Replacement Router

[BarbaricSoul]

I need to replace the router at my parents house. They have 3 mb DSL, so the router does not need to support super fast internet connections (2.6 dl and .6 ul is their average speed test results). What is important is a strong wifi signal to reach though out the house, as to make the most of their already slow connection. Budget is whatever it takes, but lets not get crazy. So what router do you guys and girls think would be best for my situation?

currently considering this model- https://www.bestbuy.com/site/linksys-ac1900-dual-band-wi-fi-5-router-black/6369384.p?skuId=6369384

 

[DrCR]

If you’re willing to make the investment re time/knowhow rather than just price, I’d go for a whatever dd-wrt router for Ethernet and run a cable to a centrally located Unfi AP for WiFi. That’s what I ultimately ended up doing, and after getting used to such solid WiFi, I’ll never again go back to expecting a router to also be an AP (unless a tiny home or some such).

 

[bonehead123]

For (strictly) average consumer use (as I suspect your parents are) I tend to favor Netgear's Nighthawk series, with which I have had good experiences over the years, and for reasonably good price points too ($90-$200). LinkSys & Dlink's are ok too, as long as you stay away from their bottom-of-the-barrel devices The unit you linked to should be ok, but...IMO, for the wireless part of this equation, you should consider the following:

A) Square footage & # of floors of their house - moar of either will require a stronger router and/or a mesh-extender system for complete wireless coverage

B) Number of walls between the router & where the wireless devices will be used, as well as the materials said walls are made of (drywall, plaster, brick, concrete etc) - same as above...

C) Age and compatibility of their wireless devices..... there is no point in buying an AX6e/AC9000 (newest models) router if the majority of their devices are moar than 2-3 years old.... these devices won't be able to take advantage of the increased speeds/bandwidth, so a top of the line/latest model router would be a complete waste of moolah....

D) Finally, since you will setting up this router, consider the ease of doing so AND your familiarity with the process.... some routers are fairly easy, others are a royal P.I.T.A. unless you have a PhD in network engineering...

Good luck and please post back with a progress report if possible !

 

[droid-I]

At least a TP-LINK VR300 was easy to set-up and go, good value seems. Not aware if dd-wrt is on the map for this.
But yes, the WiFi transmission conditions are very different everywhere.
If WiFi reception is weak in parts of house, worth to check if current router can be used as a client bridge or repeater bridge, with the new DSL router.

 

[Athlon2K15]

im with bonehead, been using nighthawk series for years.

 

[Operandi]

If you’re willing to make the investment re time/knowhow rather than just price, I’d go for a whatever dd-wrt router for Ethernet and run a cable to a centrally located Unfi AP for WiFi. That’s what I ultimately ended up doing, and after getting used to such solid WiFi, I’ll never again go back to expecting a router to also be an AP (unless a tiny home or some such).

This is really the only solution if you want solid Wi-Fi coverage over a large area. High-end consumer routers are pretty much a oxymoron in my opinion and no matter what a single AP is not going to be ideal and rarely is the location of your router where you'd ideally put an AP.

I will second the Unfi recomendation for the APs. You can go with whatever router you want but if you want to keep management simple I'd go with a USG for the router and one or two Unifi APs or if running CAT5 where you need to is an issue a few Unifi mesh APs. You'll also want a PoE switch for APs and physical connections (I think the mesh adapters come with optional AC power), the switch dosn't have to be Unfi but it is kinda cool seeing everything show up in same management interface and the smaller 1GB switches are not very expensive.

 

[Aquinus]

I tend to favor Netgear's Nighthawk series, with which I have had good experiences over the years

I bought a dual 5Ghz radio Netgear, the r8000p I think and the thing was hot garbage. One of the radios was just flat out finicky and it got worse the longer the device was on for. The interface also felt like the same one netgear had a decade ago. So the one main reason I wanted it ended up being useless. In the end, I returned it and just spent a little extra on a Linksys MR9600 router that supports wifi 6 and the thing has been very quick and rock solid.

Honestly, Linksys and Ubiquiti's UniFi are the two options I would consider myself.

 

[bonehead123]

I bought a dual 5Ghz radio Netgear, the r8000p I think and the thing was hot garbage. One of the radios was just flat out finicky and it got worse the longer the device was on for. The interface also felt like the same one netgear had a decade ago. So the one main reason I wanted it ended up being useless. In the end, I returned it and just spent a little extra on a Linksys MR9600 router that supports wifi 6 and the thing has been very quick and rock solid.

Honestly, Linksys and Ubiquiti's UniFi are the two options I would consider myself.

Yea, I guess I should have clarified my reply better, in that the 5, 6 & 7 series nighthawks were all solid in my experiences, but for some reason, the 8 series took a dump off a high, sheer cliff... probably just stupid cost cutting and/or crappy QA/QC....

From what I have read lately, they seem to have gotten back on track with their more recent models though

 

[BarbaricSoul]

I ended up just going with the Linksys I linked in my original post. Set up was easy. Two laptops connected to the network, one ethernet, the other WIFI, took a total of about 15 minutes, including unboxing the router. Signal strength was great on the WIFI connected computer (only one 2*4 interior wall separating the router and computer).

 

[Aquinus]

Yea, I guess I should have clarified my reply better, in that the 5, 6 & 7 series nighthawks were all solid in my experiences, but for some reason, the 8 series took a dump off a high, sheer cliff... probably just stupid cost cutting and/or crappy QA/QC....

From what I have read lately, they seem to have gotten back on track with their more recent models though

Unfortunately, Netgear already ruined this one user's experience and it's a story I'm probably going to continue to tell when asked. Whatever the reason, the quality for the price was simply not there. It's good to hear that they've corrected some of these mistakes, but from my perspective that means very little since I've already lost trust in the brand. Releasing a bad product can have costly repercussions... like this one.

I ended up just going with the Linksys I linked in my original post. Set up was easy. Two laptops connected to the network, one ethernet, the other WIFI, took a total of about 15 minutes, including unboxing the router. Signal strength was great on the WIFI connected computer (only one 2*4 interior wall separating the router and computer).

I do like my MR9600. It's very hands off yet performs exceptionally well, which I think appeals to a lot of people who aren't all that technical or people like me who want it to just work, but still be fast.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

I do like my MR9600. It's very hands off yet performs exceptionally well, which I think appeals to a lot of people who aren't all that technical or people like me who want it to just work, but still be fast.

That's exactly what I was looking for. I just want it to work. It's for my parents house. While they don't live far from me, it's still a hassle to have to go over there if they have issues with the router that a simple reboot doesn't fix.

 

[newtekie1]

I'd personally would recommend the ASUS RT-AX3000 running Merlin firmware. The Merlin firmware is rock solid steady, and you'd have WiFi6 for down the road.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B084BNH26P/

 

[WhiteNoise]

I have the Asus AX5700 (RT-AX86U) with Merlin firmware. I can attest to it being rock solid. My detached garage is actually our fun room, home theater, etc, and the router, as well as the network switch, reside in there. I ran a hardwire to the main house but also use a TP-Link Omada AP which works really well for adding a second wifi spot.

 

[TheLostSwede]

As above, anything supported by Merlin.

Home | Asuswrt-Merlin

www.asuswrt-merlin.net

Stay away from TP-Link when it comes to internet facing devices, they're terrible when it comes to support, as they do 3-4 firmware updates and then drop that product as they make a new hardware revision and keep doing that. Some of their products have 5-6 hardware revisions, of which only the latest is supported. It's madness.

Alternatively, a products that support DD-WRT or OpenWRT.

This is a matter of security really, as so many routers are being hacked and repurposed at parts of botnets and what not.

 

[DrCR]

My problem is that I run dd-wrt ... but I only unlazy ever year or two to update.

 

[Shrek]

im with bonehead, been using nighthawk series for years.

I got an R7000 second hand from Goodwill that turned out to be bricked; but I managed to recover it with TFTP.

How easily do they brick?