Router question

[Magpie]

Hi!

 

I'm looking for a router advice since my old Asus RT-AC51 is going offline few times a day and that infuriates me as I started working from home due to COVID. 

 

My apartment is 73 square meters, my current router gives mi access everywhere at least on 2.4 (but 5 is also available in most spots). I don't need modem as I have fiber connection and separate ISP provided fiberoptic terminal.

 

Most of my use case is WIFI i have some smart switches, multiple google homes, smart tv etc. Around 16 clients. 

 

I don't want to go wifi 6 yet as only my Girlfriends iPhone has it.

 

I want to spend max 100$, preferably around 80;

 

What I'm looking at right now:

Asus RT-AC58U v2 or RT-AC59U

TP-link Archer A9 

TP-link Archer C7 V5

Microtic HAP AC2

 

I was thinking about getting one Ubiquiti AC Lite but it costs around all above and I would still have to get a router. Since I can cover whole house with one crappy router I don't think i need mesh or multiple accesspoints.

 

Which one will be the best?

[Falcon1986]

What speed package do you get from your ISP?

 

For a space like that, I'd get a Ubiquiti airCube-AC for under $80 (check eBay), wire it to the modem and place in a central location of the apartment. It's a very tiny but powerful WiFi router that you can put in bridge or router mode and control through a phone app or directly via the webUI. You'll only have 3 gigabit ethernet ports once you occupy the WAN port, but that can be expanded with a simple unmanaged gigabit switch.

 

If I were to choose from your list, though, I'd go with the Archer A9 because 1. between that and the C7, the A9 explicitly has MU-MIMO support, 2. Asus tends to pack too many unnecessary features into their firmware, and 3. the A9 has higher potential speed than the MikroTik (although the MikroTik brand is heading into the pro-sumer space).

[Donut417]

14 hours ago, Magpie said:

TP-link Archer C7 V5

I set one of these up, an older version I would have to think. It worked well, considering the router was on one end of a rectangular house and you got decent speeds on the other end. Their firmware was kinda blah. But for a budget option that might be good. 

[Magpie]

On 6/5/2020 at 2:04 PM, Falcon1986 said:

What speed package do you get from your ISP?

 

For a space like that, I'd get a Ubiquiti airCube-AC for under $80 (check eBay), wire it to the modem and place in a central location of the apartment. It's a very tiny but powerful WiFi router that you can put in bridge or router mode and control through a phone app or directly via the webUI. You'll only have 3 gigabit ethernet ports once you occupy the WAN port, but that can be expanded with a simple unmanaged gigabit switch.

 

If I were to choose from your list, though, I'd go with the Archer A9 because 1. between that and the C7, the A9 explicitly has MU-MIMO support, 2. Asus tends to pack too many unnecessary features into their firmware, and 3. the A9 has higher potential speed than the MikroTik (although the MikroTik brand is heading into the pro-sumer space).

Now I have 100Mbps down and 50 up, but I can have up to 500Mbps with this provider, I didn't bought 500 yet because I sold my gaming rig and a gaming laptop so now I only stream netflix/YT/Spotify and do usual web browsing. 

 

I have not seen the airCube-AC as I focused on routers and this is something that looks ok for me BUT - is that access point only that I have to connect to a router or is it possible to be used as a standalone device?  It's not obvious since it's called access point but has gigabit lan ports (I know that this might be only POE pass through. 

[Falcon1986]

2 hours ago, Magpie said:

I have not seen the airCube-AC as I focused on routers and this is something that looks ok for me BUT - is that access point only that I have to connect to a router or is it possible to be used as a standalone device?  It's not obvious since it's called access point but has gigabit lan ports (I know that this might be only POE pass through. 

It is a full router out of the box, but you can set it up as an access point only if needed.

 

Please don't get this confused with the airCube ISP Access Point (ACB-ISP), which is a completely different device altogether for a different type of application and not what was recommended before.