chrismsales
Occasional Visitor
Hello everyone,
I am hoping to get some advice on a new router purchase. I have reviewed the rankings and different articles since finding this site and now find myself with maybe too much info to think straight now.
My current router is a two year old Netgear Nighthawk X6 that was awesome when I first purchased it but over the last 6-months we have issues with the 2nd 5G radio dropping and not showing as available and we now have buffering issues that we never experienced before. My purchase was through Best Buy and the extended warranty allows me to replace my router with the same model or to even choose another model. I basically have a $280.00 credit there to replace my router.
We live in a 2400 sq foot home and we are a family of three with heavy internet usage. I work from home and need fast and steady internet (wired) for VOIP ShoreTel system and heavy WebEx conferencing during the day. My current ISP plan provides 200 down and 25 up, most days.
Our network setup consists of:
( 6) iPhones/iPads
(4) laptops
(3) Alexa dots with multiple (about 30) smart home devices connected (lights, thermostats, locks)
(4) Firestick streaming devices that are used very heavily for IPTV and other streaming sites. I am converting these devices from wifi to wired to help our buffering issues and prevent wifi bottleneck issues.
(2) Xbox gaming systems for online gaming
So we have many devices and stream everything very heavily now. Coverage in our house is really not an issue and I do have an older Linksys RE6500 range extender I can use if needed. I have never used any type of Open Source but with all the streaming we do I would like to use some sort of VPN if it would not slow down things too much. Online gaming is important so looking for something that will provide low latency and low pings as well.
Best Buy currently has the Asus AC5300 on sale for $297.99 and it seems to be regarded as a great router. Anyone else who has replaced the Netgear X6 with this model Asus? Also, is there another model I should consider based on our current setup and desire to use some sort of OpenSource flash?
Thanks in advance for any assistance!
I am hoping to get some advice on a new router purchase. I have reviewed the rankings and different articles since finding this site and now find myself with maybe too much info to think straight now.

My current router is a two year old Netgear Nighthawk X6 that was awesome when I first purchased it but over the last 6-months we have issues with the 2nd 5G radio dropping and not showing as available and we now have buffering issues that we never experienced before. My purchase was through Best Buy and the extended warranty allows me to replace my router with the same model or to even choose another model. I basically have a $280.00 credit there to replace my router.
We live in a 2400 sq foot home and we are a family of three with heavy internet usage. I work from home and need fast and steady internet (wired) for VOIP ShoreTel system and heavy WebEx conferencing during the day. My current ISP plan provides 200 down and 25 up, most days.
Our network setup consists of:
( 6) iPhones/iPads
(4) laptops
(3) Alexa dots with multiple (about 30) smart home devices connected (lights, thermostats, locks)
(4) Firestick streaming devices that are used very heavily for IPTV and other streaming sites. I am converting these devices from wifi to wired to help our buffering issues and prevent wifi bottleneck issues.
(2) Xbox gaming systems for online gaming
So we have many devices and stream everything very heavily now. Coverage in our house is really not an issue and I do have an older Linksys RE6500 range extender I can use if needed. I have never used any type of Open Source but with all the streaming we do I would like to use some sort of VPN if it would not slow down things too much. Online gaming is important so looking for something that will provide low latency and low pings as well.
Best Buy currently has the Asus AC5300 on sale for $297.99 and it seems to be regarded as a great router. Anyone else who has replaced the Netgear X6 with this model Asus? Also, is there another model I should consider based on our current setup and desire to use some sort of OpenSource flash?
Thanks in advance for any assistance!
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