Recommend me a wifi-router

[iCyborg]

I'm switching to a new ISP, and the choices are modem/router combo for $180 or modem for $100 + a separate wifi router. So I feel I'm better off finding some basic wifi router for <$80 CDN.
I've been renting a modem/router combo forever, meaning I'm out of touch with what's good, so I'd like some recommendations / suggestions.

Some relavant info:
- 99% of the time I use wired ethernet and that's the most important case - I want gigabit LAN out. I don't really game that much, so I'm not too worried about latencies.
- wifi pretty much just has to exist. It's rarely used and speed is unimportant.
- signal strength also doesn't matter, I live in an apartment so it has to reach 10-15ft at most. It's practically better if the signal isn't strong so it reaches less people around.

Current front runner is TP-Link Archer C1200, it's going for $60. Any reason I should avoid it? Is there something better?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I would possibly suggest an Asus AC66U (B1), or an AC1750 (same hardware, I believe). At least the B1 revision, allows the use of their "AiMesh" firmware.

Or an AC68R/U, also supports Mesh.

 

[iCyborg]

Thanks for chiming in.
These go for $150 in Canada. It would have to be very special to justify this price for my case.
AiMesh? That seems like something for better wifi coverage - is this useful in a <700 sq.ft apartment? And in a use-case where wifi is really an after-thought used a couple days a month.
I also don't plan to play with firmwares, as long as wired ethernet is passed through with as little impact as possible, and wifi exists no matter how crappy, I'm OK.

 

[razel]

What VirtualLarry has wisely suggested are VERY special. They are older, but are still very relevant. The AC68 is a benchmark router for the past 4 years now and ASUS AiMesh has put more life into that product.

 

[pcslookout]

Synology RT2600AC

 

[PliotronX]

What VirtualLarry has wisely suggested are VERY special. They are older, but are still very relevant. The AC68 is a benchmark router for the past 4 years now and ASUS AiMesh has put more life into that product.

+1 if I were to absotively have to choose an all in one router, it'd be the RT-AC68(P if its available)!

 

[sdifox]

Op is in Canada so prices are very different, as in more expensive and lower availability.

 

[JackMDS]

Lol, one time we finally got an OP that post very nice, giving us real info about is Needs.

Quote:
"- wifi pretty much just has to exist. It's rarely used and speed is unimportant.
- signal strength also doesn't matter, I live in an apartment so it has to reach 10-15ft at most. It's practically better if the signal isn't strong so it reaches less people around.

Current front runner is TP-Link Archer C1200, it's going for $60. Any reason I should avoid it? Is there something better?"

------------------

What we do is offer him irrelevant advice catering to our Ego than to his Needs

AFAIC, the TP-Link Archer C1200 would be a good cost effective solution.

If in your local commerce system you can find for similar price the ac1200 or ac1350 it can be of use if you end up with a Mobile Phone or a tTablet that can do Wireless ac.

 

[Burpo]

I got an old ASUS RT-N56U recently for $15.. Best money I've spent in a long time.. Even at the back of my house I'm getting 100mb download speed on an old HP dual core laptop.

Newer version here..

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320250&ignorebbr=1

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Only need rudimentary wifi and don't have a huge number of clients? ASUS RT-N12/D1

It's a bit old fashioned, but it'll get the job done for cheap.

 

[sdifox]

Maybe this?

https://m.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...750-dual-band-gigabit-router-dir-859/10395369

Or the Archer C7
https://m.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...nd-gigabit-router-archer-c7-archerc7/10283092

 

[iCyborg]

That ASUS RT-N600 is interesting, checks all the boxes. It's a bit pricier in Canada at $83, but I'd prefer Asus over TP-Link. Maybe if I run into a sale.

The other Asus from dave_the_nerd is 100M LAN, it's ok for now, my internet plan is 75M down, but upgrading it will mean a new router. Still, its $30 price tag has some appeal.

I'm considering Archer C7 1750 too. Though it looks like higher wifi speed is the only difference vs C7 1200 which is $30 cheaper. On the other hand, I don't plan to buy another router for years and $30 won't break the bank.
Best-buy has pretty competitive prices, a bit surprised there...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Only need rudimentary wifi and don't have a huge number of clients? ASUS RT-N12/D1

It's a bit old fashioned, but it'll get the job done for cheap.

I would agree with that too, except for one little thing, it only supports 10/100 ethernet on WAN and LAN. That's right, NO GigE ports. Such a shame, it would be a kick-butt "little" N300 router otherwise.

I currently consider anything without both Gigabit WAN and LAN ports, and at least AC1200 wifi, to be obsolete and shouldn't be purchased, unless there are special requirements.

That said, if your internet connection is under 95Mbit/sec, and you don't mind only having N300 wifi (30-50Mbit/sec, best-case), an RT-N12/D1 is usable. It WILL take Shibby Tomato, too, which can extend its usefulness even more.

Edit: Lastly, I used one myself, for several years, while I saved up and learned about the wonders of the AC68U/R models, which is what I'm currently using, along with my new-ish Gigabit FIOS internet.

 

[VirtualLarry]

On the other hand, I don't plan to buy another router for years and $30 won't break the bank.

Yeah, no offense to Dave, he's a great guy and makes great suggestions, but given that you keep your router for years, and might increase your internet connection speed past 100Mbit/sec, avoid the RT-N12/D1, and look at the higher Asus models. (Mostly what I suggested - look for refurbs, from reputable vendors on ebay, mainly, if you want to keep the costs down. You can often find AC68 variants for $80-120 "refurb". At least, I was able to, some months and years ago.)

 

[Hans Gruber]

I would simply suggest some wireless AC routers with wifi cards with full duplex instead of half duplex cards. My half duplex wifi cards in laptops can push 250mbps which is all my internet can do. 5ghz wifi on a good day can do 200-225mbps. Don't even bother using 2.4ghz which will do 70-80mbps with a good router under the best conditions. I would suggest you spend $150-$200 on a good router. Obviously gigabit ports are a given at that price range.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I would simply suggest some wireless AC routers with wifi cards with full duplex instead of half duplex cards. My half duplex wifi cards in laptops can push 250mbps which is all my internet can do. 5ghz wifi on a good day can do 200-225mbps. Don't even bother using 2.4ghz which will do 70-80mbps with a good router under the best conditions. I would suggest you spend $150-$200 on a good router. Obviously gigabit ports are a given at that price range.

2.4GHz has better range/penetration. Not applicable in OP's case, probably, but it matters for some people.

 

[iCyborg]

@VirtualLarry
I'm renting a modem+wifirouter from my current ISP and it's just fine for me. I can buy that for $180, so if no wifi routers below or around CDN$80 are worthy of consideration, that's the way to go.
The cheapest gigabit ASUS is RT-N600, it's just over CDN$80 here. I'll give it a month or two to see if it goes on sale somewhere (this speaks on its own how important wifi is for me...). If not, I'll just buy whatever is the cheapest gigabit router.

Don't even bother using 2.4ghz which will do 70-80mbps with a good router under the best conditions. I would suggest you spend $150-$200 on a good router.

5mbps wifi is plenty for me, 10mbps is an overkill. Paying $150-$200 for a good router that can do better than 70-80mbps is money down the drain. It's not a budget issue, it's a matter of seeing any benefits from something better.

 

[VirtualLarry]

with wifi cards with full duplex instead of half duplex cards.

I thought wifi was inherently half-duplex. Not true with multi-stream or MIMO wireless?

 

[VirtualLarry]

5mbps wifi is plenty for me, 10mbps is an overkill. Paying $150-$200 for a good router that can do better than 70-80mbps is money down the drain. It's not a budget issue, it's a matter of seeing any benefits from something better.

You say that now...

 

[iCyborg]

You say that now...

So far in 2018 I've used wifi at home only once - to email a couple photos from my phone. That's it in >5 weeks. And I could've done that by connecting it to desktop PC or using mobile data.
If something unexpectedly changes in my life, I'll get a new router, I'm ok with that.

 

[VirtualLarry]

In that case, take Dave's advice, and pick this one up, quickly (if in US).

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320168&ignorebbr=1

Newegg has the Asus RT-N12/D1 for $29.99, with a promo code (usually $10 off), and a $10 MIR. Leaving you with a price of ~$10 AR. Which is a steal, for any router, and this one is arguable a "good one" - if you can live within the limitations of a 10/100 LAN and WAN port(s), and N300 wifi. Hey, I lived with one for like a few years, when I had 25/25 and 50/50 internet with FIOS. (now have gigabit)

 

[iCyborg]

It's definitely on the shortlist. It's $40 on Canadian newegg, although I think I saw it for $30 somewhere.
I'm on 100/10 plan, going to 75/10. There's no multiple HD streaming here, so it'll be fine, but 150/15 isn't much more expensive ($69 vs $60) and I may get tempted to switch. Maybe I should take it so I'm not tempted
Modem is gigabit, my PC has gigabit LAN, so it'd be nice if the router in between wasn't a party breaker.

 

[Amol S.]

I agree with Larry. AiMesh is a great thing, to make a similar sytem, it would take a lot money, as well as more network appliances.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

It's definitely on the shortlist. It's $40 on Canadian newegg, although I think I saw it for $30 somewhere.
I'm on 100/10 plan, going to 75/10. There's no multiple HD streaming here, so it'll be fine, but 150/15 isn't much more expensive ($69 vs $60) and I may get tempted to switch. Maybe I should take it so I'm not tempted
Modem is gigabit, my PC has gigabit LAN, so it'd be nice if the router in between wasn't a party breaker.

Well, with a 75mbps downstream, you can either leave your bottleneck 25% idle or 92% idle. $10 extra for double the speed is pointless if you don't need the speed, but the faster upstream might be nice if you are using a lot of cloud services. (Particularly cloud backup stuff like Backblaze.)

You can certainly find routers in the same price range with GbE, if you think you might upgrade your ISP connection at some point. Then again, while speed tests are nice and all, you're not often going to be maxing out your connection surfing the web or gaming. And big file downloads tend to be bottlenecked elsewhere.

https://www.amazon.com/D-Link-Wireless-Dual-Band-Gigabit-DIR-818LW/dp/B00JQX2J10/

I used the Asus as a WAP for a while, and it was solid, which is why I recommended it, but if you're doing any local file transfers or stuff, you'll want something with GbE LAN ports, regardless of the WAN connection. (If I throttled our file server to 100Mbps my housemate would probably set me on fire.)

 

[iCyborg]

but if you're doing any local file transfers or stuff, you'll want something with GbE LAN ports, regardless of the WAN connection.

Good point. I plan to add NAS, so I'd definitely see benefits from GbE.
That said, I've been planning to add NAS for the last 3-4 years.