Buying advice for router

[Tomovich]

Hello

Currently at home I have a provider supplied modem/router combo on which all my devices are connected, either by cable or by wifi. It's a 802.11n version.

I'm planning to buy a new router which I'll place behind the modem/router. From then on, this will be the one on which I'll connect all my devices.

I want a new router to have a bigger range and faster wifi. 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks must be under the same network name and the router must have great bandsteering. I don't want to manually change from Wireless2.4 to Wireless5 all the time.
I'm also planning to attach a Pi-Hole to the new router.
Lastly I want to setup the router so that the traffic on a certain UTP-port is routed throug a openVPN connection.

Can you help me find a great router? I've read about the Netgear R7000P on The Wirecutter but the user reactions aren't that positive. And the alternative, Synology router, doesn't seem to have great bandsteering. I don't know alot about routers so I don't really know which is good and which is not.

Concerning the Pi-Hole, I have a problem in that I can't change DHCP settings on the provider modem/router. And I'm not certain how to fix this problem.

What I forgot to mention, I'm looking to spend about 150 EUR = 175 USD.

Thanks!

 

[R@pt0rs]

@Tomovich,

For your router question you should try to specify how big your house is since that can change the recommendation of which router you should use. As for the Pi-Hole question. If you just want to use it as a way to block Ads, you really don't need it to take on the role of a DHCP server. Instead change your router's (either the one provided by your service provider or the one you are going to buy yourself) DNS provider to point to your raspberry Pis' IP address (I do recommend to have your Pi set a static IP address). In term then have Pi-Hole use your prefered DNS server (Google [8.8.8.8], Quad 9 [9.9.9.9], or Cloudfare [1.1.1.1] to name a few) to do your DNS queries. Hope this helps.

 

[Tomovich]

Our house is a two floor house of about 150 square meter (built of bricks).

For the Pi-Hole, I can't change DNS settings either in the provider modem/router.
What are the differences between these DNS servers? Why choose Google and not Cloudflare?

 

[R@pt0rs]

@Tomovich, I would say that unless you have lead or iron water pipes any of the AC routers on the router rank would serve you well. I had an Asus AC87 U and it was good back in the days when I was living in a 1400 square foot home and I had a basement. Just give it a try. If it doesn't work just return it.

As for your provider router if you get a new wifi router you might want to see if it supports bridge mode (if it is a cable modem) or some kind of passthrough move for anything else. This operation mode will just turn turn your provider's wifi router to be just a plain modem. But if you are not comfortable to do this you might want to read the forums some more.

As for the various DNS provider's it's a function where you are in the world 1.1.1.1 claim to fame is that they are the fastest while keeping your request anonymous and not logged. 9.9.9.9 does DNS sec and Google is also not too bad. If you google raspberry Pi DNS tester there is a good Python script that will actually try the various DNS providers and will show you which one is good for your location. Hope this helps you out a bit.

Remember having a Pi half the fun is just figuring new stuff out just for the hay of it.

 

[Tomovich]

The provider modem/rout cannot be put in bridge nor in passthrough of any kind.