Home Router Upgrade

[patrickjp93]

I live in a 2-story home where the cable and internet come in at the ground floor in the center of the house (the family room). We have a 5-year-old Cisco wireless N router reaching the end of its life with no antenna attachment points. Everyone has resorted to buying the Netis 1200AC USB high-gain antenna to extend the life and prep for possibly implementing a home server.

We're looking for a dual-band router with very high reliability and range. but so many of the existing reviews either leave out the distance tested at or the sustained speed at a given distance.

We were looking at http://www.cnet.com/products/linksys-wrt1900ac-wireless-router/ but the newegg reviews seem to reflect poor performance/firmware quality and bricking.

The main room in the house suffering a very poor connection is my bedroom which is the farthest from the router. Two walls, a floor, and duct work stand between me and the router, leaving me with 2 bars now (I used to get 4) and barely 7Mbps download vs. an average of 36 for everyone else, which of course sucks when gaming.

What is the best upgrade router to get great reliable range (and preferably last a good long life)? Our budget extends to $400.

 

[Searay]

You should consider using 1 router and 1 AP connected via cat xx cable this would allow for almost anything you want to do. One router just doesn't provide coverage with good throughput throughout the home especially with small handheld devices.

 

[patrickjp93]

We'd consider a powerline adaptor if the wiring in our house was up to code/quality. We're pretty sure due to the number of computers running on the 2nd floor circuit (3) the performance of powerline will be just as awful even if it has perfect reception. The wiring was not done by an expert. That much has become clear over the years.

We'd also consider signal repeaters if the additional ping could be minimized.

 

[abailey]

I like the Asus RT-AC68U. I would purchase that router and then connect your room to that router and then either put your current router in your room in AP mode, or purchase a new WAP. The best way to connect your room to the router would be to run a Cat5e cable. If that is impossible I would try a powerline adapter to connect the two. Here is a good powerline adapter: TP-LINK TL-PA6010KIT

 

[sm00thpapa]

Look into MOCA or the powerline stated above TP-LINK TL-PA6010KIT. Good luck.

 

[stevech]

See the forum section here on HomePlug/HPNA and MoCA

 

[stevech]

Access Point
I'm pleased with the modest cost but reliable ASUS RT-N12 - has AP and other modes.

Services the handhelds in this home.

 

[RogerSC]

MoCA works well for me, too. It's been very stable compared to wireless. I haven't used powerline networking, but our house was also wired by elves when the shoemaker was sleeping, so I'm betting that wouldn't work well here, either *smile*.