2400 sq feet, 3 floors, and the current state of mesh still makes me want to go BigHonkinRouter. Lots of devices, so I also want tri-radio. I'm not buying any devices with AD or MU-MIMO, so those don't come into play. So I'm looking at the latest 5300 class devices. The Netgear, D-Link and Linksys all took themselves out of the running (for a host of reasons) and I'm down to the TP-LINK and ASUS. Here's my short take:
The ASUS is a prosumer class device--it's more expensive and more complex but it can be tweaked and tortured if you invest the time in it. It also offers things like AiCloud, which is cool, but clearly a security risk if you don't follow your firmware updates *religiously*. It's about $100 more than the TP-LINK ($350 vs $250). The TP-LINK is more of a consumer class device--set it, forget it, let SmartConnect do its thing, no QoS, no surfing history, no cloud. Most reviewers agree that the TP-LINK software is head-and-shoulders more consumer friendly (and limited) than the ASUS.
I'm guessing the ASUS is faster, but can't find actual data: Specifically, I can't find any site that has tested the performance on these two devices using the same testing protocol. The closest I've been able to find is pcmag, which shows the ASUS as the runaway winner when you consider 5GHz close and 30-feet, 2.4GHz close and 30-feet. (Not 1st in any category, but chalking up a 2nd place in every category, against the entire field.) Within the 5300 generation, ASUS beats the L:inksys EA9500 handily, and dominates the D-Link 895 in the 2.4GHz band. I think it's a fair *guess* that the ASUS might win over the TP-LINK (but only guessing).
What's the same: They're both about the same size, physically. They both have the same ports, although the ASUS's USB 3.0 is measured a lot slower than the TP-LINK. SmartConnect actually produces a performance boost for *both* routers (something not true for some others in this class), and SmartConnect can be used to join all three radios onto a single SSID if you want that as an option (again, not true for some others in this class).
Here's another thing I can't tell: Which router is going to stay up and running, and not have to be rebooted every night? Which one is going to drop my stupid slow legacy finicky devices three times a day. Which one is going to drop Grandma's ancient iPad when she comes to visit? I would *like* all the cool features, but the most important feature (to me) is reliability.
Help? Thanks!
The ASUS is a prosumer class device--it's more expensive and more complex but it can be tweaked and tortured if you invest the time in it. It also offers things like AiCloud, which is cool, but clearly a security risk if you don't follow your firmware updates *religiously*. It's about $100 more than the TP-LINK ($350 vs $250). The TP-LINK is more of a consumer class device--set it, forget it, let SmartConnect do its thing, no QoS, no surfing history, no cloud. Most reviewers agree that the TP-LINK software is head-and-shoulders more consumer friendly (and limited) than the ASUS.
I'm guessing the ASUS is faster, but can't find actual data: Specifically, I can't find any site that has tested the performance on these two devices using the same testing protocol. The closest I've been able to find is pcmag, which shows the ASUS as the runaway winner when you consider 5GHz close and 30-feet, 2.4GHz close and 30-feet. (Not 1st in any category, but chalking up a 2nd place in every category, against the entire field.) Within the 5300 generation, ASUS beats the L:inksys EA9500 handily, and dominates the D-Link 895 in the 2.4GHz band. I think it's a fair *guess* that the ASUS might win over the TP-LINK (but only guessing).
What's the same: They're both about the same size, physically. They both have the same ports, although the ASUS's USB 3.0 is measured a lot slower than the TP-LINK. SmartConnect actually produces a performance boost for *both* routers (something not true for some others in this class), and SmartConnect can be used to join all three radios onto a single SSID if you want that as an option (again, not true for some others in this class).
Here's another thing I can't tell: Which router is going to stay up and running, and not have to be rebooted every night? Which one is going to drop my stupid slow legacy finicky devices three times a day. Which one is going to drop Grandma's ancient iPad when she comes to visit? I would *like* all the cool features, but the most important feature (to me) is reliability.
Help? Thanks!
