New Router question: Dual core or faster MHz CPU

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Burner27

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I am looking into getting a new wireless router for home and I see now that they come with Dual Core CPUs and GHz CPU speed. Will either of these have a 'real world' benefit over my existing router (Netgear WNDR3700v4). Specifically I am looking at the Netgear Nighthawk.

Thank you and Happy New year!!
 
Unless you flashed the router and did a lot of fancy stuff (which I'm not sure if the Nighthawk comes built-in with those kinds of features) then probably not. Consumer routers used to suck for a long time having inadequate hardware and more recently they've decided to bump up the specs and more or less has become a selling point.

It does make you think twice because some of the specs are getting so damn good they're beating out low-end SMB gear, but alas it really depends on the software as to whether it can take full advantage of the device in the networking sense.
 
Liger88 said:
Unless you flashed the router and did a lot of fancy stuff (which I'm not sure if the Nighthawk comes built-in with those kinds of features) then probably not. Consumer routers used to suck for a long time having inadequate hardware and more recently they've decided to bump up the specs and more or less has become a selling point.

It does make you think twice because some of the specs are getting so damn good they're beating out low-end SMB gear, but alas it really depends on the software as to whether it can take full advantage of the device in the networking sense.
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So you're saying don't spend the money on that router then?
 
There are some reviews out there on these products and you can see under certain circumstances, the faster CPU speed and/or amount of cores help somewhat. I mean some of the examples were like having 20 clients all banging seem to really swamp the single core units and the multi core units were able to keep up longer.

Although I agree with Liger that most of it is simply a marketing ploy. I don't think he was saying not to spend the money, but more that you shouldn't use the specs solely as a buying guide. Check out some reviews, see what you like, (I have the ac68 and love it btw), and then make your choice.
 
Ok, thanks for the advice. I will look into the AC68 too. Does it run warm? I know that some people say the NightHawk runs warm/hot and needs a well ventilated area.
 
I don't know if they run hot versus anything else to be honest. The Merlin firmware I run on the AC68 has a temperature monitoring page, and here is what I am seeing right now:

2.4 radio: 48C
5.0 radio: 52C
CPU: 76C

I don't know if that is warm or normal. I am not using the CPU overclock function either, as I don't really need it. I have three people running on PC's right now using the internet quite a bit, three android phones just connected, and 16 other devices just connected with IP addresses but not really doing anything.
 
Check out smallnetbuilder.com they review just about every wireless router and they benchmark them and have great lists on performance.
 
Its all marketing. Were talking home stuff here... unless you are going to use that router for Intervlan routing a freaking basic ass router (okay not walmart basic hah) will get the job done even with most 100meg connections.

And afaik intervlan routing on any router, even wrt flashed, or tomato, etc... are just a pain in the ass if not impossible to perform with home or prosumer stuff.

Routers are built for one purpoise and that is to separate broadcast domains and unforuntately there just isn't any real power nor ability for home based routers to anything other than separate the ISP broadcast domain from your own home one.
 
This thread could be dangerous for a noobie:

The term "router" is being used in the correctly defined sense.

The problem is consumer grade routers often have to serve double or triple duty as a switch and or an Access Point.

Many routers that are older than 4 years can not even route traffic at the highest speeds offered today by cable and fiber optic networks "FIOS".

I 'm not trying to muddy the waters but every user case is slightly different.

If you just need a router...most of the models released within the past 2 years are fine doing that.

If you need a router that can also act as your switch at full line speed.....well about only 15% of the routers produced in the past 2 years can do that.

And I can give example after example of specific cases where there are exceptions to the rules.

If you just browser the web....yes almost anything will work.

If you do more than that ...consider learning what models offer you features to help your network perform better.
 
Ok, let me narrow my needs a bit further--other than my ISP being the limiting factor in terms of the download and upload speeds I can afford, will a dual GHz CPU in the Netgear Nighthawk perform better than my current device for WAN to LAN speeds?
 
Burner27 said:
Ok, let me narrow my needs a bit further--other than my ISP being the limiting factor in terms of the download and upload speeds I can afford, will a dual GHz CPU in the Netgear Nighthawk perform better than my current device for WAN to LAN speeds?
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Yes, but honestly you have to take a look at what your needs really are because the WNDR 3700v2 already is capable of > 400Mbps and the v4 has a newer, faster chip than the previous versions so probably is capable of 500Mbps+. The Nighthawk currently leads the charts maxing out nearly 1GbE.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/view

The question is: do you need that capability, or do you just get off on the numbers (which we all do lets be honest)?
 
Burner27 said:
I am looking into getting a new wireless router for home and I see now that they come with Dual Core CPUs and GHz CPU speed. Will either of these have a 'real world' benefit over my existing router (Netgear WNDR3700v4). Specifically I am looking at the Netgear Nighthawk.

Thank you and Happy New year!!
Click to expand...

If it is me I always spend money to buy products depends on my needs. For a home network I do not think we need to buy dual core router. If your home network is so big and having speed issues, you may spend. Otherwise it is better no.

Liger88 said:
Yes, but honestly you have to take a look at what your needs really are because the WNDR 3700v2 already is capable of > 400Mbps and the v4 has a newer, faster chip than the previous versions so probably is capable of 500Mbps+. The Nighthawk currently leads the charts maxing out nearly 1GbE.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/router-charts/view
The question is: do you need that capability, or do you just get off on the numbers (which we all do lets be honest)?
Click to expand...

Totally agreeing. We should spend according to our real needs.
 
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