Router conundrum

[Psirus]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a new router and I stumbled upon SNB. I read reviews and went through the forum archive, but instead of being able to make the choice, I'm even more confused.

I'm living in a duplex apt with an ancient Technicolor modem/router. My ISP declines to upgrade the modem for free without upgrading my bundle from 240 to 360 (and obviously more expensive).

The router performance was never great but I can see it now more with my S8. Upstairs I have speeds of around 7mbits and even standing in front my router i barely get 36mbits. I think thata new router could solve the issues (and remove dark spots in the apt as well).

Through my research I narrowed my choice to the following models:

Netgear R7000 and R7000P model
Asus AC68U - isn't too old? (I'm based in Europe so updated model is not available); mac compatibility
Tp-link Archer C9

Slightly above the budget
Tp-link Archer C3150
Netgear P7800

My main priorities would be stability, coverage, and speed over distance. Won't be connecting any usb devices. Not sure about vpn (currently using PIA VPN)

3-4 mobile phones
2 tablets
3 laptops (pc and mac)
Desktop is connect via ethernet cable

Not much gaming - mostly browsing, streaming, and downloading.

Thanks

 

[L&LD]

The RT-AC68U would be my first and possibly only recommendation from the choices you list. Along with RMerlin's firmware, of course.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I can only comment on the AC68U as that is the device I have. I can't fault it. It covers the whole of my house (3 bedroom Victorian terrace) and then some.

The spec's are just right for 99% of users. I'm in the UK also and the price is very good (if you look at retailers like Curry's or Amazon). Even though the model is quite old they have made numerous hardware revisions over the years (like increasing the CPU speed) so it's not really "old".

You would also have a choice of good quality firmware; Stock Asus, Merlin or John's fork of Merlin. There are also others like DD-WRT, etc.

I can't say whether the other routers you mention are any better or worse as I have no experience of them.

 

[Psirus]

Thank you for the recommendations. I'm leaning towards the AC68U.

 

[ColinTaylor]

A router that I've been trying to think of an excuse to buy is the ASUS RT-AC86U. (So I have no personal experience with it)

The hardware is significantly superior to the AC68U which might be useful if you're doing CPU intensive things on the router itself, like high-speed VPN or running a media server. And price isn't too ridiculous.

At the moment IIRC the firmware is still pretty new and Merlin has a working beta. One to consider maybe depending on your budget and expected usage.

 

[sfx2000]

The R7000 is a fine router - pretty mature these days, and most of the early bugs have been ironed out.

at one time - the R7000 was the reference Router/AP for SNB testing.

 

[RMerlin]

The R7000 and RT-AC68U are the exact same hardware generation, so the RT-AC68U isn't older. In fact Asus has upgraded the RT-AC68U a few times over the years.

If the RT-AC68U interests you, I would look at the RT-AC66U_B1 however - mostly the same hardware but in a different form factor, and usually slightly less expensive.

 

[ColinTaylor]

If the RT-AC68U interests you, I would look at the RT-AC66U_B1 however - mostly the same hardware but in a different form factor, and usually slightly less expensive.

Unfortunately in the UK (where the OP is) the RT-AC66U_B1 only seems to be available directly from Asus UK or as a grey import. This means that it is actually more expensive than the RT-AC68U (which is usually discounted from its list price).

 

[Klueless]

Thank you for the recommendations. I'm leaning towards the AC68U.

Asus deserves a couple extra points for their Real Time Traffic Monitor ...