Asus or Edimax for U-Verse?

[cdysthe]

Hi,

I have a 24 Mbps U-Verse connection powered by a Pace modem/router. I have an older single band Belkin router behind the Pace in a DMZ which works, but have problems reaching all rooms and devices at my location. I have ended up with two alternatives for a replacement:

EDIMAX BR-6478AC or ASUS RT-N56U

What is most important to me to is to extend the range and (5ghz) power for computers and phones at the far end of my location. I use a lot of VOIP and streaming. The Belkin falls short in this regard. I am not too interested in esoteric network configurations so getting good wireless connections throughout over both bands is my main reason for upgrading. I also needs something that works well under heavy load. There's always traffic on my network and almost no down time. The Belkin has held up well and I have been happy with not having to reboot it more than a couple of times a year.

Which of the two alternatives would be best for my particular use? If I am totally off and should be looking at something else please let me know.

This is my first post here. It seems like a great forum (and site)!

 

[stevech]

There are FAQs here on the main page.
The way to improve coverage and speeds is to add one or more Access Points (AP). Be sure you don't have that added as a 2nd router - i.g., that added device should be an AP, not a router. If it's an AP, the WAN port of the added device would be unused.

However, people often don't like the WiFi part of the ISP's modem/Router. Esp. AT&T U-verse which is sub par in all categories, vs. cable modems. So it is possible get the ISP to set the modem/Router to modem/Bridge mode so you can use your own primary router. That done, you can place it optimally for RF coverage, and easily add APs if needed.

Any WiFi router can be re-purposed as an AP; there's a FAQ here on that. This done, it's an AP with the WAN port unused. It's purpose is to create new coverage. Or you can buy a product that has an AP mode (more costly).

An AP connects to *THE* router via either
cat5 cable
IP on power line - pair of adapters
IP on existing TV coax using "MoCA" devices
or an all-in-one thing that is an AP + IP on power line.

that's the gist of it.

I am not a U-verse believer - to say the least.

 

[PrivateJoker]

What is most important to me to is to extend the range and (5ghz) power for computers and phones at the far end of my location.

Also remember that the 5ghz band attenuates much quicker, and often more erratically than 2.4ghz, that's just how it is. Can you get a little better signal with a newer router on 5ghz band? Potentially, check the tests on this site.

The biggest improvement my 5ghz wifi got was this week when I upgraded from a 2 stream 5ghz N client to a 3 stream one, on one of my laptops - now I can come close or exceed my single stream 2.4ghz throughput when I'm at certain far distances where the 5ghz was unusable before.

 

[jlake]

There are FAQs here on the main page.
The way to improve coverage and speeds is to add one or more Access Points (AP). Be sure you don't have that added as a 2nd router - i.g., that added device should be an AP, not a router. If it's an AP, the WAN port of the added device would be unused.

However, people often don't like the WiFi part of the ISP's modem/Router. Esp. AT&T U-verse which is sub par in all categories, vs. cable modems. So it is possible get the ISP to set the modem/Router to modem/Bridge mode so you can use your own primary router. That done, you can place it optimally for RF coverage, and easily add APs if needed.

Any WiFi router can be re-purposed as an AP; there's a FAQ here on that. This done, it's an AP with the WAN port unused. It's purpose is to create new coverage. Or you can buy a product that has an AP mode (more costly).

An AP connects to *THE* router via either
cat5 cable
IP on power line - pair of adapters
IP on existing TV coax using "MoCA" devices
or an all-in-one thing that is an AP + IP on power line.

that's the gist of it.

I am not a U-verse believer - to say the least.

The re-purposing procedure of a router to an access point should really be done on a router by router basis.

For example, almost all Linksys E series and EA series have a "bridge mode" and you actually must connect to the wan port. Even the $40 linksys routers support bridge mode. Asus routers such as the rt-n16, rt-n56u, rt-n66u can be connected to the wan port in ap mode because, to my knowledge, the wan port essentially becomes a LAN port when in ap mode.

In the case of linksys routers, it's advantageous to use bridge mode instead of the traditional LAN-to-LAN cascade since port forwarding can pass through to clients with bridge mode (and connected to WAN). When I have used my rt-n66u in ap mode, I just connect to wan port and it works just fine and allows the use of all 4 LAN ports.

So really, a lot has happened in the last 3 years that is slowly partially out-dating that FAQ. I would recommend evaluating the procedure of re-purposing a router to an access point on a router by router basis....(.and a vendor by vendor basis).

 

[cdysthe]

There are FAQs here on the main page.
The way to improve coverage and speeds is to add one or more Access Points (AP). Be sure you don't have that added as a 2nd router - i.g., that added device should be an AP, not a router. If it's an AP, the WAN port of the added device would be unused.

However, people often don't like the WiFi part of the ISP's modem/Router. Esp. AT&T U-verse which is sub par in all categories, vs. cable modems. So it is possible get the ISP to set the modem/Router to modem/Bridge mode so you can use your own primary router. That done, you can place it optimally for RF coverage, and easily add APs if needed.

Any WiFi router can be re-purposed as an AP; there's a FAQ here on that. This done, it's an AP with the WAN port unused. It's purpose is to create new coverage. Or you can buy a product that has an AP mode (more costly).

An AP connects to *THE* router via either
cat5 cable
IP on power line - pair of adapters
IP on existing TV coax using "MoCA" devices
or an all-in-one thing that is an AP + IP on power line.

that's the gist of it.

I am not a U-verse believer - to say the least.

After reading this I may even look at switching to Suddenlink cable. It seems I can get 50 Mbps for $55/month. That is $10 less than I now pay for U-Verse 24 Mbps. If I do that I can hook up a good router and bridge the cable modem. Thanks!

 

[SDLconnie]

Hi cdsythe- My name is Connie and I am with Suddenlink. Please email me and I would be happy to go over any questions you may have concerning our services. My direct email is connie-AT-suddenlink-DOT-com. Thanks!

 

[stevech]

Drop U-Verse... IMO: a brilliant move.

 

[cdysthe]

I am in the process of getting Suddenlink cable but will run out my paid month with AT&T before I make the switch. I will get twice the speed as well. Thank you for all your advice!

Sent from my Moto X using Tapatalk 2.

 

[cdysthe]

Hi cdsythe- My name is Connie and I am with Suddenlink. Please email me and I would be happy to go over any questions you may have concerning our services. My direct email is connie-AT-suddenlink-DOT-com. Thanks!

Getting Suddenlink 50 mbps Monday. Bye Bye AT&T. Great idea contacting me on here btw. Thanks!

Now I just hope that Suddenlink has improved since last time I used them (2007) where it was almost impossible to use the Internet between 8 and midnight.

 

[PrivateJoker]

Getting Suddenlink 50 mbps Monday. Bye Bye AT&T. Great idea contacting me on here btw. Thanks!

Now I just hope that Suddenlink has improved since last time I used them (2007) where it was almost impossible to use the Internet between 8 and midnight.

Wow that is a nice move...I love when manufacturers get in the mix on Newegg & Amazon forums.

Looking forward to hearing how your issues play out and connection improves next week @cdysthe!

 

[cdysthe]

Got my Suddenlink 50 Mbps set up today. It works great. The real problem turned out to be canceling U-Verse. AT&T even sent me to a manager who kept trying to bribe me to stay with free months and a much lower price. . I told her that I wish I could have gotten to talk to a manager this easily when I had technical problems.

The very good news is that all my problems now are gone: I can stream without problem to Android devices, I can use the Voxofon VOIP app and the Asus seems much more comfortable being WAN'ed to the cable modem than DMZ'ed to the Pace router/modem from AT&T.

All is good. So far.

 

[PrivateJoker]

@cdysthe that's great to hear. It really does seem like there are a handful of recurring issues with people bridging an AP to a DSL company supplied modem/router. Glad you are up in good working order!