New Linksys WRT AC1900 or Netgear Nighthawk?

[NotebookNeophyte]

I am stuck between these two routers....here is some additional info that describes my needs:
I am a home user with about a dozen devices that jump on and off my network at any one time.. I want to be able to stream movies from a NAS device plugged into my upstairs router, down to my TV. I have several PCs all with wireless N...a bunch of iPads, Apple TV and 2 iPhones and will be getting a MB Pro Retina with AC in the near future....I want to be able to wirelessly stream from NAS with as few hiccups as possible...as well as access general media from multiple devices across the network. Here are the pros and cons I've identified so far for each router:

Linksys WRT AC1900:
- plenty fast enough for my needs despite mixed online reviews
- really like the idea of having such a clear network map so I can clearly see every device connected to my network
- fastest NAS performance according to reviews
- concerned that it can't act as an iTunes server....does this mean I cannot stream NAS movies to the Apple TV?
- No support for time machine...which I would find useful after I get the MBP

Netgear Nighthawk:
- plenty fast enough for my needs
- reliability\stability proven a bit more as it has been out longer
- fast NAS performance
- iTunes server
- time machine supported
- no nice simple clear network map

Here is the kicker: I can get the Nighthawk for $167.99 with a coupon or the Linksys for $249.99.....am I missing anything important? I welcome any feedback...thanks!

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
Hardware is comparable except eSATA port. I am using R7000 with dd-wrt and it is very stable. Both of them have to improve firmware to maximize hardware specs. MU MIMO
is myth to me yet. Still long way to benefit every one like -AC mode. When ASUS RT-AC87U comes out then it'll be interesting to compare all three against each other.
Well, first horse out the gate does not always win the race.......

 

[stevech]

I wonder if MU MIMO is similar to beam-forming attempts in cellular WiMax and AWS 4.5G LTE (beta stage). None of which works / works well. Problem is really excerbated with moving clients (beam tracking of many clients/vehicles without slowing down others).

 

[thiggins]

I wonder if MU MIMO is similar to beam-forming attempts in cellular WiMax and AWS 4.5G LTE (beta stage). None of which works / works well. Problem is really excerbated with moving clients (beam tracking of many clients/vehicles without slowing down others).

MU-MIMO uses a variant of 802.11ac beamforming. Search this page for MU-MIMO for details.
http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1234000001739/ch04.html#section-beamforming-ndp

In particular, see this section
http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1234000001739/ch04.html#section-beamforming-ndp

 

[smapdi]

You mention streaming from NAS several times. Just to clarify, do you have a physical NAS server that you will be streaming from or do you wish to connect a USB hard drive to the router?

If you have a standalone device then the router's onboard NAS capability doesn't mean anything and neither does the AirPlay server as your device should have its own.

 

[thiggins]

You mention streaming from NAS several times. Just to clarify, do you have a physical NAS server that you will be streaming from or do you wish to connect a USB hard drive to the router?

If you have a standalone device then the router's onboard NAS capability doesn't mean anything and neither does the AirPlay server as your device should have its own.

Who is this reply directed to?

 

[smapdi]

The reply is to NotebookNeophyte. He mentions NAS streaming and Airplay in his original post. Seems like it's kind of important to him and noone has addressed this yet.

 

[RogerSC]

Here is the kicker: I can get the Nighthawk for $167.99 with a coupon or the Linksys for $249.99.....am I missing anything important? I welcome any feedback...thanks!

That would do it for me *smile*. The R7000 is a really good router, and you have a choice of using third-party firmware if the Netgear firmware doesn't make you happy *smile*. I agree that you could meet all your needs with it, and saving $80+ isn't bad, too.

 

[TonyH]

Just added note, my R7000 is running at clkfreq=1200,800 w/o any problem.

 

[NotebookNeophyte]

You mention streaming from NAS several times. Just to clarify, do you have a physical NAS server that you will be streaming from or do you wish to connect a USB hard drive to the router?

If you have a standalone device then the router's onboard NAS capability doesn't mean anything and neither does the AirPlay server as your device should have its own.

Thanks for the feedback....I am looking to stream using a connected USB 3.0 flash drive....

 

[sfx2000]

I wonder if MU MIMO is similar to beam-forming attempts in cellular WiMax and AWS 4.5G LTE (beta stage). None of which works / works well. Problem is really excerbated with moving clients (beam tracking of many clients/vehicles without slowing down others).

With 4G - (802.16m and LTE/LTE Advanced) - it's a very different problem to solve than it is with 802.11ac/802.11n - most of it related to scheduling in the traffic channel. I know, first hand, how very hard active beamforming and MU-MIMO can be - having done this with HC-SDMA (iBurst), implementations for 802.20, 802.16m and LTE, all of which are commercially deployed. And yes, they do work - at a cost...

and no, this wasn't at Qualcomm - but I'm assured that they're also working on this very issue...

Active beamforming at a macro-cell level is still competing with DAS and Small Cells (and FWIW, leaky coax in certain situations). Perhaps, "5G" WiFi at a small cell level can get the industry there - as once it's in consumer space, then we (as an industry) can scale up - wouldn't be the first time 802.11 has taken the lead at the PHY...

Anyways, back to the thread - WRT1900ac does not support MU-MIMO at this time - no consumer router on the market does. With the level of HW, I'm thinking at some point, Linksys/Belkin may enable this feature, but not right now...

Marvell, the WiFi Chipset OEM, claims implicit/explicit beamforming for MU, but at the moment, but I'm not seeing this in my testing, probably do to lack of stations that may support single-user/multi-user beamforming for 802.11ac (e.g. Wireless PCAP's looking for clear indication that the MAC is sending out traffic frames to suggest that beamforming is in use)

sfx