A router that can stand heavy WLAN/LAN use ?

[aavan]

Hi all,

We are a bunch of freelancers renting some space together as our "office".
We are 10 people, but if we count every devices there will be more or less 30 devices (smartphones + tablets + laptops, all major OSes mixed).

The zone to cover is not really big (900-1000 sqft maximum), but it's divided in 3 rooms by 2 thick walls.

At the moment everything is running on a Belkin F5D8235-4 which doesn't seem to be fit for our needs as wifi/lan randomly drops (router even becomes unresponsive).

We don't have a lot of money (which is why we got together to rent the space in the first place) but we'd like to improve our situation as sometimes it's quite unbearable.

Improving the situation means at the minimum that the connection won't drop.
Of course if it's faster, we'll be happier

I know it's asking a lot (low budget + heavy use + fast kind of sound like a unicorn router-wise) but could anybody help, please ?

 

[thiggins]

Is the router actually disconnecting from the WAN (internet)? Or just wireless devices disconnecting from the router?

With 30 users and 3 rooms you are expecting too much from any one router.

Upgrade to an AC router to get two bands. Then add one or two routers converted to access points and connect them via Ethernet to the router.

Separate devices by band and AP, putting slower devices (tablets, phones) on one AP and laptops on others.

You can get a TP-LINK Archer C7 or factory refurb Linksys EA6500 for about $100. Make that your main router and convert the old Belkin to an AP to start.

 

[fistv]

Can you run cables over the ceiling to get to the other offices ? If you can and for the least expensive, 1 good router and two or three other ones that you would turn into access points and hardwire to the first one or first router so to say, connected to your wan connection. For some reason stand alone access points are stupid expensive. I would then ethernet connect your printers and such to the routers turned access points so you would have one in each room, when you turn a 4 port router into an access points you also end up with usable switch ports too.
There is a few ways to do this depending on layout and pecking order I guess.
Example: Linksys wrt1900AC [$234 at bestbuy] for first router, two Netgear 3500L's [$49.00ea from Newegg] turned into access points. A UPS for the wide area modem and first router [wrt], I'd probably UPS the other two now access points.
If you have a dropped ceiling just run cables up there, remembering to not lay them on or alongside florescent lights and cross and power conduit at 90Degrees.
If you decided to stay get a network person to run some cable and give you a proper wall or floor mount rack to keep the core stuff in.

Or one of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...quiti_wired_router-_-0XP-000A-00001-_-Product
and one of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704023
and three of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122326&Tpk=WNDR3700
and three of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101494
Then whatever cables you would need.

wan modem > ubiquiti > switch > routers turned into AP's.
> printers
> wired stuff

 

[aavan]

Wow thanks for the super fast answers guys !

Is the router actually disconnecting from the WAN (internet)? Or just wireless devices disconnecting from the router?

The devices (seem to) stay connected, but trying to access internet, or even the router is impossible.

It is however possible to access the router or internet via ethernet though.

Sometimes it's impossible from ethernet, and possible through wireless...

With 30 users and 3 rooms you are expecting too much from any one router.

Not all the devices are wireless, we have approximately 10 wired devices, and then up to 20 wireless devices on top of that, but I suppose it doesn't change much to my problem

What sort of load could be expected from a single router ? I know it will vary greatly depending from the models and the environment, but is there a reasonable load I can count on ?

Wouldn't having several APs in place mean we have several different wifi network ? I suppose setting the same SSID and password for all the APs will not make a "unified" wifi network. Am I wrong ? (I hope I am ! )

 

[thiggins]

It sounds like the router is staying connected. Otherwise you would not be able to access internet from both wired and wireless. But since connectivity is dropping, there is probably some table getting overwritten (bad code).

The Belkin is pretty old, so moving up to most any dual-band N600 or AC router should help by bringing more processing power, memory and better firmware to the party.

Yes, even with 20 devices, you are probably exhausting wireless bandwidth. Look at it this way.

With a single 2x2 2.4 GHz AP, you're going to get a max TOTAL throughput of 80 Mbps with strongest signal (see chart), but more like 40 Mbps across a range of signal levels.

Split evenly among 20 devices, that's 2 Mbps average per client. But not all your devices get the same signal. The ones with the lowest signals slow down the whole network, reducing total available bandwidth.

Adding more access points in the right locations makes more bandwidth available if you set them to different channels (1, 6, 11) and raises average signal strength if they are located properly, which uses that new bandwidth more efficiently.

All the APs will be on the same network, i.e. devices can see each other and can have the same wireless security key. But setting up different SSIDs lets people connect to their closest AP to ensure best use of bandwidth.

 

[aavan]

Ok I see, thank you for your time, I'll discuss with the others to see how we can plan those changes.

I learned a lot, thank you all !