Router Suggestion and advice.

[mumbling]

I’m gotten lucky and have a symmetrical 2gig line to my home, in additional my work has given me a 400 dollar stipend to spend for work on home stuff with a line item that is approved for any networking equipment. I’m happy with my home office so I”m fine to spend it all on the networking side. I currently have a netgear r7800 and its worked well but seeing as I have a credit to spend. I’m wondering what I should get. I have a Synology NAS that I back up family photos and videos to and also use it to share them to other families members. There's some 4k streaming and console and pc gaming and for me lots of work zoom calls that happens simultaneously pretty regularly.The house is roughly 2100 sq ft and I have cat6 wired into the walls for a few rooms so doing a wired backhaul is fine. That being said what I’ve seen recommended is the Asus AX86U + AP + switch maybe? which seems like a great option but I was wondering about the new synology RT6600X (get a switch later down the line) and if that would be something that would be good to consider. I’m open to suggestions also a part of me wants to hit that 400 mark as close a possible.

 

[Tech Junky]

Well, I'm not exactly sure what the focus is here since you're mentioning everything but the kitchen sink.

For an AP though I went with a NWA210AX ~$200 which has a 2.5GE port on it for the fastest possible speed; There's also a Netgear WAX630E which gives you 6E options for ~$360.

Of course moving to a 2.5GE port you need something just as fast to plug it into or being capped at 1GE speeds due to the router not having the port speed.

I went DIY on the "router" side and use a PC with Linux to terminate the ISP connection which provides more horse power to process VPN encryption at line speed at 1gbps+. I can move stuff over wifi at 1.3-1.5 gbps and over Ethernet @ 5GE which yields 400MB/s from the NAS setup on the same DIY box.

It depends on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go for performance and piecing things together and at what cost.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @mumbling.

How close are you to that $400 when an RT-AX86U and a couple of QNAP QSW-1105-5T 5-Port Unmanaged 2.5GbE Switches are thrown in for good measure?

 

[mumbling]

Well, I'm not exactly sure what the focus is here since you're mentioning everything but the kitchen sink.

For an AP though I went with a NWA210AX ~$200 which has a 2.5GE port on it for the fastest possible speed; There's also a Netgear WAX630E which gives you 6E options for ~$360.

Of course moving to a 2.5GE port you need something just as fast to plug it into or being capped at 1GE speeds due to the router not having the port speed.

I went DIY on the "router" side and use a PC with Linux to terminate the ISP connection which provides more horse power to process VPN encryption at line speed at 1gbps+. I can move stuff over wifi at 1.3-1.5 gbps and over Ethernet @ 5GE which yields 400MB/s from the NAS setup on the same DIY box.

It depends on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go for performance and piecing things together and at what cost.

thanks for the reply Tech Junky - so I can't go down the DIY side. I spoke with the accounting team and speccing out parts to build a router isn't an option for my credit. I'll have to buy something that literally has router in the name of the device I'm buying. I guess my focus is really what is the best upgrade to the netgear r7800 I can get for sub $400. getting more clarity it looks like i can't get switches or AP's with this work credit either

 

[mumbling]

Welcome to the forums @mumbling.

How close are you to that $400 when an RT-AX86U and a couple of QNAP QSW-1105-5T 5-Port Unmanaged 2.5GbE Switches are thrown in for good measure?

Thanks L&LD!

long term lurker first time poster. Been happy seeing the netgear r7800 get updates from Voxel was one the main things that brought me here.

I should have responded to both of you guys at the same time but unfortunately I can't get a switch with my work credit. Apparently the approver has to see the word router in there. So I"m just looking for the best option that can utitlize my 2gig line and be around 400 USD as my currently router can't use those speeds.

 

[Tech Junky]

It's kind of shifty but, why not get the most expensive "router" and then claim the credit / return said "router" and get what you really want / need instead?

 

[mumbling]

lol i guess i kinda zero'd in on the router bit and didn' think about it in terms of real money. i think i may do that.

 

[degrub]

Are you using a company credit card to make the purchase or is this just submitting the receipts for reimbursement ?
The company likely gets to write down the asset for depreciation or offset income.

 

[mumbling]

Submit Receipt for reimbursement.

 

[Threska49]

Well the RT6600ax is still speculation on pricing never mind availability.

Synology RT6600ax WiFi6 Router Review

After much delay, the Synology RT6600ax WiFi6 wireless router has arrived. Join us as we check it out and see what it's all about.

www.tweaktown.com

 

[mumbling]

ive got roughly 3 weeks so i can wait and see.

 

[mikeh2]

I suggest a Peplink Balance 20x

Balance 20X

Groundbreaking price-performance router for branches

www.peplink.com

Speed is conservatively rated at 900Mbps. Just your price range too.

 

[Tech9]

I’m open to suggestions also a part of me wants to hit that 400 mark as close a possible.

GT-AX6000 is exactly $400. It has 2.5GbE WAN + 2.5GbE LAN port. It is also Asuswrt-Merlin supported.

ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 | Gaming networking｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Global

Dual-Band WiFi 6 Gaming Router, Dual 2.5G WAN/LAN ports, enhanced hardware, WAN aggregation, VPN Fusion, Triple-Level Game Acceleration, free network security and Mesh WiFi System

rog.asus.com