Need a new router - ~$200 USD

[Scruffy90]

I posted a question regarding internet issues with my devices a few days ago. I came to the conclusion that the wireless card inside my XPS15 is having issues (Dell will send me a replacement), the Surface 4 has another bad set of drivers, and that my router is indeed dying as the issues described in that post are also happening over the 2.4 ghz network. Instead of trying to fix the entire issue, i've decided to invest in a new router.

 

What is the best router that I could currently buy for about $200USD?

 

My current router is a Netgear R6400.

[bcredeur97]

you could build your own router with an older computer and use your R6400 or a ubiquiti (preferred) as an access point. 

 

idk how much you want to get into it tho

 

but that is my preferred method.... most power for the money. i use an old mini dell optiplex 780 (i3, 4GB) with a intel dual port card inside that i got for $70 lol

[Scruffy90]

Just now, bcredeur97 said:

you could build your own router with an older computer and use your R6400 or a ubiquiti (preferred) as an access point. 

 

idk how much you want to get into it tho

 

but that is my preferred method.... most power for the money

Id consider it if I had the time. I love tinkering with stuff like that and have considered it in the past. What would I use to build a router?

[kerradeph]

Any reasonably cheap computer with two NICs will do. Then you install something like PFsense on there to operate as a gateway, Router, and Firewall. You can also run your DNS and DHCP services off of it. That along with a Ubiquiti access point will make a very competent network setup. 

[Scruffy90]

54 minutes ago, bcredeur97 said:

you could build your own router with an older computer and use your R6400 or a ubiquiti (preferred) as an access point. 

 

idk how much you want to get into it tho

 

but that is my preferred method.... most power for the money. i use an old mini dell optiplex 780 (i3, 4GB) with a intel dual port card inside that i got for $70 lol

 

46 minutes ago, kerradeph said:

Any reasonably cheap computer with two NICs will do. Then you install something like PFsense on there to operate as a gateway, Router, and Firewall. You can also run your DNS and DHCP services off of it. That along with a Ubiquiti access point will make a very competent network setup. 

Assuming I don't go down this router(although it seems like I might in the future), what would be the best solution I could get?

[Lurick]

2 hours ago, Scruffy90 said:

 

Assuming I don't go down this router(although it seems like I might in the future), what would be the best solution I could get?

Get a ubiquity gateway/switch and hook up a dedicated AP. Check out their site to see what they have.

[Scruffy90]

18 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Get a ubiquity gateway/switch and hook up a dedicated AP. Check out their site to see what they have.

Gateway + access point pushing me outside of my current budget.

[Lurick]

Just now, Scruffy90 said:

Gateway + access point pushing me outside of my current budget.

Is it just wireless on your current router that's going bad?

You could just get an AP from Ubiquity and turn off wireless on your current router.

[bcredeur97]

3 hours ago, Scruffy90 said:

 

Assuming I don't go down this router(although it seems like I might in the future), what would be the best solution I could get?

google wifi is pretty awesome if you don't care about big brother watching you.

 

i think ubiquiti has consumer devices that do similar things too..

 

Also "onhub" is pretty good too

[System Error Message]

dont listen to the other suggestions, sounds like you dont have the skill needed for ubiquiti, pfsense, mikrotik.

Very important is to get a router that supports your WAN speeds and have the features you want.

 

i suggest looking at 3x3 wifi AC and 4x4 qualcomm based wifi AC as they are both good platforms and have been around for a while. Dont bother with triband or things like the AC88U as the extra stuff they have isnt what it seems. In the case of the AC88U the extra 4 ports connect to everything else via 1Gb/s so there is a bottleneck there.

 

Asus focuses on a gamer orientated router in terms of the interface and some of the features.

Netgear has decent hardware but their firmware can be a mess sometimes, they've been adding loads of stuff to their firmware (i've seen 1 or 2 of their routers that can run plex with real time encoding)

tp link focuses on making a low cost router, this means they dont use the higher end SoCs and their firmware is basic in feature set.

linksys - dont really know, still a consideration

dlink - i dont know, in the past theyi've had serious security breaches and quality issues.

synology - decent router, good if you have synology storage to pair it with but not as good as other brands as what you get for the price for the router itself

there may have been some consumer brands i've missed out.

Avoid: older dlinks, cisco rv series, any router with vpn in the name or vpn focused routers.

Go search, pick out some models and post it here to know if it is alright. Dont forget to post your subscribed WAN speeds as that matters too.

[Scruffy90]

On 7/16/2017 at 3:32 PM, System Error Message said:

dont listen to the other suggestions, sounds like you dont have the skill needed for ubiquiti, pfsense, mikrotik.

Very important is to get a router that supports your WAN speeds and have the features you want.

 

i suggest looking at 3x3 wifi AC and 4x4 qualcomm based wifi AC as they are both good platforms and have been around for a while. Dont bother with triband or things like the AC88U as the extra stuff they have isnt what it seems. In the case of the AC88U the extra 4 ports connect to everything else via 1Gb/s so there is a bottleneck there.

 

Asus focuses on a gamer orientated router in terms of the interface and some of the features.

Netgear has decent hardware but their firmware can be a mess sometimes, they've been adding loads of stuff to their firmware (i've seen 1 or 2 of their routers that can run plex with real time encoding)

tp link focuses on making a low cost router, this means they dont use the higher end SoCs and their firmware is basic in feature set.

linksys - dont really know, still a consideration

dlink - i dont know, in the past theyi've had serious security breaches and quality issues.

synology - decent router, good if you have synology storage to pair it with but not as good as other brands as what you get for the price for the router itself

there may have been some consumer brands i've missed out.

Avoid: older dlinks, cisco rv series, any router with vpn in the name or vpn focused routers.

Go search, pick out some models and post it here to know if it is alright. Dont forget to post your subscribed WAN speeds as that matters too.

Building a router doesn't seem too difficult, and i've taken on more complex projects over the years, but this summer I simply have no time. I basically live at work.

 

This post is informative though, so thanks:)

[itzzkolt]

My recommendation to you is Ubiquiti UniFi.  I think their access points is something you're looking for as wireless is becoming a bother.  You can either keep your current router for wired communications and get two of Ubiquiti's UAPs, their long rage or lite APs.  Both come with PoE injectors because you're going to need those.  I like them because you can easily configure them in the UniFi controller (needs to be running for config/stats).  Just place two of them separate from each other and take advantage of their fast roaming features.  Or you can get one access point and get a security gateway as a replacement for the router in which you can UniFi your whole network.

 

Note that I am not discounting other suggestions as they seem reasonable