Advice on new rouer for 1 Gbps service

Island

Gawd
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Sep 28, 2005
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Hey fellas....Well, my ISP just upgraded their max 100Mbps service to 1 Gbps a few weeks ago. They gave me an upgrade price of 15$ a month, so it's a no brainer for me to at least try and feel the difference. I know realistically it is not needed as I mainly just game and my family/kids surf and game...but my E-peen will be swoll!

Anyway, I threw my Linksys WRT1900ac in the garbage as well as my 10 year plus loyalty with Linksys in the garbage. That router was a POS and I had nothing but problems with 3 RMA's. I was able to buy an Asus RT-Ac66u that I got for a good deal at Frys. It has been kicking ass and running solid for the last 3-4 months.

I am wondering though if it will be up to the task of a 1 Gbps connection? Thinking about the Asus AC5300 or the Net gear Nighthawk. What do you guys think I should purchase or if I even need to purchase? ISP tech will be out next week to swap out my gateway to a newer one that will accommodate 1 Gbps. Thanks fellas!
 
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As far as a router goes for 1gbit service the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite is impossible to beat for the price/speed value. You can use that Asus as a wireless access point pretty easily. IIRC you can put the Asus into "bridge mode" with the stock firmware. There are better WAP's out there but that isn't thr topic here today.

Just remember that you won't see 1gbit speeds over wifi no matter what router you use. In other words, unless you use Ethernet devices 1gbit internet is just about useless vs 100mbit. Even wireless is only as fast as the slowest device connected to that band.
 
As far as a router goes for 1gbit service the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite is impossible to beat for the price/speed value. You can use that Asus as a wireless access point pretty easily. IIRC you can put the Asus into "bridge mode" with the stock firmware. There are better WAP's out there but that isn't thr topic here today.

Just remember that you won't see 1gbit speeds over wifi no matter what router you use. In other words, unless you use Ethernet devices 1gbit internet is just about useless vs 100mbit. Even wireless is only as fast as the slowest device connected to that band.


Thanks for the reply. I understand that with network speed....it basically is affected by the slowest common denominator. I do live in a new neighborhood with all fiber infrastructure and I do have cat 6 throughout the house. So, what would you think I could theoretically see over Wlan? I have 100Mbps up and down and I can get 95-97Mbps up and down on speed tests and that's on my laptop In my office downstairs and the router in my master closet upstairs. Do you think I can potentially see over 300- 500Mbps over Wlan? It's only 15$ extra a month. I can always change back to 100Mbps in a few months and I get to have an upgraded Gateway installed next week anyway, so to me its a win/win
 
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personally I'd configure a pfsense box with some intel nics for the firewall and then get whatever high end wifi access point you think best works as coverage will be the only thing you'll likely be able to maximize as I am not sure there's a wifi ap that can serve full 1gigabit to any client a decent distance away
 
As far as a router goes for 1gbit service the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Lite is impossible to beat for the price/speed value. You can use that Asus as a wireless access point pretty easily. IIRC you can put the Asus into "bridge mode" with the stock firmware. There are better WAP's out there but that isn't thr topic here today.

Just remember that you won't see 1gbit speeds over wifi no matter what router you use. In other words, unless you use Ethernet devices 1gbit internet is just about useless vs 100mbit. Even wireless is only as fast as the slowest device connected to that band.

You're right, that's basically the fastest router available at a reasonable price for a home. Ubiquities UniFi access points are pretty good too if wireless is what you want.
 
Thanks for the replies fellas. I really don't want to get too crazy and overcomplicate and add more then what I really need. I already have 2 Linksys dual band extenders with high gain antennas. One is installed downstairs and one upstairs. These I got to use with my Saltwater tank Apex controller and my D-link security cameras. I really only care about Ethernet connection with the 1Gbps upgrade service. I only have two LAN ports being utilized on my current router.

One is for my main gaming rig in my room and the other is for the computer in the loft that the kids play on. As long as I can get close to 1 Gbps speed on those computers and I can download games on steam in a few minutes, then I am fine with using Wlan on my other peripherals. Even if I only see another 100-200 Mbps jump over my Wlan, for only 15$ extra a month I think it's worth it. Hopefully my current router will be good enough so I don't need to upgrade. The new Nighthawk X8 or the Asus AC5300 look pretty tempting though....
 
You most likely want to have a look at an ARM-based solution, anything using IPQ SoCs should do fine for instance.
 
Honestly, let the AC66 just run until you see some weird slow downs or bottlenecks somewhere. I think it should be fine for your limited use. I mean, yeah 1Gbps is fast, but you only really need a good router if you are using that speed quite a bit or have tons and tons of devices. I bought the X8 Nighthawk and it was overkill and I have 35 DHCP leases and 6 dedicated IP with those six being direct wired. At any rate, I'm hoping to get 1Gbps here soon, but so far, even with all of that stuff, I rarely see the router use more than 10% of a single core on my 120/12 service. I wouldn't buy anything until you know your current unit is having issues.
 
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Wanted to add I have a RT-AC66U on a 1Gbps Fiber connection. Using my ISPs own speed test website I can achieve 980Mbps, though I suspect the router is not the bottleneck here; something in the ISP's network is. Because during peak hours it "slows down" to a mere 810Mbps.

So the AC66 definitely has the grunt to handle 1Gbps.
 
Wanted to add I have a RT-AC66U on a 1Gbps Fiber connection. Using my ISPs own speed test website I can achieve 980Mbps, though I suspect the router is not the bottleneck here; something in the ISP's network is. Because during peak hours it "slows down" to a mere 810Mbps.

So the AC66 definitely has the grunt to handle 1Gbps.


Thanks for the reply. To update, got the gateway upgrade installed last week by my ISP's service tech. Guy was really cool and even made sure all the cat 5e cables were punched down correctly as when I first bought the house, the tech saved time by only using 2 pairs on some of the outlets. My Asus 66u does kick ass though and i'm getting over 950Mbits on up and down running the speed test from my isp's speed test site. WLan over AC, I seem to be getting anywhere from 250--450Mbits. Windows shows my Wifi connected statrus at 585Mbps. I decided to upgrade to a Asus RT3100 router. My house is a little less then 4000 square feet so the extra antenna and better internals might help overall...Should have it delivered in the next few days. Got in brand new on Ebay for 230$ so pretty good deal. Maybe I can use the Asus 66u as a switch to add more ethernet ports. I already have 2 linksys Ac1200 extenders with HG antennas, but I hope with the Asus 3100, I will have enough adequate coverage that I can sell them, but I have D-link wireless cameras outside so I have to make sure the 3100 has enough signal strength for the cameras. Anyway, thanks for all the replies. I'll update once I get the 3100 installed
 
Just about any modern consumer router you buy that has come out in the past year or two will be 1gb capable with the default setup. As most have at least hw nat offload these days. The slow downs start to occur when you add firewall rules or turn on something that disables hardware offload, like QoS.
 
why futz with shit routers, just get an older system and put pfsense on it and call it a day, just from a software point of a view it's a lot more customizable.
 
.... WLan over AC, I seem to be getting anywhere from 250--450Mbits. Windows shows my Wifi connected statrus at 585Mbps. I decided to upgrade to a Asus RT3100 router. My house is a little less then 4000 square feet so the extra antenna and better internals might help overall...Should have it delivered in the next few days. Got in brand new on Ebay for 230$ so pretty good deal. Maybe I can use the Asus 66u as a switch to add more ethernet ports. I already have 2 linksys Ac1200 extenders with HG antennas, but I hope with the Asus 3100, I will have enough adequate coverage that I can sell them, but I have D-link wireless cameras outside so I have to make sure the 3100 has enough signal strength for the cameras. Anyway, thanks for all the replies. I'll update once I get the 3100 installed

That speed is typical for 802.11AC... With a 3x3 AC router ("1300Mbps" in marketing speak), a 3x3 AC client, and a great signal you can typically expect around 400-550Mbps of actual throughput. The Asus 3100 router you are getting appears to be a 4x4 AC device, if you have a 4x4 Wifi adapter and a great signal you can expect around 500-700Mbps actual throughput.

A 4,000 sqft house is going to be though for ANY WiFi band. For that size of house I would recommend multiple wired APs spaced evenly (at least 3-4) Or something like Ubiquiti's Unifi APs. Just remember though, with current WiFi standards no single client is going to get Gigabit.

Also remember any range extender you go through will cut the throughput to clients in half.
 
That speed is typical for 802.11AC... With a 3x3 AC router ("1300Mbps" in marketing speak), a 3x3 AC client, and a great signal you can typically expect around 400-550Mbps of actual throughput. The Asus 3100 router you are getting appears to be a 4x4 AC device, if you have a 4x4 Wifi adapter and a great signal you can expect around 500-700Mbps actual throughput.

A 4,000 sqft house is going to be though for ANY WiFi band. For that size of house I would recommend multiple wired APs spaced evenly (at least 3-4) Or something like Ubiquiti's Unifi APs. Just remember though, with current WiFi standards no single client is going to get Gigabit.

Also remember any range extender you go through will cut the throughput to clients in half.

Only if everyone understood what you just stated! Next will be explaining why LR equipment isn't a good idea if you don't have as powerful radios in the client equipment. /rant

Multiple wired APs is going to give you the best results.
 
Only if everyone understood what you just stated! Next will be explaining why LR equipment isn't a good idea if you don't have as powerful radios in the client equipment. /rant

Multiple wired APs is going to give you the best results.

Ubiquiti has claimed the LR versions (at least the 2.4Ghz UAP-LR) in addition to having a higher transmit power also have 2-3dBm higher receive sensitivity. That could theoretically translate to slightly better client performance at the fringes, though it would take a good amount of testing to confirm this.

If placed in the center of the house, a single AP might reach the entire place on 2.4Ghz with just barely usable service on the fringes. (think single digit Mbps) Definitely don't expect 5Ghz to reach that far however. This is assuming typical drywall/wood stud construction. If your walls contain metal studs, stone, plaster/lathe, etc.. these will all affect WiFi negatively.

I have a 1100 SqFt house with typical drywall/wood stud construction. A single AC66u sitting right smack in the center does cover my entire house, particularly with 2.4Ghz But 5Ghz drops off much faster, at the extremes I get about -80, which typically appears as a 1-2 bar signal in Windows.
 
Maybe the house I live in has shitty wood or something, but I put my X8 in the center of the house on a wall in the entertainment room, (big TV, fireTV, blah blah), and it works great. The house is 3600 sq feet on two levels and the 2.4 reaches every corner with no issues at all. Now in the garage and on the front porch with doors closed, I drop down two bars from max, but still connect at 150 N and get pretty damn good transfer rates. The entire down stairs where the router on the wall is located connects on the 5 GHz radio 1/2 depending on traffic and use. Best router with best signal strength I have used, with the old AC68 coming in second.
 
That speed is typical for 802.11AC... With a 3x3 AC router ("1300Mbps" in marketing speak), a 3x3 AC client, and a great signal you can typically expect around 400-550Mbps of actual throughput. The Asus 3100 router you are getting appears to be a 4x4 AC device, if you have a 4x4 Wifi adapter and a great signal you can expect around 500-700Mbps actual throughput.

A 4,000 sqft house is going to be though for ANY WiFi band. For that size of house I would recommend multiple wired APs spaced evenly (at least 3-4) Or something like Ubiquiti's Unifi APs. Just remember though, with current WiFi standards no single client is going to get Gigabit.

Also remember any range extender you go through will cut the throughput to clients in half.


I appreciate the reply. I already have multiple extenders that I am trying to replace. I would love to go with all wired AP, but my house was wired with cat 5e and I already had to make a decision once 1 Gbit became available as my wall plates where TV and computers existed had to be split in 2 pairs so I could have both Ethernet and TV signal for the STB. Seeing as I need all 4 pairs of cat5e for 1 Gbit, I had to make due with what I have, and I'm not going to do more cable runs especially when it's 150 degrees in the attic right now. I'm happy with what I have now...


Maybe the house I live in has shitty wood or something, but I put my X8 in the center of the house on a wall in the entertainment room, (big TV, fireTV, blah blah), and it works great. The house is 3600 sq feet on two levels and the 2.4 reaches every corner with no issues at all. Now in the garage and on the front porch with doors closed, I drop down two bars from max, but still connect at 150 N and get pretty damn good transfer rates. The entire down stairs where the router on the wall is located connects on the 5 GHz radio 1/2 depending on traffic and use. Best router with best signal strength I have used, with the old AC68 coming in second.

My Asus 66U can pull max strength throughout my house as well. It's my outside wireless cameras that take a while to connect, and when I say a while it's actually only a few seconds but with how greedy I am now with speed and technology, a few seconds is dreadfully painful wait watching that damn circle going around and around....but I digress
 
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