Looking for router purchase advice last time I bought unwisely

[bk_RS4]

Hey People -- my current router setup has never worked that well so I'm in shopping mode. I've read the reviews on this forum. While the reviews are good for raw performance, I also want some reliability information from owners. The top AC1900 router I see on this site is the Netgear R7000. I've seen a fair amount of complaining about the propensity of the router to disconnect in the Amazon comments which is making me hesitate a bit on the purchase. So I figured I'd post here with my use case, requirements looking for advice from the experts.

I'll give my specific use case, location and desired features

Location/Topology/isp:
1) Small 1-story house about 1500 square feet
2) Fairly dense neighborhood with other wireless routers around
3) Comcast xfinity - the fast one
4) Main wireless AP /Router is in the "office", and bridge mode router under the TV in my entertainment center - (PS4, Tivo, Xbox, TV, and Bluray connected via ethernet cable to the bridge)

Clients:
1) Laptops wireless N
2) Iphone6
3) Old 1st gen ipad

Uses:
1) Gaming via PS4, Laptop
2) Netflix streaming
3) Downloading / uploading family photos

Features
1) I'd like a good FW
2) NAT passthrough for game stuff (PS4)
3) VERY RELIABLE - no drops / disconnects
4) Need speed / reliability for gaming - example destiny cr@ps out right now on my current setup frequently
5) RANGE! my iphone in the opposite room of the house has trouble connecting at times on 5ghz (could be the lousy iphone radio, but I still think it's the buffalo)

So I leave it to you, what's the best router setup? I'd buy two, run one in AP mode, and the other in bridge mode.

Should I get the R7000? or is there another that's good?

 

[System Error Message]

The AC1900s would be a starting point however if you want good FW and UPNP and you have the skill than theres nothing like mikrotik or ubiquiti for their capabilities and reliability and price. Using mikrotik or ubiquiti with a consumer wifi router as an AP is a very reliable setup.

It would really help if you could mention your subscribed internet bandwidth. We need to know how many megabits.

Dont bridge wifi. To properly bridge wifi requires a proper setup and a higher budget so just use a switch instead or you can a wired router and an AC88U or netgear R8500 for more ethernet ports. Just getting 2 APs and bridging them together will give poor speeds, to properly bridge APs you need 2 radios dedicated to bridging and directional antennas. Since the radios share antennas in wifi routers it means having to get seperate APs just for bridging.

 

[stevech]

don't over-spend.

 

[Trip]

It all depends on how reliable you want "reliable" to be...

Right off the bat, I'd separate wifi from routing (ie. wired router plus dedicated AP(s)).

If you're still intending on buying an all-in-one, you're best off sticking with units that have been on the market long enough to confirm solid performance from stock, and/or are open-source friendly to fill in specific feature/bug areas. AC1900 class stuff is probably still the safest bet in that department.

Re- Ubiquiti/Mikrotik -- their gear will smoke the consumer stuff, no doubt, but be warned, they require some serious chops if you want to go anywhere past the default config/wizards, and direct consumer support is all but non-existent. So I'd highly recommend against either if you're the slightest bit leery when it comes to networking know-how.

One highly reliable but pricey option might be Peplink. If your aggregate up+down speed is less than 100Mb, do a Balance 20. If more, then a Balance One Core. Both should never go down under normal operating conditions and the support for end-users is second to none. You'll of course have to do a separate AP(s), but that's much more doable now that you're not making a single device handle all roles.

People may look at suggestions like that as total overkill for stuff like this, but it really depends on how you look at it: I for one have absolutely zero patience for flaky gear, and to me the opportunity cost of even having to monkey around with betaware just once totally justifies spending more for the solid stuff. But to each their own.

 

[System Error Message]

Peplink is worth the price only when you need to combine multiple WANs.

 

[sfx2000]

Talk to Comcast, esp if you're renting a modem from them...

They have a few 802.11ac capable CableModem/Gateways, and they're managed and stable - get rid of the repeater, and be happy with physics - have a decent 2.4 GHz footprint around the house, and 5GHz 11ac where you need it...

Seriously... if you're looking for reliability, then you need to give up a bit on flexibility - more features, more bugs...

In the US - Comcast/Cox/Charter/TWC - big cable is focused on service delivery and stability, so their CPE they provide will have that... they don't want support calls...

 

[bk_RS4]

I may have not made it clear but I have my separate cable modem and wireless AP/router in the middle of the house "office" so my gaming PC is wired directly to Comcast and to get an even signal around the house. My TV/Entertainment center is in the "Family" room which contains the TiVo and PS4 where I do more gaming and streaming.

So you guys are saying it's just better to have the TiVO and PS4 run as wireless clients rather than being plugged into a router that is an AC1900 client to an AC1900 AP? I figured that would give everything a faster connection.

I have the 75mbps Comcast btw.

 

[bk_RS4]

Talk to Comcast, esp if you're renting a modem from them...

They have a few 802.11ac capable CableModem/Gateways, and they're managed and stable - get rid of the repeater, and be happy with physics - have a decent 2.4 GHz footprint around the house, and 5GHz 11ac where you need it...

Seriously... if you're looking for reliability, then you need to give up a bit on flexibility - more features, more bugs...

In the US - Comcast/Cox/Charter/TWC - big cable is focused on service delivery and stability, so their CPE they provide will have that... they don't want support calls...

Haha so I should just give up on 3rd party and just get comcast's box then? I'm guessing if it's anything like their service it's not going to be reliable/stable and it's painful to get support for it I'm sure.

 

[System Error Message]

I may have not made it clear but I have my separate cable modem and wireless AP/router in the middle of the house "office" so my gaming PC is wired directly to Comcast and to get an even signal around the house. My TV/Entertainment center is in the "Family" room which contains the TiVo and PS4 where I do more gaming and streaming.

So you guys are saying it's just better to have the TiVO and PS4 run as wireless clients rather than being plugged into a router that is an AC1900 client to an AC1900 AP? I figured that would give everything a faster connection.

I have the 75mbps Comcast btw.

It doesnt matter if you plug them in wire or wifi, wire is still beter though.

Some people still forget that a wifi router is also a 4 port switch.

 

[stevech]

It doesnt matter if you plug them in wire or wifi, wire is still beter though.

Some people still forget that a wifi router is also a 4 port switch.

Wireless and WiFi are the last resort. If you cannot get a wired connection via cat5, MoCA or HPNA. Or if the user device is highly mobile.

 

[Rodbender]

Have you looked at the RT-AC88U ?

I know it's fairly new and a bit pricey but has some impressive specifications and reviews and it has a 8 port switch.

I just switched to a RT-AC3200 from a RT-87U that was giving me fits on the wireless. I would have gotten the AC88U if I could have walked into Fry's or Best Buy and purchased it. Currently only locations I have found have been online (Amazon).

If you can easily connect your living room entertainment devices via cable, you will get the best performance on those high bandwidth sucking devices. This will also give you better performance on your wifi for your mobile devices.

 

[bk_RS4]

It doesnt matter if you plug them in wire or wifi, wire is still beter though.

Some people still forget that a wifi router is also a 4 port switch.

I know it's also a switch. My point being I have multiple devices remote to where my internet connection comes in the house therwise i wouldn't need wifi for anything but my iPhones.

PS4 and TiVo wifi at 802.11N. Therefore if I connect the devices to gigabit Ethernet which happens to be wireless AC1900 to where my cable modem comes in the house then I should be able to take advantage of my comcast connection at 75 megabits right?

 

[bk_RS4]

Wireless and WiFi are the last resort. If you cannot get a wired connection via cat5, MoCA or HPNA. Or if the user device is highly mobile.

Running cable and drilling into the walls isn't an option otherwise I wouldn't have posted the thread.

Wifi is obviously always suboptimal in every way to a wired connection.

 

[System Error Message]

I know it's also a switch. My point being I have multiple devices remote to where my internet connection comes in the house therwise i wouldn't need wifi for anything but my iPhones.

PS4 and TiVo wifi at 802.11N. Therefore if I connect the devices to gigabit Ethernet which happens to be wireless AC1900 to where my cable modem comes in the house then I should be able to take advantage of my comcast connection at 75 megabits right?

If you mean bridging wifi than no.

Always use wire where you can. Wireless AC should let you use 75Mb/s as long as you have a good signal and not much wifi traffic but you would need to be using wireless AC and not wireless N. If ps4 is still wifi N than wire would be better although 5Ghz wifi N is still better than 2.4Ghz wifi N.

 

[bk_RS4]

If you mean bridging wifi than no.

Always use wire where you can. Wireless AC should let you use 75Mb/s as long as you have a good signal and not much wifi traffic but you would need to be using wireless AC and not wireless N. If ps4 is still wifi N than wire would be better although 5Ghz wifi N is still better than 2.4Ghz wifi N.

So what is the problem with wireless bridging? Is it just lousy performance?

 

[bk_RS4]

Ok isn't it true if I have two R7000 then every device connected to each one in theory can transfer data at AC1900 (600+1300mbps) speeds? So that is more than enough to supply the PS4 with the full speed of my 75mbps Comcast connection.

The topology is like this:

(cable modem GIGE)----(R7000 in office)----<wireless AC1900>----(R7000 bridge mode in entertainment center)-----(PS4 via GiGE)

So from answers here you're saying the wireless connection from the r7k to r7k is not reliable?

 

[System Error Message]

Ok isn't it true if I have two R7000 then every device connected to each one in theory can transfer data at AC1900 (600+1300mbps) speeds? So that is more than enough to supply the PS4 with the full speed of my 75mbps Comcast connection.

The topology is like this:

(cable modem GIGE)----(R7000 in office)----<wireless AC1900>----(R7000 bridge mode in entertainment center)-----(PS4 via GiGE)

So from answers here you're saying the wireless connection from the r7k to r7k is not reliable?

For the setup to work you need 2 APs that do bridging and nothing else, and you have to replace all 3 antennas on each with directional ones. They wont be able to use both 600Mb/s + 1300 rather you can only use 1 which you would choose wireless AC at 1300Mb/s. So the link rate will be 1300Mb/s but its not like you can use all of it. I have gotten 90% wifi utilisation by stressing the CPU and with lots of packet loss. 70% is the highest with CPU stress on the server and client without or with few packet losses.

Even though the AP has 2.4 and 5Ghz you can only use it for bridging and not the other for general wifi because the antennas would be directional and pointing to each other. You cannot do this with only 1 antenna you have to use all of them for it to be effective. This is more costly than wires.

 

[bk_RS4]

Ok so I have figured out the issue on my network I think. When I have iPhones plugged in charging they then usually perform iCloud backup which clobbers all other wireless client's performance.

So what wireless ap/router is best to guarantee performance of all connected clients? So if I have 2 iPhones and a PS4 connected I don't want the traffic from the iPhone upload to interfere with the PS4. Better yet if I could configure the router so the priority is given to the PS4 that would be great.

 

[System Error Message]

Ok so I have figured out the issue on my network I think. When I have iPhones plugged in charging they then usually perform iCloud backup which clobbers all other wireless client's performance.

So what wireless ap/router is best to guarantee performance of all connected clients? So if I have 2 iPhones and a PS4 connected I don't want the traffic from the iPhone upload to interfere with the PS4. Better yet if I could configure the router so the priority is given to the PS4 that would be great.

Just use QoS. Either limit the bandwidth or set low priority.