Looking at new Routers...Suggestions?

[Ascertion]

I vote the ASUS RT-AC5300 just because it's the most beastly router I have ever seen in my life.

 

http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/2/9238057/asus-rt-ac5300u-triband-wireless-router-ifa-2015

 

In all seriousness tho, I currently own an ASUS RT-N65U and it hasn't given me a single issue and their graphic interface to adjust router/network settings is fantastic. Extremely well laid out, fast, and user friendly. My only regret is not getting one that has external antennas. Didn't think about signal strength throughout the house because at the time I was searching, my biggest priority was getting a router with Gigabit Ethernet as my previous Linksys router was limited to 10/100 mbps and it was bottlenecking my internet speed.

 

Long story short, if I were to be looking for another router, and when I upgrade to one with external antennas, I'd go Asus again for sure.

Wow, that is impressive.  I'm actually looking into ordering that router when it hits the shelves.  Any ideas when it comes out?  Newegg shows it's a new product, but it's out of stock so I don't know if people have bought it out or if it's not released yet.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320244

[leozno1]

Wow, that is impressive.  I'm actually looking into ordering that router when it hits the shelves.  Any ideas when it comes out?  Newegg shows it's a new product, but it's out of stock so I don't know if people have bought it out or if it's not released yet.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320244

 

I have yet to see a release date of when this one actually goes on sale. But I think if there is a product page up on Newegg, it's got to be going on sale very soon. If you don't want to wait and also want to save $100 you could always go for the RT-AC88U - AC3100 right next to it. It just recently went on sale and also offers 4x4 MU-MIMO and Beam Forming so you will have similar range. The difference is you don't get that insane 5 Gbps WiFi transfer speed. Ya'know, in case 3 Gbps isn't enough lol.

[Ascertion]

I have yet to see a release date of when this one actually goes on sale. But I think if there is a product page up on Newegg, it's got to be going on sale very soon. If you don't want to wait and also want to save $100 you could always go for the RT-AC88U - AC3100 right next to it. It just recently went on sale and also offers 4x4 MU-MIMO and Beam Forming so you will have similar range. The difference is you don't get that insane 5 Gbps WiFi transfer speed. Ya'know, in case 3 Gbps isn't enough lol.

What's your thoughts on the advertised Gaming Accelerator?  It sounds gimmicky, but could potentially be a game changer (literally ha!)

[leozno1]

What's your thoughts on the advertised Gaming Accelerator?  It sounds gimmicky, but could potentially be a game changer (literally ha!)

 

Lol I see what you did there! I can't speak on the Gaming Accelerator from experience cuz my router doesn't have that feature but I agree that the GPN by WTFast sounds extremely gimmicky and I have no idea if it even works. I think there are too many networking variables outside of your own router that can affect latency, but I guess it can't make it run any worse (knock on wood) Good thing is that it sounds like an optional software install and you aren't necessarily required to use that feature.

 

The Adaptive QoS on the other hand sounds pretty awesome, where it prioritizes game data through the router first, over a VoIP phone call through Vonage, someone FaceTiming on their iDevice or a family member streaming a show on Netflix, etc. over the same network.

[mhammett]

I have been in the hunt as well; I found an article from The Wirecutter, a site I had never come across before.. it was pretty informative, and the Archer C7, C8, and Netgear R6400 are their top picks: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-router/

 

I was tossing around the idea of something a little more robust, like an enterprise access point solution, but that gets pricey and I don't know if the extra coverage would work like I hope; I'm trying to blanket my yard better. The new Ubiquiti gear intrigues me, but it's not easy to find yet: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/review-ubiquiti-unifi-made-me-realize-how-terrible-consumer-wi-fi-gear-is/

 

-Mike

I've been buying UBNT gear for about ten years. Most of it is great stuff.

What's your thoughts on the advertised Gaming Accelerator? It sounds gimmicky, but could potentially be a game changer (literally ha!)

Most features on consumer routers are gimmicks.

 

 

The number one feature you guys should be requesting from your vendors is smaller channel sizes. There are very limited use cases for the channel sizes supported by the standard, while smaller channel sizes would reduce observed and inflicted interference. Interference is the number one caused of reduced wireless performance. Most people would be fine with a 5 MHz or 10 MHz channel.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[jonathanm1978]

What I've seen from ubnt is you would need two of (device). One air router or one loco m5 won't help much. Put two or more in an area and you will blanket really fast with signal. I have one nanostation loco m2 and it does ok, but I need another to really get some range (connect them to each other)

[Deval]

Lol I see what you did there! I can't speak on the Gaming Accelerator from experience cuz my router doesn't have that feature but I agree that the GPN by WTFast sounds extremely gimmicky and I have no idea if it even works. I think there are too many networking variables outside of your own router that can affect latency, but I guess it can't make it run any worse (knock on wood) Good thing is that it sounds like an optional software install and you aren't necessarily required to use that feature.

 

The Adaptive QoS on the other hand sounds pretty awesome, where it prioritizes game data through the router first, over a VoIP phone call through Vonage, someone FaceTiming on their iDevice or a family member streaming a show on Netflix, etc. over the same network.

 

It's funny but I've never come across a time where QoS really came into play, the 200mbps connection I have from TWC gets unused for 60-70% of the day and in the evenings it's more than enough for multiple devices.

[leozno1]

It's funny but I've never come across a time where QoS really came into play, the 200mbps connection I have from TWC gets unused for 60-70% of the day and in the evenings it's more than enough for multiple devices.

 

The purpose of QoS is to prioritize gaming to minimize latency as much as possible, it has nothing to do with bandwidth. 

[Deval]

The purpose of QoS is to prioritize gaming to minimize latency as much as possible, it has nothing to do with bandwidth. 

 

Yes, I know what QoS is for, just mentioning how in my limited experience, I've never needed it.

[leozno1]

Yes, I know what QoS is for, just mentioning how in my limited experience, I've never needed it.

 

I mean in most cases outside of fast past online multiplayer gaming, the difference between say 35ms to 25ms would be imperceptible. If you play Halo or CoD online you would probably feel the difference, otherwise it would feel like it's a useless gimmick.

 

I've never had a router that has Adaptive QoS so I can't speak from experience, I'm just saying what makes sense to me in theory. Hey, maybe you're right and it does jack squat. But just keep in mind that if you're just streaming videos or browsing the web, you won't notice any difference.

[Ascertion]

I ordered this today.

 

With $100, I figured I'd give it a try.  I was going to purchase the ASUS one, but they don't seem to have it widely available yet.  I'm mainly interested in expanded range/MU MIMO.  I'll look up the ASUS reviews later and see how gimmicky the gamer's "VPN" is.

[red_dog007]

I ordered this today.

 

With $100, I figured I'd give it a try. I was going to purchase the ASUS one, but they don't seem to have it widely available yet. I'm mainly interested in expanded range/MU MIMO. I'll look up the ASUS reviews later and see how gimmicky the gamer's "VPN" is.

I've been really excited about this router but dang the smallnet comparison is so mediocre. I wanted this thing to be the top on every chart but it isn't.

 

Hopefully the range makes up for it, but all my old routers get repurposed as APs as it is.

 

Myself I'll worry about MUMIMO once half or more of my devices support it. The dual band 5GHz is a lot more interesting to me.

[mhammett]

What I've seen from ubnt is you would need two of (device). One air router or one loco m5 won't help much. Put two or more in an area and you will blanket really fast with signal. I have one nanostation loco m2 and it does ok, but I need another to really get some range (connect them to each other)

If a Loco isn't providing enough range for your home, you're Bill Gates or you're using it wrong.

The purpose of QoS is to prioritize gaming to minimize latency as much as possible, it has nothing to do with bandwidth.

QoS only matters when you reach congestion.

 

I've been really excited about this router but dang the smallnet comparison is so mediocre. I wanted this thing to be the top on every chart but it isn't.

 

Hopefully the range makes up for it, but all my old routers get repurposed as APs as it is.

 

Myself I'll worry about MUMIMO once half or more of my devices support it. The dual band 5GHz is a lot more interesting to me.

AFAIK, the client doesn't need to support it. I could be mistaken.

 

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[red_dog007]

 

AFAIK, the client doesn't need to support it. I could be mistaken.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

MU-MIMO requires client support.