best wireless router

[Anthony C]

So I pay for 1gb/1gb internet and i guess I just want to get a wireless router that can actually broadcast the speed. My desktop is very high end but tbh I really don't know much about wifi and I'd prefer not to drill a hole in my wall for an ethernet cable (current router is on the other side of a 4 inch sheetrock wall). Currently the wireless router provided through my isp gives me 250-300.

I don't mind spending $300-$400 if it makes a reasonable difference. If there is a $100-$200 close enough option I also wouldn't mind hearing about it to save a few bucks.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Trip]

You may have a shot if you employ a cutting-edge AC Wave 2 router and corresponding adapter, either 3x3 or 4x4, such as the Asus RT-AC88U and PCE-AC88. You'd want to ensure you're running the latest version of Merlin on the Asus, and then download the absolute latest drivers for the adapter on your desktop (I assume Windows 10?). I'd anticipate at least the speed you're getting now, maybe a few hundred Mb/s, but the only way to know for sure is to pull the trigger and test it for yourself. If you don't get the speed you're looking for, simply reflash the router back to stock and return the hardware.

Another mostly wireless approach would be a point-to-point link using a pair of directional radios engineered for high-throughput, such as Mikrotik Wireless Wire. If you have open line-of-sight between the two rooms, you only need to run enough Cat6 to get the two radios to their best locations. The 60Ghz gear routinely test out at 800-1,000Mb/s+ for short link distances, but you must have 100% clean line of sight (even a clear window will heavily cut down throughput).

Bottom line: if you truly want the no-compromise solution, you have to wire. That of course means Cat6 (or higher) or fiber. If you have coaxial TV cable running between the rooms, you could use MoCa 2.0 or 2.5 adapters to essentially turn the coaxial cable into ethernet, without having to drill more holes. MoCa adds a few ms of latency and shares total bandwidth across all drops on a single splitter, but other than that will act very close to ethernet cable.

Hopefully that gives you some ideas.

 

[degrub]

Nope. Not possible for now.
Only hardwire can provide that. Maybe.

 

[ACwifiguy]

As you start going through walls wireless drops speed. The problem is more physics rather than the quality of your router.

Wired connection is by far the best option. If you don’t want to drill the Sheetrock use your budget to hire a professional to put in some cat6 in for you (electrician, etc).

 

[Klueless]

I'm always in awe; there's always a way to run a coax for TV but rarely a way to run a short length of Ethernet cable : -)

If you're on the 1st floor (with a cellar below) you might find it easier to drop a cable down and up through the floor.

It sounds like your current (the ISP's) wireless router is actually doing rather well. You might just take the money you were going to spend on a router and hire a professional to run a cable.

Many PCs can not keep up with Gigabit even on Ethernet. Why not take a long length of Ethernet cable and temporarily lay it across the floor just to see what speeds you could attain? You just might find 250 Mbps ain't so bad after all. Or, it may excite you enough to actually run a cable.

Or, you might think about aggregate speeds. It's not a bad thing to have multiple devices all bursting (250-ish Mbps) at the same time with no degradation in speed. Now if multiple devices are important to you and if you do see degradation then you might consider options like moving some off of WiFi and onto Ethernet or moving up to MU-MIMO (multiple user, multiple input/multiple output) capable WiFi that, long story short, does a better job of sharing airspace.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Anthony C]

I'm always in awe; there's always a way to run a coax for TV but rarely a way to run a short length of Ethernet cable : -)

If you're on the 1st floor (with a cellar below) you might find it easier to drop a cable down and up through the floor.

It sounds like your current (the ISP's) wireless router is doing rather well. You might just take the money you were going to spend on a router and hire a professional to run a cable.

Now many PCs can not keep up with Gigabit even on Ethernet. Why not take a long length of Ethernet cable and temporarily lay it across the floor just to see what speeds you could attain? You just might find 250 Mbps ain't so bad after all. Or, it may excite you enough to actually run a cable.

Or, you might think about aggregate speeds. It's not a bad thing to have multiple devices all bursting (250-ish Mbps) at the same time with no degradation in speed. Now if multiple devices are important to you and if you do see degradation then you might consider options like moving some off of WiFi and onto Ethernet or MU-MIMO (multiple user, multiple input/multiple output) capable WiFi that, long story short, does a better job of sharing airspace.

Good luck and have fun!

So after looking around and learning the weaknesses of wifi and such I decided I'd run the cable for the desktop given that it is the one device that might ever use more than 1/2 of the total speed at any one time. Especially given its really laziness more than difficulty to make two holes and buy a couple professional looking wall plates.

Now that I'm thinking about wifi though I have ~30 devices other than the desktop (If it matters 4 google homes, 10 wifi light switches, 3 phones, 1 google hub, 3 laptops, ps4, switch, 2 tvs, apple tv, 2 tv audio receivers and probably a few other things I cant think of). What do you guys recommend I do for the rest of the wifi network. One thing I kind of regret is that I hard wired the whole house with audio cable when I renovated it like 10 months ago....but I didn't run any ethernet besides to where the audio system was placed because the house is so small and I didn't really think there was any point (500 sqft tiny smart house lol). Given that range isn't really every going to be the issue should I just keep using the same wifi router/modem provided or should i upgrade to something a little beefier.

 

[coxhaus]

Wireless routers have a limit on active wireless clients per radio. I have heard around 30 clients per radio on consumer gear.

 

[Klueless]

What do you guys recommend I do for the rest of the wifi network ... Given that range isn't really every going to be the issue should I just keep using the same wifi router/modem provided or should i upgrade to something a little beefier.

I think I've mentioned it before - I'm cheap. If it ain't broke don't fix it. That said take one of your better laptops. Benchmark it near the router. 250-ish? Then take it on a walkabout around the apartment. You should see some degradation in the far reaches but, ultimately, it's up to you if it's worth bothering with. (Myself, I did fine with an ISP service speed of 7 Mbps up until last year.)

You didn't mention any disconnects or drops so I assume there's no issues there?

I dunno know, I don't think I'd do anything until/unless I find a problem. Do lettuce know what your tests show.