Wireless router choice

[KevinG1]

Hey Everyone,

I am in the market for a new router after I went the cheap route last time. I currently have an TP-LINK Archer C2 wireless router, and I am not very happy with it. The internet "goes down" randomly, but when I wire directly in from the modem the internet is fine.

I am in a newer house (86') so it is all drywall, no plaster. Not too big. I use the internet mainly for web searching, TV and movie streaming (chromecast too), and work. I use laptops, tablets, and phones as well. Not sure what router I really need but there are 4 routers that seems to have the best reviews, so I am trying to understand which will best suite my needs.

I am looking at Asus RT-66 and RT-68, as well as NETGEAR R6400 and R7000. Please help if you know which may be the best one for what I use the router for.

Kevin

 

[sfx2000]

The RT-AC68U and the R7000 are decent choices and are getting to be on the "good side" of the pricing curve as newer products are being introduced for 2016...

The 68U has better community support here over in the Asus sub-forums, and both it, and the R7000 have decent 3rd party firmware support if you desire to go down that path...

 

[KevinG1]

Are there any other options available that would be a better for what I need a router for?

 

[joegreat]

Are there any other options available that would be a better for what I need a router for?

No, I would even limit it to "Asus only" and use Merlin's firmware fork - see my footer!

 

[Chrismallia]

No, I would even limit it to "Asus only" and use Merlin's firmware fork - see my footer!

I totally agree. Have a AC87U with Merlin FW and it's solid I have multiple wireless devices and all stream from my plex home server 1080p movies + smart tv and others torrenting and so on, it handles great qos so while some are watching internet streams and the server is downloading the streams are never interrupted plus you get great malware protection on the router level and all your devices are protected by trend micro as far as I know and correct me someone if I am wrong Asus is the only consumer router with that protection. It does all that without a single glitch

 

[KevinG1]

So which would make more sense, AC 1750 or AC 1900?

 

[sfx2000]

So which would make more sense, AC 1750 or AC 1900?

AC1900 class is the best bang for the buck at present, and the 68U from Asus along with Netgear's R7000 and Linksys WRT1900ac are best of class - I'd toss in Apple's Airport Extreme AC that grouping, but then many would disagree with me on that one

(Airports, while 3rd party adverse, generally tend to work...)

sfx

 

[KevinG1]

Ok, Thanks for all the help. A friend of mine just sent me a daily deal for a NETGEAR Nighthawk X4 AC2350 Smart Wi-Fi Router for $150. will i see any difference from an AC 1900 to an AC 2350? It looks like the N speeds are still 600.

 

[KevinG1]

It doesnt have very good reviews on Amazon, but the R7000 has great reviews on Amazon. Any reasons why this might be happening?

 

[joegreat]

It doesnt have very good reviews on Amazon, but the R7000 has great reviews on Amazon. Any reasons why this might be happening?

Well, you are jumping around to other models which we did not recommend...
So we cannot comment!

 

[KevinG1]

You can't comment on the Nighthawk R7500? I am curious on your thoughts on this model as well.

 

[stevech]

You can't comment on the Nighthawk R7500? I am curious on your thoughts on this model as well.

grossly overpriced.

 

[netwrks]

As mentioned above, stay with AC1900. I have two R7000's (as AP's) running Xvortex mod firmware. The firmware works great. The 7500's (v1 and v2) have their fair share of problems - either hardware and, or, software. NG's stock R7000 firmware is hit and miss with most user's. Xvortex/Merlin site for R7000's. Check the Netgear forum site for all NG info..

 

[Chrismallia]

You can't comment on the Nighthawk R7500? I am curious on your thoughts on this model as well.

I had 1 and returned it pages load with lag and firmware was very buggy it was a nightmare. go with Asus as joegreat said: If you go with the netgear you will be disappointed, hekk you are better off with the TP-link

 

[Trip]

One should be fine with almost any market-mature AC1900 product, assuming the firmware selection is correct and the network setup is done properly.

As far as the AC99000 models go... I'll agree more radios are generally better than fewer, but they also tend to be much more effective when placed systematically in distributed locations (read: multiple APs and a core router), rather than concentrated together in a single betaware plastic monolith.

Conclusion: 68U w/ latest Merlin, R7000 with AdvancedTomato or xVortex, or C9 with latest stock; and as many fringe N300 or AC-Whatever class APs or all-in-ones as you need to fill the coverage/air-bandwidth gaps.

 

[bobsilver]

You can't comment on the Nighthawk R7500? I am curious on your thoughts on this model as well.

The R7500 you are seeing are Version 1 units which are being discounted. The R7500 had a rocky start when it came out. It was the First unit with its technology and the firmware needed to be refined. Those issues have since been resolved. It is now stable and works well. I used one as my router for the past 6 months with no issues.

That said the R7000 is the mainstream product that has the most love. Lots of 3rd party support and it is the most mature product in the Nighthawk line up. The R7500 does not share the same 3rd party support.

The difference in the speeds (AC1900/AC2350) will have no effect for you. The AC2350 uses a 4 radio technology which admittedly there are very few clients that can take advantage of it. The more mainstream AC1900 is more common but admittedly there are few clients that can fully take advantage of its capabilities either.

A big plus to both the R7000 and the R7500 is the router processor. More so the R7500 as it has a faster cpu. Plus the R7500 has far more connect ability with multiple USB 3.0 and esata ports.

All this said I would say this. If you want to save money and can get an R7500 for less than an R7000 do that. If mainstream 3rd party is important then get the R7000. If the price is equal Id get the R7000 as it is a very safe choice (if not the safest of any AC router).

Plus Id add that Netgear is committed to the long term viability of the R7000 and will continue to enhance its capabilities and features. The goal is to normalize all features across the Nighthawk line but the R7000 now gets more continual updates. Its a product with a very long life ahead of it.

Bob Silver
Netgear Networking Advisor

 

[Klueless]

Wow, this thread moved fast. I was going to say I bought the RT-N66U for work a couple months ago and I'm very happy with it. (AC devices aren't an issue ... yet : ) and I just use the factory firmware.

We run 12 Windows desktops, 4 printers, 2 servers and a dozen or so smart phones and iPADs. Our Internet link is only 15 mbps x 1.5 mbps so QoS is increasingly important to us. Everything is running fine.

• User Interface is better than I'm used to.
• Traffic monitor has been very useful. 10 minute real time and 24 hour charts showing "all" or broken down by wired, 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.
• Views of what devices are connected to what.
• Simple to use QoS that seems to work just fine right out of the box (but my needs were simple; prioritize the web and everything else can go to heck).
• Plenty of SSIDs (up to 8).
• Just a tad bit disappointed with radio selection, devices don't always pick the radio that I would have guessed.

I'd guess the RT-AC68U is more of the same only better but for the money I saved I can almost buy a spare for play, testing and a hot swap-in (in case of failure).

 

[ScottStoef]

I'm in the same dilemma and came to SNB experts for help.

I purchased one of the Netgear Nighthawk X4 - AC2350 (R7500v2) for one fifty but I'm trying to decide if I want to keep it or find something different. I currently have a Asus RT-N66U (N900) router. I have a fairly large house (4800 square feet) on 3 stacked levels. The router is situated on the top floor in about the center of the home. I occasionally lose the signal (usually the 5G) so I figured it was about time for a new one. I have had issues with my router's admin password being changed 2 times without me knowing it. The first time it happened I just reset the router and used the old user ID and password (I know DUH!!!). This time I reset the router, updated the firmware, changed the admin ID/password, created new SSIDs/passwords, disabled WPS, and remote access. Everything seems stable so now I'm rethinking my purchase unless the new router is going to be a huge performance improvement.

We currently have 3 iPads, 2 iPods, 4 iPhones, 4 laptops, 1 desktop, and 5 TVs/bluray players on the network. Maybe this is too much of a load for the N66U? I also thought the Netgear would be an upgrade since some of the devices can use the AC. Thoughts?

 

[avtella]

The R7500v2 should be a good upgrade, it worked very well for me. The R7000, Linksys WRT1900AC, Asus AC68U also are pretty good in terms of range if you are not satisfied with that one.

 

[pege63]

Why not the R7800