Replacement Router

slinky33 · May 5, 2018

I've got a Netgear R6400 that seems to be wigging out on me. When I'm connected to my DSL modem directly, I get full speed, but when going through the router, it drops down to less than 1Mbps (we have a 15Mbps connection). So it appears to be the router playing dumb. Suggestions about what I could replace it with? A little explanation...we operate a small business over the internet so we need it to be reliable. I am also a web developer and have several VMs stored on two different servers. So that coupled with our kids and their devices we can have upwards of 50 devices connected at a time. So I need something that can handle a lot of load for a while. I'd rather not have to replace it in a year like I am this one. A router/wi-fi combo is not necessary, they could be separate units. Bonus if it has some of the abilities of the Circle by Disney. Thanks!

kirashi · May 5, 2018

9 minutes ago, slinky33 said:

I've got a Netgear R6400 that seems to be wigging out on me. When I'm connected to my DSL modem directly, I get full speed, but when going through the router, it drops down to less than 1Mbps (we have a 15Mbps connection). So it appears to be the router playing dumb. Suggestions about what I could replace it with? A little explanation...we operate a small business over the internet so we need it to be reliable. I am also a web developer and have several VMs stored on two different servers. So that coupled with our kids and their devices we can have upwards of 50 devices connected at a time. So I need something that can handle a lot of load for a while. I'd rather not have to replace it in a year like I am this one. A router/wi-fi combo is not necessary, they could be separate units. Bonus if it has some of the abilities of the Circle by Disney. Thanks!

Before you replace the R6400 with another router on the Advanced Tomato downloads list, I'd recommend flashing it with Advanced Tomato and seeing if this custom Tomato-WRT based firmware performs better than stock for you. (ProTip: it absolutely will perform better because it's not the shitty stock firmware that Netgear provides.) To be clear, I'm not ripping on Netgear's routers - I have deployed multiple R7000's over the last 3-4 years, all running Advanced Tomato or DD-WRT stable for extended periods of time with 100+ clients connected. (Having that many clients definitely affects speeds if everyone is online at once, but the fact that these consumer routers can even handle this is amazing.)

https://advancedtomato.com/downloads

https://advancedtomato.com/downloads/router/r6400

That being said, if you actually need reliable internet for business use, you really should have proper enterprise gear from Ubiquiti Networks for the best reliability, security, and management of your network and all connected devices. Sure, they cost more money both in initial purchase and implementation, but you'll have rock solid connectivity for a long time, so long as your ISP's modem and connection are also reliable.

https://www.ubnt.com/