Suggestions for a new router

[Spork829]

So basically I've been using a Netgear R6300v2 router for the last few years and it's always worked pretty well. Over the last few weeks my internet's been really horrible, dropping out constantly and really slow when it was working. It wasn't my ISP (for once) and I narrowed down the issue to the wireless on the router (ethernet was totally fine). Don't know what could be causing that, but considering pretty much every device in the house uses wifi rather than ethernet, this is a serious problem. I swapped over to the built-in router on the Comcast-provided modem, and it's really bad. At least it stays up all the time, so that's something, but I'm getting lag spikes left and right, and I pinged the router's local IP to confirm it's not the ISP's fault. Sure enough I'm getting ping spikes up into the hundreds and thousands when not on ethernet, even on my laptop sitting right next to the box. So obviously that thing isn't gonna cut it.

 

So I'm looking for a new router with solid wifi range, with enough bandwidth that I can game/stream video/use VOIP all at the same time, whilst the other three people in my family are browsing/streaming (the most intensive thing any of them do is Netflix). I was looking at going straight down the upgrade path and getting the NetGear R6400. Thoughts/suggestions?

[Spork829]

Oh also if anyone knows, what does the number after AC signify? i.e. AC1750 or AC1900.

[ARikozuM]

AC is the protocol like b/g/n. 1750 and 1900 tells you the total throughput of all the bands, but you'll never see that on any one device. 

 

Are you looking for any extras from the AP?

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, Spork829 said:

what does the number after AC signify?

therotical max speed, realworld is about 1/3 of that max.

[minibois]

2 minutes ago, Spork829 said:

Oh also if anyone knows, what does the number after AC signify? i.e. AC1750 or AC1900.

Usually it's the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency speeds combined (WiFi speeds).

 

The R6400 is a pretty good one, one of the competitors to that one is Asus RT-AC66U-B1. About the same (advertised) speeds.

[Spork829]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

therotical max speed, realworld is about 1/3 of that max.

Thanks, good to know I suppose

1 minute ago, ARikozuM said:

AC is the protocol like b/g/n. 1750 and 1900 tells you the total throughput of all the bands, but you'll never see that on any one device. 

 

Are you looking for any extras from the AP?

Yeah I know what AC is, was just asking about the numbers  

 

I don't need any crazy extras, basically the only additional functionality on the router I need to use is port forwarding, and I guess QoS would be nice, but I assume those are both pretty easy to come by. I'd like to keep it under like $150.

[ARikozuM]

2 minutes ago, Spork829 said:

I'd like to keep it under like $150.

Have you looked at any of TP-Link's Archer series? I can recommend the C7 or Linksys WRT1200AC. 

[iamdarkyoshi]

PUT

A

FAN

ON

IT

 

I've solved all my switch/router issues by cooling them. Whatever you get, just cool it off

[Spork829]

5 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Have you looked at any of TP-Link's Archer series? I can recommend the C7 or Linksys WRT1200AC. 

May take a look at those

10 minutes ago, Minibois said:

Usually it's the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency speeds combined (WiFi speeds).

 

The R6400 is a pretty good one, one of the competitors to that one is Asus RT-AC66U-B1. About the same (advertised) speeds.

Asus is definitely a consideration too. Another question while we're here actually: I'll be upgrading in a few months to Gigabit fiber. Do you guys know if any router running wireless AC can output the full gigabit speeds?

 

3 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

PUT

A

FAN

ON

IT

 

I've solved all my switch/router issues by cooling them. Whatever you get, just cool it off

Huh maybe I'll go stick a fan on the current one and see if that does anything

[iamdarkyoshi]

1 minute ago, Spork829 said:

May take a look at those

Asus is definitely a consideration too. Another question while we're here actually: I'll be upgrading in a few months to Gigabit fiber. Do you guys know if any router running wireless AC can output/receive the full gigabit speeds?

 

Huh maybe I'll go stick a fan on the current one and see if that does anything

My switch was throttling from gigabit to 10mbit, and my router was constantly crashing and rebooting, just by cooling them, they ran for a year without a single fault

[minibois]

4 minutes ago, Spork829 said:

Asus is definitely a consideration too. Another question while we're here actually: I'll be upgrading in a few months to Gigabit fiber. Do you guys know if any router running wireless AC can output/receive the full gigabit speeds?

I wouldn't know, never had an AC device to test it out with. In theory it can do 1.3Gb/s though.

[Spork829]

13 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

My switch was throttling from gigabit to 10mbit, and my router was constantly crashing and rebooting, just by cooling them, they ran for a year without a single fault

Well I got a giant fan and put in on full speed half an inch away from the side of the Comcast box. It was warm to the touch before and is much cooler now, but so far performance has not improved.

[DrMacintosh]

Not the cheapest router in the world but certainly one of the most secure and one of the most reliable lines of routers out there:

 

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/ME918LL/A/airport-extreme?fnode=58

[iamdarkyoshi]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

Not the cheapest router in the world but certainly one of the most secure and one of the most reliable line of routers out there:

 

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/ME918LL/A/airport-extreme?fnode=58

As much as I absolutely despise apple, I'm going to have to agree with you on this one.

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, iamdarkyoshi said:

As much as I absolutely despise apple, I'm going to have to agree with you on this one.

lol

[Spork829]

2 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Not the cheapest router in the world but certainly one of the most secure and one of the most reliable lines of routers out there:

 

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/ME918LL/A/airport-extreme?fnode=58

 

1 minute ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

As much as I absolutely despise apple, I'm going to have to agree with you on this one.

Same actually, that looks shockingly reasonable for an Apple product

[iamdarkyoshi]

Just now, Spork829 said:

 

Same actually, that looks shockingly reasonable for an Apple product

My friend had a much older one and it ran for like 10 years without a single outage

 

Apple makes fucking great routers

[Spork829]

Just now, iamdarkyoshi said:

My friend had a much older one and it ran for like 10 years without a single outage

 

Apple makes fucking great routers

That's really strange. I still probably won't buy one, but good to know I guess

[DrMacintosh]

6 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

My friend had a much older one and it ran for like 10 years without a single outage

 

Apple makes fucking great routers

The reviews on Apples website place it at 3 stars, but I have a feeling that is a little skewed since most people who have then and had it work fine probably don't bother to review it, and only the people who have had theirs get knocked out complain. 

 

I had a 4th Gen TimeCapsule and it worked for about 4 years (got it in 2011 and replaced in 2015), then it got hit with a power surge and even though it should have been protected, the PSU started giving up the ghost. It would sometimes turn on and sometimes not (I don't blame it, wireless backups and network activity almost 24/7 for 4 years is respectable) But it worked flawlessly up until that point. 

[Spork829]

36 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

lol

 

34 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

My friend had a much older one and it ran for like 10 years without a single outage

 

Apple makes fucking great routers

 

1 hour ago, Minibois said:

I wouldn't know, never had an AC device to test it out with. In theory it can do 1.3Gb/s though.

So I want to try and set up the original Netgear router again to see if cooling that will make a difference. However it's asking me to set up the connection for it again, and I'll be honest, I have no idea what some of this stuff is (sorry for crap phone photo):

 

 

Specifically, what login and password should I use, do I need a 'service name' and if so what is that, and what connection mode should I use?

[iamdarkyoshi]

1 minute ago, Spork829 said:

 

 

So I want to try and set up the original Netgear router again to see if cooling that will make a difference. However it's asking me to set up the connection for it again, and I'll be honest, I have no idea what some of this stuff is (sorry for crap phone photo):

 

 

Specifically, what login and password should I use, do I need a 'service name' and if so what is that, and what connection mode should I use?

Contact your ISP. I have a seperate modem so I have no clue how to set this up anymore

[Spork829]

20 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Contact your ISP. I have a seperate modem so I have no clue how to set this up anymore

Rip. Anyone else?

[Spork829]

1 hour ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Contact your ISP. I have a seperate modem so I have no clue how to set this up anymore

Thankfully my router has an auto-setup wizard so I just used that and got it working. And I don't want to speak too soon but it looks like strapping a fan to the old router actually helped a lot. Not only is it (so far) not cutting out anymore but my speeds are actually better than before. Looking like I won't even need a new router for now. Thanks so much!