Router Upgrade

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grndcomm
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Router Upgrade

Post by grndcomm »

I am considering upgrading my wireless router as the one I have is almost 3 years old. Went to my local Best Buy and got overloaded on tech specs of the latest and greatest wireless routers. There was one the salesman was pushing that reminded me of a drone. It was huge compared to the one I have now. I have 2 remote desktops with dongle connections and my speed is "N" whatever that means. So now he says the latest hi-speed routers are using "AC" type speed. Said it was very fast. Then the price of the "drone router" (my name for it) came it close to $300. Little on the high end of my budget but that was what he said was the fastest in the store. So anyone have this "AC" type router? Impressed with the speed? There was a smaller WF router at around $200 and it had a lower "AC" speed. Just looking for some opinions on what users here are doing. I did a speedtest.net test and my dongle PC got 21 Mbps download and around 5 Mbps upload. I do download some rather large files at times so that is reason looking for a faster connection.

Ken
aznkaz
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by aznkaz »

Do you need a better router? Most people should be fine with a N router unless you transfer a lot of files from computer to computer. You mentioned "remote desktops" which I take to mean just computers connected to the router wirelessly (remote desktop usually refers to something else).

The speedtest that you did is more likely than not being bottlenecked by your internet speed and not your wireless speed. If it is your router, a decent N router should be capable of 40 or 50 Mbps and cost much less than the ones you were looking at. I think they are trying to up-sell you on something you don't need.
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fetch5482
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by fetch5482 »

I recently bought the TP-Link Archer C7 based on several online (thewirecutter.com, etc) and friends recommendations. I have been quite happy with it so far.
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Topic Author
grndcomm
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by grndcomm »

walletless wrote:I recently bought the TP-Link Archer C7 based on several online (thewirecutter.com, etc) and friends recommendations. I have been quite happy with it so far.

Looking online for that now. I trust someone personally using a particular router more than a salesman
Thanks
DSInvestor
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by DSInvestor »

Are you a T-Mobile wireless customer? If yes, stop by a T-Mobile store and pick up a their Cellspot router which is a T-Mobile rebranded ASUS RT-AC68U. It was provided for me at no cost but you have to return it if you terminate your plan with T-Mobile. You can also buy one for $99 from T-Mobile which is significantly cheaper than $180+ for the Asus RT-AC68U.
PCMag on the cellspot: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2c2817% ... 4%2c00.asp

We get great performance on our devices which range from iPhone 4, iPod touch, windows laptops (4+ yrs old), macbook pro, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad Air 2, apple TV, Roku 3, Sonos speaker system.
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grndcomm
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by grndcomm »

DSInvestor wrote:Are you a T-Mobile wireless customer? If yes, stop by a T-Mobile store and pick up a their Cellspot router which is a T-Mobile rebranded ASUS RT-AC68U. It was provided for me at no cost but you have to return it if you terminate your plan with T-Mobile. You can also buy one for $99 from T-Mobile which is significantly cheaper than $180+ for the Asus RT-AC68U.
PCMag on the cellspot: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2c2817% ... 4%2c00.asp

We get great performance on our devices which range from iPhone 4, iPod touch, windows laptops (4+ yrs old), macbook pro, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad Air 2, apple TV, Roku 3, Sonos speaker system.
No I am not a T-Mobile customer but that sounds like quite a deal for their subscribers. I just looked at the ASUS RT-AC68U and see it also has the AC speed. Thanks as I am keeping suggestions as they come with personal recommendations and satisfaction. As I mentioned earlier, means more to me than BB Salesman selling speech
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grndcomm
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by grndcomm »

Looking at the 2 recommended routers raises a question. These routers saying speeds much faster than my provider if I am reading this correctly. TP Link suggested showing 1300 Mbps ?? I will check but think my provider (Charter) is giving me 50 Mbps. Are there internet providers providing those high speeds? I have no option except for Charter currently but seems the Asus and TP link are super fast. Am I misinterpreting something ?
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happyisland
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by happyisland »

walletless wrote:I recently bought the TP-Link Archer C7 based on several online (thewirecutter.com, etc) and friends recommendations. I have been quite happy with it so far.
+1 for this exact model. Right now it's ~$100 on Amazon, but you can get it for cheaper if you're patient and use camelcamelcamel. In my opinion bestbuy is a big ripoff most of the time, and they seem to exist just to prey on the less technically savvy. EG, I asked my wife to get me an hdmi cable (should cost around 10 bucks) and they somehow convinced her that she needed a completely unnecessary $40 monster brand cable. I was pissed when I got it, but unable to return it since I live overseas.
theghetto
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by theghetto »

I second the TP link AC router. I just happened to purchase it myself and am pleased with its wireless range and stability. I tried a cheaper Netgear 'N' router first and I had nothing but problems setting up and staying connected. This was not due to the "N" specification, but the shoddy hardware Netgear is churning out for home use these days.

Yes the supported speeds by an 'N' router would be more then sufficient to cover your internet connection, but one thing AC routers provide is beam-forming. Beamforming supposedly detects where your wireless device is located and increases the power of the wireless signal in that direction, allowing for a more stable high-speed connection, particularly when you are on the other side of the house from the router.

I wouldn't spend any less then $80 bucks and any more then $130 for a home wireless router.
DSInvestor
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by DSInvestor »

grndcomm wrote:Looking at the 2 recommended routers raises a question. These routers saying speeds much faster than my provider if I am reading this correctly. TP Link suggested showing 1300 Mbps ?? I will check but think my provider (Charter) is giving me 50 Mbps. Are there internet providers providing those high speeds? I have no option except for Charter currently but seems the Asus and TP link are super fast. Am I misinterpreting something ?
While the internet service may not be as fast the speed supported by the router, the faster speed will allow you to transfer files faster inside your local network - like if you were backing up to a network drive or transferring files from one computer to another.
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jayjayc
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by jayjayc »

grndcomm wrote:Looking at the 2 recommended routers raises a question. These routers saying speeds much faster than my provider if I am reading this correctly. TP Link suggested showing 1300 Mbps ?? I will check but think my provider (Charter) is giving me 50 Mbps. Are there internet providers providing those high speeds? I have no option except for Charter currently but seems the Asus and TP link are super fast. Am I misinterpreting something ?
The 1300 Mbps speed listed by TP Link is the theoretical limit on its router. It will never reach that speed in real life conditions. I believe there are some providers that will offer that sort of internet speed, but they will be expensive and they will not be in the US. Most likely South Korea.

There's no reason to upgrade your Charter speed unless you start noticing lag. You may notice lag if you have 15 people in your house streaming Netflix. Otherwise, you should be ok.
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in_reality
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by in_reality »

grndcomm wrote:]So anyone have this "AC" type router? Impressed with the speed? There was a smaller WF router at around $200 and it had a lower "AC" speed.
Yes, I went with Apple's ($300 -2TB) Time Capsule which is an AC wifi base station that connect to the router my ISP provides for their fiber network.
grndcomm wrote:I did a speedtest.net test and my dongle PC got 21 Mbps download and around 5 Mbps upload. I do download some rather large files at times so that is reason looking for a faster connection.
54Mbps download, 33Mbps upload. Not sure if that is my WAN limit or if I am limited by having a/b/g devices connected.

Anyway, where I notice the difference, and what made it worth the cost, is backing up over the LAN to the Time Capsule. What used to take a whole night (fresh backup) now get's done about 3X as fast.

Don't forget the new dongle cost.
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Ged
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by Ged »

I have an Asus AC-66R. I find the software excellent.

One thing to keep in mind is that if the router comes with technologies not supported by your devices you may not be able to take full advantage of your purchase.

I've been able to get 100 Mbps down with AC-66R. My WAN connection often gets 130 Mbps down on speed tests to a wired computer.
Gronnie
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by Gronnie »

You can get an AC router that should be more than adequate for your needs for < $100.
dotstar
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by dotstar »

walletless wrote:I recently bought the TP-Link Archer C7 based on several online (thewirecutter.com, etc) and friends recommendations. I have been quite happy with it so far.
+1
MathWizard
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by MathWizard »

My Cisco Linksys E1000 wireless N router works great, and is about $90 on Newegg.com

Two Hidef Netflix streams plus web access in the house at the same time, and no problem.

We only have 13 Mbit internet access, so wireless N speed isn't even needed to do that.

I'm used to gigabit speeds at work, and I don't have any problems with this product at home.
CFM300
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by CFM300 »

"The Best Wi-Fi Router (for Most People)"

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-router/

I love this site. I've used it pretty much blindly for all sorts of purchases (laser printer, router, modem, shredder). By which I mean that I just buy whatever they say is best. Never been disappointed in my purchase and have saved myself a lot of time.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by cheese_breath »

grndcomm wrote:I am considering upgrading my wireless router as the one I have is almost 3 years old....
Is that the only reason? My router is that old, and I'm not thinking of upgrading it. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
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mhalley
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by mhalley »

I have the Asus, and really like it. It is a high end router, so you could probably get one cheaper, but of all the routers I have had I like it the best. You might consider a lesser priced ASUS. You won't get the full speed out of it until all the things that connect to it are also AC, so in the near future you are probably only going to get N speeds. But by getting the AC you will future-proof yourself for a while.
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by Mudpuppy »

cheese_breath wrote:
grndcomm wrote:I am considering upgrading my wireless router as the one I have is almost 3 years old....
Is that the only reason? My router is that old, and I'm not thinking of upgrading it. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
Exactly this. Networking protocols are designed for a lifespan on the order of a decade or more, not a couple of years. If your current router is working fine, there is absolutely no need to replace it simply because it's 3 years old. It could still work fine for years.
wander
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by wander »

aznkaz wrote:Do you need a better router? Most people should be fine with a N router unless you transfer a lot of files from computer to computer. You mentioned "remote desktops" which I take to mean just computers connected to the router wirelessly (remote desktop usually refers to something else).

The speedtest that you did is more likely than not being bottlenecked by your internet speed and not your wireless speed. If it is your router, a decent N router should be capable of 40 or 50 Mbps and cost much less than the ones you were looking at. I think they are trying to up-sell you on something you don't need.
+1. Speed transfer between computer is fine with N router, which is way faster than Internet speed. If I have spare cash to sign up for premium data plan from the cable company (up to 75 Mbps), I may consider buying a new router. For now, N-router still serves its purpose as my cable plan is 20 Mbps.
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grndcomm
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by grndcomm »

I am very appreciative to all who commented on my post. I am not interested in upgrade just because router is 3+ years old. As my original post stated I have recently began to transfer some rather large files and wanted a faster Wi-Fi transfer.

Thanks again for your input
Ken
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fetch5482
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by fetch5482 »

walletless wrote:I recently bought the TP-Link Archer C7 based on several online (thewirecutter.com, etc) and friends recommendations. I have been quite happy with it so far.
Also look for the C8 and C9. If the price difference is not huge, I would go with them over C7. The differences between the C7 & C8 are quite minor - faster processor, better user interface, etc.. so you won't go wrong one way or another.
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ourbrooks
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by ourbrooks »

The 50 Mbps figure is usually qualified by the phrase, "up to." Often, the typical speed is much lower; you may already be getting the maximum speed you can get from your ISP. If this is so, buying a new router won't help.

Do you have a separate router connected to the ISP box? If so, plugging one of the PC directly into the ISP box will give you an idea of what the connection is capable of. If it's just one box and it has 100 Mbs ports (which is typical for 3+ years ago), then try using a cable connection to the router and testing your speed that way.

If your connection is anywhere close to the claimed 50, then it's time to look at the router. The N protocol has a maximum speed of 300 Mps (although older routers may only do 150). If the dongles are only capable of A/B/G connections if there's any interference, it could drop the speed down to 21. Upgrade the dongles to at least "N" protocol and see what that does.

If your ISP is really giving you 50 Mbs AND you've got N connectivity between the dongles and the router, then you might want to consider a new router. Newer routers support the 5 Ghz band; currently, at least, there's less interferences in that band, although ranges are typically smaller. Routers which support the AC protocol must support the 5 Ghz band but there are routers which just support "N" which use this band. Again, both ends of the connection have to support the 5 Ghz band.
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SmileyFace
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by SmileyFace »

grndcomm wrote:So now he says the latest hi-speed routers are using "AC" type speed. Said it was very fast. T
I upgraded and have an AC router just because my old router died but none of the devices (laptops, smartphones, etc.) I have utilize AC so it doesn't matter yet. Both sides have to be 802.1ac for it to matter. You would have to upgrade the NIC cards in your PCs and/or buy newer laptops with 802.1ac to make any difference. But maybe more importantly if most of what you do is connect to the internet that is likely where the slowest speed is anyway (so your speed from your PC to router might be faster going from N to AC but you won't notice it because your slowest speed is out to the internet and back anyway).
Raven2
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by Raven2 »

I am considering upgrading my wireless router as the one I have is almost 3 years old. I did a speedtest.net test and my dongle PC got 21 Mbps download and around 5 Mbps upload. I do download some rather large files at times so that is reason looking for a faster connection.
You do not need a new router. Even an ancient 6 year old router will provide faster speeds than 21 Mbps. Speedtest.net measures the connection speed across the internet, not the router. If you want, and are willing to pay for, a faster connection you need to contact your internet provider and request a higher speed. IE, Comcast charges $10 more each month for 50 Mbps vs 20 Mbps. Other providers have similar rate structures.
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grndcomm
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by grndcomm »

ourbrooks wrote:The 50 Mbps figure is usually qualified by the phrase, "up to." Often, the typical speed is much lower; you may already be getting the maximum speed you can get from your ISP. If this is so, buying a new router won't help.

Do you have a separate router connected to the ISP box? If so, plugging one of the PC directly into the ISP box will give you an idea of what the connection is capable of. If it's just one box and it has 100 Mbs ports (which is typical for 3+ years ago), then try using a cable connection to the router and testing your speed that way.

If your connection is anywhere close to the claimed 50, then it's time to look at the router. The N protocol has a maximum speed of 300 Mps (although older routers may only do 150). If the dongles are only capable of A/B/G connections if there's any interference, it could drop the speed down to 21. Upgrade the dongles to at least "N" protocol and see what that does.

If your ISP is really giving you 50 Mbs AND you've got N connectivity between the dongles and the router, then you might want to consider a new router. Newer routers support the 5 Ghz band; currently, at least, there's less interferences in that band, although ranges are typically smaller. Routers which support the AC protocol must support the 5 Ghz band but there are routers which just support "N" which use this band. Again, both ends of the connection have to support the 5 Ghz band.
==============================================================================================================

Charter has a 100 Mbps service but after talking with them today, they said my service was at 60 Mbps. I remember upgrading from 25 to 50 last year but agent said all the 50 Mbps services were now at 60 Mbps. I only have one router and it is CAT 5 to the Charter modem. I have 2 PC's in that office area with CAT 5 connection to the router. A Speedtest.net test shows they are at 61-63 Mbps. I have to admit I got the dongles last summer and I do not remember if they were "N" rated. I will definitely get a certified "N" dongle so I can then know I have one. As I said I do not know if the ones I bought last year were "N" or not.

Not sure I understand your statement "If your ISP is really giving you 50 Mbs AND you've got N connectivity between the dongles and the router, then you might want to consider a new router." My 2 PC's connected CAT 5 to the router give me the 61-63 Mbps speed, but the 1 PC with dongle is only showing 21 Mbps. If my dongled PC were giving me the same as the CAT 5 PC's I would be good. Hope I am explaining this OK as I am somewhat dumb on all this. I guess the 21 Mbps Wi-Fi PC is the reason I was considering a new router. My house is 2100 sq ft and my signal strength at my dongled PC is 3 out of 5 bars. If I do the upgrade to an "AC" router, can you recommend a good dongle to take advantage of the higher speed router ?
DSInvestor
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by DSInvestor »

I upgraded from N to AC router (T-mobile Cellspot Asus RT-AC68U) and saw performance increases over wifi for internet across all devices without upgrading the hardware at each device. I have a mix of old and new devices from iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5S, iPad2, iPad 3, iPad Air 2, old dell laptop, macbook pro, Xbox 360, Apple TV, Roku 3.

If you wanted the fastest speeds for large file transfers inside your local network, you may need to upgrade your network adapter or use an ethernet cable if doing huge data transfers. When I migrated from one PC to another and transferring 100+GB, I plugged into ethernet.
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grndcomm
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by grndcomm »

UPDATE!! I have heard that cable internet speeds can fluctuate depending on how many people on my street are online. So I did a Speednet.net test 3 times and was getting between 18-20 Mbps. Now my dongle is setting on top of my PC, in fact directly over the power supply of the PC. I took the dongle and literally held it in mid air and redid the speed test. My speed went up to 42-43 Mbps. Amazing to me anyway. The dongle is attached to a 5' long USB cable, so I am going to try a few new locations to see which one will work best. By the way, now that I am home I did look at the dongle and it is a Netgear WN111 v2 and is rated for "N" speed. Router is Linksys E1000.

Very appreciative to all who gave their input on this.

I am not going to update router after all. Would be nice to get same speed as PC's in other room, but doubling speed by repositioning dongle will do for now.

Thanks to all for your help

Ken
DSInvestor
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by DSInvestor »

Ken, The less stuff around the antenna the better. The higher the better. My daughter had a desktop with a PCI wireless adapter card where and the antenna sticks out of back of the desktop. The desktop was on the floor and surrounded with stuff. She had signal problem so I swapped the antenna out with one with a wire and a stand so the antenna can sit up on top of the desk. This made a huge difference in signal strength and performance.

One of my neighbors had a problem with slow wifi and had placed their router in a built-in shelving. I moved the router from the back of the shelf to the front of the shelf (just a few inches) and the performance improvement was tremendous.
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aznkaz
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by aznkaz »

grndcomm wrote:UPDATE!! I have heard that cable internet speeds can fluctuate depending on how many people on my street are online. So I did a Speednet.net test 3 times and was getting between 18-20 Mbps. Now my dongle is setting on top of my PC, in fact directly over the power supply of the PC. I took the dongle and literally held it in mid air and redid the speed test. My speed went up to 42-43 Mbps. Amazing to me anyway. The dongle is attached to a 5' long USB cable, so I am going to try a few new locations to see which one will work best. By the way, now that I am home I did look at the dongle and it is a Netgear WN111 v2 and is rated for "N" speed. Router is Linksys E1000.

Very appreciative to all who gave their input on this.

I am not going to update router after all. Would be nice to get same speed as PC's in other room, but doubling speed by repositioning dongle will do for now.

Thanks to all for your help

Ken
Maybe a different channel on your router would help. Or a high gain wifi adapter (dogle) for your desktop.
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fetch5482
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by fetch5482 »

aznkaz wrote: Maybe a different channel on your router would help. Or a high gain wifi adapter (dogle) for your desktop.
Worth a try. Install a wifi channel scanner app on your phone & walk around the house to find a good channel.
Also, if your router supports setting channel width, set it to wide channel.
Are you on 2.4ghz or 5ghz? If your router supports dual band, try the 5ghz frequency.
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richardglm
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by richardglm »

It is worth noting that virtually all AC-class wireless routers are identical hardware made by one of two manufacturers, Broadcom or Qualcomm. The difference between brands is usually the software and the exterior casing (and often the software is similar as well, merely with a difference user interface). Different AC routers have different speed ratings (eg, AC750, AC1200, AC1900, AC3200). AC has some other advantages over N, you may get slightly better range.
N level routers are hardly outdated and usually are sufficient to max out almost anyone's internet connection, so AC devices are more useful if you need high speed between two devices in your house.
srj
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by srj »

Generally speaking you want to use a channel located in the middle of the spectrum, as that allows for the highest output power. The reason for that is a high output power towards the edge of the spectrum could cause interference for devices outside the sprectrum (bleeding over). Hardware will scale the power down to avoid this.

I also disable the larger channel (40MHz) sizes to reduce interference. This reduces throughput but improves latency.

For 802.11ac (which I'm less familiar with) the channel sizes are fixed and there's a larger spectrum to work with. You might not need to muck around with those settings.
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grndcomm
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by grndcomm »

DSInvestor wrote:Ken, The less stuff around the antenna the better. The higher the better. My daughter had a desktop with a PCI wireless adapter card where and the antenna sticks out of back of the desktop. The desktop was on the floor and surrounded with stuff. She had signal problem so I swapped the antenna out with one with a wire and a stand so the antenna can sit up on top of the desk. This made a huge difference in signal strength and performance.

One of my neighbors had a problem with slow wifi and had placed their router in a built-in shelving. I moved the router from the back of the shelf to the front of the shelf (just a few inches) and the performance improvement was tremendous.
I have tested 3 places and the highest one made the biggest difference (as you said). My router is on top of a computer desk/hutch and around 7' off the floor. Dongle is not quite as high but a good 6' off the floor. This morning (Saturday) my speed is 32-33 Mbps but guess that is because a lot of neighbors are online. Thanks for your experiences

Ken
lightheir
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by lightheir »

Wireless N is typically fast enough for everything, even multiple HD video streams - provided that you are in good proximity. Wifi signal can drop off a lot if there are walls in the way - you can tell if you run a speedtest online at different rooms. For example, I can get 55Mbps in my home office, but that signal drops to 1Mbps a mere 15 feet away in the garage (I work out there) because there are two walls with piping in the way.

The thing that got a lot more speed than anything else for my router was 2Ghz vs 5Ghz. 5Ghz has less range, but if you get a good signal with it, it's often 2x the speed of the 2Ghz channel.

I ended up buying a $110 Netgear signal repeater that does an outstanding job of reboosting weaker signals at the other end of the house, but even that repeater isn't good enough to get reliable signal into my garage, where I have to powerline it in. (Which still glitches out from time to time, annoylingly.)
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by jebmke »

lightheir wrote: but even that repeater isn't good enough to get reliable signal into my garage, where I have to powerline it in. (Which still glitches out from time to time, annoylingly.)
I get approx 125 mbps between a desktop and a NAS using powerline and a gigabit switch. My N router does the DHCP but the switch handles the traffic to the NAS. The router only has 100 mbs wired ports but my internet is only 8-10 so the internal speed for internet packets doesn't matter. With reasonably modern electric wiring, powerline can be a very good alternative for a fixed device where you can't connect with ethernet cable.
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Gronnie
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by Gronnie »

If you are using 2.4 GHz N make sure you are using either channel 1, 6, or 11.

If you are able to switch to 5 GHz you will likely have many less contending signals to compete with.
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by jeremyl »

After reading this thread it has me wondering if I messed up on the purchase of a router and curious to know others thoughts.

I have a netgear n600 wireless dual band dsl modem router with speeds up 600mbps (best buy guy recommended-should've known better).

Our router has stretches where it maintains signal for a long time and then has stretches where it drops the signal multiple times in a day.

We have about 8 devices connected at any time max. I have comcast cable and have the basic internet package. If I bought the TP Link AC 1750 router would that improve the router staying connected?

Thanks!
RandomFly
Posts: 46
Joined: Sat May 30, 2015 8:57 am

Re: Router Upgrade

Post by RandomFly »

jeremyl wrote:After reading this thread it has me wondering if I messed up on the purchase of a router and curious to know others thoughts.

I have a netgear n600 wireless dual band dsl modem router with speeds up 600mbps (best buy guy recommended-should've known better).

Our router has stretches where it maintains signal for a long time and then has stretches where it drops the signal multiple times in a day.
Are you sure it is your router? It could also be that your signal levels at your modem are marginal.

On the general question of whether you need to upgrade the router ... I have a netgear n900 and it is enough to get max throughput to the internet (my cable modem maxes out at 50Mbps download & 25 Mbps upload). For local file transmission over wifi between 2 PCs, the speed I get is ~ 100 Mbps. Speed is doubled if one of the PCs is directly connected to the router via a cable. This is more than sufficient for the needs we have -- and I have about 10 devices connected to the router at any time (2 chromecasts, 1-3 PCs, 3 wireless phones, voip phone, 2 mac laptops and a USB Storage drive attached to the router). Even if you upgrade the router to 802.11ac, you won't get any benefit unless you upgrade the wireless networking cards on the client devices as well.
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fetch5482
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by fetch5482 »

jeremyl wrote:Our router has stretches where it maintains signal for a long time and then has stretches where it drops the signal multiple times in a day.
This is normal. A few suggestions from this thread are worth trying:
- Change the location of your router and see if it helps. Where have you placed it right now? Try putting it in a central place and a bit high, preferably in the open instead of putting it in a drawer or entertainment center.
- Change the channel for 2.4 Mhz & see if 5 Mhz helps as well.
- If the router has option to increase the transmit power (or Tx power) play with it and see
- N600 can also flash dd-wrt (a pretty good open firmware). You may want to look into that and check their forums to see if others with similar issues were able to solve it by using dd-wrt. It will void your warranty though.
If I bought the TP Link AC 1750 router would that improve the router staying connected?
This is tough to answer. The N600 is a decent router IMO. It is difficult to say if going to a tp-link will help here.
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piperkub
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Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:56 am

Re: Router Upgrade

Post by piperkub »

I just returned the 300.00 you mention to Amazon and bought the 200.00 instead. The more expensive router has 3 bands that work as independent networks. The real issue is the faster bands will not function with an older computer; speeds of 2.4g is what most of us run, two of the bands are 5g which only work with newer machines. I will say that both the 300 and the 200 routers offer much broader coverage within the house! Save your money and get the 200!
Mudpuppy
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Re: Router Upgrade

Post by Mudpuppy »

jeremyl wrote:After reading this thread it has me wondering if I messed up on the purchase of a router and curious to know others thoughts.

I have a netgear n600 wireless dual band dsl modem router with speeds up 600mbps (best buy guy recommended-should've known better).

Our router has stretches where it maintains signal for a long time and then has stretches where it drops the signal multiple times in a day.

We have about 8 devices connected at any time max. I have comcast cable and have the basic internet package. If I bought the TP Link AC 1750 router would that improve the router staying connected?

Thanks!
In my personal situation, what was causing the N router to drop out at various points during the day was when a neighbor would turn on several G and N access points in the 2.4GHz band. The neighbor did not leave them on 24/7, but rather turned them on when needed. Unfortunately, the neighbor must have been given bad advice for how to set them up, because they were not using channels 1, 6, and 11 (recommended due to minimizing interference between channels), but rather every channel in between. That one neighbor basically ruined the entire 2.4GHz band by throwing new access points at his/her "slow WiFi" problem, rather than just putting 2-3 access points on the right channels.

Unfortunately, this sort of situation happens quite frequently in the 2.4GHz band, since it was designed with overlapping channels. The 5GHz band solves a great deal of this issue by having a better design and also being less frequently used. So if your problem is limited to the WiFi users, but you don't see it with the hardwired systems, interference from neighbors would be the first thing to eliminate. If it happens for both wired and WiFi users, then it's probably Comcast.

Since you have a dual band router, you should try to get as many devices as possible using the 5GHz band (if they support it). If they are on the 5GHz band, you should see that they're using a channel above 11 when you use a channel listing tool (on Windows, open cmd.exe and type "netsh wlan show all" to see the channel). Also see if your router supports giving the 5GHz band a different SSID, so you can "force" devices to that band by connecting to the 5GHz SSID.

Upgrading to AC would guarantee that the AC devices are using the 5GHz band. AC also has other protocol improvements to get a "better" connection with AC devices. But you'd also have to upgrade all the devices to support AC. Any devices still using N or G would typically be relegated to the 2.4GHz "legacy" band on an AC router, and if your problem is 2.4GHz interference, not much would improve for them.
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