Should I finally ditch my TZ-180

[reckless76]

Some time ago, I got my hands on a Sonicwall TZ-180 with the Enhanced OS firmware. I've been using it ever since with great success. For wireless, I've used some Linksys Access Point which was fine until I started trying to stream HD video with it.

Suffice to say, I've realized I need to upgrade my wireless access point. During my research, I found the ASUS RT-N66U router. It seems very nice, and leaves me wondering.. Should I just replace my sonicwall with it?

My needs can be quite demanding, but nothing fancy. Multiple concurrent streams from my media server, netflix streams, torrent, VPN, etc, all at the same time. The sonicwall has never hiccuped where normal consumer routers have, though this was many years ago and it looks like things may have changed.

So, any advice?

 

[stevech]

I'd try to stream video using cat5 cable or MoCA or HomePlug. WiFi would be the last choice.

 

[reckless76]

I do run cat5 to most of the main points in my apartment.. It's my daughter and her laptop that need higher performance wireless.

 

[stevech]

start with the laptop.. is it 802.11n?
What is in the path from the laptop to wherever the nearest access point or the WiFi router is located.. distance/walls?
Can the WiFi router be relocated to be more favorable to the laptop?

Have you considered adding an access point (AP) or a repurposed WiFi router as AP, in the area most used by the laptop?

and so on

 

[reckless76]

Well, when I look at my wifi analyzer on my phone, the problem with the wireless looks pretty obvious. Too many 2.4ghz signals spread across the wrong channels. For some reason, channels 2, 8 and 10 seem pretty popular around here. So rather than knocking on doors trying to get everyone to work together, I'm going to jump to the 5ghz band. The laptop is 2.4 only, but I'll make her use a USB adapter.

It seems to me that you are focused on fixing the wireless problem. Should I take that to mean I should stick with the Sonicwall? In the past, I've liked it for the powerful cpu and 256mb of ram, but it seems like high end consumer routers beat that now. Plus, tomato looks pretty good.. So what am I missing? I know nothing about routing. I've only observed the Sonicwall performing well in situations my old netgear and linkys routers didn't.

Thanks for your time