Any thoughts on this router?

[IAmAndre]

Hi,

 

I'm moving my home office to another room, in which the WiFi signal is very weak. Going wired isn't an option I want to upgrade my router. Here's the one I'm considering buying: https://www.tp-link.com/en/home-networking/dsl-modem-router/archer-vr400/

I'm currently using this one: https://www.tp-link.com/fr/home-networking/dsl-modem-router/td-w8960n/

Now the thing I care the most about is WiFi range so can I expect a big bump in this regard?

 

Thanks

[Oshino Shinobu]

It will definitely be a big step up in pretty much every regard. How good the WiFi signal will be in the office depends on a wide range of things, such as distance, interference, how many walls are between the rooms and what the walls are made of. It's impossible to say if it will be sufficient for your office without trying it really. 

[IAmAndre]

32 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

It will definitely be a big step up in pretty much every regard. How good the WiFi signal will be in the office depends on a wide range of things, such as distance, interference, how many walls are between the rooms and what the walls are made of. It's impossible to say if it will be sufficient for your office without trying it really. 

I suspected that it wouldn't be enough infirmation indeed. Actually any upgrade in range should be enough. I'm already getting the signal, it's just weak and unstable for a work environment so if I get can get at least 10% more coverage it should be enough.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Just now, IAmAndre said:

I suspected that it wouldn't be enough infirmation indeed. Actually any upgrade in range should be enough. I'm already getting the signal, it's just weak and unstable for a work environment so if I get can get at least 10% more coverage it should be enough.

Something else to consider is powerline. How well it works varies from house to house, but could be a good middle ground between WiFi and wire.

[IAmAndre]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Something else to consider is powerline. How well it works varies from house to house, but could be a good middle ground between WiFi and wire.

Yeah no. I don't trust my power system and since it's home office I want to be able to keep working even if there's a power outage or something. There will be a UPS on the router and the fact that the router is compatible with 4G USB adapters is a huge plus. I just need a plan B in every aspect.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, IAmAndre said:

There will be a UPS on the router and the fact that the router is compatible with 4G USB adapters is a huge plus.

Doesnt always mean anything. While the phone companies network might still work during a power outage. It depends how your hooked in. Remote boxes for instances may be connected via Fiber back to the Co, meaning if the remote box's battery fails or runs out of juice, then you have no service regardless. On Cable internet is kinda similar to that, if the backup batteries on the nodes fail or run out of power, the network goes down. As far as cellular is concerned it really depends. Some sites have batteries some actually have generators.

 

Also even if your Computer isnt drawing a lot of power, there is no way a UPS can keep your PC running for a long period of time. Hell my old gaming rig would last maybe 15 min and it was pretty old. UPS's are very inefficient. This is due to the fact when on battery the UPS has to convert that power from DC to AC, then what ever device your using converts it back to DC. Even if nothing is plugged in, a UPS will eventually run out of power. UPS's we designed to allow you time to shut your system down, thats pretty much it. I have a beefy UPS myself and my modem and router ran for maybe 30 min before they shut off. So dont expect a long run time is all im saying. 

[IAmAndre]

1 hour ago, Donut417 said:

Doesnt always mean anything. While the phone companies network might still work during a power outage. It depends how your hooked in. Remote boxes for instances may be connected via Fiber back to the Co, meaning if the remote box's battery fails or runs out of juice, then you have no service regardless. On Cable internet is kinda similar to that, if the backup batteries on the nodes fail or run out of power, the network goes down. As far as cellular is concerned it really depends. Some sites have batteries some actually have generators.

I have a copper connection but I believe they have what it takes to keep the service running until the power is back. It's also very unlikely that a power outage affects like the whole area at the same time for a very long period, and to the point that both the copper internet and the 4G stop network working, in which case I'd have more important things to worry about than my internet connection.

1 hour ago, Donut417 said:

Also even if your Computer isnt drawing a lot of power, there is no way a UPS can keep your PC running for a long period of time. Hell my old gaming rig would last maybe 15 min and it was pretty old. UPS's are very inefficient. This is due to the fact when on battery the UPS has to convert that power from DC to AC, then what ever device your using converts it back to DC. Even if nothing is plugged in, a UPS will eventually run out of power. UPS's we designed to allow you time to shut your system down, thats pretty much it. I have a beefy UPS myself and my modem and router ran for maybe 30 min before they shut off. So dont expect a long run time is all im saying. 

I know that, but 15 minutes is enough to save everything and switch to my laptop after copying some files if needed. However the power will ikely be back within this period.

[Donut417]

10 hours ago, IAmAndre said:

I have a copper connection but I believe they have what it takes to keep the service running until the power is back.

If you connected to the Co directly, then yes. But a lot of POTS and DSL in many areas is done with remote boxes connected with Fiber back to the co. Most of the time they have back up batteries, but they can fail or be stolen, no joke this is a problem. Then theres is the issue of keeping your stuff powered. Dont expect a UPS to keep your networking equipment up for long. My UPS is rated for 810 watts, my modem and router drained it in 30 min or so. 

 

10 hours ago, IAmAndre said:

However the power will ikely be back within this period.

Not sure what problems your thinking of. But if a transformer explodes, or a line gets damaged, that takes time to repair. Most of the outages I have seen where weather related and physical damage happened. This can take hours and even days to repair. I remember an ice storm taking out the grid for 4 days in February at that. At least T Mobile had a generator on their tower. Dont expect things to come back quickly.

 

A 15 min outage is rare. Its more more common to have longer outages. At least in my experience in the 31 years I have been on this earth. 

[IAmAndre]

2 hours ago, Donut417 said:

If you connected to the Co directly, then yes. But a lot of POTS and DSL in many areas is done with remote boxes connected with Fiber back to the co. Most of the time they have back up batteries, but they can fail or be stolen, no joke this is a problem. Then theres is the issue of keeping your stuff powered. Dont expect a UPS to keep your networking equipment up for long. My UPS is rated for 810 watts, my modem and router drained it in 30 min or so. 

 

Not sure what problems your thinking of. But if a transformer explodes, or a line gets damaged, that takes time to repair. Most of the outages I have seen where weather related and physical damage happened. This can take hours and even days to repair. I remember an ice storm taking out the grid for 4 days in February at that. At least T Mobile had a generator on their tower. Dont expect things to come back quickly.

 

A 15 min outage is rare. Its more more common to have longer outages. At least in my experience in the 31 years I have been on this earth. 

Maybe I expressed myself wrong. For the past few weeks for example I've had a lot of weather-related power issues but these lasted only a few minutes. Now I did have longer power issues in the past but they rarely lasted more than a few hours, at least for the past few years.

With that said, I expected the router to stay functional for a longer period because I've seen people claiming to have up to 4 hours of backup time with their UPS. I personally used to have over an hour of backup with mine when used to charge my phone or laptop during power outages.

In any case, anything above 30 minutes is pretty decent because as I said my power issues don't happen that often and when they do they don't last all that long, and if they do I can still switch to 4G.