I have a TP-Link 1043 v1 which on itself works fine but in some periods needs a lot of rebooting. Also doesn't have 5ghz while me laptop does. So I wanted to take advantage of it and after all the good reviews I purchased a WDR3600. What a dissapointment in terms of range. In my garden the range is at least 5 meters less than my 1043. Throughput is also lower on higher distances. Not to mention 5ghz....2 thin old walls @ 10 meter/30ft = no 5ghz @ phone. At same point in house the 3600 is 10db behind, in garden 15-20...
So now I am looking into buying a really good router. Demand number 1 is raaaaange. Close second is speed. Third is external antennas so I can replace them with higher gain ones. AC is a nice extra. And as it seems (I have done my homework, obviously) the top AC routers are also the fastest N 2,4ghz and 5ghz routers. There are a few contenders which all have some negatives. Top contenders are (in no particular order):
RT66N
R7000
AC68U
AC66U
Archer C7
D-Link AC868
Edimax BR-6478AC
As it sits now I am leaning toward buying a TP-Link and test it to see how it works here and if that doesn't work, going all out and buy a R7000 and put DD-WRT on it to counter almost all negative points...Maybe try Edimax in between. What do you guys think?
So now I am looking into buying a really good router. Demand number 1 is raaaaange. Close second is speed. Third is external antennas so I can replace them with higher gain ones. AC is a nice extra. And as it seems (I have done my homework, obviously) the top AC routers are also the fastest N 2,4ghz and 5ghz routers. There are a few contenders which all have some negatives. Top contenders are (in no particular order):
RT66N
- Reported FW instability
- Reported range problems
- Not a good reputation for security (8 months for a fix I read)
- Small one but compard to others: no AC
- Is the FW still in development, like when it was released?
R7000
- Buggy firmware
- Huuuuuuuge, my place to put it is small
- Less advanced compared to Asus (availables logs etc)
AC68U
- Runs hot
- Reported FW instability and bugs
- Reported range problems
- Something with a unshielded USB 3.0 port badly influencing 5ghz range
- Not a good reputation for security (8 months for a fix I read)
- Is the FW still in development, like when it was released?
AC66U
- Reported FW instability
- Reported range problems
- Not a good reputation for security (8 months for a fix I read)
- Is the FW still in development, like when it was released?
Archer C7
- My trust for TP-Link routers has decreased after my experience with the so called very good WDR3600 (after searching found many with same problems)
- According to reviews, limited range and throughput. But user experiences sometimes deny this...
D-Link AC868
- No external antennas
- Poor 2,4ghz range
Edimax BR-6478AC
- Only uses 2 radio's (currently the best wifi device in my house is my laptop with 2x2 2.4 and 5ghz)
- Guest-wifi not completely isolated from own network
As it sits now I am leaning toward buying a TP-Link and test it to see how it works here and if that doesn't work, going all out and buy a R7000 and put DD-WRT on it to counter almost all negative points...Maybe try Edimax in between. What do you guys think?