Choosing specs for new wireless AP

[MarcD]

Hi there,

I’m struggling with determining what wireless access point (or router and deactivate router part) to buy: Single or dual band, N or AC, 300 - 1900? confused:

Here’s our situation:

I have a cable connection at 60Mbps (will be 120Mbps in the near future). I have a modem/router from my cable company (ubee evw3200). At this moment this router handles the wireless network also. We live in a 3 story brick house with concrete ceilings, no really big property. At this moment my family (me, my wife and 2 young kids) uses the following wireless devices:
HP ProBook 6570b 802.11a/b/g/n 2,4 & 5ghz
Ipad (new generation) 802.11a/b/g/n 2,4 & 5ghz
Asus Vivotab RT 802.11a/b/g/n 2,4Ghz
Iphone 4s 802.11 b/g/n 2,4Ghz
Iphone 3gs 802.11 b/g 2,4Ghz
In the near future we plan to buy :
Ipad Air 802.11a/b/g/n 2,4 & 5ghz
And replace the Iphone 3GS with a new Iphone (5S probably).

The Probook is my workhorse, but most of the time I’m using it wired at the 2nd floor. Every now and then I’m using it wireless downstairs. I work a lot with remote desktops. Speed isn’t really necessary, a stable connection is. The other devices are used for watching YouTube/Netflix, playing games (no internet games) and browsing/e-mail etc. These devices are used mainly in the livingroom or first floor.

The router isn’t really good (so I’ve read), but I don’t think I need better wired performance (I’m open to suggestions why I should also drop the wired router function). The wireless performance is crap however. Mainly because the connection drops regularly for 5-20 secs, but the range is also a bit disappointing.

I was thinking about buying a new wireless Access Point for more stability and better performance in general. I can place this strategically in the livingroom since this is where the most devices will be used. I can’t do this if I’ll buy a new router.
I ‘m also thinking about keeping the old router’s wireless functionality, and creating a specific WLAN for the old Iphone (802.11 b/g) because I’ve read that G and N devices in the same WLAN cause the N connections to drop in speed. The following questions remain:

- Should I invest in a dual band router or not. For now we don’t have a problem with watching youtube content on 2 devices simultaneously. However, will this remain if our youngest child (now 1,5 years old) also discovers youtube….and maybe if I find some time for that

- I think we don’t need AC compatibility in the near future. Mainly because we don’t have devices capable of that, but also because the current N speeds are more than sufficient for our needs at this moment. However, are there other advantages for choosing an AC capable router (better range, stability,…)?

- What N (or AC) speed should I aim for (300/600/750/…)

Considering all of the above, what do you think? And which specific device would you recommend and for what reason? I have no fixed budget, but spending over 200 euro’s has to offer some real advantages…

 

[L&LD]

I don't see your question of what level of technology to buy, but rather what specific product instead.

I would be replacing the router you have with an RT-N66U and flashing with the RMerlin 374.40 firmware for the most stable wired and wireless network possible at this time with great range in both bands which will help as your needs change down the road. The two bands effectively give you two networks (throughput wise) and by carefully selecting which device connects to which band; you can have your work stuff have a direct, stable and almost uninterrupted connection to the internet (depending how much bandwidth the other devices are using, or allowed to use of course).

While I have customers which use RT-AC66U's, RT-AC56U's and just recently RT-AC68U's with no long term problems - the most stable routers (set and forget) I have witnessed is the RT-N66U as stated above.

 

[remixedcat]

Get an ac MIMO if you want to future proof