get expensive fast...get what you can afford and get some experience with it. That's my thoughts on it. Research a good password, update the firmware to the router, and go to town. Play with DHCP and Static IP's, play with MAC filtering, etc. All of it's handy, and the more you play with the better imho. It all helps in keeping your network more secure...for cheap wifi that is. If you ever have a question...kill the power to the router for a bit. Run a network scan, or disable wifi and run LAN to verify.

I'll admit I'm not the best network guy here, I am going to school for it and learning as I go...most of my knowledge comes from messing around and lessons learned...so far that's easier to base my suggestions off of.

Yeah, I am not very experienced with WiFi as well. All I know is how to name the network, choose the password, scan for channels and choose one that's 4-5 channels away form the busiest one . But I definitely need to put some effort in the security department. And there are some great features on the new one's. I will keep scanning for the offers for a few days. But so far, it leans towards the TP link a lot. Change in plans I think
DLink DIR-850L is what will do the job properly.

 

[kn00tcn]

oho, ne uchakvah drug bulgarin na TPU

(i didnt expect another bulgarian on TPU)

make sure to not use & disable WPS on the router in case your neighbors try to break into it, use WPA2 AES only if possible

 

[micropage7]

oho, ne uchakvah drug bulgarin na TPU

(i didnt expect another bulgarian on TPU)

make sure to not use & disable WPS on the router in case your neighbors try to break into it, use WPA2 AES only if possible

and if possible use number, alphabet and symbol for password

 

[Bo$$]

I got a TPlink WR1043ND, it's been pretty much rock solid. i'd get any of the TPlink routers you can afford. Dual band is not too important for now, just get a 300 or 450 N based one and be happy

 

[BarbaricSoul]

I just bought one of these this week- http://www.bestbuy.com/site/wireles...41&st=categoryid$pcmcat211400050001&cp=1&lp=8

Very easy set-up, looks good, strong signal, and wireless speeds are equal to wired speeds with my 30mbs cable internet.

 

[Bo$$]

I just bought one of these this week- http://www.bestbuy.com/site/wireles...41&st=categoryid$pcmcat211400050001&cp=1&lp=8

Very easy set-up, looks good, strong signal, and wireless speeds are equal to wired speeds with my 30mbs cable internet.

Way out of the 70 euro budget otherwise amazing choice!

OP: Look at some of the Asus Routers. those are excellent too!

 

[PLAfiller]

I got a TPlink WR1043ND, it's been pretty much rock solid. i'd get any of the TPlink routers you can afford. Dual band is not too important for now, just get a 300 or 450 N based one and be happy

I've had this one. I sold it about month and half ago. Very good router. Went under some heavy gaming. But after the first year it started to behave weird. It might have been the new place I moved in, but still. I am using a cheapish Dlink right now and so far this litle bugger amazes me. That and the fact Dlink offers AC support for 70 euros, which is quite impressive by itself anyway, I will drop a line when things move in some direction.

 

[remixedcat]

Please note: there is one netgear router that has 802.11ac but has only fast ETH (10/100) ports and no GBE.

What I currently use: http://remixedcat.blogspot.com/2014/02/amped-wireless-rta15-router-and-aca1.html

And its been pretty awesome. Range is awesome.

 

[remixedcat]

If you need enterprise features: http://remixedcat.blogspot.com/2014/02/cisco-meraki-z1-review.html

 

[eidairaman1]

Netgear

 

[PLAfiller]

Please note: there is one netgear router that has 802.11ac but has only fast ETH (10/100) ports and no GBE.

What I currently use: http://remixedcat.blogspot.com/2014/02/amped-wireless-rta15-router-and-aca1.html

And its been pretty awesome. Range is awesome.

Nice, you have a blog too ) I am not prejudiced with Netgear. I used one of their average routers and it did somewhat good. Gaming wasn't its thing though . It was a brand new piece. I am not avoiding them, but there's something else here at play. Availability- not that much of choice at my place from Netgear.

 

[eidairaman1]

Nice, you have a blog too ) I am not prejudiced with Netgear. I used one of their average routers and it did somewhat good. Gaming wasn't its thing though . It was a brand new piece. I am not avoiding them, but there's something else here at play. Availability- not that much of choice at my place from Netgear.

See if Amazon UK will ship to Bulgaria

http://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/R7000.aspx

 

[remixedcat]

I don't have anything against netgear ether, I just wanted to let you know that one of thier 802.11ac routers doesnt have GBE ports so you don't get dissapointed

the one that was suggested, however has GBE ports so that's ok.

R6250.

the R6100 does not have GBE only fast eth (10/100) ports.

 

[eidairaman1]

Personally Games dont make use of the Gigabit ports anyway

 

[remixedcat]

File sharing does though. Also any media servers. And backups. And lots of things.