trying to decide on a router

[dude1]

my contract is possibly ending with a big retailer so before does I bought some routers at the employee discount. I was going to test the ones I bought and keep the one that performed best but noticed in the fine print I have to return them unopened so I need to make my choice without testing myself

anyway the routers are:
Linksys Max-Stream Wireless AC5400
NETGEAR Orbi AC3000
Linksys Velop Wireless AC6600
NETGEAR Nighthawk X8

obviously I wanted to try mesh because its all the rage right now that said its probably overkill in my new home (just up until recently I lived in a 3 story wifi nightmare for the past 3 years so I’m a little jaded)
that said currently my office wifi strength is weak and im using a old repeater so the garage get wifi at all but im using old N routers with DDWRT so that may be exaggerating the issue.

anyway my new home is a manufactured 1400sq ft home, (all rooms have cat6a wired) I do remote IT work from home for companies on a contract basis and also have a side business doing computer repair so that on top of me being a gadget nerd means I have a crap ton of devices both wired and wireless.

speed and handling a lot of devices being connected matters most to me.
like most normal people I do plenty of netflix streaming and I also download plenty.
my work requires me to remote into multiple machines on a daily basis and while being connected to 2 VPNs, and I tend to do a lot of imaging and backups of people's PCs.
so there is plenty of network traffic both locally and internet.

so basically I’m not a network guy but being tech savy I don’t think I’m a typical user either so I’m not sure if I should go with mesh or if 1 high end router would suit my needs.

Ramble Over Thanks

 

[pete y testing]

hi

my question would be what is your current router and what form of internet do you have

the work aspect see you needing a fairly grunty router with a fast cpu and lots of ram to get good speeds over vpn

seeing as you have ethernet throughout the house you dont really need mesh , just a few well placed wireless access points connected back to the router via ethernet

so nothing there really stands out as being the one and only device you need or would splash your cash on , even though most would do coverage wise at 1400sqft

 

[L&LD]

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/s...-go-with-the-rt-ac1900p-v3.34748/#post-281391


I would be inclined to return all the NG and Linksys products you have and buy a single RT-AC3100 and install RMerlin's firmware on it.

Follow the links below after you have flashed it to the latest version and you should be very, very happy with your network for a good long time.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/n...l-and-manual-configuration.27115/#post-205573

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac66u-slow-wan-to-lan.12973/page-3#post-269410

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/faq-nvram-and-factory-default-reset.22822/


After everything is up and running to your satisfaction; follow the link below and use the excellent utility from john9527 to help you with future firmware flashes that need a full reset to factory defaults followed by a minimal and manual configuration to secure the router and connect to your ISP.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/user-nvram-save-restore-utility-r24a.19521/

 

[pete y testing]

i dare say the chain store he currently works in doesnt stock asus and is why he doesnt have any in the list of products he has on hand , however the 3100 is a good choice if he can get it

 

[L&LD]

i dare say the chain store he currently works in doesnt stock asus and is why he doesnt have any in the list of products he has on hand , however the 3100 is a good choice if he can get it

I would agree! But what is in stock at where one works shouldn't be the way to choose a router, right.

 

[pete y testing]

that employee discount is a big driving force though , esp if getting at 30% off , i would buy them all and sell em on ebay for a profit and perhaps make enough to buy an asus rt-ac3100 with the proceeds

 

[microchip]

Keep in mind that current routers have reached their max range, due to physics limitations. If you suffer from this, you have two options. Set up a Mesh system or place APs at various locations. I haven't tried it, but Netgear's Orbi seems pretty decent, based on reading stuff on this forum. I will still opt for APs as it's more flexible, IMHO.

 

[L&LD]

Keep in mind that current routers have reached their max range, due to physics limitations. If you suffer from this, you have two options. Set up a Mesh system or place APs at various locations. I haven't tried it, but Netgear's Orbi seems pretty decent, based on reading stuff on this forum. I will still opt for APs as it's more flexible, IMHO.

I don't believe that dude1 has reached any limits in a 1400 SQFT home.

Mesh would be messy in such a small space, as would an AP.

 

[microchip]

I don't believe that dude1 has reached any limits in a 1400 SQFT home.

Mesh would be messy in such a small space, as would an AP.

it's not about belief. He may have 1400 SQFT home, but he may want enough range outside of it. He didn't mention that so you and I have no idea. And I don't agree an AP will be *that* messy compared to an Orbi

 

[L&LD]

it's not about belief. He may have 1400 SQFT home, but he may want enough range outside of it. He didn't mention that so you and I have no idea. And I don't agree an AP will be *that* messy compared to an Orbi

No, he stated quite well what he wanted or needs.

Both an AP and an Orbi will be 'messy' in such a small area. In the sense that both their signals will more than likely be strong enough throughout the required coverage area.

When a single RT-AC3100 can cover about 5000 SQFT on three floors, having more than one radio in a 1400 SQFT area is not just overkill; it will probably be detrimental to both the owner and the surrounding WiFi networks.

 

[pete y testing]

And I don't agree an AP will be *that* messy compared to an Orbi

correct both would be far to much overlap and cause issue with roaming and connectivity

 

[microchip]

correct both would be far to much overlap and cause issue with roaming and connectivity

overlap with what? Roaming and connectivity issues with what? He didn't mention anything like that that can cause these

I live in a small apartment with thick walls and my router can't provide a decent signal to my bedroom so I have an AP sitting there. There is nothing wrong with placing an AP if your main gear can't reach a certain spot, regardless of how big or small your place is

 

[pete y testing]

I live in a small apartment with thick walls and my router can't provide a decent signal to my bedroom so I have an AP sitting there. There is nothing wrong with placing an AP if your main gear can't reach a certain spot, regardless of how big or small your place is

not as thick as some

thats all good if you have ethernet run to that location , but mesh / orbi would be useless and not connect

however if the issue is not signal blocking by solid walls or objects and the Op is coming from a poor wireless N router

anyway my new home is a manufactured 1400sq ft home

and you would not need ether 2 transmission or mesh / orbi as it would be total overkill and cause issue not solve them

 

[dude1]

totally forgot about asus (been putting things i wanted in spreadsheet but must have missed the collum when actually ordering)
luckily i have until tomorrow to do so.
my asus options would be ASUS RT-AC3100, RT-AC5300 and the RT-AC1900P

So I can order the AC3100 if people believe it would be the best choice.
would the RT-AC5300 be worth the extra cost? the RT-AC3100 is about $140CAD cheaper than the RT-AC5300.
although both EPP prices are below sale prices from other retailers I can see when searching either in canada or even if i took into account the possibility of cross border shipping and exchange rate.
if the RT-AC5300 would be better what would be some use cases where the 5300 would out perform the 3100?

as for my range, i want it outside the house atleast somewhat.
so far i get about half signal and it can be spotty on some devices at the far end of the house, and in the garage i get 1 bar of spotty wifi which is why ive set up a another DDWRT router out there, the wifi is acceptable on most parts of my deck outside the house but could be improved and its a little weaker then that out at the hot tub. despite that its closer to the the master bedroom where the router is, but i guess i should expect that with exterior walls with no windows in the networking closet.