RT-AC3200 vs Netgear WNR2200 vs stubborn old git

[Old_Man_Yells_At_iCloud]

Wasn't sure whether to post here or to a more general subforum but, as one of the routers involved is ASUS, here seemed like the better bet.

I have an iPad (Air 2 as it goes) and my parents have a late-2012 MacBook Pro running Mountain Lion (10.8.5).

Currently, we're using the WNR2200 supplied by our ISP (Eclipse Internet here in the UK) but, as you know, the WNR2200 is only an N300 rated device, and I have an Internet radio app that streams at 320k, and I also watch HD videos via YouTube and, as my room is at the opposite end of the house to the router (and the router can't be relocated), coupled with the single 2.4GHz band, means I'm becoming more and more frustrated with the continual buffering and dropped connections.

I have never had much love for Netgear, and I vowed never to use Linksys again after a Linksys router I had years ago died WITHIN warranty (3 months left) but Linksys refused to replace it because I couldn't run their diagnostics as I was using OS X, and they only offered support for Windows!

So, that left ASUS. After one faulty 3200 (it wouldn't even boot), I received a replacement from Amazon. Cabled it up, and entered our login, only to discover it was glacially slow- far slower than the Netgear it was bought to replace.

The Netgear, incidentally, currently plays host to 6 wireless devices (soon to be seven as Dad has just bought an iPad mini) and, as I'm sure you'll agree, a single 2.4GHz band is far too puny for so many.

I tried to troubleshoot the 3200 myself, but I'm not all that network-savvy, so Father dearest called our ISP, who tested the line, and said it tested out fine (I don't really see why that was necessary as its wifi I'm having problems with, but still).

Dad said he explained about there being too many devices - and thus too much traffic - for a single band router to handle which was why I'd bought the 3200. I'd also explained to him that the reason I have problems, but they don't when watching TV on catch-up, is that the stream to the set-top box will be cached. Dad told me that ISP support guy told him that switching from a single to a tri-band router would NOT make a single iota of difference to my streaming issues. I told my father that ISPTSG was talking out his arse, at which point Dad yelled "I doubt that VERY much!" and slammed my bedroom door.

Y'see in my parents' eyes, I know feck all; some moron in an ISP tech support dept who's been trained to read answers from a flowchart knows more than I do. Dad is now refusing to speak to me; I'm stuck in bed chronically ill and, on top of that, I've my autism to contend with (something they've never accepted I actually have), so I'm not really coping with anything right now (and I'm not able to use the phone myself. I asked Dad to get ISPTSG to email me, something he refuses to do because "You're as capable of speaking to them as I am!").

So, I'm left to deal with this on my own; the 3200 returns an average speed of 25Mbps when tested with speedtest.com from the MBP (the MBP isn't wired), whereas the Netgear gets an average of 35. Can anyone shed any light on why the vastly superior 3200 is getting such poor speeds…?

ASUS support has been, predictably, useless.

Finally. I can't get access to the laptop until after they've gone to bed (more than my life's worth to go downstairs during the day).

Oh, if it matters/helps, here's a list of the devices:

2 iPads
2 STBs,
1 printer (a Brother of some description)
1 WD MyBook
The MBP

Can anyone help before I commit patricide…? He's exactly like his father - multiplied by a factor of at least 1,000.

So what's my next move…? ASUS's 'Smart' Connect software is Windows-only, of course.

My next laptop will be running some species of Penguin, I can't decide between Mint, Plasma or Ubuntu (I'm leaning towards the latter, seems to be a good bet for a Linux noob), I'm just slightly scared of the learning curve - I don't want something so steep I need crampons and oxygen! This experience with the 3200 is making me even more wary.


Cheers, folks!

SJ

 

[L&LD]

Quite a first post.

Flash the latest RMerlin firmware for your router and do a full reset to factory defaults with minimal and manual configuration afterwards.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/no...l-and-manual-configuration.27115/#post-205573

Do not use a saved backup config file.

Turn the modem off for at least 10 minutes (I recommend closer to an hour but at least more than 30 minutes to make sure this isn't part of your issues).

Use new ssid's for each band. Do not use 'illegal' characters in either the ssid's or the passwords.

 

[Old_Man_Yells_At_iCloud]

Oops! Sorry about that, I do like to the thorough, though. I did attempt to flash the firmware via the browser version of the Smart Centre, but it said it was running the latest. I apologise for omitting that, the ol' brain fog is more like smog at the mo.

Forgive my ignorance, but what's this RMerlin thingy…?

I apologise if my initial post was incomprehensible, I have been told that I'm often very difficult to understand.

I'm not using the 3200 at the moment (apologies for not making that clear) I reverted back to the 2200.

I'm really not very good at social stuff, I'm afraid.

I've read that post and now my head hurts (it was the only bit of me that didn't).

The problem is that I only have access to the computer and router at night, and I've not been able to eat properly for about a week, but I'll try and make some sense of it.

Sorry for my poor communication skills.

 

[L&LD]

No problem. Let's take this a step at a time.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-custom-firmware-for-asus-routers.7846/


The above link will explain everything you need to know about RMerlin's firmware fork of the Asus stock firmware.

Yes, it is the preferred firmware for many as he debugs Asus' code, adds more features (mostly through scripting) and it is also important to note that Asus itself has even incorporated some of RMerlin's code into their future firmware.

Not all models are supported, but fortunately for you, yours is.


After flashing the latest RMerlin firmware, follow the link in my first post here to reset it fully and then properly set it up.

 

[Old_Man_Yells_At_iCloud]

Yesterday evening, Dad gave me a copy of the info sheet for our broadband. My father - a retired economist - has redefined insanity; he's paying £51 (€67.70/$74) PER MONTH for an up to 2Mb down fibre+phone package. Two fecking megabits; I knew our connection wasn't supersonic, but I had thought it was a tad better than that!

To put it into context, most other small ISPs are offering 76Mb/19Mb packages, including phone, for around £40-£45/month. The giants are doing it for half that, but you get what you pay for - it's fine when it works but, if you run into problems, you're basically fracked, as support is utter shirte.

No wonder the speed's utter bollocks!

I don't think he's any concept of irony…

 

[Puppa]

At such a low speed, functional QoS is crucial. Have you enabled it on the 3200?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[Old_Man_Yells_At_iCloud]

Yes, but I just want him to realise he's being ripped off and I don't see how having a router with dual 5GHz is going to help with such a shirte connection.

Father dearest has just informed me that the "line speed" is 38Mb/s - but line speed isn't the same as connection speed, is it…?

I can't get anything faster than 28Mb/s from that router, whatever; perhaps it's me, perhaps I don't understand (perfectly possible, there's frack all in this world I do) - is there any possibility of a guide with pictures…? I apologise for the inconvenience, but I'm autistic and those instructions didn't really make an awful lot of sense, especially the reflashing the firmware - I searched ASUS's support site for the exact version number, and could find no download links - save one that only rerouted me back the support site homepage, seems the firmware can only be flashed via the GUI.

Apologies for being thick.