Wired router help

[RainOG]

I am looking into using something like a wired ubiquity router going to an Asus RT-AC51U used as an access point. The RT-AC51U on its own is a little unreliable and slow when I am just using a wired connection but is totally fine for the rest of my roommates wifi needs. I would like son advice on if I should go with a wired router going with a switch and then attaching the RT-AC51U as an access point.

[AngryBeaver]

Honestly, for the network needs you are describing and for what I am guessing is your current tech level... you would be better off just replacing the router for a better one.

 

If you add a second router to the mix then you will have to worry about disabling firewalls, dhcp, or dealing with a double Nat situation. This isn''t necessarily hard to do, but if you are going to be buying something anyways... then you might as well purchase a single solution instead of just adding more to the mix.

 

Now if you purchase a switch... then to fix your wired issue it would need to be between your modem and router, which would remove firewall protection and leave your devices exposed, plus depending one your ISP might not work as each device would try to grab and external IP address instead of a local one.

 

I think your best bet would be to spend 75ish on something like a netgear R7000 or the DST variant R7300. They are relatively cheap right now, provide great wireless speeds, have good wan/lan gigabit speeds, and lastly it has a decent cpu on board.  If you go the way of the r7300, it is pretty much identical to the R7000 except it has a built in powerline feature and comes with a powerline adapter which will let you expand your wifi network without running any wires. A R7300 can be found for around the same price as a R7000 Btw.

 

If you want to stick with Asus then the

RT-ACRH13)

 can be had for about $70.

 

[RainOG]

I might end up going with way you suggested. My other reason for inquiring about the wired router is that I want to learn more about networking. Most of the time I learn best by just throwing myself in the mix of it all, but it's always helpful to start off with the right equipment. I'm going to start my own business pretty soon so I wanted to teach myself how to set up my own network on a small scale so I don't end up paying someone else to do it for me.

[Razor Blade]

Putting a switch between the modem and router likely would result in one device getting the lucky IP from the modem and the other devices on the network unable to access the internet.

 

You need a router in your network to serve as the gateway to the internet. The modem gives the router an IP for the internet and your router gives all your devices IPs to access the internet and communicate with each other inside the network. The only reason to purchase a switch is to expand your wired connections beyond the 4 ports offered on your all in one router box you have now.

 

Seems there are quite a few consumer routers out there that suffer from firmware bugs and heat problems... For heat just make sure you keep it out in the open air and out of any direct sunlight. If it gets really hot you could get a laptop cooler and stick it on that... For firmware, you could venture into open source... just be warned there is a chance you could brick it if there is a problem flashing the firmware so be careful.

 

Though it seems there isn't a whole lot of options... here is one option...

OpenWRT: https://openwrt.org/toh/asus/rt-ac51u