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I need a new router...

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wlossw

Occasional Visitor
My current setup is 2 Netgear r7000 with 1 in AP mode connected over ethernet on either end of my 1000 sq ft condo. It took me months to get decent wireless coverage, but wifi performance is great.

My problem is with the routing performance. Over time, my wan uplink slows to a crawl and I have to reset the main router to get things back to normal. I am constantly serving media from my plex server (2012 mac mini connected via ethernet). So I'm thinking of either replacing the main router, or putting it in AP mode as well and adding a 3rd router exclusively for routing/DNS functions. Which Idea is better, and what router should i choose? Budget is 200$usd and my current internet speed is 200down/30up over cable, but I plan on moving to gigabit when it becomes available...
 
Are you serving / streaming content outbound to the internet?
 
Are you serving / streaming content outbound to the internet?

Sorry If I wasn't clear. Yes I am streaming outbound to the internet, but I am having performance problems locally as well. The problems aren't just with the plex server either, even VNC slows to a crawl locally and remotely. A router reset solves the problem.
 
LAN to LAN traffic shouldn't be affected by routing code since it's just flowing through the switch.

How much time does it take for traffic to slow down and does the time vary?

Have you tried swapping the roles of the router and AP to see if it's really a bum R7000?

To answer your original question 200/ 30 can be handled by most any current design router. Most folks will suggest a Ubiquiti Edgerouter Lite (ERL-3) as a fast wired-only router.
 
TO be honest I would rather spend 100$ on a router like you linked to above then spend anymore time troubleshooting... So I will be ordering one shortly! Thanks for the recommendation. I will keep you posted if it helps. Thanks again! *edit* I just ordered the ubiquity router you suggested... I hope to have results in a few weeks.
 
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Be aware the EdgeRouters aren't as easy to configure as your typical consumer router.
 
edgerouters QoS speeds are limited.
If you really want a good router i would suggest the mikrotik RB3000 series or pfsense as they're both a lot more focused than ubiquiti edgerouters, they are much better than the edgerouter as a router (with mikrotik allowing more flexibility with hardware acceleration compared to ubiquiti) and pfsense is much more flexible than the edgerouters and for your speeds even intel atom based routers are fast enough if you also want to make use of the filtering software it has. Pfsense is easier to configure than ubiquiti edgerouters and mikrotik so take a look at it first and you can pick your own hardware too as long as you have at least 2 ethernet ports.

The ERL will have trouble supporting your speeds with QoS but if you dont use QoS thats not a problem. The ERPRO will support your speeds with QoS.

Hardware acceleration is tricky for most, the moment you enable something that isnt supported most brands dont use it even if you only need to manage some traffic whereas with mikrotik its the opposite, you have to set which traffic you want to accelerate but the RB3000 series has a good CPU for up to 500Mb/s without hardware NAT (last i checked).

My suggestion is to try pfsense, you get a configurable router that allows you to install software packages and to choose your hardware. There is official pfsense hardware but you can build your own cheaper. It is easier to configure than ubiquiti and mikrotik so for someone like yourself who doesnt have as much skill with linux command line or professional networking knowledge pfsense is the best choice.

My issue with ubiquiti is (might still be) with their marketing and that they have always been marketing their weakpoint. Their router's strong point is that its a debian linux running a custom GUI and software for MIPS that make it a router. Its not as effective as pfsense in being a versatile router as even though you can install a debian MIPS compiled software whether or not it will work is another matter. They also loose the power efficiency thing as even the mikrotik CCR1009 uses less power and is faster than the ERPRO. But ubiquiti doesnt advertise that, all they advertise is how their routers are "low cost" and " fast" but its only fast with hardware acceleration and almost every consumer router has that so they arent special either. You could for instance install openwrt on a consumer router and it'd be just as configurable or feature packed as ubiquiti edgerouters.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I have already ordered the ubiquity suggested above, but should it fail to get the job done, I'll definitely consider your advice. I am not currently using QOS. That being said, something I liked about the Ubiquiti solution is that it's a small box, so easy enough to stash somewhere, the Mikrotik unit seems to be quite a bit larger. I don't think I am quite at the point of building my own router, but that isn't to say I would never consider doing so.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I have already ordered the ubiquity suggested above, but should it fail to get the job done, I'll definitely consider your advice. I am not currently using QOS. That being said, something I liked about the Ubiquiti solution is that it's a small box, so easy enough to stash somewhere, the Mikrotik unit seems to be quite a bit larger. I don't think I am quite at the point of building my own router, but that isn't to say I would never consider doing so.
Pfsense uses standard desktop hardware called the x86 architecture. So if you build your own PCs this is easy, All you need is a dedicated NIC (such as the intel dual/quad NICs) and a PCIe x4 slot at least.

Mikrotik does have much smaller routers but the RB3000 has a dual core ARM and is the minimum router that supports almost all of routerOS features such as their dude server which you can run on some of their routers.
 
Serving to where? If internet are you sure your ISP isn't throttling you?

I'm with Tim here - sort/debug the current situation first...

The R7000 is a decent device - check the settings on the primary, and ensure the secondary is properly set up...
 
Another reason for wanting to debug first is the issue could be totally unrelated to your router. I had a customer last winter who would randomly get packet losses throughout his LAN. I changed switches, cables, no change. Turns out the problem was caused by one particular PC with a defective NIC - was probably sending noise or garbage on the Ethernet port. Replacing the NIC in that PC fixed the issue that was affecting all other PCs on the LAN.
 
i got the new router in and it really does require considerably more skill to configure. i got it working, but i want to be sure that the firewall is working properly before deploying, so i won't have a definitive answer for a while longer.

as for the additional troubleshooting suggestions, i will take them to heart and give them a try over my upcoming time off.

thanks all.
 

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