New router for a lot of clients to replace a Netgear r8000

[detroitwraps]

Hello, 

I am looking to upgrade our wireless router. Currently we have a 6 or so year old netgear r8000 (triband). We have about 60 wired devices and 50+ wireless devices.

Currently the ports off the router each go to a switch located in other areas of the house. I think it has trouble keeping up with everything. My wife looses connections sometimes while on the phone (ring central). We often have to reset everything to get it all working. 

We have gigabit internet (supposedly it is 1200mb, i have never seen it that fast) so i dont think that has anything to do with it. 

All the switches are gigabit. 

We use a lot of data and also use network storage/backup.

 

My budget is less the $500

 

If there is anything else you would like to know that would help you advise me which would be best for us, please let me know!

Thank you for your help!!

 

Tony

[HanZie82]

For those amounts i would look for something more professional.

Drytek Vigor (there are other options) comes to mind, and i've found those have pretty good results for ok prices.

Then you can use the r8000 just for the wifi, maybe its still capable to do that.
All the network handling on the main router. r8000 just for wifi.

[GuiltySpark_]

Probably could swap in a UDM and be happy then expand it later with some access points. 

 

https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-unifi-os-consoles/products/unifi-dream-machine

[jj9987]

This sounds like business/enterprise use case, where regular consumer/prosumers routers will no longer fit the needs.

Ubiquiti and Mikrotik are a good place to start. If you have an old PC lying around, you can consider installing pfSense/OPNsense on it.

Next level would be Cisco, Juniper, HPE, Aruba and similar, but these might be out of your budget. Also you need to the knowledge on how to properly set up networks and configure them.

[detroitwraps]

On 5/12/2021 at 3:33 PM, jj9987 said:

This sounds like business/enterprise use case, where regular consumer/prosumers routers will no longer fit the needs.

Ubiquiti and Mikrotik are a good place to start. If you have an old PC lying around, you can consider installing pfSense/OPNsense on it.

Next level would be Cisco, Juniper, HPE, Aruba and similar, but these might be out of your budget. Also you need to the knowledge on how to properly set up networks and configure them.

This sounds like it would work. I have a few old pcs i could use one of them to put pfsence on.

Do i need more then 2 network connections on the pc if i have multiple switches?

Or do I plug in one switch and then connect the others to that one?

 

Thank you for your help, its very appreciated.

[jj9987]

On 5/14/2021 at 12:05 AM, detroitwraps said:

This sounds like it would work. I have a few old pcs i could use one of them to put pfsence on.

Do i need more then 2 network connections on the pc if i have multiple switches?

Or do I plug in one switch and then connect the others to that one?

 

Thank you for your help, its very appreciated.

At minimum, the PC needs to have 2 network interfaces, one for WAN and one for LAN. Then you would connect a switch to LAN port and rest of your local network to that switch. While pfSense can do bridging and switching, it is not very optimal. I am not sure about OPNsense, but am guessing it's the same.

[detroitwraps]

On 5/15/2021 at 10:22 AM, jj9987 said:

At minimum, the PC needs to have 2 network interfaces, one for WAN and one for LAN. Then you would connect a switch to LAN port and rest of your local network to that switch. While pfSense can do bridging and switching, it is not very optimal. I am not sure about OPNsense, but am guessing it's the same.

Thank you for your advice. I appreciate it!