Trying to narrow down router choices (on limited budget)

[Cuda]

Been lurking the forums for some time and reading over the reviews and such and man my head is in a spin.
Here is what i'm working with and hopefully someone can help point me in a direction.
Cable 50 down 5 up
3 Wired pc's
1 media pc
1 homebuilt nas
1 DVR (cctv pushing 8 cams for remote viewing)
1 gigabit switch 8 port
1 micro cell
2 i phones
(when family shows up)
2 older ipads
and 2 lap tops
Don't laugh to hard but my old wrt54g with dd-wrt is ruining it abit slooooo and no wireless range issues. Ethernet ports are slowly deteriorating so its time to update.
I understand ac routers are the way to go and ac-1900 is the current sweet spot but since I do not have anything using ac is it really worth it or would a good 900n be plenty. The house is in the middle of a 1acre lot so no interfering wireless from neighbors. One of the neighbors suggested I find a used tm-1900 on bay for probably 90.00 and re flash it with the factory asus firmware or use dd-wrt since I am familiar with it. I'm just leery on spending over 40 bucks on a router that is used and comes with no warranty.
My brother in law has gone through 3 tp-links and had issues with them 2 were c7's and one was a c5 he went with netgear and has had no issues so i've pretty much ruled out the c7 which was my original first choice.
My want list is kinda basic usb 2.0 is fine prefer 3.0 to have either a usb hdd for system backups or printer. 4 Gigabit lan and most of all be able to set it and forget it for a few years. Hoping I can stay below the 125.00 mark actually less is better but I also know when you pay cheapo you usually get junk.

 

[System Error Message]

by going with wifi AC you will be using newer chips that are better. The newer and better wifi chips means better speeds for non AC clients as well.

I would've suggested the asus ac88u since it has 8 ports but it really depends on how many wired ports you need and the savings in electricity of not using the switch compared to the cost of an AC1900 router and using the switch.

You may be familiar with dd-wrt but i find openwrt much better since they have better standards.

Used electronics are totally fine except for hard drives and SSDs. The main problem is that i have never heard of a tm-1900 and that such a different hardware is compatible with asus firmware. Hardware quality is a reason for choice and if you are going to be using 3rd party firmware theres netgear r7000 which a lot here has had good experience with the hardware.

 

[john9527]

One possibility....keep an eye out for Newegg's end of the month factory refurbished sales. I just picked up an RT-AC68P (1GHz dual core, AC-1900, USB3) for $115 shipped, comes with a 90 day warranty. Looks and runs just like new (but didn't come with an Ethernet cable )

EDIT: I also have a 50/5 service....here's a speedtest (QoS enabled, the IPv4 side is running thru a VPN provider with AES-256 encryption).

 

[Cuda]

the TM-AC1900 is t mobiles asus RT-AC68U I type o'd

 

[stevech]

I'm happy with ASUS RT-N56U.
Not AC. I don't need that as my handhelds achieve my ISP's speed using 11n on 5GHz. That's 110/10/Mbps. Handheld = Samsung Galaxy S6. Apple iPhone is much older/slower. iPad, same. But more than fast enough for how these are used: stream video, web surf.

No reboots needed with this router.

I'm in the camp that says don't over-spend on WiFi.

 

[Cuda]

One possibility....keep an eye out for Newegg's end of the month factory refurbished sales. I just picked up an RT-AC68P (1GHz dual core, AC-1900, USB3) for $115 shipped, comes with a 90 day warranty.

I was just looking at egg at the rt-n66r ant the rt-n66u for 70.00

 

[Trip]

Re- new vs refurb for networking gear, try to go new if you can. No sense in gambling further on failure/burn-out rate in a segment whose MTTF is somewhat underwhelming across the board. Just my two cents.

For AC, 1900 is the most meaningful bandwidth number to buy, just as 300 is for N-class gear. Most real-world endpoints don't (and won't) support the higher advertised speeds. For stock firmware, an Archer C9 isn't a bad choice. Otherwise AC68U on Merlin, or R7000 on xVortex or AdvancedTomato and you're set.

 

[Klueless]

When I was shopping for a router I checked some uh industry reviews. For my needs (nothing to do with your needs) the Asus RT-N66U looked like a good fit.

Then I checked out customer reviews and I was really disappointed by what I read. So much so that I was second guessing myself.

Then came an epiphany. The sites I was looking at sold refurbished units so I hopped onto a couple sites that sold only new units. Customer reviews were stellar.

So... I bought new and -so far- I'm very happy with my N66U.

Not that you can always believe customer reviews but ...

 

[Trip]

^ Exactly. Why potentially cut the MTTF even closer, to save what, typically $20-50? The opportunity cost of a single issue alone is way greater, at least on the value I put on my time. Not worth it IMHO.

 

[stevech]

rarely do people return a mid-price range if it works OK.
Unless it's broken.
Most often, its returned due to user cockpit troubles.

 

[Cuda]

^ Exactly. Why potentially cut the MTTF even closer, to save what, typically $20-50? The opportunity cost of a single issue alone is way greater, at least on the value I put on my time. Not worth it IMHO.

I totally agree with the Time Value vrs Money aspect. Kinda off topic but.
Sometimes $20-50.00 can be a ton when life has you living hand to mouth and a refurb might be the way to go.

 

[RogerSC]

I've had both the RT-N56U and RT-N66U. The RT-N66U was so much better, I think that you'll be much happier with it if you're choosing between the two. There's not even a comparison for the 5GHz. range, and 5GHz. is the way that a lot of people are going now due to overuse of 2.4GHz. And that most clients these days are supporting 5GHz. The RT-N56U had limited 5GHz. range compared to the RT-N66U, that covered my whole house on 5GHz. The difference in my living room (my router is at the other end of my house) is between minimally useful (RT-N56U) and really good (RT-N66U).

If you don't see yourself using 5GHz., or have a small house or apartment, then you can most likely make do with an RT-N56U.

I do agree that wireless-AC chipsets are helpful all around, and a factory refurbished RT-AC68P at $115 would be very attractive if you can spend that much. I have an RT-AC68P, and it works really well, especially with RMerlin's firmware.

 

[L&LD]

I can agree with RogerSC with his assessment of the RT-N56U and the RT-N66U (I have both).

But an RT-AC68U revision A1 or A2 (or the hardware equivalent RT-AC56U except for internal and 1 less antennae) would be the minimum I would recommend to buy today.


http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...oes-an-ac-router-improve-n-device-performance

Even if you don't currently use the 5GHz band, you will as you upgrade your devices over the lifetime of any AC class router you buy today.



http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-custom-firmware-for-asus-routers.7846/

I would also recommend the RMerlin, john9527 or hggomes forks too of the firmware over Asus stock firmware.



http://www.snbforums.com/threads/no...l-and-manual-configuration.27115/#post-205573

And I would recommend following the steps in the above link after updating to the latest firmware you choose.


I can't wait to hear your experience upgrading from your WRT54G!

 

[stevech]

Opinion:
On a limited budget (so said OP), you could skip the 802.11ac capable router until you NEED '11ac. That will reduce cost. Arguably, you'll never need '11ac since handhelds use WiFi (immobile things can be wired). And handheld things don't need speeds more than '11n gives you. There's a weak argument that '11ac will slightly benefit non-11ac handhelds, but that's a cost/benefit issue.

Many of us replace our WiFi routers every 2-3 years anyway, as technology marches along.

I do fine at 110/10Mbps (ISP's speed) with an ASUS RT-N56-U. The RT-N66U is newer but $30 more.

 

[Cuda]

This is probably a shot in the foot question (predominantly curiosity) but are the 1600/1750 ac routers from netgear or cisco any good I keep seeing them used/refurbish in the 30-50 price range, (from anyone's personal experiences.)
Also wanted to say Thank you For everyone's input.

 

[L&LD]

Almost all AC1600 and AC1750 routers from any vendor were not worth buying when introduced (let alone today).

At the upper end of that price range, the RT-AC56U is king of the AC1200 class routers and many of them that are far above too.

Netgear or Cisco in that price range is a reason. They can't sell at par vs. better quality firmware and support from other manufacturers.

 

[sfx2000]

AC1900 is the best bang for the buck at the moment - don't need any more, and AC1200/AC1750 is likely false economy...

Also consider the N900 class - esp. in the refurb sections - at the vendor stores - many now are supported by third-party firmware (if you desire), and the factory firmware is baked and solid (and their issues known).

• Asus RT-68 series - solid, and good third party support
• Netgear R7000 - was a bit, erm, complicated, but stable now, some IPv6 issues with factory firmware
• Apple Airport AC - no third party support, but supremely stable, and good IPv6 support - cheap in the refurb store at $129USD

Junior varsity would be the TP-Link Archer series...

WRT1900ac series is likely out of your price range, but they're pretty decent now that they have finally found their way with the *WRT community...

 

[Cuda]

I got hit with the good old honey the washer is not working and btw the net went down. A good dbl whammy the old linksys finally croaked (3 separate wall warts and none would power it up) and so did the washing machine.
On a plus note I found a used ASUS RT-N56U for 20 bucks.

 

[htismaqe]

WRT1900ac series is likely out of your price range, but they're pretty decent now that they have finally found their way with the *WRT community...

If you can find them, the V1's are coming in a lot lower nowadays.