Which Router for new Fibre connection?

[Jbennett360]

HI Guys.

I recently managed to get Fibre installed. I have a 350/30 line.

I was provided with a ZYXEL VMG3925-B10 by my ISP, but the performance was terrible. For the time being i've gone back to my Archer D9 PPOE mode.

The main issue i had was wireless performance and throughput upstairs.

I currently have a powerline from the router to a room upstairs. I will be looking at removing the powerline and wiring outside the house to the room so that the connection speed in there is full or as good as full.

I've bought myself a Ubiquiti AP AC Lite, this is connected to the switch where the powerline currently runs into. The thinking behind this was that everything upstairs will connect to the AP and then devices downstairs will connect to the router. So once i've got it wired via the outside, in theory wirless devices should upstairs should run close to full, depending on the hardware in them.

So.

The Arher D9 Seems to be dropping out a little , it' s been giving me the 'Limited connectivity'. Then within 5-15 seconds it seems to reconnect. I've done a bit of reading online and other people have mentioned that the Archer D9 is known for this. It's not a 'Great' WAN Router.

I'm thinking of potentially replacing the Archer D9 for a 'proper' fibre router.

I'm stuck between the AC86u/R7800. Read good things about both, and a few horror stories about the R7800 randomly bricking etc.


Does anyone have any suggestions what would be sufficient in this case?

Apologies for the long post!

 

[microchip]

ASUS has the better firmware, but the AC86U is overpriced, IMHO (at least here)

Again IMHO, the R7800 has the better hardware but firmware-wise is not very feature rich. I have it and haven't had much issues with it, but I've only gone through 1 firmware upgrade since I bought it a few weeks back.

 

[Jbennett360]

ASUS has the better firmware, but the AC86U is overpriced, IMHO (at least here)

Again IMHO, the R7800 has the better hardware but firmware-wise is not very feature rich. I have it and haven't had much issues with it, but I've only gone through 1 firmware upgrade since I bought it a few weeks back.

Tbh, the 86u is currently £180, which is a little steep, considering I've already spent £70 on the AP.

The R7800 often goes on sale for £130ish.

Are these too much of an overkill for what I need? Or?

 

[System Error Message]

ASUS has the better firmware, but the AC86U is overpriced, IMHO (at least here)

Again IMHO, the R7800 has the better hardware but firmware-wise is not very feature rich. I have it and haven't had much issues with it, but I've only gone through 1 firmware upgrade since I bought it a few weeks back.

The R7800 is made by foxconn, so hardware quality isnt great actually and netgear pricing sucks.

The only difference between the asus AC3100 and AC86U is the hardware VPN acceleration.

 

[microchip]

@System

Oh please. Stop your bashing on Foxconn. Hon Hai makes A LOT of hardware for A LOT of brands, including Apple/iPhone and most motherboards. You think all these brands will stick to it when it makes such a bad-quality products?

We know your general dislike for Foxconn, but stick to facts. If you had issues with Foxconn HW, don't imply all do or that it always is crap

 

[microchip]

Tbh, the 86u is currently £180, which is a little steep, considering I've already spent £70 on the AP.

The R7800 often goes on sale for £130ish.

Are these too much of an overkill for what I need? Or?

Well, here the AC86U costs 250 euros, while the R7800 as little as 150. That's a difference of 100 euros and I wasn't ready to spend 250 on a router

They're not overkill. Both are solid routers and will do their job for many years to come (if they don't break).

 

[Jbennett360]

Well, here the AC86U costs 250 euros, while the R7800 as little as 150. That's a difference of 100 euros and I wasn't ready to spend 250 on a router

They're not overkill. Both are solid routers and will do their job for many years to come (if they don't break).

Oka. Thanks.

For the time being I've put the ZyXeEL back on, just to see if the connection still drops.

If it doesn't then I know the Archer is at fault, if it still drops, then I know the issue must be with the fibre installation/line.

 

[microchip]

I don't know your use case and amount of devices, but if you require fine-grained configuration, I'd definitely go for the AC86U due to its feature-rich firmware

 

[Jbennett360]

I don't know your use case and amount of devices, but if you require fine-grained configuration, I'd definitely go for the AC86U due to its feature-rich firmware

Devices you're probably looking at:

4 Mobiles
3 Laptops
PS4
Sky Q Box
2 desktop PC's
Nas Drive
2 TV's

Think that's everything!

 

[microchip]

Either router should do then, now it's down to preference/taste. About wifi coverage, they are mostly on-par, but for some the R7800 is slightly better

I again want to point out that nothing beats ASUSWRT firmware when it comes to stock firmware

 

[coxhaus]

Why don't you save your money for an AC router and just buy a router and another Ubiquiti AP AC Lite? You can manage both APs from the same software. You may come out cheaper.

 

[Jbennett360]

Why don't you save your money for an AC router and just buy a router and another Ubiquiti AP AC Lite? You can manage both APs from the same software. You may come out cheaper.

I had thought of this but the AC Lite didn't perform that well downstairs. The Archer D9 outperformed it.

 

[MichaelCG]

What didn't perform well? The AC-LITE or the PowerLine connection feeding it? From a raw performance view, I would guess the D9 will always outperform the AC-LITE. They are different classes of hardware. The AC-LITE is only 2x2 while I think the D9 is a 3x3 device. So if you have 3x3 clients, the D9 should be faster. If you know you have 3x3 clients, you should be looking at the AC-PRO instead.

 

[Jbennett360]

What didn't perform well? The AC-LITE or the PowerLine connection feeding it? From a raw performance view, I would guess the D9 will always outperform the AC-LITE. They are different classes of hardware. The AC-LITE is only 2x2 while I think the D9 is a 3x3 device. So if you have 3x3 clients, the D9 should be faster. If you know you have 3x3 clients, you should be looking at the AC-PRO instead.

The AC-LITE didn't have the same coverage and speed as the D9.

This is why the plan was to use the AC-Lite for wireless devices upstairs and the router for devices downstairs.

The laptop i tested with has the 'Intel Dual Band Wireless AC7265' which is 2x2 and is probably the newest device I have. In the same place, the Archer D9 delivered better speed and overall coverage.

 

[ulaganath]

Nope tplink, Their range extender are good.

Get a R7800 or AC pro from Ubiquity . I believe it depends on house coverage.

As its know fact not 1 single router covers entire home. So you plan according.

 

[avtella]

R7800 usually most reviews show as having the best 5Ghz range/performance in the consumer space, the 86U is close. I have one (R7800) since the beta era 2 years ago and retail unit recived for another test, no stability/dropout issues on either. Haven’t heard of any bricking issue. But yeah Asus has more UI modern looking UI with more options.

Regaring System Error Message’s comment the R7800 is actually contracted to Delta Networks not Foxconn AFAIK. No matter who is contracted, the manufacturer will build to client specifications. If client cheaps out then you will have cheaply built, low quality parts product.