My current cheap router needs replacement. As I peruse the options, I can't make heads or tails of all the routers out there. Price is not really a huge concern but I'd like to keep it within $150-$350 and get the best unit for the money. I need a router that can handle: Up to 10 PCs connected Up to 10 mobile devices connected Streaming 1080p video Online Gaming (but not too often) I'd also like a router that has all the current/upcoming wireless standards and any other features they may have incorporated. Are there any particular routers that are considered the gold standards? Appreciate any advice as I'm clueless on networking.
I'm leaning towards this one for $227: ASUS RT-AC87U Wireless-AC2400 Dual-band Gigabit Router IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, IPv4, IPv6
That's a bit overkill imo. How many wireless devices do you plan to connect to the router? That includes consoles, tvs and cell phones.
It does seem like overkill. I'm going for that. Had enough of our router getting overloaded/crapping out and needing reset. Connected devices: At all times: 5 PCs, 3 Phones, 2 tablets, 1 Roku Weekends: 7 PCs, 3 Phones, 5 tablets, 1 Roku Max Load: 10 PCs, 5 Phones, 5 tablets, 1 TV, 1 Roku (we don't use our (older) consoles on the net) --Netflix/Hulu/Live Sporting Events (etc) are occasionally streamed to more than 1 room simultaneously. --All our movies have been digitized and placed on PLEX server for local streaming. --It would be great if moving files between PCs on the network was much faster. For larger items, I typically use my portable usb3.0 drive instead.
Guess It's for your home and not for work, so I'll give you my opinion on the two routers I have. My main router it's an Ubiquiti AirRouter AP, works like a charm also the stock firmware it's pretty OCD, you can control everything related to the conections and also has every wireless standard and more (it's ubiquiti, what else can be said?), also it's incredibly stable, never had a drop, except from my ISP of course. My second router it's the oldie goldie Linksys WRT54GL, with Tomato Firmware installed on it. If you're not acquainted with that, it's a Cisco router which firmware can be swapped with one that works under Linux (sort of, short version of the story), that said, with tomato firmware, you add stability and of course a very deep sense of control over the netwrok, can overwhelm a bit the first time you see it, but you get used to it and can manage the bandwith over all your devices (same as the ubiquiti one). Those are the one's I have and never had a drop from them (again, if I had a drop, was always from my ISP). At home I have 5 PC's, 2 HTPC's, 3 tablets and 4 phones, and the HTPC's are all day working, specially on good football matches :eyes: It's not the load you have, but I think these two can handle that much you say.
That's quite a few devices. So that router might not be as overkill as I thought. Either way i would look at the Netgear R7000 or the Asus RT-AC68U. If you need something more, then the one you listed would probably suit you better.
Appreciate the assistance. There's just so many choices and it's been years since I bought one. I've gone the cheapie route for my past 2 and I want to avoid that this time.
I would also suggest an Asus RT-AC68U. I run it in my house with five computers, seven phones/tablets, three consoles, NAS, and a few streaming devices. In the year or two I've owned it now, I've not had a single hiccup from it. It's reliability is fantastic and the stock firmware is awesome. It's the best router I've owned by far. As far as NAS speeds go, the transfer speeds will be limited by the output of the NAS and the connection type of the receiving computer. My NAS pushes 65-70MB/s but one of our laptops has a junk wireless-n adapter that only allows it to receive at 5MB/s.
I use a Netgear R7000 and it works flawlessly. We do a lot of streaming and network file transfers here and it works great. The GUI is a bit stale, but the firmware is solid. You can always throw DD-WRT on it if you want. The Asus RT-AC68U is very similar but with a better stock GUI. Downside of the Asus is that it cannot be wall mounted.
I'm building my next router and running pfsense. I'll add as many switches and wifi APs as needed. One thing to consider is processor power for your given internet speed. If you have 150 Mbps, your router's CPU might not be able to handle all that data.
I have that router and its fantastic. A little pricey but works really well. I have about the same number of devices connected + a NAS for media streaming and haven't had any slowdowns or issues.
Recently bought an Asus RT-AC68U. Really nice. Can be had for near $200. Probably less. Whatever you do, make sure the WAN port is Gigabit at least. My last one was 100MB, bought it a few years back, and it limited my downstream. ...and I still think the 87U looks like a hat Sauron would wear...
That is going to be my next router, seems to be pretty stable according to reviews and tests, and the price isn't that bad compared to others in that range.
I have both AC87U and AC3200, And AC87U has had issues with firmware since release it has gotten better but still has issues, on the other hand the AC3200 is perfect and solid performance with no issues at all. I have over 42 devices, 31 using wifi connected to the AC3200 with no issues, I use 2 x AC87U as a media bridge since i cant run cables to different floors in my house(english regulations on listed building), overall AC87U has better AC speeds, but has compatible issues, the AC3200 has overall best coverage and speeds are still pretty epic, and i personally havent had any compatible issues.
