Best Router for 3000 sqft home

[Mwh21]

Hi All, I am new to this Forum and looking for purchasing advice on a wireless router. I have some knowledge, but not a ton around this.

I have built a new home, (approx 3000 sqft, 2 stories & finished basement) looking for great coverage throughout the home. We will be running multiple devices (iPads & iPhones) and streaming video to 2 or 3 TVs. Again, one on each floor. Will also be running a wireless printer to it.

My current provide is Spectrum. Not sure if that makes a difference. I don't have a brand preference. Would like to stay around $250-$300. Any help or advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[pege63]

Budged 200-300 usd
Wath i would do is buy a EdgeRouter-X
Then two ACCESS POINTS Ubiquiti UniFi PRO or Ubiquiti UniFi LR

Or a Mesh network as Linksys Velop or a Netgear Orbi but now you are at 350-500 usd budget

 

[thiggins]

If you have Ethernet available on each floor, try Google Home, with each Mesh point connected via Ethernet.

If you don't have Ethernet available, try NETGEAR Orbi.

 

[ppilot]

If you have Ethernet available on each floor, try Google Home, with each Mesh point connected via Ethernet.

If you don't have Ethernet available, try NETGEAR Orbi.

Based on my experience the last three months, I am going to disagree with Tim on the Orbi recommendation as the firmware situation is a complete trainwreck.

 

[thiggins]

Based on my experience the last three months, I am going to disagree with Tim on the Orbi recommendation as the firmware situation is a complete trainwreck.

Please say some more about the wreck...

 

[exm]

I agree about the Orbi. Had to return my. Constant dropouts and latency issues.

As far as the OP is concerned, go with a Mesh solution but you might want to sit tight 1-2 months. Prices keep on dropping, and I'm personally awaiting the Asus Mesh solution.

 

[ppilot]

Please say some more about the wreck...

I really liked the Orbi when I first got it, especially when compared to the problems I was starting to have with my aging R7000's. However within a couple weeks I was noticing that the the wireless backhaul was having issues with sustained activity such as streaming movies from my NAS or watching Live TV on my Xbox 360 via WMC (which is hard wired to the satellite). Additionally the backhaul just stopped functioning any time the microwave was on, an issue that made me wonder if there was some kind of signal leakage between the the two devices as I never had that problem with my Bridged R7000's.

So after two after two firmware updates that did absolutely nothing to fix the problems despite me working with the Orbi support team, 1.9 was a revelation. The backhaul was fully stable and the microwave interference no longer was an issue. Then the 1.10 update happened and made the wifi completely unusable as all my iOS devices couldn't stay connected.

Netgear then put me on the latest Beta Firmware, which fixed the connection drops but the backhaul is not stable again as live TV doesn't work at all.

This will be the 5th support ticket I've opened since buying the Orbi in February and I am really hoping we can get some kind of resolution before my support runs out on June 10th.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for detailing your troubles ppilot. I have to say I don't know why your microwave would affect Orbi's backhaul, which operates only in 5 GHz. How do you know the backhaul was affected?

 

[ppilot]

Thanks for detailing your troubles ppilot. I have to say I don't know why your microwave would affect Orbi's backhaul, which operates only in 5 GHz. How do you know the backhaul was affected?

Oh I agree it seems weird as I think Microwaves operate at 2.4 GHz right? Anyway it's because my Xbox 360 is connected to the WMC PC via the backaul as it is wired to the satellite. The same goes with my Fire TV and I never had any problems with Microwave interference with the my bridged R7000's. Whereas with the Orbi, turning on the microwave would instantly stop anything that was streaming as soon as it was turned on, with the connection stabilizing again after the microwave turned off.

Also the 1.9 firmware basically completely fixed the issue, which made the following shirtshows of firmware releases that much more puzzling.

 

[avtella]

If looking at mesh I would probably go with Google, their customer service is way better than the consumer networking companies.

 

[coxhaus]

You need to make sure you have at least CAT5e installed in the walls regardless of what you do. Setup the TVs to use wire not wireless. Only use your wireless for mobile devices. Your basement is probably where your internet will come into so I think a wired router with one or more APs would be the best solution. A single router in the basement is probably not going to cover the 2 stories above with a good wireless solution. The single wireless router is the easy solution but then you learn to live with dead spots in your house.

 

[TonyH]

Hi All, I am new to this Forum and looking for purchasing advice on a wireless router. I have some knowledge, but not a ton around this.

I have built a new home, (approx 3000 sqft, 2 stories & finished basement) looking for great coverage throughout the home. We will be running multiple devices (iPads & iPhones) and streaming video to 2 or 3 TVs. Again, one on each floor. Will also be running a wireless printer to it.

My current provide is Spectrum. Not sure if that makes a difference. I don't have a brand preference. Would like to stay around $250-$300. Any help or advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Building a new home(you built it?, LOL!) I am sure you ran the cables throughout the house. My house is also 2 story, almost the size of your house but I don't have many devices like you do. I manage with one router, NG R7800. Router is located on upstairs loft about center of the house. I can connect to router via wireless from front or back yard patio. Mind you lot is not that big, just typical suburban size.

 

[sfx2000]

Hi All, I am new to this Forum and looking for purchasing advice on a wireless router. I have some knowledge, but not a ton around this.

I have built a new home, (approx 3000 sqft, 2 stories & finished basement) looking for great coverage throughout the home. We will be running multiple devices (iPads & iPhones) and streaming video to 2 or 3 TVs. Again, one on each floor. Will also be running a wireless printer to it.

Each AP is going to be good for around 1500 sq ft on 2.4GHz, and 750 sq ft on 5GHz, based on the location of the AP in a single plane..

So for a multiple level home, consider each floor a single plane...

One can play with antenna's to work it - lower gain is better actually, as it expands the pattern, so high gain antennas are basically out if one is trying to cover two floors with a single AP....

My thoughts here - dual band AP's, focus on localized coverage for 5GHz, and the 2.4GHz will fill the gaps - and ethernet definitely as a backhaul...

 

[ulaganath]

Its hard to get wifi with single router.

May be multiple access points make sense. Get 7800 and netgear wac510 or 720 or 730 based on your needs. I would say 2x2 ac is fine for now.

So you can get to extend the wifi.

But you need to do hardwire to ap. It also need a POE injector for power if you dont own a poe switch.

 

[avtella]

Not necessarily, I cover 3 floors (2.4/5Ghz) (including basement) with a single router on the top floor. I mean it also depends on construction materials, house size and what speeds you expect.

 

[coxhaus]

It is hard to believe 5GHz is penetrating 2 floors. I can't get 5 GHz to go through 3 walls in my house. Now 2.4 GHz will.

 

[avtella]

Yeah I can stream Netflix in my basement, with an R7000 we had dead spots even though it could reach the basement but the R7800 or R8500 both reach pretty much all over. I'm pretty sure an Asus AC88U, RT-AC5300 or Synology RT2600AC could also cover our house as the sole router. Placement is roughly centered on the top floor, on the floor with a small wooden desk over it. Here is my test with the R8500, using a Dell Latitude E6230 with a Intel 7260ac adpater upgrade; 5Ghz I get 68 MB/s Downlink and 52 MB/s uplink on same floor, from my NAS, ~60MB/s downlink and ~47 MB/s uplink one floor below and ~45 MB/s downlink and ~10-12 MB/s uplink in basement, the router is pretty much vertically above the test points. The uplink takes the biggest hit by the time I'm in the basement. My house is 2605 sqft.

As I said building materials (i.e. interiors of wood vs brick etc), placement and router characteristics all are important. This week I was setting up WiFi for a family friend and he bought an R7800 and that same router in his house its 5Ghz band could barely reach the basement even though it was on the floor above, their granite flooring with in-floor heating didn't help with that either. To top it off we put it in a corner at the edge of his house in his office with a cement wall/stairway/book case in the way, line of sight wise to his living room. This meant the signal for 5Ghz in his living room was about what I get in my basement if not worse. It's not always possible to put a router in an area of optimal signal distribution.

Maybe OP can get away with a single router like an AC88U, R7800, or RT-2600AC which should be within his budget, could always try it and return the selected router if it doesn't fit your needs and get a mesh product after that.

 

[ulaganath]

So r7800 does have good range. I dont complaint but 5ghz for me is hard reaching a single wall and wardrobe

I get coverage but not like line of site

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

 

[avtella]

Well in India every interior wall and floor is usually concrete/brick, the steel bars reinforcing the concrete don't help either, so you won't get as much 5Ghz range. If mostly wood/drywall interiors you would have much greater range like in my case.