Buy an AC router to pair with Fios router

[tc2311]

New to the forum, first post. Good to be here.
I'm thinking about upgrading to an AC 1750 or 1900 router, but I'm not sure if it's worth the cost and how much it will improve, if any, my current Fios router on speed, and range.
I've had the Actiontec Mi424-wi REV 1 single band N-router with Fios for almost 3 years now. Downstairs where my main computer is, the signal and speed is good. It's not hard wired to my iMac. Upstairs, I always lost one wifi bar on my phone and tablet. I tried Fios speed upgrade to 50/50, and the tech said he'd install an Actiontec wifi extender in my bedroom. It's a WCB3000N N-dual band extender. The range upstairs has been much better (full wifi bars), but I don't notice a difference in speed, etc.
I'd like to get rid of the extender in my room, if an AC router will allow me to do this and cover my house, about 2300 sq ft.
The problem with Fios is using a third party router with the Fios router. I need their router for the VOD, channel guides, etc. It looks like the easiest way to use my own AC router is setting it up next to the Actiontec router on my first floor by connecting them with an Ethernet cable, (LAN to WAN?) and turning off the wifi on the Actiontec. But, wouldn't this make all the features of the AC router useless when it's used as an Access Point?
AC 1900 is probably way too much for my needs. I only have 3 AC clients, and I think my other wireless devices are mostly N.
Any advice is much appreciated if it's worth the cost to upgrade and some AC 1750 routers you recommend.

 

[pete y testing]

it has been shown by many blog entries on the main web sire that a wireless AC router improves even wireless N devices so certainly worth going wireless AC

you would be best going with the 1900ac class as they are the go to class and perform great and are not too expensive

so you keep your Fios router and run it as it is with wifi off if it has it and get ether the asus rt-ac68u or netgear r7000 and run them in AP mode from the gui as both have a specific ap mode

you could just get an AC AP but they cost just as much but have less features

 

[tc2311]

Hi Pete. Thank you for your response. Not that I'm nearly techie enough to use or take advantage of the features an AC router offers; but won't using the AC router as an access point make its other features useless?
I read good things about the TP-Link Archer C7 and C8. I'm not sure why the C9 doesn't perform as well. Its Amazon reviews are very good. I'll have to read up more on AC1900 routers, bc I've been more focused on AC1750 routers, specifically the Archer C7 & C8 and the Netgear 6400, which is very comparable to the 7000.
It sounds like from your two router suggestions that the Asus and Netgear may be more user-friendly setting up as Access Points, compared to other routers like TP-Link, etc.

 

[pete y testing]

It sounds like from your two router suggestions that the Asus and Netgear may be more user-friendly setting up as Access Points, compared to other routers like TP-Link, etc.

correct as you have specific ap modes in the firmware , tp link doesnt and thus you have to run the router in wan bypass mode

 

[tc2311]

What is the difference in wan bypass mode, that you're saying only TP-Link offers, in comparison to having the router in AP mode?

 

[pete y testing]

What is the difference in wan bypass mode,

when you run a router in wan bypass mode you lose a lan port and omly have 3 lan ports to use

in ap mode you still use the wan port on the router so still have 4 ports to use

 

[tc2311]

I'm a little confused. I thought in AP mode you are connecting the primary router's lan to the AP's lan by Ethernet (Cat 5). That would mean you are down to 3 lan ports, or so I thought.

 

[pete y testing]

primary router's lan to the AP's lan by Ethernet (Cat 5).

nope thats wan bypass mode

ap mode you still connect to the wan port of the router and select AP modem from its gui

That would mean you are down to 3 lan ports, or so I thought.

again that is what i call wan bypass mode

see

Wan Bypass mode , running 2 Routers
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=933517

and SNB version of wan bypass mode

How To Convert a Wireless Router into an Access Point
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basi...onvert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point

 

[tc2311]

Pete,

In the SNB version of converting a wireless router into an Access Point, which you said is SNB's version of wan bypass mode, it says to make sure "not to use the WAN port."
You said in AP mode: you still connect to the wan part of the router, and select AP modem from its gui.
That's where I'm still confused.

I did find this article for TP-Link routers used as Access Points, and I'm guessing it applies to AC-routers as well.

http://www.tp-link.com/en/faq-417.html

I think the difference is that this is done step by step, in contrast to the firmware in other routers having specific AP modes that are easier to set up. Why TP-Link doesn't have this AP mode in its firmware doesn't make sense to me.

 

[pete y testing]

In the SNB version of converting a wireless router into an Access Point, which you said is SNB's version of wan bypass mode, it says to make sure "not to use the WAN port."
You said in AP mode: you still connect to the wan part of the router, and select AP modem from its gui.
That's where I'm still confused.

if a router has a specific access point mode in it gui you then can connect to the wan port

if the router doesnt have an access point mode then you use wan bypass and connect via lan instead of wan

 

[tc2311]

Thanks for the quick reply, Pete.
Is it much more of a hassle to set up a
TP-Link router in AP or Bridge mode w/o these specific modes in the gui?
I don't see a review on the site, but I see what looks to be a stronger Archer C9 on its site. It's black and has 900 mW high power amplifiers.
http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/cat-9_Archer-C1900.html
Any thoughts or experience with it?

 

[stevech]

900mW to-client.
From client remains 30mW.
What's wrong with this?
Imbalanced link for range.
think rock band with Amps.

 

[tc2311]

Thanks for your answer, Steve. What I take from it is that the 900 mW Archer C9 is not preferable to the 'regular' Archer C9. I'm surprised on SNB that the Archer C9 doesn't rank well in the AC1900 routers category, but on Amazon, the reviews are some of the highest I've seen for any router.

 

[sfx2000]

New to the forum, first post. Good to be here.
I'm thinking about upgrading to an AC 1750 or 1900 router, but I'm not sure if it's worth the cost and how much it will improve, if any, my current Fios router on speed, and range.
I've had the Actiontec Mi424-wi REV 1 single band N-router with Fios for almost 3 years now. Downstairs where my main computer is, the signal and speed is good.

FIOS isn't that much different than other carrier provided premises equipment - so maybe time to reach out to their customer care team and get a new/updated device - the way to play it thru care is that all services aren't working very well - dropped phone calls, pixellated/frozen video, slow broadband...

Believe it or not, phone call performance and video complaints do take a priority in these triple play devices... so play that card first...

The recent crop of carrier gateways are much better than they've been in the past - so trying to wrangle a device upgrade is worth the time...

 

[tc2311]

FIOS isn't that much different than other carrier provided premises equipment - so maybe time to reach out to their customer care team and get a new/updated device - the way to play it thru care is that all services aren't working very well - dropped phone calls, pixellated/frozen video, slow broadband...

Believe it or not, phone call performance and video complaints do take a priority in these triple play devices... so play that card first...

The recent crop of carrier gateways are much better than they've been in the past - so trying to wrangle a device upgrade is worth the time...

Thanks for your reply sfx.
My Actiontec MI424WR Rev. 1 seems fine. It never has to be rebooted. When I first posted this topic, I didn't mention that the WCB3000N N-dual-band (from Fios) Extender improves my signal/range upstairs only in my room, where it's connected to the coax, and the adjacent room. When I go two rooms down I lose wifi bars on 5 ghz, and the speed drops from 50 Mbps to 12-15 Mbps. 5 ghz range is weaker than 2.4 ghz, I know, but I didn't think the range and speed would be so poor with the extender. Fios has a Quantum Gateway AC1750, been out for 1.5 yrs. I'm not paying them $10/month to rent it, and $200 to buy it from Fios seems over-priced. It sounds like the Asus rt-ac68u and the Netgear R7000, R6900 & R6400 are good options from reading these boards. Since I have to keep the Fios router, how do I take advantage of some of the features these routers provide? I thought using them in Access Point or Bridge Mode for wifi makes most of their features unusable. I'm a novice with this stuff, and I wouldn't know where to begin with 3rd party firmware or advanced router features.

 

[sfx2000]

My Actiontec MI424WR Rev. 1 seems fine. It never has to be rebooted. When I first posted this topic, I didn't mention that the WCB3000N N-dual-band (from Fios) Extender improves my signal/range upstairs only in my room, where it's connected to the coax, and the adjacent room. When I go two rooms down I lose wifi bars on 5 ghz, and the speed drops from 50 Mbps to 12-15 Mbps. 5 ghz range is weaker than 2.4 ghz, I know, but I didn't think the range and speed would be so poor with the extender. Fios has a Quantum Gateway AC1750, been out for 1.5 yrs. I'm not paying them $10/month to rent it, and $200 to buy it from Fios seems over-priced. It sounds like the Asus rt-ac68u and the Netgear R7000, R6900 & R6400 are good options from reading these boards. Since I have to keep the Fios router, how do I take advantage of some of the features these routers provide? I thought using them in Access Point or Bridge Mode for wifi makes most of their features unusable. I'm a novice with this stuff, and I wouldn't know where to begin with 3rd party firmware or advanced router features.

Man - I feel your frustration at the moment...

But here's the deal - many of the FIOS offering do Television/Phone/Broadband - and to this end, they want to own the whole thing... and for better or worse, they're going to for residential customers...

In the past, many folks would suggest to "bridge" the carrier provided Gateway and use their preferred Router/AP - seems like this advice is going away, now that the broadband operators want to have a bit more control - and they do this in some very interesting ways... VOIP/Moca/WiFi/Ethernet to deliver their services.. managed nicely as long as you use their equipment, and pay the monthly fee...

Where things are going - the providers are going to prioritize their traffic on their network inside your home - Set-Top boxes for the television, VOIP Pad for dial-tone, and broadband services after that - preferably on their gear where they can offer a service level agreement.

They don't care about your range extender... and they really don't care about your Router/AP, as this is a support/customer care burden for them.

Sidebar - I'm running into this at the moment with my broadband provider, where they're changing the DHCP lease time randomly, and each time, to a new IP - which disrupts my work (I'm a telecommuter VPN'ing into the corp space) randomly - this has been happening since March 1st, which oddly enough, is about the time that NFLIX/HULU started really playing games with things...

 

[tc2311]

Man - I feel your frustration at the moment...

But here's the deal - many of the FIOS offering do Television/Phone/Broadband - and to this end, they want to own the whole thing... and for better or worse, they're going to for residential customers...

In the past, many folks would suggest to "bridge" the carrier provided Gateway and use their preferred Router/AP - seems like this advice is going away, now that the broadband operators want to have a bit more control - and they do this in some very interesting ways... VOIP/Moca/WiFi/Ethernet to deliver their services.. managed nicely as long as you use their equipment, and pay the monthly fee...

Where things are going - the providers are going to prioritize their traffic on their network inside your home - Set-Top boxes for the television, VOIP Pad for dial-tone, and broadband services after that - preferably on their gear where they can offer a service level agreement.

They don't care about your range extender... and they really don't care about your Router/AP, as this is a support/customer care burden for them.

Sidebar - I'm running into this at the moment with my broadband provider, where they're changing the DHCP lease time randomly, and each time, to a new IP - which disrupts my work (I'm a telecommuter VPN'ing into the corp space) randomly - this has been happening since March 1st, which oddly enough, is about the time that NFLIX/HULU started really playing games with things...

Sfx - I feel for your dilemma too, but it sounds like you really know your way around networking, unlike myself. I know the basics.
I'd probably be happy with a good plug-and-play router to use as an access point or bridge (unsure which one) with my Fios router, which cannot be removed in my Fios Moca/coax set-up. I would like to use a print share feature through USB, and the feature that lets you control the bandwith for certain devices, Netflix, etc. The main goal is speed/through-put, range, and reliable/stable connections. I'm just not sure if it's worth $150+ right now to buy a router with my current Actiontec router & extender. New routers usually come out around mid year I thought, so maybe I'll just wait. The Fios Gateway is an option but not at $150-$200.
What would you do?