Benefits of Upgrading Stock ISP Router

[RickySrx]

im interested in knowing if i would benefit from upgrading Router ?

[Hayabusa1989]

what do you use your connection for ?

[RickySrx]

Just now, Hayabusa1989 said:

what do you use your connection for ?

mostly gaming but i do wish to get into servers soon

[W-L]

1 minute ago, RickySrx said:

im interested in knowing if i would benefit from upgrading Router ?

It depends on your use case, mainly if you need more connections and better wifi. Most ISP solutions are pretty bog standard with regular dual band where you can get routers that have wireless AC with MiMO. 

[Hayabusa1989]

Just now, RickySrx said:

mostly gaming but i do wish to get into servers soon

I am in the same boat currently - Work want me to use a Firebox T-10W but i feel like its abit basic/i wont have any control for my needs.

 

I would say that maybe looking into PFSense might be a good avenue ?

[Mira Yurizaki]

Well if yours is anything like the AT&T box we have, you'll at least be upgraded to the 21st century where the WiFi is something better than 802.11bg.

 

Yes, for some reason AT&T is so cheap they can't include an 802.11n or better WiFi router in their 2012 modem/router box.

[Hayabusa1989]

Just now, M.Yurizaki said:

Well if yours is anything like the AT&T box we have, you'll at least be upgraded to the 21st century where the WiFi is something better than 802.11bg.

 

Yes, for some reason AT&T is so cheap they can't include an 802.11n or better WiFi router in their 2012 modem/router box.

Virgin just released the ARRIS Superhub 3 over here in the UK - It's Wifi is total shit despite being dual band. I actually switched DHCP off the Superhub 2.0 old router and plugged it into my LAN to provide a back-up WIFI because the ARRIS 3 is so shoddy

[ChalkChalkson]

Well it depends greatly on the router your ISP gave you (obviously)

Here are some things you might want to look for

• dualband ac wifi
• a nice UI for the portforwarding
• built in DNS
• DHCP and static IP options
• remote access
• NAS features
• and as always reputable brands

[Oshino Shinobu]

In general, the biggest upgrade I can see is the level of control you get with most aftermarket routers. A lot of ISP provided routers are over simplified to cater to the average user, so they lock down features like port forwarding, VPN configuration, custom DNS settings and so on. 

 

People mention things like more ports, better WiFi and so on, but these aren't really features of a router, they are other devices that are combined into modern routers. If you need more ports, buy a decent Gigabit switch. If you need better WiFi, buy a dedicated access point and use that for WiFi instead of your router. You'll often get more for your money if you keep your existing router and add the dedicated devices for the same amount you'd spend on a new router. For example, you're going to get a better solution if need better WiFi and spend $140 on a dedicated access point or two than if you upgrade to a $140 router. 

Unless you're having issues with your current router, or you require more access to your router's settings, I wouldn't say upgrading your router is necessary for a home network. If you're looking for more access, check to see if your router can be used with DD-WRT. It's a good firmware for some routers that gives you pretty much full access to your settings. 

[Mr.Meerkat]

10 minutes ago, Hayabusa1989 said:

Virgin just released the ARRIS Superhub 3 over here in the UK - It's Wifi is total shit despite being dual band. I actually switched DHCP off the Superhub 2.0 old router and plugged it into my LAN to provide a back-up WIFI because the ARRIS 3 is so shoddy

Talktalk can't even provide a fucking modem/router combo that has Gigabit Ethernet ports meaning that I have to route everything through my gigabit switch in my home network...(considering that sometimes I'm transferring files between 2 SSDs, you really think 10MB/s is gonna cut it? ).

Plus it doesn't support G.INP, the thing that was made to increase speeds on the openreach network but since it doesn't support it, it stresses the line a lot more pushing the value of downstream interleave depth to 2000+ (normal value is less than 10, usually 1) thus making DLM work really hard to compensate for it and driving my ping up by double while decreasing my down speeds by 15mbps. At least seems that they've disabled it on my cabinet now so I get my 70+mbps down speeds again  

 

Sorry for ranting  

[Hayabusa1989]

17 hours ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Talktalk can't even provide a fucking modem/router combo that has Gigabit Ethernet ports meaning that I have to route everything through my gigabit switch in my home network...(considering that sometimes I'm transferring files between 2 SSDs, you really think 10MB/s is gonna cut it? ).

Plus it doesn't support G.INP, the thing that was made to increase speeds on the openreach network but since it doesn't support it, it stresses the line a lot more pushing the value of downstream interleave depth to 2000+ (normal value is less than 10, usually 1) thus making DLM work really hard to compensate for it and driving my ping up by double while decreasing my down speeds by 15mbps. At least seems that they've disabled it on my cabinet now so I get my 70+mbps down speeds again  

 

Sorry for ranting  

BT OpenFail - Ohh i feel your pain with them, i could rant for days about them - The shit they pull with Business DSL is amazing.