Help me choose a router and modem

[tolis626]

Hi all

So I held out as long as I could with a cheapo modem router that my ISP gave me when I signed up since my old router broke, but it's getting unbearable. Not only is it slow and ping goes to hell when multiple devices are connected, but it also seems that it's seeing its final days, as it will reboot like crazy sometimes, especially after a BF4 session.

So I'm in the market for a new router. Let me clarify a couple things first though. I have to use Wi-Fi in my house, as there isn't a network wall plug (or whatever it's called) in the room where my PC is, and routing a 15m ethernet is 90% out of the question (It would have to pass in front of my kitcher and bedroom doors, so I would be bound to trip on it). I also have Wi-Fi AC on my PC (The one that comes with Asus Z97 ROG boards, I think it's 867mbps), so I want a router with AC capabilities, even something a little overkill. Range isn't an issue, as I live alone and the house is kinda small (61sq.m or about 656sq.ft).

With that out of the way, I've seen quite a lot of routers, but all are pricey. Like, too pricey. But I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and buy one. At first I wanted the TP-Link Archer D7 (a modem router), but reviews say it's not that great. Then there are the Netgear Nighthawk R7000, the Asus RT-AC68U and the LinkSys EA6900. All are great routers and receive good reviews, but carry a hefty premium. I also don't even consider the LinkSys WRT1900AC, because I'd have to pay 280€ for more of the same. Then there's what for me is the king of the bunch, the Asus RT-AC87U. I may have fallen victim to marketing BS, but still, it's an awesome piece of hardware. It's the fastest of the bunch (throughput wise), has the most features I care about (Or that marketing made me care about, I dunno) and looks best IMO. It's gonna be sitting in my living room, so if it looks decent it's a plus. Bad thing is, it's at least 50€ more expensive than my other options.

When the router is decided upon, I'll have to choose a modem (If one is not integrated). I'll say first that I've never bought a modem so I have no idea what to look for or what price to expect. My connection is a "up to" 24mbps one, but with my current router it's at 11mbps down and 0.8mpbs up. That's pathetic, and if things don't improve with a new modem, I'll have a word with my ISP. Anyway, I digress. The point is I guess I won't really need a fancy modem, so maybe I won't have to pay too much. Other than that, your suggestions are all I have.

Aaaand that's about it. I'll be buying after the holidays, probably from Greek retailers, so unfortunately no NewEgg etc for me.

Thanks in advance for any answers. 🙂

 

[soulbadguy]

You might want to lurk/ask your question around smallnetworkbuilder.com. There are muchy more router geeks over there.
First , what is your router/modem ( the one your ISP gave you ?).You probably don't need to replace it to improve your connection, just configure it in "bridge" mode and use your future/new router to do all the routing/wireless work.
I had similar issues with a modem/router from Rogers , bought a router(AC 56U) , set the router and bridge mode et voila ...

Second , as for which router to select. I think for gaming your primary concern should be latency and skid. Through put is pretty much irrelevant (i am simplifying). When i was looking at the reviews, i don't remember seeing any router which were significantly better in this regard. For coverage, you said your house is small, and at 24 Mbps they all have plenty of cpu power to handle your connection...So i might be the case that even the AC1900 you listed are overkill for your needs, and AC2400 and AC3200 are definitely. A stable 2*2AC might be all you need

Your best bet is to look at the feature that each brand offers (vpn,usb,file sharing security,QOS, etc...) and pick a router with a feature set you are interested in...
Hope that helps

 

[smitbret]

Hi all

So I held out as long as I could with a cheapo modem router that my ISP gave me when I signed up since my old router broke, but it's getting unbearable. Not only is it slow and ping goes to hell when multiple devices are connected, but it also seems that it's seeing its final days, as it will reboot like crazy sometimes, especially after a BF4 session.

So I'm in the market for a new router. Let me clarify a couple things first though. I have to use Wi-Fi in my house, as there isn't a network wall plug (or whatever it's called) in the room where my PC is, and routing a 15m ethernet is 90% out of the question (It would have to pass in front of my kitcher and bedroom doors, so I would be bound to trip on it). I also have Wi-Fi AC on my PC (The one that comes with Asus Z97 ROG boards, I think it's 867mbps), so I want a router with AC capabilities, even something a little overkill. Range isn't an issue, as I live alone and the house is kinda small (61sq.m or about 656sq.ft).

With that out of the way, I've seen quite a lot of routers, but all are pricey. Like, too pricey. But I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and buy one. At first I wanted the TP-Link Archer D7 (a modem router), but reviews say it's not that great. Then there are the Netgear Nighthawk R7000, the Asus RT-AC68U and the LinkSys EA6900. All are great routers and receive good reviews, but carry a hefty premium. I also don't even consider the LinkSys WRT1900AC, because I'd have to pay 280€ for more of the same. Then there's what for me is the king of the bunch, the Asus RT-AC87U. I may have fallen victim to marketing BS, but still, it's an awesome piece of hardware. It's the fastest of the bunch (throughput wise), has the most features I care about (Or that marketing made me care about, I dunno) and looks best IMO. It's gonna be sitting in my living room, so if it looks decent it's a plus. Bad thing is, it's at least 50€ more expensive than my other options.

When the router is decided upon, I'll have to choose a modem (If one is not integrated). I'll say first that I've never bought a modem so I have no idea what to look for or what price to expect. My connection is a "up to" 24mbps one, but with my current router it's at 11mbps down and 0.8mpbs up. That's pathetic, and if things don't improve with a new modem, I'll have a word with my ISP. Anyway, I digress. The point is I guess I won't really need a fancy modem, so maybe I won't have to pay too much. Other than that, your suggestions are all I have.

Aaaand that's about it. I'll be buying after the holidays, probably from Greek retailers, so unfortunately no NewEgg etc for me.

Thanks in advance for any answers. 🙂

An AIO router/modem combo is fine but I personally prefer 2 separate devices. I like to customize my network by assigning DHCP Reservations to all of my wired locations and set custom SSID & passwords for my wireless connections. If I used the ISP's modem/router combo then I would have to redo the settings each time I replaced the box due to malfunction or if I switch ISPs. Additionally, I feel more secure with my own router because, let's be honest, it wouldn't be above most large corporations to put a backdoor on their equipment to snoop through your home network among other things. If I move, the router goes with me and all of my settings stay the same. Not only that but some of the router features aren't even available on some combos from ISPs; i.e. the Motorola NVG5xx series doesn't let you set DHCP Reservations/Static IP addresses.

With that being said, I typically go with the cheapest modem that has the specs I need from a reputable manufacturer. All it has to do is act as a gateway for the internet signal to enter my home. Motorola, Zyxel, Actiontech, NetGear, Arris are all pretty decent.

Since AC is desirable and range isn't a huge issue:

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Archer...ords=archer+c7

At $80 it's a steal. I have been using one for almost 2 years (paid $150 when I bought it). Its chipset used to have some issues connecting with iOS devices but some firmware updates that came down last summer seem to have resolved them and I haven't heard it mentioned since.

I had a couple of them creating a wireless bridge between my upstairs and downstairs and was getting real world speeds of 380-450mbps from the PCs at the ends of the bridge. It was only about 10 feet as the crow flies but it was 5GHz through a wall, a floor and had to go around some metal ducting.

If I was going to go high-end I would probably go NetGear N7000. It is faster (in a couple of ways) than the Archer C7 but unless there is some feature on the R7000 that you can really point to then you probably would not see any difference. The R7000 is a dual-core SoC so it can handle routing and network traffic more quickly but unless you are tying it up with a lot of devices and/or a lot of simultaneous torrent traffic then it probably won't be something that you could notice or even measure.

The Asus routers are all pretty good, too and tend to be the default router for enthusiasts. I picked up my free T-Mobile Cell-Spot a few days ago and I am in the process of flashing the firmware to convert it to an Asus RT-AC68U and I am curious how it performs side-by-side with my Archer C7.

Depending on the wireless adapters that you have in use, there is probably little advantage in going with something AC1900 instead of AC1750. The only real difference is that the AC1900 CAN get a 600mbps uplink on the 2.4GHz band but only if:

#1 - Using 40MHz of bandwidth in the 2.4GHz band.
#2 - Using an AC1900 router
#3 - Using a router, bridge or Wi-Fi card with SoC Broadcom 802.11ac in the 2.4GHz.

So unless the cost is equal, save the $$$ unless there is a feature you want. Incidentally, AC1900 indicates the presence of a Broadcom SoC which would let you flash to DD-WRT if that is something you are interested in.

 

[JackMDS]

Giving your description it seems that your issue is Not Wireless Router but what to do about Modem.

Any decent Wireless Router will probably work for you. The TP-Link Archer might be a good effective choice.

The real problem is your DSL line and Modem.

It would easy to give you advice if where in the USA since we know the market and its technology here.

Ask around the neighborhood friends, family, ot any one that is willing to help. Find someone that i get similar service that works well and try ans see which Modem they use.

That said it might be that no matter what you get it will not help if your initial DSL feed/line/filters are "Bad".

In other word its a Project that can not solve by just helping to decide which Modem/Wireless Router you should buy to solve your problem in Greece.



😎

 

[riahc3]

It would easy to give you advice if where in the USA since we know the market and its technology here.

This is the second time Ive read a comment like this from you. The US is a awesome country (Im from there and I know) but it is not the center of the universal or the entire earth.

When it comes to a modem, it will work here or there. Does not matter.

Personally, Im a fan of getting a Linksys router/modem combo, bridging it, and putting it whatever my main router will be. Do note that Linksys has been sold/bought a few times so quality may vary.

For a router, Ive fallen in love with pfSense. There are routers out there that have pfSense although I do not know prices.

 

[riahc3]

A quick lookup: A Linksys WAG120N will set you back €83.44

I strongly recommend two seperate devices.

Sadly, I think a hardware pfSense box is out of your budget and even a cheap PC you'll push it. Next thing would be a DD-WRT/Tomato/etc compatible router which is easier and cheaper to find.

 

[riahc3]

I would spend less on the modem and more on the router. A DD-WRT router is dirt cheap but RAM can really change up the day if you constantly fill up cache tables inside the router.

 

[Pulsar]

This is the second time Ive read a comment like this from you. The US is a awesome country (Im from there and I know) but it is not the center of the universal or the entire earth.

When it comes to a modem, it will work here or there. Does not matter.

Personally, Im a fan of getting a Linksys router/modem combo, bridging it, and putting it whatever my main router will be. Do note that Linksys has been sold/bought a few times so quality may vary.

For a router, Ive fallen in love with pfSense. There are routers out there that have pfSense although I do not know prices.

Dude, take a deep breath. Jack is concerned (correctly) that people in many parts of the world may not have access to the particular model #'s and parts we have here, so he doesn't want to recommend something that someone can't even get. It's just courtesy on his part to make sure he isn't wasting people's time.

 

[tolis626]

First of all, thanks everyone for your answers. Unfortunately I am with the family for Christmas and didn't remember to check here, so sorry about that.

Anyway... For the router I think I'll go with the D-Link DIR-880l. I just stumbled on a sale and it goes for 155€, which isn't that much more expensive than a TP-Link Archer D7 (Not the D5, I kind of want AC 1300Mbps because I plan on doing some heavy streaming in my house, plus I want to buy a NUC or something to use Steam's game streaming thing. Apart from that, AC-1900 routers aren't that much more expensive than AC-1750 ones, so why the hell not?) and it also receives some pretty good reviews.

As some of you have correctly guessed, my issue is the modem. I plan on trying to use my existing PoS modem/router thing that my ISP gave me (It's a small cheapo ZTE if I remember correctly, I will check when I return home for sure, but that's at least 10 days away). Apart from the fact that I have absolutely no idea how to configure it to work as a standalone modem (Bridge mode, I presume? I don't even know how it will connect to the router, lol), I suspect that it won't work properly, as it would randomly reboot at times, especially after I played some BF4 (But also when watching YT videos on my phone). I hope that it will work and that the router part of it is broken, rather than the modem. You've probably already understood that my knowledge on networks is sketchy, but until now I've only used combo devices that fall in the lower end of the price spectrum. So please bear with me. 🙂

Now, I would really appreciate if someone could point me towards specific models of modems I can buy. Another question I have is, do I buy a standalone modem (I can't seem to find many, only a handful) or just a cheaper modem router and use its integrated modem? Maybe it's a stupid question, but I had to ask.

If anyone want to see where I will buy from, the retailer I'll most probably purchase my stuff from is e-shop.gr (this is their DSL modem/router page, the selection isn't the biggest I guess, but still). I would be very thankful if anyone takes the time to suggest something from there.

Finally, someone mentioned in a customer review that this LevelOne modem gave them another 1Mbps of speed on their connection, and they have the same ISP as I do. For 19€ I couldn't go wrong, right?

Sorry for the (too) long post everyone. Again, thanks for all your help. 🙂

 

[smitbret]

First of all, thanks everyone for your answers. Unfortunately I am with the family for Christmas and didn't remember to check here, so sorry about that.

Anyway... For the router I think I'll go with the D-Link DIR-880l. I just stumbled on a sale and it goes for 155€, which isn't that much more expensive than a TP-Link Archer D7 (Not the D5, I kind of want AC 1300Mbps because I plan on doing some heavy streaming in my house, plus I want to buy a NUC or something to use Steam's game streaming thing. Apart from that, AC-1900 routers aren't that much more expensive than AC-1750 ones, so why the hell not?) and it also receives some pretty good reviews.

Ummm, the difference between AC1750 and AC1900 is not in the AC band. They are both AC1300.

That being said, I am sure the 880L will be fine.

 

[tolis626]

Ummm, the difference between AC1750 and AC1900 is not in the AC band. They are both AC1300.

That being said, I am sure the 880L will be fine.

Yup, that's exactly what I said. I want my AC band to be at 1300Mbps, so I'm stuck with choosing either a AC1900 or AC1750 router. Differences in price aren't huge between the two categories, so why not go for a AC1900 one? I have a dongle somewhere that I think supports N600 anyway. If I could save any meaningful amount of money by going the AC1750 route, I'd do it. 🙂

The 880L seems to be among the best in its category, and it's among the "cheapest" too (if any of these can be called cheap). And I just learned of its existence today strangely. Well, better late than never I guess.