Need new router for Gigabit internet

[BarbaricSoul]

I was just upgraded to Gigabit internet. Wired straight to my modem, I get 1100 mbps, but wired to my router, I'm only getting 700 mbps and wireless I'm only getting between 100-130 mbps regardless of how close or far away I am from the router. Currently I'm using a Linksys WRT 3200 ACM router, which from my research, I thought would be able to handle the faster speeds. The router has a few years worth of use on it, so I'm guessing it's "getting old". I'm looking to upgrade to a mesh system. I live in a three bedroom 2 story house, so a three unit system should offer the coverage I'm looking for (upstairs bedroom, downstairs bedroom, and living room/kitchen area). What mesh system would you recommend me getting. Budget, I would prefer staying under $200, but if need be, I can go as high as $300. Looking for suggestions.

 

[A Computer Guy]

I was just upgraded to Gigabit internet. Wired straight to my modem, I get 1100 mbps, but wired to my router, I'm only getting 700 mbps and wireless I'm only getting between 100-130 mbps regardless of how close or far away I am from the router. Currently I'm using a Linksys WRT 3200 ACM router, which from my research, I thought would be able to handle the faster speeds. The router has a few years worth of use on it, so I'm guessing it's "getting old". I'm looking to upgrade to a mesh system. I live in a three bedroom 2 story house, so a three unit system should offer the coverage I'm looking for (upstairs bedroom, downstairs bedroom, and living room/kitchen area). What mesh system would you recommend me getting. Budget, I would prefer staying under $200, but if need be, I can go as high as $300. Looking for suggestions.

Synology RT2600ac is a bit of an older router for about $150 and on paper does support 1Gbit WAN and Mesh WiFi (with MR2200ac $135) although I have not had a chance to test those features (1Gbit internet or Mesh) of this brand. I myself have several RT2600ac routers and they have proven to be reliable. If getting this router I would just recommend also getting an 8GB or 16GB SD card for logging and installing optional modules. It may not be the top choice for what you want but at least something to research while waiting for additional feedback.

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[Shrek]

I thought meshing slows things down (the router cannot transmit when it listens)

 

[bonehead123]

I doubt you will find any good Mesh systems for $200, but for any normal, everyday uses, just about any current, name-brand router nowadays made to handle Gigabit nottaproblemo, save for some uber-elcheapo, outdated pos's...

I've had really good luck with Netgear, LinkSys, Belkin, and a few others, but horrible experiences with the Toilet Paper ones

Some things that may or may not matter to you are the advanced features, settings and customization options, the more it has the more it will cost ya.

Also for the wireless part, consider what devices & other equipment you may have can handle....ie there's no point (other than future proofing) in buying a WiFi-7 router right now (which are pretty expensive ATM) if all your stuff can only do WiFi 5 or 6, and for now, stick with "802.11ac" or "802.11ax" models for great coverage and strong signals throughout the house.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I thought meshing slows things down (the router cannot transmit when it listens)

That was true of early mesh networks. Newer, more advanced (read: more expensive) mesh networks, while not true duplex, are switched mesh networks that are able to receive and transmit packets simultaneously on different frequencies/channels.

 

[Shrek]

That is very useful information.

 

[OneMoar]

netgear requiring a account to configure there hardware takes them off any recommendation list

 

[Shrek]

Since when? I have a RAX10 and can configure it without an account.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

1st off, I appreciate your time and efforts to reply to my thread

I saw someone referring to what I plan to have connected to the wifi. Currently there is my desktop computer (connected by ethernet), a PS5, X Box series X, two smart TVs, two iPhones (11 and 14), and a older laptop (only used for paying bills, connection speeds unimportant)

I'm currently looking at this set up, will it do what I'm looking for? I'm not looking for any special networking features with this set up. I just want aa strong WIFI network that covers the whole house and well into the yard and can do the full speeds of a gigabit connection..

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgear-nighthawk-ax3000-dual-band-mesh-wi-fi-system-3-pack-black/6577902.p?skuId=6577902

 

[dirtyferret]

1st off, I appreciate your time and efforts to reply to my thread

I saw someone referring to what I plan to have connected to the wifi. Currently there is my desktop computer (connected by ethernet), a PS5, X Box series X, two smart TVs, two iPhones (11 and 14), and a older laptop (only used for paying bills, connection speeds unimportant)

I'm currently looking at this set up, will it do what I'm looking for? I'm not looking for any special networking features with this set up. I just want aa strong WIFI network that covers the whole house and well into the yard and can do the full speeds of a gigabit connection..

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgear-nighthawk-ax3000-dual-band-mesh-wi-fi-system-3-pack-black/6577902.p?skuId=6577902

how big is your house? you could introduce a lot of radio signals in a small area with a mesh unit. I made an ad hoc mesh system using two Asus routers in my old townhouse (three bedrooms upstairs) only because the master bedroom was a dead zone.

I have 2k sq ft upstairs plus another 2k sq finished basement and a half acre lot, my router handles everything with ease (two kids and wife constantly streaming) and lets me mow my lawn while streaming music

Amazon.com

, I'm only getting 700 mbps and wireless I'm only getting between 100-130 mbps regardless of how close or far away I am from the router

was this on the 2.4ghz signal and what was the client you used?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

how big is your house? you could introduce a lot of radio signals in a small area with a mesh unit. I made an ad hoc mesh system using two Asus routers in my old townhouse (three bedrooms upstairs) only because the master bedroom was a dead zone.

I have 2k sq ft upstairs plus another 2k sq finished basement and a half acre lot, my router handles everything with ease (two kids and wife constantly streaming) and lets me mow my lawn while streaming music

Amazon.com

was this on the 2.4ghz signal and what was the client you used?

house 1700 sqft, yard space 1/2-3/4 acre

The 100-130 mbps WIFI speeds were done with my iphone 11 connected to my router's 5ghz connection and the 700 mbps result was my desktop connected to my Linksys router via ethernet

 

[dirtyferret]

The 100-130 mbps WIFI speeds were done with my iphone 11 connected to my router's 5ghz connection and the 700 mbps result was my desktop connected to my Linksys router via ethernet

your wifi speed will always be below hardwire but that's pretty low for 5ghz

 

[R-T-B]

netgear requiring a account to configure there hardware takes them off any recommendation list

Yeah it's required for cloud management not for just logging into the web gui.

 

[eidairaman1]

I was just upgraded to Gigabit internet. Wired straight to my modem, I get 1100 mbps, but wired to my router, I'm only getting 700 mbps and wireless I'm only getting between 100-130 mbps regardless of how close or far away I am from the router. Currently I'm using a Linksys WRT 3200 ACM router, which from my research, I thought would be able to handle the faster speeds. The router has a few years worth of use on it, so I'm guessing it's "getting old". I'm looking to upgrade to a mesh system. I live in a three bedroom 2 story house, so a three unit system should offer the coverage I'm looking for (upstairs bedroom, downstairs bedroom, and living room/kitchen area). What mesh system would you recommend me getting. Budget, I would prefer staying under $200, but if need be, I can go as high as $300. Looking for suggestions.

Have you ensured you are not having crosstalk by using a not as common frequency band?

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Have you ensured you are not having crosstalk by using a not as common frequency band?

you referring to from possible neighbors? my house-

 

[eidairaman1]

you referring to from possible neighbors? my house-

I use a router band tool (netgear) to know whats what but even at that distance something can interfere, is your place 2 story?

I used to encounter coverage/speed issues with customers when they had 2 or 3 story homes in 2013, solution was to have another router hooked up via ethernet. Extremely high speeds are never guaranteed on wifi but are on ethernet typically, and speed test and like sites depend on the server you access and also if that server is lower bandwidth it won't show your max speed due to protocol. What that means is your connection will lower it's speed to match that servers (sync).

I learned quite a bit working for AT&T as a Premesis Tech in 2013-2014 and yes certain neighborhoods in Texas back then had ftth, either on a bpon or gpon, the difference is gpon used all 4 pairs for tx/rx, bpon could use 2.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

it is, but speeds were tested with all equipment on 1st floor

 

[Sybaris_Caesar]

If yer not paranoid about tHe chINeSE, there are highly specced, even WiFi 7 on a budget routers from Xiaomi (and maybe Huawei). Though I couldn't find any U.S. listings for them so I guess it's a moot point.

 

[eidairaman1]

it is, but speeds were tested with all equipment on 1st floor

Yeah typically they would have us place gateway up stairs for umbrella effect. Now I will say that wifi strength does degrade as equipment gets old. I've replaced many refurb gatways or very old units with new units which would considerably help.

You might think of Zyxel

 

[1freedude]

Did you get Fios out there? Or Spectrum? My bro-in-law in Northern Suff just got Fios, wondering if your neck of the woods got the same treatment.

I might suggest going with the Verizon router G3100, and some E3200 extenders, even if you are on Spectrum. Rock solid, not the slightest hiccup. Very similar load as you.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Did you get Fios out there? Or Spectrum? My bro-in-law in Northern Suff just got Fios, wondering if your neck of the woods got the same treatment.

I might suggest going with the Verizon router G3100, and some E3200 extenders, even if you are on Spectrum. Rock solid, not the slightest hiccup. Very similar load as you.

Spectrum, I'm in Smithfield

 

[TheLostSwede]

How about this one? It runs OpenWRT as the default OS.

Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) | High-Performance VPN Router

Experience blazing-fast VPN speeds and full OpenWrt customization with Flint 2, our best Wi-Fi 6 router yet. A new realm of power, freedom, and security.

www.gl-inet.com

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Anyone have a opinion on this? https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgea...i-system-3-pack-black/6577902.p?skuId=6577902

Now I will say that wifi strength does degrade as equipment gets old. I've replaced many refurb gatways or very old units with new units which would considerably help.

I've had my current router for at least three years now, and I got it used from a friend

 

[TheLostSwede]

Anyone have a opinion on this? https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgea...i-system-3-pack-black/6577902.p?skuId=6577902

All those systems at that kind of price level have anaemic SoCs and will offer poor performance, both processing wise and WiFi wise.
I would not invest in anything that isn't a 4x4 router as well, since if you have multiple devices connecting to the router and actively using it at the same time, you'll experience slowdowns since WiFi is not only half duplex, but you're also sharing airtime with other devices. The latter is addressed in MU-MIMO routers (assuming all of your clients are MU-MIMO on the 5 GHz band), which means two 2x2 clients (the most common type for PCs, phones and tablets these days) each get assigned an antenna pair and doesn't interfere with each other. Obviously if you're actively using half a dozen devices, you're going to run into slowdowns at some point anyhow.

 

[INSTG8R]

That was true of early mesh networks. Newer, more advanced (read: more expensive) mesh networks, while not true duplex, are switched mesh networks that are able to receive and transmit packets simultaneously on different frequencies/channels.

Yeah I am running a few year old pair of ASUS RT-AX92U as a Mesh and it uses a dedicated 5G channel to maintain the backhaul for Mesh. I have 9 devices on the Wifi and my PC is hard wired. Never had any issues