What set of wireless routers to buy?

[elias4444]

Reading through a bunch of the wireless router stuff has made my head dizzy. I'm ready to upgrade from my Linksys E3000, due it's total lack of 5ghz range and my desire to start moving away from the crowded 2.4ghz stuff.

Plan "A" was to go "all out" and buy a Netgear R7000 and put DD-WRT on it, as I heard it's quite the beast, but the Netgear firmware is terribly buggy. I would then need to buy a new adapter for my HTPC along with a USB 3.0 add-in card to support it (I was looking at the Edimax EW-7822UAC for $30, along with a $20 Inateck USB 3.0 board). Of course, that would only give my primary HTPC AC1200 and not the full "AC1900" of the R7000.

SO, plan B is now to buy two of some wireless router and set one up at each end of the house, then wire everything into them. Of course, I'd love to just buy two R7000s, but I don't have the cash for that (and wouldn't want to dump that much money into it anyway). I'm guessing that whatever I buy needs to be compatible with DD-WRT so I can accomplish this. Also, I'd like to stay under $250 total for both routers (as that was my original cost for the R7000 + adapter stuff). I'll probably also leave my Linksys E3000 setup for any leftover 2.4ghz networking needs.

Any recommendations? Or should I stick with Plan A?

P.S. Of course, Tomato firmware support would be fine too, so long as it can do the bridging over wireless thing.

 

[abailey]

What will you be transferring through your wireless network? Will you be copying data between PC's or do you have NAS, or mainly internet access? What I am asking is how much speed do you really need?

 

[elias4444]

Ah, forgot to mention that. It's mostly for copying files and streaming video, though my son likes to play PC games over it as well (usually while I'm trying to do those other things).

My current setup with the E3000 can copy files over at about 8 to 10 megabytes per second via windows file sharing (I don't know the megaBIT rating). Of course, that's only if nothing else is using the wireless network (which is rare). I'm looking to speed that up and to be able to stream some HD (720p+) video over the network as well (from one computer to another, though NAS is on my radar for another day's budget).

Oh, and the big reason for wanting to move over to 5ghz: whenever I'm doing a big file transfer, all of our wireless mice and keyboards become choppy and difficult to use.

 

[stevech]

Suggestion: One router per network. Only a router connects to your cable/DSL modem.

The extra coverage is handled by an ACCESS POINT (AP) which has no routing functions or need.

Getting an AP
Buy a so-named product.
Buy a multi-mode product that can be a router or AP or bridge. I have one such that works well: ASUS RT-ND12-D1. $35.
Take a spare router and reconfigure it to be an AP. See FAQ here.

Don't use a WiFi repeater, aka WDS or "range extender".

The hard part is connecting the distant AP to the main router. Use cat5 (best), MoCA (IP on existing TV coax) or HPNA (IP on home power wiring).

 

[elias4444]

The hard part is connecting the distant AP to the main router. Use cat5 (best), MoCA (IP on existing TV coax) or HPNA (IP on home power wiring).

That's the incredibly hard part for me. I've spent the last year trying to figure out how to run any kind of wire from one end of the house to the other, and have failed miserably. It's a combination of lack of attic, lack of basement, vaulted ceilings, and all sorts of doorways and whatnot in the path. The outside of the house is nearly as tricky, though I'm close to buying a $100 spool of 1000ft cat6 and trying it anyway.

I've heard that HPNA is problematic compared to wireless, so I figured I'd stay clear of it.

And after all that, I figured I'd just try buying two routers and setting one up as a wireless bridge. I did that once with my old trusty WRT54G and it worked pretty well... it just wasn't fast enough anymore.

 

[AdvHomeServer]

Consider my configuration and adapt it to your environment if suitable.

I have 2 routers. One is a refurbished Netgear R6300 V1 with DD-WRT. Any router will work as router 1 as long as it is dual frequency and reasonably powerful in terms of signal and processing power. Prior to the R6300 I used an Asus RT-N56U and it worked quite well. Currently, the Asus RT-N56U is working as router 2 ... but I will get to that later.

Router 2 is configured as a 5GHz media bridge. Currently it is the above-mentioned RT-N56U running Padavan's alternate firmware (which appears to be quite nice.) A refurbished Netgear WNDR3400 V1 running DD-WRT was router 2 for a couple of years and worked/still works quite well.

Router 2 also has the 2.4GHz radio functional with a unique SSID. The 5GHz bridge is essentially an invisible wire between the two routers. All wireless traffic on the 2.4GHz radio on router 2 run gets to router 1 via the 5GHz tether.

The benefits of this configuration ...

* The main router gets run of the mill daily 2.4GHz wireless traffic
* 5GHz is dedicated to media traffic
* The 2nd 2.4GHz radio forces some 2.4GHz media traffic to the 5GHz channel and decreases congestion on the main router's 2.4GHz radio.

My Chromecast is connected to the alternate 2.4GHz SSID on router 2. This allows the sender of the tabcast (on router 1) to be somewhat isolated from the TV set (on router 2), removing all congestion that would otherwise exist on the 2.4GHz radio.

I suspect this will become a rather common setup over time as people become aware of the benefits of 2 routers in a normal home network.

 

[fistv]

That's the incredibly hard part for me. I've spent the last year trying to figure out how to run any kind of wire from one end of the house to the other, and have failed miserably. It's a combination of lack of attic, lack of basement, vaulted ceilings, and all sorts of doorways and whatnot in the path. The outside of the house is nearly as tricky, though I'm close to buying a $100 spool of 1000ft cat6 and trying it anyway.

I've heard that HPNA is problematic compared to wireless, so I figured I'd stay clear of it.

And after all that, I figured I'd just try buying two routers and setting one up as a wireless bridge. I did that once with my old trusty WRT54G and it worked pretty well... it just wasn't fast enough anymore.

You can buy underground rated cable for that run around the house. I have seen it put behind a down spout, run up, then run under/behind a gutter then down the other end.

 

[thiggins]

I've heard that HPNA is problematic compared to wireless, so I figured I'd stay clear of it.

Statements like this always puzzle me. Wireless is the most "problematic" networking technology there is.

Why not try a pair of $60 HomePlug AV 500 adapters and at least see if it can help solve your problem? HomePlug isn't perfect, but the technology has improved greatly over the original, slow standard.

Note: HPNA refers to phone-line and coax based networking that isn't used in consumer applications any more.

Failing that, follow AdvHomeServer's advice and either buy an AC bridge or repurpose a less expensive router as one.

 

[elias4444]

Will the homeplug adapters cross over separate circuits?

 

[thiggins]

Will the homeplug adapters cross over separate circuits?

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-basics/31585-smallnetbuilders-powerline-faq FAQ 6

 

[elias4444]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-basics/31585-smallnetbuilders-powerline-faq FAQ 6

Perfect, thank you! I'll read up and be back with any questions.

 

[elias4444]

Ok... now I'm worried about doing powerline OR wireless.

I downloaded LANSpeedTest to get a mb/s rating, and with my current Linksys E3000 and TP-Link TL-WN822N USB adapter I'm sitting right at 40mb/s. According to Wi-fi Analyzer on my android phone, the 2.4ghz signal strength the pair is using is at about -65dbm. Oddly enough, from the reviews on this site it looks like that's about the normal even for the newer AC1750 routers.

From the reviews I'm reading about the homeplug adapters, their mb/s ratings might, at most, double that to 80mb/s (if I'm lucky). I suppose it might be worth it to no longer have to worry about wireless issues, though I'm not sure that's enough bandwidth to do the video streaming I was hoping for.

If I decide to try the homeplug 500 option, do you have a particular brand you'd recommend I try first?

 

[stevech]

Will the homeplug adapters cross over separate circuits?

what's meant by this? If the two adapters are on outlets off of the same breaker box, not usually an issue.

 

[elias4444]

what's meant by this? If the two adapters are on outlets off of the same breaker box, not usually an issue.

Yep, it's not an issue. My main concern now is if powerline adapters will give me enough bandwidth and reliability over my house's wiring. This site does a good job charting and benchmarking them, but I haven't found any recommendations yet (they don't have a category on the rankings section that I can find).

Is there a particular brand that works better than others?

 

[stevech]

Is a TV coax connection available somewhat near (10s of ft) each end site? To use MoCA?

 

[elias4444]

Is a TV coax connection available somewhat near (10s of ft) each end site? To use MoCA?

Unfortunately, no.

But there is a power plug at least.

 

[stevech]

Well, I suggest getting power line IP pair from seller that takes returns. The gen1's are $30. Try and keep/return.
I've used two brands but can't say which to buy today.

Beware all the caveats about using this technology... avoid plugging in near signal-attenuators such as most surge protectors, some TV/entertainment gear. Sometimes issues with the pair being on opposite AC power phases in dual-phase systems in the US.

 

[chadster766]

I recommend you run an Ethernet line to the location where you suspect the wireless signal will weak to use. Then in the future if you need more devices at that location you can add an AP or switch or another wireless router.

 

[elias4444]

I recommend you run an Ethernet line to the location where you suspect the wireless signal will weak to use. Then in the future if you need more devices at that location you can add an AP or switch or another wireless router.

Yep. That.

Running ethernet is a pain in the butt where I need to take it (I have the infamous house-on-a-slab-with-vaulted-ceilings issue). That's why I've looked for ANY other solution that might work at meeting my bandwidth needs.

Of course, after all of the excellent advice on these forums (thank you!!!), I think it's time to do some drastic ethernet wiring. I'm either going to wrap an ugly conduit all the way around my house and punch it through the stucco walls, or I'm going to try and install crown molding with wires in it as far as I can, then drop the wire down through the wall before I hit the double-floor vaulted ceiling, and then run it along the all tile floors with sheathing over it until I reach my HTPC-Game system. What a pain, but it sounds like my best choice.

 

[chadster766]

Yep. That.

Running ethernet is a pain in the butt where I need to take it (I have the infamous house-on-a-slab-with-vaulted-ceilings issue). That's why I've looked for ANY other solution that might work at meeting my bandwidth needs.

Of course, after all of the excellent advice on these forums (thank you!!!), I think it's time to do some drastic ethernet wiring. I'm either going to wrap an ugly conduit all the way around my house and punch it through the stucco walls, or I'm going to try and install crown molding with wires in it as far as I can, then drop the wire down through the wall before I hit the double-floor vaulted ceiling, and then run it along the all tile floors with sheathing over it until I reach my HTPC-Game system. What a pain, but it sounds like my best choice.

What about cold air returns or heating ducts. With CMR cable these paths can be good.

Taking the cable outside then up to the soffit. Then sometimes you can tuck it into the soffit edge (hidden) or surface mount and back through the wall where you need it.

Another option is use direct to ground (ikypick) cat5e cable and bury around the outside of the location.