Need help with older tech...

[htismaqe]

My parents are cutting the cord. Until now, they had an N300 2.4Ghz Belkin which served them just fine but with the addition of a Roku and streaming services, they obviously need an upgrade.

I can't find any of the old ranking information for say AC1200 routers since they're so old now. What I'm looking for is best possible range, especially on 5Ghz, for as little dough as possible since they're on a fixed income. I've looked at some highly-rated (on Amazon) discount brands but know next to nothing about them. From there, it's a pretty significant step up on price to TP-Link (~$30 to ~$60) but I know virtually nothing about TP-Link either.

I don't really want to get into $100+ for this and neither do they. Just need dual band knowing that they've got 2 HD streams going at once, one Roku and one Kindle Fire (or laptop). Any ideas?

 

[degrub]

56 Mbit on N300 ( a really good connection) should be enough unless you are seeing actual stuttering.
It could be interference from other APs, router throughput, or too many walls for 2.4 GHz N

how many walls does the 5 GHz have to go through ?
Performance may be worse than 2.4 GHz.

What are the client devices capable of supporting ? It won't do any good to upgrade if the client is only capable of N300.

If one of the clients is capable of wired connection, i would use that and save the bandwidth for the other client. Cables are cheap.

 

[thiggins]

Look at the Revision 8 results and sort by price. There are a few AC1200s in there.

With few clients and a small area to cover, you can use most anything. There are plenty of good alternatives under $100, even with three streams (AC1750/AC1900).

 

[htismaqe]

It could be interference from other APs, router throughput, or too many walls for 2.4 GHz N

Not having been on-site yet, this is my assumption as well. I originally set their router up as 20Mhz only to avoid channel conflicts and it was still pretty crowded. Just one or two more neighbors close to their channel and it would be a mess.

how many walls does the 5 GHz have to go through ?
Performance may be worse than 2.4 GHz.

It's more about using 5Ghz to avoid the neighbors moreso than anything else. The primary streaming device is a Roku that is only about 20 feet from the router. The router is located close to the center of the house, near the ceiling in their basement. Secondary coverage would be in an upstairs bedroom, one floor and one wall away. 2.4Ghz would probably suffice there if 5Ghz couldn't reach. Furthermore, I could use their existing N300 as an AP to extend 2.4Ghz range up there but given the channel usage, that isn't ideal.

What are the client devices capable of supporting ? It won't do any good to upgrade if the client is only capable of N300.

If one of the clients is capable of wired connection, i would use that and save the bandwidth for the other client. Cables are cheap.

The Roku is a streaming stick and the other primary streaming device is a Kindle Fire, neither of which can be wired. Both of them support "802.11ac" according to their data sheets but that's all the info I have at this point.

Look at the Revision 8 results and sort by price. There are a few AC1200s in there.

With few clients and a small area to cover, you can use most anything. There are plenty of good alternatives under $100, even with three streams (AC1750/AC1900).

Okay awesome. I will check the Rev 8 results. I guess more than anything what I'm getting at is this:

I can buy a Tenda AC1200 router for less than $30. On Amazon it has nearly 1000 reviews with 4 stars. The primary negative comment is that it is "simplistic" and lacks documentation or support. For all intents and purposes, it has the same negative reviews as TP-Link which is more than twice as much. Should I go for the El Cheapo given that information? I mean going with a Linksys or Asus just isn't an option. Once you rule those out you're left with TP-Link, Belkin, and a bunch of cheaper alternatives, all of which suffer some drawback or another.

 

[htismaqe]

I can get a Tenda AC15 (which was reviewed by SNB) for just a hair over $50. I can't imagine being able to do better than that...

 

[htismaqe]

After talking with the folks, I decided to go forward with the AC15. Just can't beat that price...