AP versus Wireless Router used as AP..?

[Bad Andy]

Hi folks, my inaugural post to SmallNetBuilder after lurking for a long, long time.

I'm in the market to replace (upgrade from) my trusty Netgear FWAG114, which I have been using as an AP in a 1700 sq ft apartment for nearly a decade, with another simultaneous dual-band unit. The Netgear has worked well enough - I think in all those years I've had to reboot it twice - but it can't keep up with today's bandwidth demands. Or yesterday's even. But as an AP it has been and remains rock-solid reliable and that remains crucial to me.

I basically just need an AP but am also thinking in terms of adding separate guest SSIDs (since I do have a sophisticated LAN at home with AD, Exchange, etc. but more for safety than mistrust), and see that in overall value (price, performance), the routers seem to have more bang for the buck. An ASUS RT-AC66U is well under $200 delivered yet APs that are barely competitive and relatively under-performing seem to be $100 more.

I wonder if my new purchase should keep wasting half of a wireless router or should I buy an AP this time and if so, which.

So, what say ye? WAP or router? Any suggestions for me, re a particular unit or overall strategy? Thanks to all in advance...

 

[L&LD]

I would be looking for a router, not a WAP (I hate a 'dumbed down' anything).

I have experience with the RT-AC66U via a few clients: rock solid (RMerlin's latest build) for over 9 months now. And you get 6 wireless 'guest' SSID's too with the Asus routers...

At this point the RT-AC68U is tempting too (and hopefully, the (final, of the) latest 501 beta firmware can fix the remaining issues it has).


With a new AC class router, if you have any older 'A' or 'G' clients; keep your existing FWAG114 and use it as an AP solely for them; otherwise, enjoy the greater range and throughput (especially in the 5GHz range) of the newer routers (and as your (new/upgraded) client devices support AC WiFi, that advantage will be seen more and more).


I don't know if now is the time to buy though; with Wave 2 AC class devices being introduced in 2014 though...

Your call, but you can always make your new RT-AC66/68/U the 'A' and/or 'G' AP for your older devices (if need be) - or simply sell it, of course, at that time.

Lol... don't know if I'm helping you any; but your upgrade will be 'huge' either way!


Hope others can give their (better) opinions too for you too.

 

[thiggins]

I don't think it is "wasting" to buy something with higher performance at half the price, no matter how many features you are not using.

Keep in mind that you can still use the LAN ports as switch ports in a router-turned-AP.

As far as reliability, you may be disappointed in the current crop of products, especially AC. If you want reliability, stick with N600 class routers. You can get a good product for a lot less than buying a top-end AC router. And they will be more stable too.

 

[max789]

Keep in mind that you can still use the LAN ports as switch ports in a router-turned-AP.

As far as reliability, you may be disappointed in the current crop of products, especially AC. If you want reliability, stick with N600 class routers. You can get a good product for a lot less than buying a top-end AC router. And they will be more stable too.

Sound advice. Thanks, Tim.

 

[Bad Andy]

Thanks for the advice. I tend not to regard WAPs as "dumbed down" routers. A router has and employs many orders of magnitude more software/firmware logic and thus more opportunities for memory leaks and other things to go wrong compared to what amounts to a wireless Ethernet switch.

Then again my desire for guest SSIDs does send me down that slippery slope!

I'm not worried about extra switch ports. I still have five or so open ports left on a Netgear GS724T here.

My chief concern, given my years of depressing experience with consumer routers - wireless or wired - is not to have to include rebooting the darned things during connectivity troubleshooting.

Life with that FWAG114 has been surprisingly good. Except for a couple of weeks of massive simultaneous bittorrent and usenet abuse eventually bringing it to its knees (or when the 5V/8A power supply in my ten year old Netgear switch finally gave up) I've been able to safely and correctly assume that any burps in connectivity were endpoint related. I'd like to continue that.

All that being said, the clients here are fairly predictable. Most I believe are n capable. iPhone 5s, Samsung S4 phones. A Hannspree T7 tablet and an Lenovo X220 laplet. A couple of Netgear WNCE4004s and one old D-Link DGL3420 (an old a/g adapter running in a mode which I think will need to get shuffled with one of the Netgear WNCE4004 units), and whatever guests might come and go with.

Re the Asus routers, are you folks generally using Asus' native firmware or DD-WRT? I don't see the AC68 listed, yet.

 

[stevech]

My chief concern, given my years of depressing experience with consumer routers - wireless or wired - is not to have to include rebooting the darned things during connectivity troubleshooting.

Consumer routers... yes, firmware from Asia not well written/tested. I've long used Cradlepoint routers. Never need rebooting because their software is their own, for their machine-to-machine customers (unattended routers, often using cellular for the WAN). The MB95 is a consumer-like router but has the same firmware base as the higher up ones. Not the very latest WiFi standards, but I don't need that.

Feature set is maybe 20 times greater than typical consumer router.

Not super pricey but you can find them on eBay/Amazon too.

Disclaimer: I've used/own their CTR500, CBR400, MB900, but not the MBR95 which is mid-life. I connect it to a gigE switch for the home wired LAN.

 

[Bad Andy]

Forgot to mention a couple of Sony VGN-P799L notebooks. Also b/g/n. That D-Link gaming adapter is the only seriously down-level client.

Sonicwall is also fairly reliable - one of my clients had one that went completely un-noticed for seven or eight years until they had to reconfigure it for a new ISP - but I wasn't in the mood to drop $400 or more just for their cheapest WAP, PLUS have to upgrade my perimeter Sonicwall to be compatible. No thanks.

Never even heard of Cradlepoint until today. MBR95s can be had very inexpensively.

 

[stevech]

Forgot to mention a couple of Sony VGN-P799L notebooks. Also b/g/n. That D-Link gaming adapter is the only seriously down-level client.

Sonicwall is also fairly reliable - one of my clients had one that went completely un-noticed for seven or eight years until they had to reconfigure it for a new ISP - but I wasn't in the mood to drop $400 or more just for their cheapest WAP, PLUS have to upgrade my perimeter Sonicwall to be compatible. No thanks.

Never even heard of Cradlepoint until today. MBR95s can be had very inexpensively.

Yeah, you "won't" find Cradlepoint products- buried inside ATMs, DVD rental kiosks, Point Of Sale kiosks, Libraries that must use cellular, small branch offices (the Cradlepoints can terminate a VPN), etc.

http://3gstore.com/product/3029_cradlepoint_mbr95.html (see prices on eBay/Amazon)

http://3gstore.com/product/4136_surf-soho-3g-4g-router.html
Peplink is another in this space,
and Sierra Wireless, though these get pricey.


They do have an ethernet WAN port, as well as USB for a customer-furnished cellular modem (which is why they're cheaper than ones with built-in modems).
Thus, they have auto-fail-over/fail-back, and a zillion features in bandwidth management, internal DNS, VPN, QoS, WAN black/white lists, etc.

These companies have essentially no interest in the consumer/retail world. Their customers expect zero-issues, use knowledgeable installers, very rare calls for tech support.