New Router Time

[ScottStoef]

Well it looks like the time has come to find a new home router because my Asus N66U is starting do some weird stuff. I definitely would like to get an AC router, and I'm thinking about the TP Link Archer 5400. The reviews on it have been great so far and I'm sure it will be a huge upgrade over my existing router.

I'm not very tech savvy network wise and I really want a plug and play router that has good to excellent security. We have a fairly large 3 story home with about 4500 sq feet. We have several wireless devices that will be accessing the network: 5 computers, 3 iPads, 4 iPhones, and 5 smart tvs/bluray.

Does anyone have any advice on this router or should be looking at something else in the $250 range?

Thanks!

 

[System Error Message]

good to excellent security isnt something you will find on a consumer router, you will need a non consumer router for that. pfsense is free but you will still need to get wifi.

you're looking at the wrong router. Those numbers dont mean anything as it is a tri band router. What you want is a typical dual band router as it is cheaper and you may need more than one to cover your house. Placement is important as well.

tri brand routers are for when you have lots of wifi traffic in a small area. Im not sure how to explain things with area, i mean is it square or rectangular and how rectangular is your house as well? Is it 45x100 feet? With wifi its not how many clients you have, its how much bandwidth do you expect to use and it also matters to how much WAN bandwidth you have and how much LAN traffic you expect to have.

 

[thiggins]

How well was the ASUS working before it started to do "weird stuff"? If the router is located on the middle floor of your home and the ASUS was able to provide signal to everywhere you wanted, the new router should be able to also.

Have you checked the Router Ranker? There are other products ranked higher than the TP-Link you are considering.

 

[Csection]

good to excellent security isnt something you will find on a consumer router, you will need a non consumer router for that. pfsense is free but you will still need to get wifi.

you're looking at the wrong router. Those numbers dont mean anything as it is a tri band router. What you want is a typical dual band router as it is cheaper and you may need more than one to cover your house. Placement is important as well.

tri brand routers are for when you have lots of wifi traffic in a small area. Im not sure how to explain things with area, i mean is it square or rectangular and how rectangular is your house as well? Is it 45x100 feet? With wifi its not how many clients you have, its how much bandwidth do you expect to use and it also matters to how much WAN bandwidth you have and how much LAN traffic you expect to have.

One other thing that made a huge difference for me was channel choice. We have a large number of 2.4ghz routers in my area. So I had to choose channel 1 for that band and 149 for 5ghz in order to get the max range and speed from my R7800. I also use an Asus RT-3100 to bridge between two house's on same property.

 

[ScottStoef]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. While the house is pretty much a rectangle we moved the router from the office (far corner on the first floor) to the second level almost in the middle of the house almost 2 years ago. That made a HUGE difference in the signal strength for the router....until recently. When we go down into the basement the computers show all bars, but it cannot connect to the internet down there. The 2.4ghz channel also seems to be disappearing pretty randomly, which is a problem since some of my devices cannot operate on the 5ghz band.

I just wasn't sure if the tri-band routers are worth it yet. I know one of my co-workers upgraded from a N router to an AC and said the performance upgrade was unbelievable. He is one that is now buying a new router every 2 years, and recently got a tri-band. I asked him if he noticed any difference and he said No, which confirms what SEM said. It does sound cool that they can shift devices around if necessary, but at a premium (when it probably works).

I tried looking at the router rankings, but quite frankly I cannot figure how how to do it anymore. I know I used to be able to just select the router speed (I guess that is what you would call it) and viola the rankings would come up, but now it looks like it has changed. I know I'm not supposed to ask for advice on a router, but I'm just not knowledgeable enough on networking to know what things should be the most important factors. I just want something with a really good user interface and simple to setup.

 

[thiggins]

I tried looking at the router rankings, but quite frankly I cannot figure how how to do it anymore

We simplified the ranker since device speed is the determining factor. You can now also see if spending more for a tri-band, 4x4 router is a better price / performance deal than a good old AC1900.

I recommend you sort by ascending price and look for the lowest rank # (1 being lowest) for the least $.

And yes, you should good a performance boost moving to AC from N. But it may not be as miraculous as your co-worker experienced...

 

[NUTW0RX]

We simplified the ranker since device speed is the determining factor. You can now also see if spending more for a tri-band, 4x4 router is a better price / performance deal than a good old AC1900.

I recommend you sort by ascending price and look for the lowest rank # (1 being lowest) for the least $.

And yes, you should good a performance boost moving to AC from N. But it may not be as miraculous as your co-worker experienced...

I don't know how it's polling but the X10 has consistently shown lower pricing than actually being able to find. The current price listed isn't even on Amazon's current offerings. Their own price is $449. I've seen this with others as well.

 

[Tomsonn]

I have been using TP-Link for more than one year. Thinking about switching to new one. As you mentioned that you are looking for AC router. TP-Link is a good option, you can also take a look on Netgear AC1900. It is always better to do a research on your own to find the best option for you. You may take a look on this article. Here you will find complete comparison among different routers. www.homesecuritylist.com/best-wireless-routers/

 

[thiggins]

I don't know how it's polling but the X10 has consistently shown lower pricing than actually being able to find. The current price listed isn't even on Amazon's current offerings. Their own price is $449. I've seen this with others as well.

The pricing is updated nightly from an Amazon feed. It looks like the lowest price reported includes used products. Last I checked, you could not ask for pricing for only new product.

 

[thiggins]

You may take a look on this article. Here you will find complete comparison among different routers.

That article has no test data to back up its rankings.

 

[RogerSC]

That article has no test data to back up its rankings.

Yes...wondering how the Netgear R7800 got left off that list. Or where that list came from in the first place? Number of units sold? Who knows.

 

[sm00thpapa]

Amazon had the R7800 on sale for 24 hours a few days ago for $159.99. What a steal for a beast of a router. Best router to date in my home even over Orbi.

 

[Tomsonn]

That article has no test data to back up its rankings.

I have just notice it. But I have read few more articles and found almost similar feedback in every article.