Best 11n router to use as Access Point

[tgdc]

Hi. I have a UTM box that does all my firewalling/DHCP/etc at my home. I currently have a trusty WRT54G running Tomato in AP mode but would like to upgrade to 11n and perhaps use the old WRT54G to run a guest network. I'm assuming that repurposing a consumer grade router in AP mode will give the best price/performance bang for the buck but am wondering what specific models one might recommend. Since I don't plan to use any of the router functions I assume I don't need to pay up to get a lot of RAM, processor, and features, but I would like to get the best possible RF. Ideally, I think I'd like to have one that can do simultaneous dual band and will still support legacy 11b/11g clients on 2.4GHz without compromising the 11n throughput too much. Are there so good options that have really good radios but may not be as expensive as the top-rated routers due to fewer features? (Note: I am willing to flash to dd-wrt or tomato if supported and recommended.) Thanks.

 

[Fraoch]

Good news and bad news...

The good news is that retailers are discounting n products now.

The bad news is that if you want simultaneous dual-band with excellent range and throughput you're going to end up with a high-end router. If you limit your search to n routers the clear winner for performance is the ASUS RT-N66U:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/111-2_4-ghz-dn-c

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/112-2_4-ghz-up-c

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/113-5-ghz-dn-c

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/bar/114-5-ghz-up-c

(make sure to select N150, N300, N450, N600, N750 and N900, then filter).

The RT-N66U is available for a lot lower now than it was a year ago, and its price will probably go down more. But less expensive routers just don't perform as well wirelessly. In AP mode the only measurements on those charts you can eliminate is the WAN - LAN, LAN - WAN and total simultaneous tests. With router functions turned off these tests won't be CPU-bound anymore and should approach wire speed. Of course you'll hit your ISP's speed limit well before this.

Wireless APs might be another thought but none of them tested here did better than the RT-N66U:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-charts/view

I suppose the ASUS EA-N66 comes close, but the RT-N66U will definitely beat it both on range and throughput.

I'm using the RT-N66U in AP mode, its range and throughput are fantastic. Your post is prompting me to test its performance with 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz n while streaming to older g clients. I'll post back here if anyone's interested.

 

[Fraoch]

Interesting, I've never done this before (g client streaming as I test).

Tested using iperf, bidirectional test (which is equivalent to the "UpDown" tests used here at SmallNetBuilder).

5 GHz, no g clients streaming: 173.3 Mbps

2.4 GHz, no g clients streaming: 91.5 Mbps

5 GHz, g client streaming: 159.1 Mbps (no considerable reduction, as expected)

2.4 GHz, g client streaming: 41.1 Mbps (a 55% reduction)

Neat. Now 41.1 Mbps real-world speed over 2.4 GHz isn't bad at all and I will mention that the streaming happened to be 1080p video which played back flawlessly. 1080p video over g is no mean feat. My RT-N66U and the client are close - 30 feet apart and just about line-of-sight.

The client was an old Linksys WRT54G running DD-WRT, in bridge mode, and the player was a WD TV Live.

The only negative was that my iperf client (an older MacBook) couldn't connect to the 2.4 GHz network at all when the g client was streaming. I had to connect first, then start the streaming. This shows that the 2.4 GHz network was very busy when streaming.

So yes, the RT-N66U performs very well when g clients are connected and active. There will be a speed reduction but it's still workable.

 

[jlake]

Hi. I have a UTM box that does all my firewalling/DHCP/etc at my home. I currently have a trusty WRT54G running Tomato in AP mode but would like to upgrade to 11n and perhaps use the old WRT54G to run a guest network. I'm assuming that repurposing a consumer grade router in AP mode will give the best price/performance bang for the buck but am wondering what specific models one might recommend. Since I don't plan to use any of the router functions I assume I don't need to pay up to get a lot of RAM, processor, and features, but I would like to get the best possible RF. Ideally, I think I'd like to have one that can do simultaneous dual band and will still support legacy 11b/11g clients on 2.4GHz without compromising the 11n throughput too much. Are there so good options that have really good radios but may not be as expensive as the top-rated routers due to fewer features? (Note: I am willing to flash to dd-wrt or tomato if supported and recommended.) Thanks.

If you plan on forwarding ports to any of the clients that are connected to the AP, then look at the Linksys N routers that support "bridge mode". I'm not talking about a client bridge, but a wired bridge. This will allow you to forward ports to those clients. Dual band examples with bridgemode capabilities that make good wireless access points include EA2700, EA3500, EA4500. EA2700 uses Broadcom chipset. EA3500 and EA4500 uses Marvell chipset.
If you're a bargain shopper like me, then take a look at the refurbs on Linksys' homepage.

If you re-purpose a router in a LAN to LAN cascade, you won't be able to forward ports to clients connected to the AP.

Flashing DD-WRT or tomato won't do you much good if you're just going to use it as an LAN to LAN AP. Might as well just stay with stock firmware.

The link below shows you how to setup a Linksys in to bridge mode on supported models. Be sure to "Specify an IP address".

http://kb.linksys.com/Linksys/GetAr...tting_up_the_Linksys_E4200_in_bridge_mode.xml

 

[stevech]

Interesting, I've never done this before (g client streaming as I test).

Tested using iperf, bidirectional test (which is equivalent to the "UpDown" tests used here at SmallNetBuilder).

5 GHz, no g clients streaming: 173.3 Mbps

2.4 GHz, no g clients streaming: 91.5 Mbps

5 GHz, g client streaming: 159.1 Mbps (no considerable reduction, as expected)

2.4 GHz, g client streaming: 41.1 Mbps (a 55% reduction)

Neat. Now 41.1 Mbps real-world speed over 2.4 GHz isn't bad at all and I will mention that the streaming happened to be 1080p video which played back flawlessly. 1080p video over g is no mean feat. My RT-N66U and the client are close - 30 feet apart and just about line-of-sight.

So these speeds are in near ideal distance/unobstructed conditions. Kind of moot, isn't it?

 

[Fraoch]

So these speeds are in near ideal distance/unobstructed conditions. Kind of moot, isn't it?

Not at all, there's a 55% reduction in 2.4 GHz speeds as I noted.

 

[bdresch]

I was basically looking for the same advice. I have a Netgear WNDR3700 as my main router. I have cat5 run though out the house so I was looking to get a second router or an AP. In my case would it be easier to setup or work better to use another Netgear product? Or would the Asus be the best bet for me.

 

[Fraoch]

I was basically looking for the same advice. I have a Netgear WNDR3700 as my main router. I have cat5 run though out the house so I was looking to get a second router or an AP. In my case would it be easier to setup or work better to use another Netgear product? Or would the Asus be the best bet for me.

It doesn't matter. It's just standard Ethernet packets, APs should treat them all the same.

Pick whatever suits your needs and budget.