Old Router - Upgrade?

[Frake34]

Howdy Folks, 

 

I'm looking to upgrade my current router, but the question I have t ask

is should I?

 

Now of course I always want to spend money on tech, but I have to justify it

with the wife LoL.  

 

So with that said,  I am currently running an old Netgear N150

We've had it for a long long time.  

 

We live in a small townhouse apartment - with an upstairs.

The router lives downstairs next to our Spectrum Modem.

 

Downstairs on 2.4G I get around 25-30Mbp/s

I'm about 6 Meters away.  (Downstairs)

 

Upstairs, obviously its worse.

 

Needless to say, our incoming connection is 100Mbit/s

Which I do of course receive plugged in. (ps4)

 

I think I've provided all questions, 

all help will be thankful!!

 

Thanks,

Frake34

[Jumballi]

1 router per floor, from the center of the house. Get one high end router for the larger of the 2 spaces, and just keep using the older one until it burns out.

 

the best justification is you and wife are each getting 1-2 new devices connected to the internet per year, kids also get more devices, and the old router is not going to be forwards compatible much longer.

 

I bought a $300 netgear, and my wifi speeds outperform the ethernet. The days that wifi is bad are long gone.

[LogicWeasel]

25 minutes ago, Frake34 said:

I'm looking to upgrade my current router, but the question I have t ask

is should I?

Yes, especially if your devices using the WiFi can do Wireless AC (802.11ac  a.k.a. WiFi 5 thanks to the new naming scheme...) since AC is a lot better than even Wireless N.  Get a strong external-antenna new router and you'll see the difference easily.

[Michael Ducharme]

Don't get two routers, you'll end up doing double NAT. If you do need two devices, get a wireless router and an access point for the upstairs.

 

Putting a big powerful antenna on a router doesn't help you as much as you might think because the remote device has limited transmit power (imagine a supercharged lighthouse vs. a small weak lamp on a ship), but that being said, depending on how small your townhouse is, you might be able to handle both floors OK if you don't have much on the top floor and you place the router well in the house.

 

You can look at MikroTik devices which are flexible and can be deployed in either a router or access point mode. If all of your devices are wireless (except for perhaps one), you might look at the MikroTik Audience for $170 USD MSRP. The advantage is that if you decide you need more bandwidth upstairs you can buy a second one later and it will pair with the first.

 

You can also look at Ubiquiti if you want to spend even more money, which has a flashier GUI and more features.

 

I always advise against D-Link/Belkin/TP-Link/etc. simply because they release a device and release a few token firmware updates and that is it. If you want new capabilities, you have to buy a new device. People who bought MikroTik or Ubiquiti devices a decade ago still get updates with new features, so the useful lifespan of the device is extended (obviously though they can't add new features that require hardware changes).

[LogicWeasel]

6 minutes ago, Michael Ducharme said:

Putting a big powerful antenna on a router doesn't help you as much as you might think because the remote device has limited transmit power

While you are right, you seem to have assumed that I meant an amplified antenna.  I said strong external-antenna router.  I implied that it comes with the router, and that it has strong signal, which is done all the time with a good passive-gain 8dbi (or so) antenna.  I just wanted to note the preference for external antenna (with good gain) vs some internal antenna, omnidirectional router that would be inferior at getting good signal through obstacles or distance.

[Michael Ducharme]

Possibly - but even then, the antenna gain is only part of the equation. I would say that the receiver sensitivity is often more important than the antenna gain. A lot of routers that have huge external antennas (often looking like UFOs about to lift off) have mediocre receiver sensitivity, so you get lower modulation with the same signal level (compared to a device with very good receiver sensitivity). The larger antennas help to compensate for this issue, but cannot entirely without violating FCC (or other) regulations.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, Frake34 said:

is should I?

There is going to be a diffrent between a shitty N150 router and a decent AC router. Personally 5Ghz is your friend, as long as your home is no built like a concrete bunker than it shoud work well. With 5Ghz you potentially would get faster speeds. 

 

ASUS and Netgear are the basic brands that are recommended here. I peronsally have a Synology RT2600AC and its been solid, but for $200 USD it better be. Ubiquti is also a brand recommended but its more of a PROsumer brand. It really comes down to how much you want to spend? 

[Michael Ducharme]

IMO, Netgear is garbage - I wouldn't recommend it to anybody. I have no opinion on ASUS since I haven't really worked with it closely.

[Frake34]

You cats are so smart.  Way above my head.  I am proud to have asked you such a question.  

Small parts

 

Downstairs:

Laptop

2 Phone

Ps4

 

Upstairs:

1 Firestick

MAX same 2 PHones

 

Thanks,

Chase

[LogicWeasel]

13 minutes ago, Frake34 said:

Downstairs:

Laptop

2 Phone

Ps4

 

Upstairs:

1 Firestick

MAX same 2 PHones

Enough things to certainly justify getting at least a $80+ new router to get 5Ghz Wifi AC and other modern router features.  There will be real, noticeably faster (likely more reliable too) network performance on that stuff.  Especially if you're trying to push 1080p or 4k streaming on that firestick.

[Michael Ducharme]

Assuming in the downstairs you can place it relatively centrally (and not hidden behind a desk in some corner), something like the MikroTik Audience ought to sufficiently cover your upstairs too. The antenna gain and receive sensitivity are both excellent. And if not, you can always buy a second Audience and it will automatically link to your first and extend it with no loss of bandwidth.

 

At a minimum, I agree with everybody else on this - you need something that is AC capable - wireless N does not cut it.

[Frake34]

Thanks for all input!  

I believe I'm going to give the MikroTik Audience a shot!