Suggestions for a new Primary Router (with gigabit)

[sdifox]

Well, almost immediately after, I got an Asus RT-AC66U from a thrift store for $29 :awe:

Really, it was a T-mobile "Cellspot" until I put retail firmware on it.

Boxed and looks unused. Not sure what I'm going to do with it.

Bastard.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I frequently see people recommend Ubiquiti's EdgeRouter, but I'm not sure if it or a similar model has WiFi.

The EdgeRouters are fine routers, but not wireless, and not for the average user. The Unifi AP line are great access points, but must be plugged into a router. If you have a gigabit wireless N router you are happy with but want AC speeds, the Unifi AP AC line is a nice upgrade. Even that requires some networking knowledge to set up.

 

[Pantoot]

The EdgeRouters are fine routers, but not wireless, and not for the average user. The Unifi AP line are great access points, but must be plugged into a router. If you have a gigabit wireless N router you are happy with but want AC speeds, the Unifi AP AC line is a nice upgrade. Even that requires some networking knowledge to set up.

I set up an edgerouter and 2 unifi ac this weekend and the new wizards (after you upgrade the firmware) really do make it much easier.

Still not plug and play, but they really have come a long way.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I set up an edgerouter and 2 unifi ac this weekend and the new wizards (after you upgrade the firmware) really do make it much easier.

Still not plug and play, but they really have come a long way.

Good to know. :thumbsup: Will make it easier to recommend.

 

[fiberst]

why not have a 10/100M fiber media converter?

 

[boomerang]

I set up an edgerouter and 2 unifi ac this weekend and the new wizards (after you upgrade the firmware) really do make it much easier.

Still not plug and play, but they really have come a long way.

I did this too over the past week but with one AP in my case. I ran into trouble when I tried to set up remote access to the router and the AP through the UniFi Controller interface. Port forwarding was easy but my lack of knowledge and experience with hardware other than of the homeowner variety really came into play and I bailed on the router.

I turned off the wireless on my Asus router as that what was giving me issues and put it into the mix. I was able to set up remote access to the router and the AP with the Asus in place and I doubt I ever would have been able to using the EdgeRouter X without considerable help.

I'm telling the story so others know what I experienced. IMO someone with minor networking understanding and a bit of experience with minor futzing with SOHO routers will be able to set this hardware up if they can read the directions and seek out a video or two. But anything beyond that and I was out of my league.

I'm trying to decide if at this point I want to sell the router or keep it to futz with in the future.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I tried an asus router the other day, rt-ac3200, and used it overnight until I couldn't take anymore and returned it for another netgear. This time I stepped up to the nighthaw x6 R8000 which works really well for me. Why would asus only allow for one dns server? Not only that but the antennas on it were also cheap and flimsy feeling. Asus makes great mb's and tablets but I'll pass on the rest for now.

 

[Ichinisan]

Why would asus only allow for one dns server?

If Asus' implementation lets you enter multiple DNS servers, separated by commas, I would actually prefer that. If both of my ISP's DNS servers go down, I could have Google DNS as tertiary backup.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I tried an asus router the other day, rt-ac3200, and used it overnight until I couldn't take anymore and returned it for another netgear. This time I stepped up to the nighthaw x6 R8000 which works really well for me. Why would asus only allow for one dns server? Not only that but the antennas on it were also cheap and flimsy feeling. Asus makes great mb's and tablets but I'll pass on the rest for now.

Asus has always had decent hardware, but in the case of their routers they have always had terrible firmware. For example, boomerang's rt-n66u has 13 different firmwares, and the rt-ac3200 has 7 different firmwares, and almost all of them have multiple bug fixes each. By comparison, the Linksys EA6900 has had 5 total firmwares, some just adding new features or minor improvements but no major fixes. The D-Link DIR-850L is the same, some firmwares have minor improvements and some have no bug fixes at all. Even the TP-Link Archer C8 has fewer fixes (latest) for their routers. It really is a shame because they frequently have the best performance for consumer-grade routers.

 

[WT]

Well, finally ended up with a new router, although it's not the model I originally planned to settling on.

Why? Well, the Archer is no doubt an excellent router, but nothing in my house currently takes full advantage of AC, so since routers don't last forever, I decided on one of these for the time being:

http://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/WNDR4500.aspx

I was running that same router for the past 6 months bought as a refurb Costco R900 for $35 from the Egg (I changed the board ID and flashed the latest Netgear f/w onto it), and it died an early death on me. I had high hopes it would perform as well as the 2 refurb routers I bought before that one, but it just doesn't work properly in my environment:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2466470

Note that it 'works' with only 4 devices plugged in, so it would still be fine for 90% of PC users, but it ended up a disappointment for me after many hours put into troubleshooting it.

 

[Makaveli]

Not sure what you were doing bro but the asus firmware most definitely allows more than 1 DNS.

And this is asus firmware running on non asus hardware Netgear R7000!

Asus has always had decent hardware, but in the case of their routers they have always had terrible firmware. For example, boomerang's rt-n66u has 13 different firmwares, and the rt-ac3200 has 7 different firmwares, and almost all of them have multiple bug fixes each. By comparison, the Linksys EA6900 has had 5 total firmwares, some just adding new features or minor improvements but no major fixes. The D-Link DIR-850L is the same, some firmwares have minor improvements and some have no bug fixes at all. Even the TP-Link Archer C8 has fewer fixes (latest) for their routers. It really is a shame because they frequently have the best performance for consumer-grade routers.

Anyone that uses Asus routers knows merlin makes the best firmwares for them.

And I wouldn't touch a TP link router now that they are going to block 3rd party firmwares!

https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/TPLink-Now-Blocking-Open-Source-Custom-Router-Firmware-136482

 

[AnonymouseUser]

And I wouldn't touch a TP link router now that they are going to block 3rd party firmwares!

https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/TPLink-Now-Blocking-Open-Source-Custom-Router-Firmware-136482

No worries, I won't either!

 

[Ichinisan]

And I wouldn't touch a TP link router now that they are going to block 3rd party firmwares!

https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/TPLink-Now-Blocking-Open-Source-Custom-Router-Firmware-136482

No worries, I won't either!

You guys know that *all* router manufacturers are bound by the same FCC restriction with the same deadline, right? Right?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

You guys know that *all* router manufacturers are bound by the same FCC restriction with the same deadline, right? Right?

Yes, and we know compliance can be achieved in more than one way. A complete lockout is not necessary.

 

[Makaveli]

Yes, and we know compliance can be achieved in more than one way. A complete lockout is not necessary.

+1

 

[Puffnstuff]

If Asus' implementation lets you enter multiple DNS servers, separated by commas, I would actually prefer that. If both of my ISP's DNS servers go down, I could have Google DNS as tertiary backup.

Asus only allows "1" single dns server to be entered and has no provisions for a secondary as is customary on virtually all routers. I use the google dns servers for both primary and secondary, however I've considered using opendns for the secondary.

 

[Ketchup]

I was running that same router for the past 6 months bought as a refurb Costco R900 for $35 from the Egg (I changed the board ID and flashed the latest Netgear f/w onto it), and it died an early death on me. I had high hopes it would perform as well as the 2 refurb routers I bought before that one, but it just doesn't work properly in my environment:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2466470

Note that it 'works' with only 4 devices plugged in, so it would still be fine for 90% of PC users, but it ended up a disappointment for me after many hours put into troubleshooting it.

Funny you say that. Mine crapped out last night. It was an odd death too, as there were no warning signs, just all at once it:
-lost link to the modem
-wouldn't allow access through ip address
-DID allow network folder access on wired connections
-lost all wireless connections

Resetting made no diff. I was hoping since it was used and not a REFURB it would last a big longer. Anyway, got the (new) Archer C7 set up this afternoon and so far, so good. What was perhaps more amazing was the fact that we went almost an entire day with only one PC on the Internet and the kids didn't go nuts!

 

[VirtualLarry]

@Ketchup, sure it wasn't your service entirely going out? A lot of people here in the Northeast USA lost power and some lost internet too, with the huge snow storm a day or two ago. Supposed to get more Monday.

 

[XavierMace]

@Ketchup, sure it wasn't your service entirely going out? A lot of people here in the Northeast USA lost power and some lost internet too, with the huge snow storm a day or two ago. Supposed to get more Monday.

Yeah, I know it's been a pretty rough few days for our NE clients at work who are on Comcast Business.

 

[WT]

Still not sure what caused my issues with the 'unidentified network', but as a thread update, I replaced the WNDR4500 with an R6200 and had no more issues. I felt that my time with the 4500 wasn't quite up, so in an effort to speed up my wireless network, I replaced the Netgear WNR2000 range extender (which cut my wireless bandwidth in half) with the WNDR4500 (used as an access point now) which I was convinced was not dead, but just being contrary for one reason or another. No further issues cropped up with the 'unidentified network', and I was able to pretty much double my wireless throughput with this setup.

Only issue I see from time to time is when I resume a PC from sleep, I hit an occasional 'IP conflict' as an added device (usually a laptop I'm working on) grabs the same IP that a sleeping desktop PC has, and when I resume the desktop PC, it kicks them offline until I do a \release, \renew on the address. Networking is by far my weak link in my PC education, so if anything, I hope that I learn just a little bit after each and every foul-up on my end.

 

[Ketchup]

@Ketchup, sure it wasn't your service entirely going out? A lot of people here in the Northeast USA lost power and some lost internet too, with the huge snow storm a day or two ago. Supposed to get more Monday.

Yeah, I feel for you guys as most of our customers are up there and it's been crazy (the wind, and now the snow). Hope power is back soon for you all. Our power down here has been fine, and the direct connection from the modem made do until I picked up the new router.

There are a couple things Netgear does better (simpler), but they can be worked around and I love the signal strength of this one with the external antennas.

 

[ch33zw1z]

@WT

Ok, so on the router, give the PC's in sleep mode a static-dhcp reservation that's outside the configured DHCP pool. So they won't conflict when they come out of sleep.

Since dhcp reservations are typically 24 hours by default, I can only assume the PC's in sleep mode are in that state for 24+ hours?

Or is the old router-now-an-access-point also handing our addresses?

 

[Ketchup]

Still not sure what caused my issues with the 'unidentified network', but as a thread update, I replaced the WNDR4500 with an R6200 and had no more issues. I felt that my time with the 4500 wasn't quite up, so in an effort to speed up my wireless network, I replaced the Netgear WNR2000 range extender (which cut my wireless bandwidth in half) with the WNDR4500 (used as an access point now) which I was convinced was not dead, but just being contrary for one reason or another. No further issues cropped up with the 'unidentified network', and I was able to pretty much double my wireless throughput with this setup.

Only issue I see from time to time is when I resume a PC from sleep, I hit an occasional 'IP conflict' as an added device (usually a laptop I'm working on) grabs the same IP that a sleeping desktop PC has, and when I resume the desktop PC, it kicks them offline until I do a \release, \renew on the address. Networking is by far my weak link in my PC education, so if anything, I hope that I learn just a little bit after each and every foul-up on my end.

That's one of the things Netgear does make easier. You shuld be able to go into your DHCP server router and add that laptop(s) to the reservation list. That should take care of the issue of up address conflicts.

Edit: somebody beat me to it

 

[mv2devnull]

I frequently see people recommend Ubiquiti's EdgeRouter, but I'm not sure if it or a similar model has WiFi.

Of course not (which you can verify from their website). They are routers. Ubiquiti sells separate WiFi devices.

 

[WT]

@WT
I can only assume the PC's in sleep mode are in that state for 24+ hours?

At least 24 hrs, more like a full week. It happens on both my workbench rig and my HTPC, both sleep for at least 24 hours. I have my DHCP reservations set rather low - only 28 available addresses. Five years ago, I never even DREAMED of having 28+ devices on my network !! But lately, holy crap .... both kids have phones, tablets AND laptops. Wife has the same, and then add 2 Roku, wireless printer, Blu-ray player, home server, and few Smart TVs and .. OMG, I'm out of addresses.
I also have a home server with a static IP reserved at .30, with port forwarding set up specifically for that IP, so when I ran out of addresses, I had to re-do everything to move the server to .40 and change the port forward #s to that address. I have never messed with DHCP reservations from the router, but it appears it is now time to learn that valuable menu option. Thanks for helping out with this one !