Best router to go with Arris 6183 modem

[pigthree]

I just want a good router that works with the modem I am buying. I have charter cable 100 package. I have an Amazon fire stick, 3 Alexa Echos, a PS4, a XBOX One, 3 tablets, 2 computers, and 3 smart phones. They don't all run at the same time but probably around 50-60% are running at any one time. My question is I want a router that can handle the bandwidth and power. The house is 3 floors but only 1700sq feet. I am trying to decide between the Asus 3100, Asus 3200, Asus68u, the nighthawk x6, or the Nighthawk R7000. Am I over shooting on my router since my cable provider will never give me the download speeds to take advantage of those routers? Any advice on which router I should go with for my Arris 6183 modem would be much appreciated. Thank you

 

[ikjadoon]

I just want a good router that works with the modem I am buying. I have charter cable 100 package. I have an Amazon fire stick, 3 Alexa Echos, a PS4, a XBOX One, 3 tablets, 2 computers, and 3 smart phones. They don't all run at the same time but probably around 50-60% are running at any one time. My question is I want a router that can handle the bandwidth and power. The house is 3 floors but only 1700sq feet. I am trying to decide between the Asus 3100, Asus 3200, Asus68u, the nighthawk x6, or the Nighthawk R7000. Am I over shooting on my router since my cable provider will never give me the download speeds to take advantage of those routers? Any advice on which router I should go with for my Arris 6183 modem would be much appreciated. Thank you

What's your budget? You should read up on SmallNetBuilder articles to help tease out the BS of WiFi routers; if you're talking about the "2600Mbps" numbers, realize that's like a Formula 1 team saying, "We're not going to tell you the speed of our car, but the total speed of all the cars on the racetrack combined...and these cars are using non-standard super tires that will destroy the track for everyone else and technically, we're going to get four cars and string them together to create little super units...even if that's not how the race runs and no car actually has the hardware to support linking up. That's...that's how we'll market it. Because that's what you wanted to know, right? Even though not a single car is actually going that speed. Because this number is bigger and people like bigger. I don't care if it's confusing or misleading. We're putting the combined number of every car, Dave, and that's that. And you know what? I'm going to take that number...and do the entire process at a totally different track and we're going to add those two total speeds together. Yes. This is it."

But the whole industry does that now, so nobody wants to fall behind with truthful numbers. But to figure out the actual speed of the single car (i.e., what speed your phone will connect at), it takes a bit of math.

Read this: https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basics/wireless-basics/32175-how-fast-can-your-wi-fi-go

Luckily, SNB tests just that: a single device connecting. The best way to analyze routers, IMO, is to look at their real throughput over attenuation charts found here. Attenuation is loss/disruption of signal: distance = increases attenuation. walls/obstructions/metal walls = increase attenuation. interference (e.g., a microwave turning on) = increase attenuation. The best router will give higher throughput (measured in Mbps) at higher attenuation (measured in dB). Right? Even with a lot of walls and obstruction (i.e., high attenuation), you'd want higher throughput. You can see the average, or just pick a high attenuation to see the details. You'll see many of them drop under 100Mbps (especially on 2.4GHz).

For speed alone (forgetting all other performance features like beamforming, MU-MIMO, etc.), look at higher thoroughput at a high attenuation.
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/view

Right, there's two WiFi frequencies these days: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The 5GHz is faster, but longer range; 2.4GHz is slower, but higher range. 5GHz is optional; not all devices support it, so even if your router has it, it won't do any good. But most newer devices come with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz (also known as bands; so dual-band means you have both frequencies).

Notice that attenuation can bring some routers down to lower speeds. But if they're still faster than your internet, then you're golden. The only time you'd sincerely want higher throughput than your internet is for large transfers within your network (not going to the internet at all; just between devices on your network). This is either for NAS or local media streaming.

Briefly, for 3 floors, you'd want to place the router in the central location on the 2nd floor (central being the center spot of all the places you'd be using WiFi; if you only use WiFi on the left side of the house, then, put the router closer to that "center").

EDIT: for your recommendation, right. I'm not sure which two those first routers are, but check the charts. See which has higher throughput at higher attenuation. That one will give you the best speeds with the most obstacles in the way (like your three floors). If you're just looking for maximum speed right next to the router, just use 3 or 6dB attenuation and see the fastest one that'll fit in your budget.

 

[pigthree]

What's your budget? You should read up on SmallNetBuilder articles to help tease out the BS of WiFi routers; if you're talking about the "2600Mbps" numbers, realize that's like a Formula 1 team saying, "We're not going to tell you the speed of our car, but the total speed of all the cars on the racetrack combined...and these cars are using non-standard super tires that will destroy the track for everyone else and technically, we're going to get four cars and string them together to create little super units...even if that's not how the race runs and no car actually has the hardware to support linking up. That's...that's how we'll market it. Because that's what you wanted to know, right? Even though not a single car is actually going that speed. Because this number is bigger and people like bigger. I don't care if it's confusing or misleading. We're putting the combined number of every car, Dave, and that's that. And you know what? I'm going to take that number...and do the entire process at a totally different track and we're going to add those two total speeds together. Yes. This is it."

But the whole industry does that now, so nobody wants to fall behind with truthful numbers. But to figure out the actual speed of the single car (i.e., what speed your phone will connect at), it takes a bit of math.

Read this: https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basics/wireless-basics/32175-how-fast-can-your-wi-fi-go

Luckily, SNB tests just that: a single device connecting. The best way to analyze routers, IMO, is to look at their real throughput over attenuation charts found here. Attenuation is loss/disruption of signal: distance = increases attenuation. walls/obstructions/metal walls = increase attenuation. interference (e.g., a microwave turning on) = increase attenuation. The best router will give higher throughput (measured in Mbps) at higher attenuation (measured in dB). Right? Even with a lot of walls and obstruction (i.e., high attenuation), you'd want higher throughput. You can see the average, or just pick a high attenuation to see the details. You'll see many of them drop under 100Mbps (especially on 2.4GHz).

For speed alone (forgetting all other performance features like beamforming, MU-MIMO, etc.), look at higher thoroughput at a high attenuation.
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/view

Right, there's two WiFi frequencies these days: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The 5GHz is faster, but longer range; 2.4GHz is slower, but higher range. 5GHz is optional; not all devices support it, so even if your router has it, it won't do any good. But most newer devices come with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz (also known as bands; so dual-band means you have both frequencies).

Notice that attenuation can bring some routers down to lower speeds. But if they're still faster than your internet, then you're golden. The only time you'd sincerely want higher throughput than your internet is for large transfers within your network (not going to the internet at all; just between devices on your network). This is either for NAS or local media streaming.

Briefly, for 3 floors, you'd want to place the router in the central location on the 2nd floor (central being the center spot of all the places you'd be using WiFi; if you only use WiFi on the left side of the house, then, put the router closer to that "center").

EDIT: for your recommendation, right. I'm not sure which two those first routers are, but check the charts. See which has higher throughput at higher attenuation. That one will give you the best speeds with the most obstacles in the way (like your three floors). If you're just looking for maximum speed right next to the router, just use 3 or 6dB attenuation and see the fastest one that'll fit in your budget.

Ok thank you. I guess I have a lot more reading up to do to truly understand. I was hoping it was a simple answer but it's not. Thank you for taking the time to inform me a little more and provide links for me to read up on it.

 

[doczenith1]

My vote is for the Asus 68U. It's a great bang for the buck router with mature firmware. I had an Asus AC3100 for a while and it gave me only marginally better range and throughput over my 68U. Where the 3100 did excel was when using it as a VPN client at it has a 1.4 Ghz processor vs 1.0 on the 68U. That said, the Best Buy exclusive Asus RT-AC1900P (same router as the 68U with an upgraded 1.4 Ghz processor) is a good option if you don't have any 4x4 clients that can take advantage of the 4x4 capable AC3100.

Don't let the AC3200 fool you into thinking that it is similar to the AC3100. The 3200 is a generation older and has one 2.4 Ghz and two 5 Ghz radios i.e. tri-band and is a 3x3 router just like the 68U/1900P.

 

[pigthree]

My vote is for the Asus 68U. It's a great bang for the buck router with mature firmware. I had an Asus AC3100 for a while and it gave me only marginally better range and throughput over my 68U. Where the 3100 did excel was when using it as a VPN client at it has a 1.4 Ghz processor vs 1.0 on the 68U. That said, the Best Buy exclusive Asus RT-AC1900P (same router as the 68U with an upgraded 1.4 Ghz processor) is a good option if you don't have any 4x4 clients that can take advantage of the 4x4 capable AC3100.

Don't let the AC3200 fool you into thinking that it is similar to the AC3100. The 3200 is a generation older and has one 2.4 Ghz and two 5 Ghz radios i.e. tri-band and is a 3x3 router just like the 68U/1900P.

Thank you is the 88U worth the extra money over the 68U for my purpose with a max ISP provider speed of 75mbs?

 

[doczenith1]

The 88U is identical to the AC3100 with the addition of 4 ethernet ports. My 68U will do 940 Mbps WAN to LAN so if you're not using the router as a VPN client there really isn't any need for the more expensive 88U/3100 with your connection speed. The 88U/3100 is a 4x4 router (4 simultaneous AC streams) so if you had two 4x4 capable clients on your network then LAN to LAN transfers would benefit from the increase speed of the 4x4 connection.