Need advice choosing a router (R6300 vs R6250 vs C7)

[Dav3]

Hi everyone,

We're looking to geta new router, the old one just isn't hacking it so it's time to switch.

We'd like to go grab one tomorrow and after doing a ton of searching it seems the following are both well recommended and happen to be on sale right now putting them within our budget.

The NetGear R6300 and R6250 as well as the TP-Link Archer C7

I know next to nothing uses ac right now but we don't plant to buy a new router so may as well get one that supports the latest standard.

Which of these routers is best? Right now my chief concerns are 2.4 and 5ghz range as well as performance. Our house is basically a buch of additions so the signal has to go through a few once exterior walls, this means the routers range has to be very good or it will have trouble making it 2 rooms over (as is the case with our current router).

I know the R6250 uses the second gen SoC but does that really mean anything? Does it make it better then the R6300 in any way?

The TP-Link C7 seems highly rated on this site but I've heard in the past that they use a very problematic chip, is this the case?

Any advice you guys could offer would be very appreciated.

Thank you kindly in advance.

 

[Dav3]

Anyone? heading to the store soon!

 

[azazel1024]

None of them will hack it from how you describe your setup. You'll need more than one router/access point to cover your house. The difference in range between different routers is relatively minimal. Physics, the limits of battery power for clients and FCC restrictions conspire to make this a fact.

That said, 11ac WILL likely improve the performance you have within your current coverage (if you don't have coverage now, don't expect a new router to extend coverage to that location), this includes older 11n devices working on the 11ac router.

Of those, I'd suggest the C7.

 

[bobsilver]

Having had experience with all the Netgear models you list I will add another. The difference in cost will pay for itself in the long term as I believe the router will be a long lived product. Thats the Netgear Nighthawk R7000. Depending on where you shop it may only be $30-$50 more. But the router itself is significantly better then the R6xxx series products. There is more flexibility in the unit as well as faster performance and better range. Plus you have the advantage of external antennas. The R7000 is a router you can plan to keep for many years and will not be EOL for a long time to come. There is plenty of third party support as well in other firmware choices.

Bob Silver
Netgear Consultant