Help with selecting a router for my parents

[Blind_Bandit]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice to help improve my parents wifi and internet performance. They currently have Comcast 50/10 mb internet with the standard comcast Modem/ Router / wifi / gateway device and their internet throughput is honorable.

They tend to be fairly light internet users. No torrents, only two or three devices doing anything at one time. Mostly they use their iphones and Ipads to surf the web. Some music streaming. No video streaming right now. Traffic would be mostly wireless. The only wired device is an ADT pulse smart home box. Router is not in a good spot (corner of a 2000 SQ FT house) and can't be changed.

I'm thinking of recommending either an Asus AC-68U or Asus AC-68P. Both have been out for a while and seem very stable. I also considered the AC-3100 but I don't know if I can get them to go that high budget wise. I would like to stay with Asus as I've been happy with my AC-88u and I like the software.


Does anyone have any input on which router to reccomend for them? I want something they won't have to replace fore a while.

 

[RMerlin]

With such light usage, even a basic RT-N12 would get the job done.

 

[Blind_Bandit]

With such light usage, even a basic RT-N12 would get the job done.

Fair point. I think I was settling on the 68 series because it's affordable but is still relatively new. I keep trying to explain to anyone who will listen how bad the comcast gateways are. For anyone in more than a studio their wifi ability is just not even worth it.

Also for anyone who may be reading and wanting to bridge your comcast gateway to use with a dedicated router. Be sure to turn off the ipv 4 / 6 firewalls before you bridge your comcast gateway.

 

[RMerlin]

Fair point. I think I was settling on the 68 series because it's affordable but is still relatively new

AiProtection might be nice to add an extra security layer on their network.

 

[L&LD]

If the RT-AC68U (try to get a new one with the 1GHz processor) is considered affordable, it will most likely be the best fit considering the location it will most likely be put in (far end of the home).

If you can use a more central location instead, the RT-AC56U is giving you everything the RT-AC68U has except for external (and one additional) antennae.

And depending on a sale, you may be able o pick one up for about $50 to $100. Even at $100, it is an excellent router with RMerlin firmware.

 

[thiggins]

Sorry, I missed it. Why do you need a new router? What problem are you trying to solve?

 

[Blind_Bandit]

AiProtection might be nice to add an extra security layer on their network.

Definitely I don't know how but they still find ways to get sypware / adware and fake antivirus ugh....

Sorry, I missed it. Why do you need a new router? What problem are you trying to solve?

My parents currently use the wifi in the comcast gateway (router / phone / modem / wifi) and they can't get solid performance . They have 50/10 mb internet and on the first floor they struggle to get more than a couple of mbs a second. Which makes things slow to load and time outs are common. They also have a problem with dropped connections. While they aren't heavy internet users their frustrated by the poor performance.

I'm looking at a router like the asus RT-AC68u, because I have the Asus RT-AC88u and while its more than I need I have a ton more performance than the standard comcast gateway. And I like the software and features.

I"ve also considered setting up a vpn on my router and theirs to make it easier to manage.

 

[thiggins]

Do they experience poor performance in all locations, including the same room as the router?

If the new router is going to go in the same poor location, you may not see a significant performance improvement. But you won't know for sure until you try.

 

[RMerlin]

Definitely I don't know how but they still find ways to get sypware / adware and fake antivirus ugh....

Get them a license of Malwarebytes Antimalware (their paid-for product offers realtime protection). That should make a huge difference there, on top of whatever standard antivirus they run.

ISP-provided routers are notoriously bad in terms of stability and performance, as most ISPs tend to go with the cheapest stuff that works they can get. Locally, Bell's own tech support will often recommend to their customers having issues to install their own router, and to bridge their modem/router device. (In the past year, two of my own customers were given that advice by Bell's business tech support).

 

[Blind_Bandit]

Do they experience poor performance in all locations, including the same room as the router?

If the new router is going to go in the same poor location, you may not see a significant performance improvement. But you won't know for sure until you try.

Yes the comcast gateway is bad all over the house. At this point any improvement would be a welcome change.

Get them a license of Malwarebytes Antimalware (their paid-for product offers realtime protection). That should make a huge difference there, on top of whatever standard antivirus they run.

ISP-provided routers are notoriously bad in terms of stability and performance, as most ISPs tend to go with the cheapest stuff that works they can get. Locally, Bell's own tech support will often recommend to their customers having issues to install their own router, and to bridge their modem/router device. (In the past year, two of my own customers were given that advice by Bell's business tech support).

Hmm that's a good idea. Sometime it sucks being family tech support. It seems like every conversation is "I just want it to work", yet they do stupid things. Then expect me to fix them.

I'm not surprised, comcast had my parents return a gateway and gave them the same style and then said it was working fine. They're all awful....

To be clear for anyone following along this is what I'm talking about when I say gateway.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NR1EHP8/?tag=snbforums-20