So I picked up the Netgear R6200 because it was on sale on Black Friday. I know, not the best idea, but it was cheap ($70). How much is this thing going to make me regret not ponying up another $60 (AC-66) or $80 (AC-68)?

For reference I've been running with whatever no-name router Verizon shipped us for FiOS. I've been severely unhappy with the range (it doesn't even reach the screen porch or the back of the basement and this isn't a large house) so I figured rather than a range extender I'd just try getting a decent router and using the Verizon box as a cable modem. So range is more of a consideration than speed, though it better perform well enough to stream Netflix.

12/9/2015 8:43:58 PM

What's the latest on routers now? Stick with TP-Link?

Mother in Law needs a new one, wasn't sure what to recommend. Been a while.

11/28/2016 10:11:02 PM

I'm in the market too. My Asus RN-N66U crapped out in a really odd way. Half the LAN ports seem dead and the WAN port seems broken too. Sometimes it will get an address from the modem but not see the internet. Other times it's like the modem isn't there.

I'm not sure if I'd like the newer 3 and 4 band routers or if I should just spring for some Ubiquiti gear.

11/29/2016 9:53:57 AM

I recently got an RT-AC66U and have been pleased. You have very few options of 3x3 clients to make the more expensive options really worthwhile, save some that have better cpus

11/29/2016 4:15:59 PM

I'm really digging the Ubiquiti stuff right now. The $100 gateway/router and an AC AP keeps it under 200 bucks. I have about 20 of their APs and I just opted for their 48 port POE switch over the typical Prosafe i'd normally have purchased so we'll see how that shapes up. I've just been using the USG at home and will probably always keep the netgate/pfSense appliances in service over this but for home use it's legit.

^^

Quote :

"My Asus RN-N66U crapped out in a really odd way. Half the LAN ports seem dead and the WAN port seems broken too. "

Mine did this except on the LAN ports. It's an admitted fault by Asus. If I even breathed on the ports they would d/c.

^3

Quote :

"Mother in Law needs a new one, wasn't sure what to recommend. Been a while."

Just read this part so you probably don't want to spend 200 bucks for MIL network so whatever that tp-link model wirecutter recommends would prob be fine. Archer C7 or whatever.

--
Oh I also used Ubiquiti's Nanobeam with excellent results. I had two locations up simultaneously with 0 packetloss at probably 200 yards through 2 windows not even remotely trying to align properly.

I get most of my ubiquiti gear from http://www.doubleradius.com/ they're out of NC and pricing is pretty competitive, but I also get it from amazon too. To make a case for doubleradius though, I basically called up the rep and told him what I was trying to do and he linked me the nanobeam product number, it was less than 100 bucks and did exactly what I needed. With Amazon I would have had to do all the research myself.

[Edited on November 29, 2016 at 7:18 PM. Reason : ]

11/29/2016 7:13:06 PM

Quote :

"Just read this part so you probably don't want to spend 200 bucks for MIL network so whatever that tp-link model wirecutter recommends would prob be fine. Archer C7 or whatever."

Awesome, thanks!

11/29/2016 10:07:55 PM

^^

What internet speed are you piping through your USG? I currently have an Untangle box but with a permanent VPN tunnel to 2 locations the QoS is causing throughput problems on my core 2 duo box. Above 200Mbit or so it chokes. Remove QoS and I can cap the 300Mbit TWC pipe, but no way this thing is going to gigabit without an update.

Also for travel these little guys (amazon.com) http://a.co/cNftx4b are fantastic. Load up a fresh OpenVPN key from Untangle and it builds a permanent tunnel back to the house.

12/9/2016 12:38:31 AM

I can only test it to 200Mbit at the house but it does that without choking.

https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Routing-Switching/USG-with-Gigabit-ISP/td-p/1126403

You may be better served with upgrading your Untangle box? I don't have much experience in high throughput over VPN with Unifi or pfSense because my fastest connections are 30/30 and 25/25 and I can max those out.

I have a C2758 and 15-20 SG-2440s.

12/9/2016 11:14:08 AM

any recommendations for a router / wifi combo (or separates I guess) for TWC?

1/9/2017 3:36:23 PM

I have 2 more meraki webinars until I have my next router/firewall/ap for 3 years. May actually switch to it from Ubiquiti on a larger scale. I've read it's kind of expensive.

1/9/2017 6:35:16 PM

Use case: Two story house, with cable modem and a separate ancient Cox-provided router in the basement. Wifi covers the ground floor level decently, but not great, and barely reaches the second story on its best day.

I haven't had the best of luck with "Wifi extenders" so was considering a new , higher powered router. Amazon has a 3 device Orbi system on sale today from Amazon for $220, but that's probably overkill as it's not a huge house.

Long story short: Plz to recommend an affordable router that will be able to reach the 2nd floor better than the current POS.

7/11/2018 1:34:56 PM

WiFi antennas tend to radiate in a horizontal lobe pattern kind of like a doughnut. To span vertical distances you need to run some network cable to the higher floors and install another access point, orient the access point differently, or look into non-standard antennas.

MIMO will help if the devices support it.

Get the access point out of the basement.

7/12/2018 5:33:14 PM

I’ve been with asus routers a while so I have the brand new highest speed one serving our bedroom and subsequent generations serving as waps on the 1st and 3rd floors.


Moral of this story is... pull cable unless you can find a single spot on each floor that does have good signal to your current router then you could consider creating a mesh network. Where people make the mistake on range extenders is by putting them where they need better signal so the range extender has issues getting a signal it’s self.

You could be a dick and use ddwrt or a similar utility to boost your antenna signal but that doesn’t mean it will recive any better

7/13/2018 5:49:51 AM

I have an Asus AC68U that was recommended on the last page and have it covering both floors of my house. I put it upstairs though and have one antenna directed down to one corner, one directed down to the other, and one straight up serving the second floor. I get coverage throughout the house and the yard. In most of the yard it can't get 5Ghz but the 2.4Ghz signal is strong enough that I still get 10-20 Mbps in the weakest spots.

7/13/2018 10:03:17 AM

Multiple floors got me to switch to a distributed system.

There are several simpler systems (Google, Orbi, etc.), but if you're willing to spend a little coin the Unifi system is the cadillac of mesh systems. It's by no means the easiest to configure... but with a little network knowledge it isn't bad.

They sell routers and access points, not integrated units. For best results you'll also want a controller running full time. I run a docker image on my NAS, easy peasy.

***EDIT***
The limitations earlier in the thread are still true. My USG easily runs ATT Gig at full capacity, and I use the failover for a cell modem. However, if you turn on queues (similar to QoS) it crushes it. You won't get over 250Mbit through it. This is only a real problem for wired clients - wireless users/networks can be restricted quite easily.

[Edited on July 13, 2018 at 1:34 PM. Reason : .]

7/13/2018 1:31:11 PM