Need recommendation on Access Point or Router for wife

[ncfoster]

My wife recently got a job that is going to require her to move within a week. She is going to be living in a situation where she is going to piggy-back on her landlord's internet connection. Initially, there was some concern that the existing wifi source was not going to have good coverage in her unit, but the landlord has since decided to run ethernet directly to the unit. Since this ethernet will just be coming from his router, which I know nothing about, I want to be able to send something with my wife that requires little or no setup.

She is going to be primarily using a Roku streaming stick, her Nexus 6P phone and a laptop with Wireless AC. Skype and Netflix are her biggest concerns in terms of performance. Coverage is probably not an issue, since the unit itself is a small single-room unit.

I am currently running an Asus RT-N56U in access point mode in my home. I have considered sending that with her, and buying something new for our home.

I know enough about networking to be dangerous, but not enough to think through all of the possibilities of what could go wrong when she plugs something in there.

My inclination is to send a router, rather than an access point, for purposes of security. I think that the RT-N56U would work, but I might have to reset it. I could purchase a unit capable of wireless AC, but I don't think anything she will do will specifically benefit in such a small unit.

I am partial to Asus, but I am open to whoever offers the best experience for a tech novice.

Thanks in advance.

 

[System Error Message]

it depends on the internet. If its a normal home internet it is best to avoid double NAT. If the router supports bridging than use it if not just connect via LAN and disable DHCP.

Since she uses devices with wifi AC why get an N56U? Plenty of good AC wifi routers like the netgear R7000, ASUS AC68U, ASUS AC66U and so on.

 

[CaptainSTX]

it depends on the internet. If its a normal home internet it is best to avoid double NAT. If the router supports bridging than use it if not just connect via LAN and disable DHCP.

Since she uses devices with wifi AC why get an N56U? Plenty of good AC wifi routers like the netgear R7000, ASUS AC68U, ASUS AC66U and so on.

Double NAT will not cause any issues unless you need port forwarding or to run a VPN. Plug the Ethernet cable from the landlord into the WAN port of the router you select. Double NAT will segregate your wife's LAN from the landlords. Pick a LAN DHCP that isn't the same as the landlords such as 192.168.150. Set the WAN to automatic and it will get its IP from the landlord's router. The N56U probably will be fine for your wife's situation.

 

[ncfoster]

it depends on the internet. If its a normal home internet it is best to avoid double NAT. If the router supports bridging than use it if not just connect via LAN and disable DHCP.

Since she uses devices with wifi AC why get an N56U? Plenty of good AC wifi routers like the netgear R7000, ASUS AC68U, ASUS AC66U and so on.

I wouldn't be getting the N56U. I would be using one I already have, largely because that is what everything she has is already setup for, and I expect it would work fine (if properly configured).

 

[ncfoster]

Double NAT will not cause any issues unless you need port forwarding or to run a VPN. Plug the Ethernet cable from the landlord into the WAN port of the router you select. Double NAT will segregate your wife's LAN from the landlords. Pick a LAN DHCP that isn't the same as the landlords such as 192.168.150. Set the WAN to automatic and it will get its IP from the landlord's router. The N56U probably will be fine for your wife's situation.

That is what I was thinking about the Double NAT. I would think isolation would be preferable. I wasn't planning on doing anything with VPN. Would it complicate remote desktop programs like Team Viewer?

When you say to pick a LAN DHCP that isn't the same as the landlords, you are talking about using a different subnet to avoid conflicts in IP addresses? I was presuming that if I was in a double NAT configuration that the internal IP addresses on her router wouldn't matter, but obviously it would be good to be different just to avoid potential confusion.

Thanks to both of you for the input.

 

[sfx2000]

I am partial to Asus, but I am open to whoever offers the best experience for a tech novice.

Just a word of friendly advice - the job is not worth the hassle - there are other jobs...

I spent two months remote on a consulting gig - it was miserable - talk to her and look at your situation - a job is one thing, but relationships are another...

 

[ncfoster]

Just a word of friendly advice - the job is not worth the hassle - there are other jobs...

I spent two months remote on a consulting gig - it was miserable - talk to her and look at your situation - a job is one thing, but relationships are another...

Thanks for the slightly off-topic advice. The job itself is pretty fantastic, just not in a great place. The rest of us are planning to follow, but the nature of the job was that she knew that she would have a very short time to move once hired. Not really an option for all of us to pick up and move with only two-weeks notice. There's no doubt that it will be difficult, but here's hoping it isn't completely miserable for all.

 

[System Error Message]

well if you have the router already on hand is better use it. Double NAT isnt good when upnp is needed.

 

[thiggins]

Use a router. You want your wife's network isolated from the landlord's.

Teamviewer, VNC, Skype and other conferencing apps work through double NAT just fine.

 

[sfx2000]

Outbound VPN clients should also be fine within a double-NAT scenario..