Recommend me a new Router

Netgear admits its routers are vulnerable to attacks

Some of these models are pretty popular so make sure to update your firmware if you have one.

I did the test on mine yesterday and it looks like I am safe.

I installed the beta firmware on my R7000.

*Legion* wrote:

I installed the beta firmware on my R7000.

This news passed me by completely. Guess I need to do that soon as I get home.

Built-in device update feature now finds what looks like the beta version on my own R7000. Netgear's relevant CVE page.

Save 40 on Netgear Nighthawk AC1750 at Amazon with $20 off and a clickable coupon on the amazon search page, 2nd down that needs to be "clipped" in cart then applied in checkout. Took two tries for it to actually apply.

Hobear wrote:

Save 40 on Netgear Nighthawk AC1750 at Amazon with $20 off and a clickable coupon on the amazon search page, 2nd down that needs to be "clipped" in cart then applied in checkout. Took two tries for it to actually apply.

I was really close to ordering that the other day. Think it came out to $79 then, though.

I just keep thinking next time I upgrade (and I really need to now), I'll do a mesh network setup, or an Orbi setup (which isn't exactly mesh).

T-Mobile's version of the Asus AC1900 is cheaper, and rated slightly faster. It can be flashed to have a regular Asus BIOS as well.

Chairman_Mao wrote:

T-Mobile's version of the Asus AC1900 is cheaper, and rated slightly faster. It can be flashed to have a regular Asus BIOS as well.

Should I cancel the order and switch?

Hobear wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

T-Mobile's version of the Asus AC1900 is cheaper, and rated slightly faster. It can be flashed to have a regular Asus BIOS as well.

Should I cancel the order and switch?

I use the T-Mobile router and am quite happy with it. I doubt you'd notice the performance difference, but if it's worth saving ~$10 to you, then I'd say switch.

I have Asus RT-AC88U Dual-Band and it works fine for me.

Hobear wrote:

Save 40 on Netgear Nighthawk AC1750 at Amazon with $20 off and a clickable coupon on the amazon search page, 2nd down that needs to be "clipped" in cart then applied in checkout. Took two tries for it to actually apply.

I have been very happy with this router. I am sure any upgrade from 5 year old tech will be a surprise but wow. That is speed. My steam links run virtually as good as wired connection on this and all streaming issues have since ended.

Arise thread!

I have an Asus RT-N66U. It has been rock solid for the last 2+ years we have had it. Within the last month or so our wifi devices have been dropping off network. With phones and tablets I have to turn wifi off and then back on (at the device) to reacquire the connection. With our wifi adapter I have to power cycle it. No issues with any PCs that are hardwired.

I am running the latest firmware on the router, and also have a wifi analyzer app on my phone that shows the worst spot in the house at -60db, pretty good signal. I have made no recent changes to the router settings. Any thoughts or should I start shopping for a replacement?

Try powering it down, and see if there's a strong signal on a nearby channel? Channels that are slightly off from one another are MUCH worse than ones that are either the same or 5 apart, at least in the 2.4GHz bands. (The rules are a little different at 5Ghz, but I haven't learned their exact details. I just leave channel allocations up there on 'auto', with the presumption that the more modern firmwares will know how to pick channels correctly.)

When two APs are on the same frequency, they detect each other directly, and can share access to the airwaves; speeds are reduced, but things mostly stay reliable. When they're 1 or 2 off, they can't arbitrate access, and just interfere with one another. Everything goes to sh*t.

On 2.4GHz, normally the only channels that should ever be used are 1, 6, and 11. When you see an AP on anything else, that's someone who doesn't understand how they work. (or a SUPER advanced user, but that's not likely.)

I'm debating a conventional but modern router (mine is 10 years old) and later expanding with APs (thanks Igashu) or something like Google Wifi or eero. This Wirecutter review suggests the D-Link DIR-880L. Anyone else have any experience with that router?

muraii wrote:

I'm debating a conventional but modern router (mine is 10 years old) and later expanding with APs (thanks Igashu) or something like Google Wifi or eero. This Wirecutter review suggests the D-Link DIR-880L. Anyone else have any experience with that router?

Netgear Nighthawk ac-1750 was amazing, I thought I got the recommendation from Wirecutter but I seriously considered theirs. Night and day difference in speed and performance overall. Has bells and whistles I should probably do something with someday but I don't have a teen in house yet so I don't care much.

Hobear wrote:
muraii wrote:

I'm debating a conventional but modern router (mine is 10 years old) and later expanding with APs (thanks Igashu) or something like Google Wifi or eero. This Wirecutter review suggests the D-Link DIR-880L. Anyone else have any experience with that router?

Netgear Nighthawk ac-1750 was amazing, I thought I got the recommendation from Wirecutter but I seriously considered theirs. Night and day difference in speed and performance overall. Has bells and whistles I should probably do something with someday but I don't have a teen in house yet so I don't care much.

I have two teens and don't wanna feel like I'm hogging them all. We can PM to work something out.

muraii wrote:
Hobear wrote:
muraii wrote:

I'm debating a conventional but modern router (mine is 10 years old) and later expanding with APs (thanks Igashu) or something like Google Wifi or eero. This Wirecutter review suggests the D-Link DIR-880L. Anyone else have any experience with that router?

Netgear Nighthawk ac-1750 was amazing, I thought I got the recommendation from Wirecutter but I seriously considered theirs. Night and day difference in speed and performance overall. Has bells and whistles I should probably do something with someday but I don't have a teen in house yet so I don't care much.

I have two teens and don't wanna feel like I'm hogging them all. We can PM to work something out.

Sure, give you my 4 year old who has the attitude of one at times just not the devices

Is there much difference in noticeable performance between AC1750 and AC1900? I know you're just getting an additional theoretical 150Mbps on the N frequency, and I'm not sure how much I'd notice one way or the other. I'm coming from a DIR-655N which is draft 2.0 of 802.11n and according to Wikipedia has a maximum throughput of 144.4Mbps for the 20Hz-wide channels and 300Mbps for the 40Hz-wide channels. 450Mbps of the AC1750 and 600Mpbs of the AC1900 are both nice upgrades on my current N speeds, assuming the radios I'm using on my devices support that.

I just bought the D-Link EXO AC2600 MU-MIMO Wi-Fi Router (Amazon deal of the day yesterday). My current router is a Linksys AC1200 which I bout 5 years ago. It's draft AC. We have two teens, a 5 YO, my wife, and I in the house. The AC1200 was pretty good until the kids got their own phones. Now, they stream youtube constantly. My wife watches netflix all the time (at least it's on most of the time - she doesn't really watch it).

I'll let you know how it works out. The reason I bought is are:
4x4 mimo - This should help if we have some less than optimal connections (which we do).
band steering/QoS - Right now, I control whether someone gets on 2.4 or 5ghz in an attempt to manage traffic. Band steering will just do it for me. My current router has QoS but I don't think it works well and I can only prioritize three things.
strong antennae - Current router has no external antennae but the signal throughout the house is pretty good. This should be better. Right now we can get wireless everywhere in the house so I didn't feel I needed to go to a mesh setup.
Price - this was the DotD yesterday for $105. Normally it's $150 and reviews said it was well priced at $150. One review I read did say the interface was simplistic and he wanted to really dig into settings. I'm fine with that. It also said the software interface was buggy. I won't be messing with it much so I'm okay there too.

I don't want to futz with my router. I just want to play Overwatch and watch Playstation Vue without interruption. We've been due for a new router for a while but I didn't want to spend $200+.

I am very excited about this new upcoming palm-sized, 12V-powered router by Bosch!

That is a nice router. I might take the plunge.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

That is a nice router. I might take the plunge.

IMAGE(http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/d3/d3b0d7ba8d384bd9fb18034e7a767307a5955770c267d242244469ba29d7a7bb.jpg)

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:

I am very excited about this new upcoming palm-sized, 12V-powered router by Bosch!

You got me excited about a new travel router. I recently took a trip with the TP-Link TL-WR802n (https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wirel...) and while in the past it's been fine for PPTP (I use it for being able to relax with some Daily Show/Hulu/Netflix before bed, not security), it can't handle OpenVPN. Which was a roadblock because NordVPN's new servers don't support PPTP.

I now have the GL.iNet GL-MT300N (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...) which is a bit faster than the above TP-Link, and can be flashed with DD-WRT firmware:

https://www.gl-inet.com/using-ddwrt-...

I guess on a hardware level the GL-MT300N and Buffalo WHR-300hp2 are identical, and I haven't had trouble even with more recent versions of the Buffalo DD-WRT firmware. It's only 580mhz, so it's not a speed demon (on a good connection you'll get around 6-7Mbps if my situation is any indication).

GL.iNet also has a newer router coming out that's 650mhz, Atheros, and dual-band, the GL-AR300M(D) (https://www.gl-inet.com/ar300m/) which is the only dual-band travel router besides the TP-Link TL-WR902AC (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5RCZQH/) that I've seen, but it comes pre-installed with OpenWRT and I'm not as confident/familiar using that as opposed to DD-WRT. It also looks like the TL-WR902AC can be flashed with LEDE/OpenWRT:

https://forum.lede-project.org/t/pla...

But I definitely don't feel confident trying to manually install a GUI or set it up from the command line.

Anyone else know of some intriguing travel router options? Being able to setup a hotel connection as a repeater/AP, with OpenVPN, is the primary reason I carry one around but it's not exactly a booming market for variety. At this point I'm familiar enough with DD-WRT to even be able to work around Captive Portal logins, because you can clone your laptop's MAC address via DD-WRT, but if all the better travel router hardware is going to be OpenWRT oriented, maybe I should take the plunge and learn more about it.

Malor wrote:

Try powering it down, and see if there's a strong signal on a nearby channel? Channels that are slightly off from one another are MUCH worse than ones that are either the same or 5 apart, at least in the 2.4GHz bands. (The rules are a little different at 5Ghz, but I haven't learned their exact details. I just leave channel allocations up there on 'auto', with the presumption that the more modern firmwares will know how to pick channels correctly.)

When two APs are on the same frequency, they detect each other directly, and can share access to the airwaves; speeds are reduced, but things mostly stay reliable. When they're 1 or 2 off, they can't arbitrate access, and just interfere with one another. Everything goes to sh*t.

On 2.4GHz, normally the only channels that should ever be used are 1, 6, and 11. When you see an AP on anything else, that's someone who doesn't understand how they work. (or a SUPER advanced user, but that's not likely.)

I did leave the channel selection to auto. Power cycling never did much good. One thing I did try - found on Google - was to change the bandwidth for 20/40 mhz to just 20. And after that no issues to date. Speed tests show performance is about the same.

Heretk wrote:
Malor wrote:

Try powering it down, and see if there's a strong signal on a nearby channel? Channels that are slightly off from one another are MUCH worse than ones that are either the same or 5 apart, at least in the 2.4GHz bands. (The rules are a little different at 5Ghz, but I haven't learned their exact details. I just leave channel allocations up there on 'auto', with the presumption that the more modern firmwares will know how to pick channels correctly.)

When two APs are on the same frequency, they detect each other directly, and can share access to the airwaves; speeds are reduced, but things mostly stay reliable. When they're 1 or 2 off, they can't arbitrate access, and just interfere with one another. Everything goes to sh*t.

On 2.4GHz, normally the only channels that should ever be used are 1, 6, and 11. When you see an AP on anything else, that's someone who doesn't understand how they work. (or a SUPER advanced user, but that's not likely.)

I did leave the channel selection to auto. Power cycling never did much good. One thing I did try - found on Google - was to change the bandwidth from 20/40 mhz to just 20. And after that no issues to date. Speed tests show performance is about the same.

I think I might need to buy a new router. I have been using the FIOS Quantum g1100 one for a couple years but recently noticed that it introduces a ton of microlag when someone is streaming and I'm playing a game at the same time. Browsing through the options I was amazed that there was no QoS options.

Is there a go to router that people are using these days? I have no problem flashing with DD-WRT or other open source firmware options if needed. I just need something that can handle a ton of traffic and devices without getting bogged down. (Tablets, phones, TVs, Alexa, smart switches, Nest devices, PCs, ect..)

Edit: Also, I have FIOS Gigabit so it has to be able to handle that.

EvilDead wrote:

I think I might need to buy a new router. I have been using the FIOS Quantum g1100 one for a couple years but recently noticed that it introduces a ton of microlag when someone is streaming and I'm playing a game at the same time. Browsing through the options I was amazed that there was no QoS options.

Is there a go to router that people are using these days? I have no problem flashing with DD-WRT or other open source firmware options if needed. I just need something that can handle a ton of traffic and devices without getting bogged down. (Tablets, phones, TVs, Alexa, smart switches, Nest devices, PCs, ect..)

Edit: Also, I have FIOS Gigabit so it has to be able to handle that.

I just switched from a Quantum to an Asus RT-AC86U mostly because it seemed the best value for the $ and rated highly as well. Of the top routers it had the most throughput as well for Fios Gigabit (I have that as well). I didnt do Tomtato or DD-WRT.. the factory OS seems really nice and does everything I would need.

TheGameguru wrote:
EvilDead wrote:

I think I might need to buy a new router. I have been using the FIOS Quantum g1100 one for a couple years but recently noticed that it introduces a ton of microlag when someone is streaming and I'm playing a game at the same time. Browsing through the options I was amazed that there was no QoS options.

Is there a go to router that people are using these days? I have no problem flashing with DD-WRT or other open source firmware options if needed. I just need something that can handle a ton of traffic and devices without getting bogged down. (Tablets, phones, TVs, Alexa, smart switches, Nest devices, PCs, ect..)

Edit: Also, I have FIOS Gigabit so it has to be able to handle that.

I just switched from a Quantum to an Asus RT-AC86U mostly because it seemed the best value for the $ and rated highly as well. Of the top routers it had the most throughput as well for Fios Gigabit (I have that as well). I didnt do Tomtato or DD-WRT.. the factory OS seems really nice and does everything I would need.

And ordered. Thank you!

If you're using an Asus router, https://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about is a simple firmware upgrade.