Router Recommendations

[Caveman]

Right now, I have this Asus router and love it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320091


Thinking about getting this Asus Router to complete the system:

http://www.cnet.com/products/asus-ac2400-rt-ac87u-dual-band-wireless-gigabit-router/


But... open to other suggestions as well...

I get 100Megabit service from Comcast and I want to use all of its potential, both wired and wirelessly.

The main drop of the cable coming into my house is in a "media room" where I stream movies off Netflix (wired) and have a gaming PC that will also be wired. At that point, I'm using an older Buffalo router to feed the house. This is where I'm planning to insert the NEW Asus ac2400 RT router. It will also feed a few wireless clients upstairs (my kids).

Downstairs, a long way from that room is the "office" where I have 2 laptops using a wireless connection off the RT N66U G Router. I plan to keep that where it is... These are older gaming laptops from about 6 years back...

Any other recommendations? I assume I'll be able to use all the throughput that Comcast can give as a "wired" connection, but I'm wondering how fast my laptops are... Perhaps they are the limiting case of getting a good wireless connection. How do I know what speed those devices are operating at and their maximum wireless potential?

Any thoughts or comments about the new router in the context of it being potential overkill for what I'm doing are appreciated. As an alternate idea, I'm thinking of just getting a 2nd Asus RT N66U to replace the old Buffalo router. It's 40% of the price and is still a beast.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Get the asus and don't look back. I'm currently running a netgear r7500 x4 and the firmware from netgear leaves a lot to be desired. The latest version cripples the router and causes wireless clients to be dropped in addition to failing to stream smoothly. I tell the guys in the netgear forum to go asus all the time. When it's time for me to get another router I'll take a look at what's available but netgear will not be on my radar.

 

[Elixer]

I am not sure you even need new hardware, which Buffalo are you using?
If the buffalo doesn't have a gigabit WAN connection, then just swap it with the N66U that you have.

The only reason to go with the new ASUS is if you have devices that take advantage of AC, or want to future proof, but, realistically, by the time you do buy something that uses AC, the price of the AC routers will have fallen.

Most laptops are 802.11b/g/n, with the newer higher end ones going with 802.11ac.

Are you running into any bandwidth issues with any of your laptops or other machines?

 

[Hmoobphajej]

I wouldn't recommend buying that AC2400 router just because it doesn't sound like you'll fully utilize it.

Even if you were streaming lossless blu-ray rips you shouldn't be congesting your network. Now if every device was doing that you'll have something else to worry about.

I agree with what Elixer says.

I am not sure you even need new hardware, which Buffalo are you using?
If the buffalo doesn't have a gigabit WAN connection, then just swap it with the N66U that you have.

Unless we know exactly what problems you're having or what you plan to do in the future there isn't a good recommendation that could be made.

I suggest if you're concern about your laptop speeds, wire one to the ASUS you're using for wifi downstairs and run some speed test. Use tesmy.net. It seems a lot more reliable then Speedtest.net now a days.

From there you have a idea of what the problems is. If it reports the speed you're expecting. Your laptop are probably the bottleneck. Either ways you can save yourself some money and just get usb adapters or swap out network adapters to see a range and speed increases.

A $200 dollar router won't help if your devices aren't up to par with them.

 

[Caveman]

What I'm after is full utilization of 100% of the 100Mbps that's coming to my house from Comcast, whether plugged in wired or wirelessly. I've done tests be(speedtest.com) using Comcast's 50Mbps and get about 45Mbps wired and 25 wireless.

I'd like to see those numbers to to 98 wired and 98 wireless...

Sounds like I can get though though I may need to purchase some Rx for the Laptop side since these are 7 year old laptops and the standards were probably pretty low then...

One more question... When wireless speeds are quoted, I'm assuming that is on a single connection and that multiple users would be having to divide the bandwidth... OR... When something is "dual" or even "triple" band, does that mean the max theoretical throughput for a 1000Mbps wireless connection would be 1000Mbps/s on EACH of 2 bands (or 3 in the case of the "triple band") for a total of 2000Mbps given out to the wireless clients simultaneously?

 

[Ichinisan]

I am not sure you even need new hardware, which Buffalo are you using?
If the buffalo doesn't have a gigabit WAN connection, then just swap it with the N66U that you have.

The only reason to go with the new ASUS is if you have devices that take advantage of AC, or want to future proof, but, realistically, by the time you do buy something that uses AC, the price of the AC routers will have fallen.

Most laptops are 802.11b/g/n, with the newer higher end ones going with 802.11ac.

Are you running into any bandwidth issues with any of your laptops or other machines?

It's starting to reach that point where you might expect to find AC devices in a home. My high-end computer is over a year old and has AC wireless built-in. Two smartphones at my apartment from mid-late September have built-in AC wireless (iPhone 6 Plus). I think iPad Air 2 has AC wireless. These Apple devices are increasingly common, so AC is catching on.

 

[Elixer]

What I'm after is full utilization of 100% of the 100Mbps that's coming to my house from Comcast, whether plugged in wired or wirelessly. I've done tests be(speedtest.com) using Comcast's 50Mbps and get about 45Mbps wired and 25 wireless.

I'd like to see those numbers to to 98 wired and 98 wireless...

Wired, no problem, you will be getting max available.
Wireless, it depends on what you are using (802.11 b/g/n or AC or...)

Sounds like I can get though though I may need to purchase some Rx for the Laptop side since these are 7 year old laptops and the standards were probably pretty low then...

Sure, but, what are you doing that actually needs so much bandwidth?
Just for the sake of trying to max out the connection is the wrong way to do things.

One more question... When wireless speeds are quoted, I'm assuming that is on a single connection and that multiple users would be having to divide the bandwidth... OR... When something is "dual" or even "triple" band, does that mean the max theoretical throughput for a 1000Mbps wireless connection would be 1000Mbps/s on EACH of 2 bands (or 3 in the case of the "triple band") for a total of 2000Mbps given out to the wireless clients simultaneously?

You have 1 100Mbps link, and that will be divided up between anything that is accessing it at that moment.
However, if you mean on the LAN, then you have ~ 1Gbps to play with.
Again, it highly depends on what you are trying to do here.

 

[boomhower]

I've had the 87U and didn't have any luck with it. Ended up with the high end Linksys and love it.

 

[Hmoobphajej]

What I'm after is full utilization of 100% of the 100Mbps that's coming to my house from Comcast, whether plugged in wired or wirelessly. I've done tests be(speedtest.com) using Comcast's 50Mbps and get about 45Mbps wired and 25 wireless.

I would test it again with your new speeds just to see. If you're still getting the similar speed to your connection via wire then both routers look good. If not, your buffalo may be limiting it. It depends on what bands the buffalo has at that point.

One more question... When wireless speeds are quoted, I'm assuming that is on a single connection and that multiple users would be having to divide the bandwidth... OR... When something is "dual" or even "triple" band, does that mean the max theoretical throughput for a 1000Mbps wireless connection would be 1000Mbps/s on EACH of 2 bands (or 3 in the case of the "triple band") for a total of 2000Mbps given out to the wireless clients simultaneously?

When routers are talking about dual band they're talking about the 2.4GHz and 5GHz band, some routers have 2 of the same band to make 3.

Max theoretical throughput is based on whether your are running wireless a,b,g,n, or ac. This link explains it in better detail.

With all that, you may have to buy USB adapters or network cards to improve your speed on the laptops. If they aren't at least Wireless-N you won't see speeds past 50mbps even if your router is pushing 1000mbps through wifi.

 

[Puffnstuff]

If your laptop is upgradable install an ac card to see improved throughput. You have to check the bios white list for your particular model to see whether or not you can swap components out.