Which AC5300 Router

[i_max]

Hi guys,

I've been reading a bit around SNB on various reviews etc. I've had a Netgear R8000 for a little while, and I'm getting an opportunity to upgrade and I want to get something, that I can hopefully keep for a while. Since I've had great experience with the R8000, I got the R8500 and it seems at the current firmware, the performance is almost a little lacking, on the uplink side. This is what I have right now -

Wired -
Desktop, PS4, PS3, XB1, Smartthings v2, philips hue bridge gen2, Work laptop, Smart TV
Wireless - 3 iPhones, Android tablet, MBP, 2 echo's, apple tv4, wii-u.
House is 2200 sqft all on one floor and the router is in the central living room spot.

So its usually 13-14 devices on network all the time, most of it is not very bandwidth intensive.

And I want to get something that I won't have to switch for a few years. the R8000 was pretty amazing, I never had to restart it, and I was using stock firmware. The only other contender is the Asus 5300 and the Linksys 5400, but seeing that they are all about the same, with all having some highs and low's, I wanted to get a more informed opinion as to with what should I stick with, they are all also around the same price range. One thing I can't understand is why the Netgear has poor upload on 2.4 and 5ghz.

Something else, some one can help me with is what would be the best setup for wifi. On my R8000, I had, I believe, smart connect with both 5ghz bands, and for the 2,4ghz band I had the same ssid and password as the 5ghz bands, and I did not broadcast the 5ghz bands. In my head I was thinking with the same ssid, the device would switch between the 2 bands depending on the signal strength, would that ever be happening?

And I can always install ddwrt, as long as it would not require constant tinkering, so with a more stable build, if it can increase performance. I've been trying to find with little success, if ddwrt on R8500 can give me one ssid for all 3 bands, like how asus does it natively. All help is appreciated!

 

[System Error Message]

You could build your own AC5300 using mikrotik and some mini PCIE cards for much cheaper.

You wont benefit from the AC5300, too few devices as AC5300 doesnt give you 5Gb/s of wifi bandwidth. It has 2 1600Mb/s wifi radios for AC wifi so to make use of it you need at least 8 AC wifi clients. The MU-MIMO with the 2x4 channel AC wifi works for AC clients for 8 channels total if you have multiple clients but if your clients dont use AC wifi than you will not benefit from this.

Consider AC3100 instead if you want MU-MIMO. AC5300 also doesnt increase your wifi range as you cant bend the laws of physics. 5ghz range and penetration will always be poor, all that matters is the design from RF design, chips used and antenna but the antenna you see outside isnt representative of the actual antenna which is usually just a wire hidden inside a plastic case.

Perhaps 2x AC3100 would suit you better as you could spread them out for better coverage and better throughput as devices further away wont slow down the ones near.

 

[scoopnog]

This is all personal opinion of course, but I think it is pointless to 'upgrade' to a higher class right now from where you are sitting. Clients may never take advantage of the proprietary format to achieve those speeds. MU-MIMO is hardly supported yet. The class only make sense for someone making a huge jump, if then.

Smart Connect typically causes more problems than it is worth. I keep all three bands separate and place the devices where I want them. I get worse performance with DD-WRT on R8500, range and throughput, compared to stock.

 

[sfx2000]

Since I've had great experience with the R8000, I got the R8500 and it seems at the current firmware, the performance is almost a little lacking, on the uplink side. This is what I have right now -

Stick with what you have - don't pour money down the drain on very small incremental updates...

 

[thiggins]

AC5300 class is more a marketing gimmick than something that provides real value.
For tri-radio routers, AC3200 is a better and less expensive choice.

If you do anything, add another AC1900 class router converted to an AP and connected via Ethernet. Locate it in a spot with weakest signal or most active devices.

Wi-Fi technology continues to change rapidly. If you are the type of person always looking for something better, there will be plenty of new choices offered over the next few years, including whole new classes of 802.11ax products.

 

[i_max]

Thanks for the input guys. A family, was going to use the router I have and thats why I choose to spend the money on the R8500. I usually won't do this every couple years, but my hope was that I can get something now, that I won't have to worry about for 3-5 years. Thats why I thought about going to the MU-MIMO routers, and in that category, AC5300 popped up on the radar. I think for the time being a single router does do a good job of providing decent coverage in my house pretty much in every room. On the 2.4ghz band, I can get 75+mbits (my connection is 75mbits as well, although it can peak to 89mbps).

The reason I did like this platform was for the 2.4ghz band maxing at 1000mbps, is that a marketing gimmick, can 2.4ghz clients can't get to that range of speeds? Another reason for starting this thread was because was doubting my decision to get the R8500, since the Asus 5300 is on the same platform, it seems on pure performance it looks slightly better, do the active antenna's really make much difference?. I don't have any cameras right now, but eventually I'll have some (4-6+) full HD surveillance camera's around the house, and streaming them over the internet, I was thinking would need a robust router.

If I do want to go the route of having two routers and using one as an AP, which two routers I should go with? Thanks again.

 

[thiggins]

The reason I did like this platform was for the 2.4ghz band maxing at 1000mbps, is that a marketing gimmick, can 2.4ghz clients can't get to that range of speeds?

Of course it's a marketing gimmick, like a lot of the "features" of many new routers.

The top "speeds" advertised require devices that have the same capability. And the "speed" is link rate, not application level throughput.

For 1000 Mbps in 2.4 GHz, you need a 4x4 device supporting 1024QAM in 2.4 GHz. The only devices that do that are the same class routers in bridge mode.

QAM1024 in particular is very difficult to achieve and supported only by Broadcom's latest devices. In my experience testing with two of the same product, with one set up as a bridge, I never see the maximum link rate. This is with both products in open air sitting 6 feet apart.

Even if I did achieve the max link rate, the connection would not be supported over any sort of distance. Move the router to the next room and the link rate would drop.

 

[System Error Message]

If you have the money for it and want the AC5300 regardless by all means buy it, it will not work any better or worse than previous AC wifi routers like the AC3200 or the AC3100. Just you should really know what to expect in your use case. If you arent bridging 2 wifi routers together than the best you can get out of an AP and client relationship is the worst of the 2. Add legacy devices or devices further away into the mix and they will slow down the devices with faster link rates. So it may be better to get 2 wifi APs if you want the performance rather than 1 big multi one as the coverage affects performance too not just for the device itself but other devices on the network.

 

[i_max]

If you have the money for it and want the AC5300 regardless by all means buy it, it will not work any better or worse than previous AC wifi routers like the AC3200 or the AC3100. Just you should really know what to expect in your use case. If you arent bridging 2 wifi routers together than the best you can get out of an AP and client relationship is the worst of the 2. Add legacy devices or devices further away into the mix and they will slow down the devices with faster link rates. So it may be better to get 2 wifi APs if you want the performance rather than 1 big multi one as the coverage affects performance too not just for the device itself but other devices on the network.

I'm starting to leaning towards that, what could be a good say primary router and a good AP to add it on with? Thank you!

 

[i_max]

Of course it's a marketing gimmick, like a lot of the "features" of many new routers.

The top "speeds" advertised require devices that have the same capability. And the "speed" is link rate, not application level throughput.

For 1000 Mbps in 2.4 GHz, you need a 4x4 device supporting 1024QAM in 2.4 GHz. The only devices that do that are the same class routers in bridge mode.

QAM1024 in particular is very difficult to achieve and supported only by Broadcom's latest devices. In my experience testing with two of the same product, with one set up as a bridge, I never see the maximum link rate. This is with both products in open air sitting 6 feet apart.

Even if I did achieve the max link rate, the connection would not be supported over any sort of distance. Move the router to the next room and the link rate would drop.

What is the maximum throughput can 2.4ghz clients get to, (my R8000 was 600mbps I believe), like the PS4. Sorry this is something I'm not familiar with at all.

 

[System Error Message]

I'm starting to leaning towards that, what could be a good say primary router and a good AP to add it on with? Thank you!

Your primary router should have a good CPU and good wifi. 2nd router should only need to have good wifi. Your primary router should use either the IPQ8064 or a recent broadcom ARM. For wifi go with either 3 channel AC or MU-MIMO 4 channel AC (AC1900 or AC3100 or AC2600 something like that). You will find both qualcomm and broadcom to have various offerings in their wifi. Although qualcomm's CPU consists of the krait which is better than broadcom's A9.

Make sure the wifi routers you choose have good RF design. For your primary router look at asus/netgear. For your 2nd one even tp-link can be considered.

 

[TonyH]

Of course it's a marketing gimmick, like a lot of the "features" of many new routers.

The top "speeds" advertised require devices that have the same capability. And the "speed" is link rate, not application level throughput.

For 1000 Mbps in 2.4 GHz, you need a 4x4 device supporting 1024QAM in 2.4 GHz. The only devices that do that are the same class routers in bridge mode.

QAM1024 in particular is very difficult to achieve and supported only by Broadcom's latest devices. In my experience testing with two of the same product, with one set up as a bridge, I never see the maximum link rate. This is with both products in open air sitting 6 feet apart.

Even if I did achieve the max link rate, the connection would not be supported over any sort of distance. Move the router to the next room and the link rate would drop.

Way more discussion on routers than the other end, devices. Often devices are forgotten.

 

[pete y testing]

I'm starting to leaning towards that, what could be a good say primary router and a good AP to add it on with? Thank you!

an asus rt-ac68u in router mode and an asus rt-ac68u in ap mode or the same with a pair of netgear r7000

or if you already have the r8000 just get another one of them to run in ap mode

a multi point transmission like the above will beat a single transmission any day esp over distance

Often devices are forgotten.

and thats why the multi trasmission setup is also far better as it gets the transmission to where the clients are

 

[sfx2000]

AC5300 class is more a marketing gimmick than something that provides real value.
For tri-radio routers, AC3200 is a better and less expensive choice.

If you have an AC867 client - doesn't matter if the router is AC5300/AC3200/AC2400/AC1900 - it's going to connect at AC867...

AC1900 class is still the best value - but the AC2600 class MU's are very interesting, as QCA has pretty much sorted out MU while keeping SU fast... but costs there are still a bit high.

 

[kirb112]

an asus rt-ac68u in router mode and an asus rt-ac68u in ap mode or the same with a pair of netgear r7000

or if you already have the r8000 just get another one of them to run in ap mode

a multi point transmission like the above will beat a single transmission any day esp over distance



and thats why the multi trasmission setup is also far better as it gets the transmission to where the clients are

Would two ASUS RT-AC87U Wireless-AC2400 in the exact same setup that you described above work any better than two 68U 1900 units?

 

[pete y testing]

Would two ASUS RT-AC87U Wireless-AC2400 in the exact same setup that you described above work any better than two 68U 1900 units?

sure but im not a big fan of the 87u , it doesnt have as good a coverage as the 68u or r7000 and the 87u has become a bit problematic with later firmwares

 

[kirb112]

sure but im not a big fan of the 87u , it doesnt have as good a coverage as the 68u or r7000 and the 87u has become a bit problematic with later firmwares

How about the 88U? What are your thoughts on that?

 

[pete y testing]

expensive but great , the 88u has a bit more coverage than the 68u , but using an asus rt-ac88u as an access point is total overkill as you are bypassing most of its features

 

[Dob3rman]

I am in a similar situation. Currently have the Netgear Nighthawk X6 R8000. I have coverage and speed issues. I was thinking about the EERO. Mixed reviews. Some love it and swear by it, few complaining it doesnt work. My main issue is that upstairs, where I have my main computer with a Synology NAS, I use an access point. I am definitely getting poor coverage in that area. Do you think EERO is any good?

What do you guys suggest? Add one or 2 repeaters? If so, which ones you recommend. I have over 20 devices. 4 TVs, all at busy times streaming some kind of media, 1 time to time 4K.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[pete y testing]

What do you guys suggest? Add one or 2 repeaters?

never

if installing ethernet and running access points isnt possible look at EOP / power line adapters for your answer