Upgrading from old D-Link DGL-4500

[justdrew424]

So I haven't bought a new router in over 10 years now. It has served it's purpose well, but I think it is getting overwhelmed with the amount of wireless clients today. More and more often it is dropping the wifi signal and needing to be rebooted.

Here's some background on what will be connected. It's in a 3200sf home with networking to every room. Through a series of switches I have everything possible hardwired. This includes: 2 PC's, XBOX One, XBOX 360, PS3, 2 TV's, Direct TV, 1 A/V Receiver, 2 Blu-Ray Players, Alarm System, IRIS, Thermostat Bridge, OOMA Telephone, Neptune Apex.

Wireless List: 6 iPads, 3 iPods, 3 iPhones, Galaxy S3, Amazon Echo, 2 Laptops, Wii.

At any time there could be 4-6 wifi connections streaming movies or videos and gaming on iPads with Echo streaming music in the background.

So here's the question. I could go with the Archer C7 with excellent reviews for about $100. Or I see the EA9200 Linksys is on sale right now for $160. I really don't want to go to that $300 level for a router with newer technologies emerging towards the end of the year. Is the EA9200 worth it for $160? The reviews IMO, say it might be at that price. Or do I just go for the $100 C7 and wait for a better router later?

Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
Drew

 

[Trip]

Hi Drew. At 10 years, the hardware could definitely be succumbing to thermal wear. Increasing frequency of random lockups is often a tell-tale sign.

The good news is you certainly don't need to buy a $300 all-in-one, and even if you were to spend $300, a solid wired router or simpler wireless router plus one or two extra access points would probably be a WAY better use of that money versus a single overpriced piece of betaware.

I would say, buy the beefiest CPU and most RAM with strongest AC/N wifi as possible for your main unit. The C7 is decent. The R7000 is better. At a $75 gap, though, that's an extra gigabit AP or 2 fast-ethernet APs worth of price difference. Still, I would probably go with the R7000, as it can handle more load for streaming, etc. and you've got more firmware options for added features/stability. If you need to fill any holes in range, a simple $30-40 N-class AP or two will give you that in spades (good enough for roaming low-power radios, ie. phones + tablets).

Hope some of that helps.