Need advice about my next wireless router

[enzyme]

Hello to all,

I actually have a Linksys E4200 router.

My devices connected to this router are:
- 2 desktops and 2 laptops with internal 802.11n card,
- 1 NAS with 802.11n USB adapter,
- 1 laptop and 1 phone with 802.11ac.

In the furure, I will upgrade all my 802.11n devices to 802.11ac.

I play games on internet and I use occasionally a bittorrent client.

Today, I'm looking for a 802.11ac wireless router.

Can you help me to choose a model?

Thank you.

 

[sfx2000]

If your network is running well, I would suggest waiting a couple of months until after the Christmas break. Prices will come down as the technology matures.

The E4200 is a fine router.

 

[enzyme]

I live in France and after Christmas the sales are not interesting.

 

[stevech]

I'd wait a year for 11ac

 

[enzyme]

Which model do you suggest?

 

[fistv]

I happy with my Linksys wrt1900ac, been up for over a month, have not touched it other than to replace the wall rack with a 12" deep one and during the process network cables were removed, unit moved, longer network cables plugged in and then reversed once I got everything in place. It is running the latest firmware. It's in my basement, covers the basement, first floor and the second floor as well including my sony blue ray in the master bedroom.

 

[enzyme]

Nice, thank you for your answer.

 

[htismaqe]

My WRT1900AC has been rock solid for 2 months. Uptime is currently 59 days and counting. Everything is going great and throughput is the best I've ever had.

 

[steeps]

I happy with my Linksys wrt1900ac, been up for over a month, have not touched it other than to replace the wall rack with a 12" deep one and during the process network cables were removed, unit moved, longer network cables plugged in and then reversed once I got everything in place. It is running the latest firmware. It's in my basement, covers the basement, first floor and the second floor as well including my sony blue ray in the master bedroom.

I like the Linksys but I'd like a few more features in the settings.
Did you consider an Asus or Netgear router?
If so, which model?
What made you go with Linksys WRT1900AC?

 

[steeps]

My WRT1900AC has been rock solid for 2 months. Uptime is currently 59 days and counting. Everything is going great and throughput is the best I've ever had.

I like the Linksys but I'd like a few more features in the settings.
Did you consider an Asus or Netgear router?
If so, which model?
What made you go with Linksys WRT1900AC?

 

[htismaqe]

I like the Linksys but I'd like a few more features in the settings.
Did you consider an Asus or Netgear router?
If so, which model?
What made you go with Linksys WRT1900AC?

I actually tried both the Asus RT-A68W and the Netgear R7000.

The R7000 was the first AC1900 router I bought and it was an absolute nightmare. It runs DD-WRT well and I've heard that the most recent firmware is pretty good but after 6 months of problems and some of the worst tech support I've ever experienced, I gave up on it before they got all of the issues ironed out.

The Asus was fine but I didn't like the way it handles guest networks compared to the Linksys firmware. Performance-wise there's not a whole lot of difference, although I get slightly better 5Ghz throughput on the Linksys.

In between the Asus and Netgear, I tried the Linksys EA6900. I needed better performance but the firmware was just exactly what I wanted. Since it is identical to the FW on the WRT1900AC, I ended up going with the WRT.

 

[fistv]

I like the Linksys but I'd like a few more features in the settings.
Did you consider an Asus or Netgear router?
If so, which model?
What made you go with Linksys WRT1900AC?

Mostly by accident, had a house full of family when my SMC7008 bit the dust on a friday morning so it was what was at best buy. Ran out and got it. All they had were low end ones and 2 wrt1900ac's. I've always had good luck with linksys. Had I had more time I would have gone with another wired router and just reused my linksys wap.
Not an asus finished product fan, components yes. Never had much experience with a netgear router, do have one NIB WNR3500L v2 I picked up when a friend of my wifes said hers was not working, it was, she switched from DSL to cable and the tech had no idea he had to change it. That was a few weeks ago, still have not tried it out.

 

[RogerSC]

Guess I had a different experience with the R7000...Have had one for about a year now. Yes, there were some bumps with stock firmware for some time. I detoured over to dd-wrt for several months, and am now back on the stock firmware primarily. It's working great for me, although it has some of the same issues as the WRT1900AC firmware of not having as much router and network monitoring capability as I'm used to. Or at least not as much as I like to see.

I have a WRT1900AC here, in addition to the R7000, and choose to use the R7000 pretty much all the time (still waiting for new firmware for the WRT1900AC, been quite a while now). My take on this is that the R7000 is a better all-around wireless router than the WRT1900AC, so the Linksys basically gathers dust here.

I know that not everyone here agrees with me, but that's what makes the world go round *smile*.

 

[bbb0777]

I bought the Asus RT-AC68U, because:

I wanted an AC router with external antennas. External antennas because I think they maximize range.

On Newegg & Amazon, the three top user-rated AC routers with external antennas were the Asus AC-68U, Netgear R7000, & Linskys AC1900. They were also the top 3 reviewed AC1900 routers on this website. All had essentially the same rating on Newegg. On Amazon the AC-68U averaged 4.3, while the other two averaged 4.1

For price (in the US), the Linskys AC1900 was by far the most. Googling forums, it seemed to receive the least praise as well, so I ruled that out. So then it was Asus AC68U or Netgear R7000.


Between those two was hardest for me. I opted for AC68U because:

• Got a really great price on it (sorry that doesn't help you I know)
  
• Merlin Firmware - *perfect* alternative firmware for my tastes, as it's focused on performance instead of adding features, and tries to stay close to stock rather than go off on a tangent.
  
• Support community (aside from Merlin firmware) - Maybe I missed it, but it seemed Asus routers had by far the best community. Decently active, knowledgeable web forums; custom code to increase power output/unlock channels; the aforementioned Merlin firmware; and even Merlin *fork* firmware.
  
• It's prettier by my taste. Seriously. The Netgear looks a little dorky to me, and a router >$50 is more a want than a need, so I factor it in since it's a toy.
  
• I have a little brand loyalty for Asus, as they already make my favorite laptops in general, seem to make the best motherboards, and seem to have the best established reputation among consumer router makers.

 

[enzyme]

Thank you all for your advice. Now, I must choose between 3 models.