Hi folks, my inaugural post to SmallNetBuilder after lurking for a long, long time.
I'm in the market to replace (upgrade from) my trusty Netgear FWAG114, which I have been using as an AP in a 1700 sq ft apartment for nearly a decade, with another simultaneous dual-band unit. The Netgear has worked well enough - I think in all those years I've had to reboot it twice - but it can't keep up with today's bandwidth demands. Or yesterday's even. But as an AP it has been and remains rock-solid reliable and that remains crucial to me.
I basically just need an AP but am also thinking in terms of adding separate guest SSIDs (since I do have a sophisticated LAN at home with AD, Exchange, etc. but more for safety than mistrust), and see that in overall value (price, performance), the routers seem to have more bang for the buck. An ASUS RT-AC66U is well under $200 delivered yet APs that are barely competitive and relatively under-performing seem to be $100 more.
I wonder if my new purchase should keep wasting half of a wireless router or should I buy an AP this time and if so, which.
So, what say ye? WAP or router? Any suggestions for me, re a particular unit or overall strategy? Thanks to all in advance...
I'm in the market to replace (upgrade from) my trusty Netgear FWAG114, which I have been using as an AP in a 1700 sq ft apartment for nearly a decade, with another simultaneous dual-band unit. The Netgear has worked well enough - I think in all those years I've had to reboot it twice - but it can't keep up with today's bandwidth demands. Or yesterday's even. But as an AP it has been and remains rock-solid reliable and that remains crucial to me.
I basically just need an AP but am also thinking in terms of adding separate guest SSIDs (since I do have a sophisticated LAN at home with AD, Exchange, etc. but more for safety than mistrust), and see that in overall value (price, performance), the routers seem to have more bang for the buck. An ASUS RT-AC66U is well under $200 delivered yet APs that are barely competitive and relatively under-performing seem to be $100 more.
I wonder if my new purchase should keep wasting half of a wireless router or should I buy an AP this time and if so, which.
So, what say ye? WAP or router? Any suggestions for me, re a particular unit or overall strategy? Thanks to all in advance...