OT: What's a decent router for home use?

[Outkaster]

I was thinking of a NETGEAR Nighthawk Cable Modem WiFi Router Combo but thought some of you guys with more knowledge might suggest something different? Someone suggested a ASR1001? I am new to this so bear with me. I have a netgear expander and it's not working as well as I though it would. The stock Spectrum router just doesn't seem good enough and we have patches in the house were the signal is very weak. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[Bif_]

Get a mesh router system. Life changing!!

 

Mine has three nodes (transmitters) but I only use two for my 2300 square foot two story home . I have full download speeds in the house and basement and strong signal on my 1/3 acre property.

 

You can get a nice system under $200.

[stoken6]

@_Bif, which mesh system did you choose? I'm looking to improve my struggling wifi at home - I've got a PowerLine/HomePlug-based extender, but it's still not great...

 

Cheers, Mike

[Stokely]

I also really like the mesh router I got. We were having issues with coverage in a two story house, with the cable modem upstairs in a bonus room. The one I have is an "Orbi" by Netgear, iirc it was on sale at Costco at the time I needed one. Mine has two units, I was worried that maybe I underestimated this, but everywhere in the house I get full wifi strength now. I've not had a single outage with it in a number of months, it just works.

 

Before this I had a plug-in extender and it was iffy at best. This is far superior.

[Bif_]

@_Bif, which mesh system did you choose? I'm looking to improve my struggling wifi at home - I've got a PowerLine/HomePlug-based extender, but it's still not great...

 

Cheers, Mike

 

 

TP-Link Deco Whole Home Mesh WIFI System (Deco M4 3-Pack) â Up to 5, 500 Sq. ft. Coverage, Connect Up to 100 devices. I paid $163.00 on Amazon last year and looks like it's less now.

 

That Homeplug thing won't get it done. This mesh system is a dream. Again, I'm only using two of the nodes and have awesome coverage on my whole property. You can also do some neat things like setting up a guest network that can easily be turned on and off. Handy for people that visit when you don't want to share your password. Side note, when my daughter brought friends home for the weekend, I named the guest network with their school name. (Kind of nerdy but still cool. They liked it.) Oh, all this stuff is controlled from a phone app. Way easy.

 

You'll never look back.

[AnotherScott]

Yes, mesh is the answer. I went with the Netgear Orbi. I don't know if it's the best, but I'm happy with it, certainly beats any of the non-mesh systems I've had previously (including those with repeaters). It's a 2-unit system. If your house is very large and you may want more than two, then you may want to check into that aspect, which I didn't really, but I know the way they handle units beyond the second is one of the significant ways systems can differ.

[Stokely]

Very good point. I don't think the Orbi model I got can be expanded. I took a chance being cheap and apparently lucked out My house is 3400 sq ft and two units covers it great, though of course the layout and (maybe?) construction materials of your house could matter too. My base unit is on one side of a square layout and upstairs, all other rooms are downstairs.

[Bif_]

I did some research on the system I chose but also know it was quite the deal at the time. I'm a 'deal guy', so that helped, but I did make sure it was a capable system.

 

Regarding my set up, I have one node upstairs on one end of the house and the other downstairs at the opposite end.

[eric]

If you happen to have CAT5/6 wiring in your house (or can add it), I recommend a hard-wired system. With the pandemic creating a lengthy work from home scenario, I upgraded my 10+ year old system about two months ago using Ubiquiti gear, which is near commercial grade quality. I have the 16 port power over internet (POE) switch feeding a bunch of wired access points around my house and detached garage. The access and speed is pretty impressive. Any of the mesh type solutions were not good for my situation with a garage sitting about 100' from the main house. Luckily as I've done renovation projects over the years, I've been careful to include wiring to support such a network and I love it.

[Stokely]

Yeah if wired is an option I'd definitely go for that. I'm about as handy as a box of rocks so I'd have to pay someone. When we had our old house built (in a new neighborhood where you choose the model from the builder) they gave you the option to do so...but boy it wasn't cheap. Those builders always do that. But paying someone afterward is not cheap either because it's way more work than doing it when they haven't put the drywall in!

 

Two things I'd wish I paid for in retrospect: wired network, and a longer garage.

[timwat]

I also use Netgear Orbi with one base unit and two satellites.

 

For the picky, Orbi is not a true mesh system, in that a true mesh provides for every node to be connected to other nodes. Orbi uses a dedicated backplane channel to maintain connection between the satellites and the home unit (not each other).

 

For most homes, the end result is the same - strong WiFi connectivity for devices far away from the home unit. One SSID and PW. Decent consumer level security. Simultaneous main and guest networks. Network management tools.

 

Wired is still best, but ubiquitous home wifi is like indoor plumbing. And even the Amish have indoor plumbing.

[Tom Williams]

I just replaced my old Netgear AP with a TP-link Archer C8, located very near the center of my largish house. It reaches everywhere I go. Most of my house, is hardwired, using a couple of 8 port gigabit switches to aggregate connections in my living room/office and the music room.

 

I'm not a big fan of meshes, but I am very much a Ubiquiti fan -- I've set up all my K-8 schools with it, as well as multiple churches, and it's professional quality all the way at great prices. The only reason I didn't go with it at this house is that it would have been overkill for my needs.

[bfields]

Location of the router can make a big difference. If you google around you can find some guides, but I think the short version is: central, and high up.

 

In my current and previous houses, the best location wasn't near existing cable connections, so I filled the gap with ethernet in my current place, power line networking in the previous.

 

When you need more than one, I'd always heard the ideal was multiple access points with wired connections between them. But my information's probably out of date, sounds like mesh networking has gotten a lot better.

[AnotherScott]

connection between the satellites and the home unit (not each other).

yes, that's one of the things I was referring to when I talked about things that make no difference for a two unit system, but could make a difference if you need more.

[Biggles]

I would not buy Netgear if they were the last manufacturer on Earth.

 

I bought a Netgear router many years ago and it stopped working, I rang Netgear and they said what more do you expect it is 18 months old.

[mate stubb]

For those custom organ projects, I prefer a Grizzly overarm router.

 

http://www.hotrodmotm.com/images/hammond/shell53.jpg

[Stokely]

I would not buy Netgear if they were the last manufacturer on Earth.

 

I bought a Netgear router many years ago and it stopped working, I rang Netgear and they said what more do you expect it is 18 months old.

 

I'm not sure there would be a router manufacturer left on earth if I went by "devices that stopped working that shouldn't have." Sadly, some of mine haven't lasted even that long. D-link, Belkin, you name it...

 

That said, I think your point was more about customer service, and I agree. Dell is still on my **** list after their treatment of me quite a few years back. I try to determine, is it the company, or just one bad rep--and in that case, I was transferred around enough to say it was the company.

[Outkaster]

If you guys have some links I'd appreciate it. I hadn't hear of Ubiquiti before. Thanks for the replies.

[Tom Williams]

YMMV, I guess.

 

My old Netgear AP had cost me $30 10+ years ago, and worked well. With WAN bandwidth under 20 Mbps, it was plenty for my needs until the WAN port started to fail (electronically -- I guess the TTL went senile. )

 

Regarding Dell, when I bought a refurb Dell laser printer I broke a piece during the initial assembly -- it could very easily have been my fault -- and they sent me a replacement and helped me insert the second one over the phone.

[AnotherScott]

I would not buy Netgear if they were the last manufacturer on Earth.

 

I bought a Netgear router many years ago and it stopped working, I rang Netgear and they said what more do you expect it is 18 months old.

While they shouldn't have said "what do you expect," once it's out of its one year warranty, all I would "expect" is a price on servicing it or (more likely the case) swapping it for a refurb. (Then they fix yours and it becomes a refurb for someone else.)

[timwat]

If you guys have some links I'd appreciate it. I hadn't hear of Ubiquiti before. Thanks for the replies.

 

Ubiquiti can be found here.

 

They appear to offer two main branded systems, Unifi and Amplfi. Tom can share his own thoughts on these, I don't know anything about either of them although it appears at first glance that Unifi is offers more features, power, flexibility, management...that you may never require.

 

Here's a page I found discussing one guy's journey from Apple to Amplfi to Unifi - perhaps his anecdotal observations will provide some useful information.

[eric]

If you guys have some links I'd appreciate it. I hadn't hear of Ubiquiti before. Thanks for the replies.

 

Here's Ubiquiti's website focused on their Unifi products, which is what I ended up getting:

https://unifi-network.ui.com/

 

I have some really tech-savvy friends and was given several independent recommendations for Ubiquiti by them. If you look at my FB page from a few months ago, I posted seeking input on this topic and received dozens of great bits of advice.

[Docbop]

I would not buy Netgear if they were the last manufacturer on Earth.

 

I bought a Netgear router many years ago and it stopped working, I rang Netgear and they said what more do you expect it is 18 months old.

 

 

I've had a Netgear for four years and no issues it's their cable modem/router. I've used a lot of gear inexpensive and expensive from my decades in computer world and say every brand you can find stories like yours. Sometimes it is just you got a jerk on the phone and sometimes the company is that way. Look at Apple they have said they think iPhone users should upgrade every two years and computer users every three or four years. For what Apple stuff costs those are pretty short upgrade points.

[MoodyBluesKeys]

I have good results with three Linksys 4400N Wireless Access points (an earlier version of a mesh system) My home & shop are both wired with gigahertz Ethernet, and a fiber link in the ground between home and shop. I don't use wi-fi for anything that can be hard wired.

Two units in the home, one at one end, other near other end. One unit in shop. My entire property has a good strong signal.

The 4400N was built when Cisco owned Linksys, and uses Cisco's transfer protocols to automatically switch to the strongest signal transparentlly.

 

So, a good mesh system should work well. If need be, spend a bit more to get the best. Don't have specific recommendations.

I have a Ubiquiti WAP at one client's site, it works well. Note that one computer MUST have Ubiquiti's software installed to properly configure and keep it or them running.

[Tom Williams]

For me, Unifi would have been overkill and overcomplicated for use at home. It's great, I love it, I recommend it, I use it, but a decent self-contained MIMO router / AP / switch (In this case TP-Link) meets my household needs, at a lower cost.

 

Looking at the Amplifi line, I think they've done a 180: instead of competitively-priced industrial quality networking, it's mid- to upscale home networking.

[stoken6]

Thanks everyone.

 

My house is about 120 years old, 14in brick walls, including one down the middle separating the front from the back of the house. No wifi signal gets through that. My understanding is that mesh wifi nodes communicate with each other wirelessly, and I'm concerned that they will struggle (as everything else does) to penetrate the central wall.

 

Thoughts/experiences welcome...

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Lou_NC]

Thanks everyone.

 

My house is about 120 years old, 14in brick walls, including one down the middle separating the front from the back of the house. No wifi signal gets through that. My understanding is that mesh wifi nodes communicate with each other wirelessly, and I'm concerned that they will struggle (as everything else does) to penetrate the central wall.

 

Thoughts/experiences welcome...

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

If you can connect two standard WiFi routers at various points in your home via an Ethernet cable, this may be a good solution for you. Do you have a basement? I ran a 100' Ethernet cable between the main router and secondary router in my home by running the cable in the crawlspace, into my garage. My primary router is adjacent to the cable modem at one end of my house, and the secondary router is on top of a cabinet in my garage, right under my bonus room, at the opposite end of my house. I get excellent coverage throughout my house. I have a Netgear as primary router, and an Asus as secondary. Follow the simple instructions in the article to change the IP address of the 2nd router, turn off DHCP in the 2nd router, and configure the WiFi channels so they don't interfere (there's info in the article on that for the 2.4GHz band, I also made sure my 5GHz channels were different in the two routers). You use the same SSID throughout your house. Works like a charm and you can use the cheapest routers to do this, nothing fancy is required.

 

https://www.hanselman.com/blog/ConfiguringTwoWirelessRoutersWithOneSSIDNetworkNameAtHomeForFreeRoaming.aspx

 

Good luck,

Lou

[zxcvbnm098]

Another vote for the Orbi system.

 

My 70 year old house (1900 sq/ft) is cinder block with plaster on inside walls. It was hell on Wifi, but with the Orbi I can watch TV on Apple TV while kids are in their rooms on their devices. I only need one satellite for my house.

[Outkaster]

I am even more confused now.

[timwat]

About what?