Best 2.4 GHz router with storage?

[SunrisePro]

And ... it worked!!! Figured out the tv's MAC address, changed the device type in Twonky settings, restarted the media server and VOILA! Thanks @htismaqe for that link!

 

[htismaqe]

Sweet!

 

[SunrisePro]

The 5Ghz signal just disappeared from the router, and then reappeared without a reboot. Acrylic shows the signal to be much lower than usual and sporadic. Any idea what is going on?

 

[SunrisePro]

And the latest weirdness - just lost all connectivity and saw only the power light blinking. It would *not* reset (I held the the button in for 30s). I thought it was bricked and it felt hot. Finally after I unplugged the power, ethernet & usb cables & restarted it seemed to work normally. I plugged everything back in and all seems copacetic.

Do I have a faulty router? Or is this normal? I see that there's a firmware update, I'm going to update and see if anything changes.

 

[SunrisePro]

Update - the router did it again. After unplugging everything, then plugging in the power and starting it up, I was able to reset it to factory settings.

Something is up with the router - has anyone else experienced this? Even after reset the 5Ghz signal is erratic (either on or not, it just disappears). Methinks I have a faulty router - yea or nay?

@htismaqe @thiggins

 

[thiggins]

Methinks I have a faulty router - yea or nay?

Well, it sure ain't acting normal. Send it back and get a new one

 

[SunrisePro]

Will do, hoping Amazon will send a replacement first or something. Sigh...

 

[sfx2000]

Will do, hoping Amazon will send a replacement first or something. Sigh...

Also check out Linksys support direct - this is a high end router/device for them, and you're just getting into the warranty period - the behavior you've noted is not normal...

You noted there was a firmware update pending, so do apply that - there were some stability issues early on with this device, but later firmware pretty much sorted that out.

 

[sfx2000]

One other quick note - since you opened this thread with the purpose of also using the storage capability..

If you're using external storage, e.g. USB, is the drive bus powered, or self-powered with a wall adapter?

 

[Trip]

If standalone performance and reliability are really that important, have you ever thought about a decent NAS instead? An entry-level Synology with a couple 1TB drives should be right around $250 USD. I realize the cost is possibly prohibitive, but perhaps not quite as much when looked at from the potential savings on opportunity cost spent screwing around with flaky all-in-ones. Just a thought.

 

[sfx2000]

If standalone performance and reliability are really that important, have you ever thought about a decent NAS instead? An entry-level Synology with a couple 1TB drives should be right around $250 USD.

The storage performance over USB3/eSATA on the WRT1900ac/WRT1200ac is fairly close to what one would see for basic file-sharing on a low-end Marvell based NAS device - which is reasonable, as it's basically the same System on Chip/CPU cores...

Not as feature rich as a dedicated NAS box - and I agree, depending on needs, a NAS is typically a better storage device.

 

[System Error Message]

Achieving up to 80MB/s is sufficient because many 2.5 inch hard drives have that throughput and gigabit ethernet can handle up to 120MB/s per port. So unless you combine ports at your router theres no reason to need more. Wifi however is much slower and even if a few feet away from the router using a 2 stream client expect to only get 500Mb/s through which is a lot less than 80MB/s

 

[htismaqe]

I'm bumping this. I would strongly recommend using a drive enclosure with an external power source. Don't rely on the USB bus to power the drive.

One other quick note - since you opened this thread with the purpose of also using the storage capability..

If you're using external storage, e.g. USB, is the drive bus powered, or self-powered with a wall adapter?

 

[SunrisePro]

Yes, the external drive does have its own power source, so no worries there. Its performance has been almost completely rock solid - we've watched stuff on the tv while writing files to the drive with no problems. I'm *extremely* pleased about this since it was a major impetus for getting the Linksys - and this is a primary reason why I'd like to resolve the Linksys issues rather than get a different router. That and the fact that I got the signals to be really nice & steady, I don't want to go through that process again.

A NAS would be nice but it's definitely out of budget

I have applied the latest firmware (it self-installed after resetting the router and going through the setup process). The 5Ghz radio is still on the fritz - rather than the signal ebbing & flowing, it just winks in & out. That suggests to my not-so-knowledgable-brain a hardware issue with this particular device - as does the inability to reset it without unplugging everything.

Much thanks to everyone who's piped in - you've helped me learn a lot, I appreciate it

 

[htismaqe]

Yep, exchange it. Sounds like it's screwed up.

 

[SunrisePro]

Installed the new router yesterday mid-afternoon. All has been good except around 10pm when the DLNA connection was dropped (on the 5Ghz radio, the TV was the only device on it). The TV is 10ft from the router and the signals are very steady (I imported my old config). Everything was fine after I restarted the router but any tips on keeping an eye on it? I'm going to run Acrylic all day today in case it happens again.

Also, this router runs pretty hot - could that be an issue? I assume the fan takes care of it but it still seems darn hot nonetheless.

 

[sfx2000]

All has been good except around 10pm when the DLNA connection was dropped (on the 5Ghz radio, the TV was the only device on it). The TV is 10ft from the router and the signals are very steady (I imported my old config). Everything was fine after I restarted the router but any tips on keeping an eye on it? I'm going to run Acrylic all day today in case it happens again.

Hmm... just a thought - can you put Acrylic into Monitor Mode (not all Client adapters support this) - I'm wondering if you have an adjacent hidden network that might be interfering with your 5GHz...

 

[SunrisePro]

I don't see an option for 'Monitor Mode' but perhaps it's because I'm using the free version?

There's not much in the 5Ghz realm - a neighbor has a very week one that only shows up sporadically. I have to change channels in 2Ghz because a new fairly strong network showed up over the weekend. There is very little local activity with in 5Ghz.

 

[SunrisePro]

I'm starting to think Amazon's batch of these routers is crap. First a few nights ago, the 5Ghz radio dropped completely (see above on Monday). Ugh, so I switched the TV, which was the only thing on that radio, to 2.4. For the last day or so the 2.4 radio has been slow as molasses - including getting an error when watching Amazon video on the TV about not having enough bandwidth. Switching to the 5Ghz radio got us back to a more normal speed & bandwidth.

Just now, BOTH radios just disappeared, literally a minute after I opened Acrylic after my wife complained about slowness. I just restarted the router and both radios are back but this is concerning.

Thoughts? Is it the router? Me? Amazon's batch? All the folks happy about this router can't be wrong...

 

[sfx2000]

I don't see an option for 'Monitor Mode' but perhaps it's because I'm using the free version?

There's not much in the 5Ghz realm - a neighbor has a very week one that only shows up sporadically. I have to change channels in 2Ghz because a new fairly strong network showed up over the weekend. There is very little local activity with in 5Ghz.

When running the Acrylic WiFi installer, it has the option to install a WinPCAP driver, but that only works with certain WiFi cards...

Going back to your 5GHz oddness - I can understand perhaps getting a bum device first time around, but two in a row? And what you're seeing is atypical of what many have reported...

I'm wondering if it is something environmental with your network/devices that is tripping things up somehow...

Weird...