Good Budget N Router

[Grant.Jewett]

I currently have a D-Link DIR-810L and it needs constant resetting, at least daily or not a few times a day. Also the range on the router is terrible, on the other side of my house I barely get 1Mbps down. I'm looking to replace it with a decent router, I'm looking to spend $50 or less. I don't need AC since none of my devices run at AC.

My friend reccomended a NETGEAR WNR3500L, but I'm concerned it will have range issues since it doesn't have external antennas.

I don't have many devices, 2 iphones, ipad, Desktop computer and I hard wire my blu-ray player. I don't transfer files between machines, just need it to share my internet service (30/5). Mainly looking for stability, which the D-Link is not providing.

 

[thiggins]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...d-ultimate-wireless-n-gigabit-router-reviewed if you just want 2.4 GHz.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...r3500-n600-wireless-dual-band-router-reviewed if you want dual-band

 

[Grant.Jewett]

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...d-ultimate-wireless-n-gigabit-router-reviewed if you just want 2.4 GHz.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...r3500-n600-wireless-dual-band-router-reviewed if you want dual-band

What would be the advantage to going dual band? It looks like the dual band is slightly cheaper on Amazon. Also, would both of those preform better then the Netgear router?

 

[thiggins]

What would be the advantage to going dual band? It looks like the dual band is slightly cheaper on Amazon. Also, would both of those preform better then the Netgear router?

5 GHz band is less crowded, but has lower range. Your devices need to be dual-band to use it.

Can't say whether one is better than the other, since we tested the WNR3500L a long time ago and the current model is probably a different revision.

These are the top-ranked N300 routers most recently tested.

 

[htismaqe]

Don't be scared away by internal antennas. The Netgear WNDR3700 was a performance beast N600 router with no external antennas.

 

[Grant.Jewett]

I guess I'm in over my head. what doesn N300/N600 mean and should I be looking at a specific class? Would I be better served stepping up to a more expensive router? I don't feel like I put the router through much, just want it to be reliable and have decent range. I don't want to buy another router and have as many problems as my current d-link unit does.

I can get the NETGEAR WNR3500L for $30.46, the TP-LINK TL-WDR3500 for $32.98, the TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND for $37.12.

 

[htismaqe]

Unfortunately, when it comes to long-term stability, reviews aren't as readily available. Anecdotally, I've heard a lot of good things about the TL-WDR3500.

 

[stevech]

I've been pleased with last two ASUS WiFi routers. One was $30, single band. Another was $60 simultaneous dual band. Internal antennas. Good firmware. No reboots needed.
External antennas might help by 2dB or so but that small number is negligible compared to an 80dB or more path loss that is common.

 

[Grant.Jewett]

Would the TP-Link Archer c5 be worth double the cost of either of the three above routers? Or would I be just as well off with the cheaper models?

 

[thiggins]

I guess I'm in over my head. what doesn N300/N600 mean and should I be looking at a specific class? Would I be better served stepping up to a more expensive router? I don't feel like I put the router through much, just want it to be reliable and have decent range. I don't want to buy another router and have as many problems as my current d-link unit does..

For background: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basi...620-how-to-buy-a-wireless-router-2015-edition

 

[Grant.Jewett]

For background: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basi...620-how-to-buy-a-wireless-router-2015-edition

That helped quite a bit. So where my internet is 30/5 and I don't have a need to move files between devices over wifi a N300/N600 class should suit my needs fine for now. I don't really have any devices in my house which run on 2.4GHz (just a baby monitor, but I should be able to pick a channel far enough way from it to be fine). So by using the Router Ranker the best N300 would be Mediabridge MWN-WAPR300N and the best N600 would be D-Link DIR-827 HD Media Router 2000. Given my recent history with D-Link I would be more inclined to go with the second place TP-LINK TL-WDR3500.

From what I read I don't see that I would gain anything extra by going with the TP Link Archer c5 given my current set up and how I intend to use the router. Would you agree?

 

[thiggins]

From what I read I don't see that I would gain anything extra by going with the TP Link Archer c5 given my current set up and how I intend to use the router. Would you agree?

One more article for you
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...oes-an-ac-router-improve-n-device-performance

 

[Grant.Jewett]

Well that is interesting. While I don't need AC now it seems that the AC router might give me better range/performance. So the Archer C5 might be my best bet at the moment given my budget. I can't justify spending $100's nor do I feel that I need to, but the Archer c5 might hit the sweet spot.

 

[htismaqe]

The other thing you need to be careful of with an older router (N300/N600) is how many devices you have.

Without getting too technical, the old WNDR3700 handled the speed of my internet connection fine and had plenty of throughput but couldn't handle enough simultaneous connections to/from the Internet. The Mediabridge N300 router actually maxes out with FEWER simultaneous connections than my old Netgear.

 

[Grant.Jewett]

I ordered the TP-Link Archer c5. I got home and discovered that my d-link was down again.