Router reliability

[bitbucket]

Hello,
I'm looking to replace a flaky Buffalo N router with something more reliable.
Ratings and recommendations always focus on speed and throughput, but I'm way more interested in buying something that will just work.
After all, the computers that tend to need significant speed, at least in my house anyway, tend to be the ones that have wired gigabit connections. For this reason, I would prefer something with at least three, and preferably four, gigabit Ethernet ports.
So, tell me what you've got working out there in the real world that just keeps chugging.

 

[L&LD]

The most dependable routers I've worked with are the RT-N66U, RT-AC56U and the RT-AC68U. All with RMerlin firmware (or the forks thereof).

 

[System Error Message]

assuming a router is designed properly the failures are caused by either firmware or bad PSU or hardware turned bad i.e. capacitors from years old stuff.

 

[microchip]

I'm rocking an ASUS AC66U, TP-Link Archer C7 and Netgear R7000. All of them are working without issues. The R7000 uses XVortex FW though

 

[Trip]

All depends on your skill level and budget.

If your an average-Joe who wants all-in-once convenience in a choice that "just works" right out of the box, either the Archer C9, R7000 or AC8U. The best reviews on stability straight from the factory seem to go to the C9, ironically enough.

If you're skill level is higher, you could mess with 3rd-party firmware if any of the above don't behave (AdvancedTomato is my preference for stability, though not available for the C9). Otherwise, I'd just separate routing from wireless altogether. Better performance and control on all fronts. On the router choice, for something supported, either Peplink or a UTM device would be good bets. For value but no support (and I mean NO support), Ubiquiti or MikroTik. One setup I tend to do is a $50 EdgeRouter X combined with a $75 EnGenius ECB-350. Slaughters most consumer stuff often in performance and every time in reliability -- year+ uptimes usually. The way this stuff should function, IMHO.

 

[sfx2000]

assuming a router is designed properly the failures are caused by either firmware or bad PSU or hardware turned bad i.e. capacitors from years old stuff.

AC Adapters especially - as they tend to fail 'soft' in that under no-load, they'll measure out fine, and they'll run the router for a while until a bunch of traffic hits it, and then the router will start acting odd..

I remember that there was a bad run of caps for a while (stolen formula), but most of these have aged out... but caps do dry out over time, but generally not within the timeframe/upgrade cycle we see on the SOHO router front these days (18-24 months typically).

 

[joegreat]

The most dependable routers I've worked with are the RT-N66U, RT-AC56U and the RT-AC68U. All with RMerlin firmware (or the forks thereof).

I confirm the N66U and AC68U - see my footer...

 

[coxhaus]

Compared to what?

 

[bitbucket]

Compared to what?

Not comparing. Simply asking which routers members of this forum have found most reliable.

 

[coxhaus]

How can it be most reliable if you don't compare it? Maybe you mean which routers are stable.

 

[System Error Message]

There are a lot of variants. You could spend thousands on a cisco edgerouter which uses kilowatts of power and doesnt fail. You can use an x86 system as a router, you just arent thinking wide enough.
Wired routers are more reliable than wireless because of the chips but even for wired as i have mentioned theres the firmware and PSU to worry about.
Just pick one thats good and check the PSU and use a good firmware. Its simple.

 

[L&LD]

Not comparing. Simply asking which routers members of this forum have found most reliable.

For me, compared to Netgear, Linksys, D-Link and many other forgotten no name brands.

 

[sfx2000]

Not comparing. Simply asking which routers members of this forum have found most reliable.

Airport Extreme's - have several across family/friends, and they pretty much run my network when I'm not testing others...

They just work - not the most feature-rich, but perhaps that's the upside...

 

[bitbucket]

Thank you all for your excellent comments. I think I'm going to try the EdgeRouter X plus EnGenius ECB-350 combo recommended by Trip.

 

[Trip]

bit, forgot to ask what your up/down speed is on your internet connection. As long as you're less than 300Mb/s up + down, you should be good to go.

 

[bitbucket]

bit, forgot to ask what your up/down speed is on your internet connection. As long as you're less than 300Mb/s up + down, you should be good to go.

way less than 300mb. it's ~50 on a good day.

 

[Trip]

Oh yeah, 50Mb is nothing for the ER-X. Funny enough, ECB will actually function in a router+AP mode (among 7 other modes), but since it has just one 1 gigE port and is really purpose-built to be an AP, I use it only as such. Plus with the ER-X you'll get full wire-speed switching integrated. I usually run internet in on eth0, the ECB on eth1, with eth1-eth4 set as a switch group. This is all doable from the "WAN+2LAN2" wizard.

 

[bitbucket]

Oh yeah, 50Mb is nothing for the ER-X. Funny enough, ECB will actually function in a router+AP mode (among 7 other modes), but since it has just one 1 gigE port and is really purpose-built to be an AP, I use it only as such. Plus with the ER-X you'll get full wire-speed switching integrated. I usually run internet in on eth0, the ECB on eth1, with eth1-eth4 set as a switch group. This is all doable from the "WAN+2LAN2" wizard.

This looks great. I can't wait to try it. Thanks again for your recommendation.

 

[Trip]

You're welcome! As an aside, I find the ECBs to be slightly better for standalone setups than something like UniFi, which has to be setup via their controller software. The 350 on its newest firmware supports the EZ Controller system, which is similar to UniFi, but it's not required for setup.

 

[RMerlin]

Reliability can fluctuate over the life cycle of a product, as the manufacturers might make cost reduction changes at manufacturing. There was a few batches of RT-N66U for instance that came with poor Ethernet jacks - those were resolved later on.