Suggestions for 802.11n router/AP

[DangerIsGo]

Since I've been getting more and more wireless devices (consoles, tablets, phones, notebooks) and most (if not all) of these devices are at least 802.11n, and I'm stuck on a D-Link DGL-4300 (802.11G). Streaming video from my NAS to my consoles is not possible with my current setup and just frankly accessing internet is slow (have FiOS and access via ethernet is perfectly fine...legacy setup with ethernet, I'm running out of ports on the switch). So this brings me to my question:

1) Keep what I have and get a larger switch
2) Invest in a 802.11n access point or router (which will act as an AP)
3) Wait for the final 802.11ac next year and do step 2.

Any good suggestions for n routers/access points? I'm usually a fan of D-link as that's who I went with years back with all my networking products but other companies (Buffalo, Asus, TrendNet, etc...) have come a long way and it shows from reviews from users and tech sites.

 

[diizzy]

TP-Link TL-WDR3600 running OpenWRT (somewhat recent trunk at least) runs very reliable
I'd wait for 11ac when at least the second generation of hardware is out.
//Danne

 

[DangerIsGo]

Thanks, I was actually looking at the WNDR3700. But now that I think about it, I don't understand why I'm only getting ~6/3mb/s via the PS3/PS4 connection speed tests over WiFi? This is over G though, should those speeds not be higher, since G is max 54mb/s? Even when I stream a standard def/dvd video from my NAS over WiFi, its terrible. Why would this be? Is is the access point? Is it the WiFi?

 

[Mackintire]

Wireless is a half-duplex protocol and also has encryption overhead.

A 54mbps (link) connection usually has 26Mbps of thoughput.

26Mbps /8 changes bit to bytes = 2.8 MBps

Note: You must have wireless N capable devices at both end to see wireless N speeds. Wireless N tops out at 18MB/s and that is a best case scenario, usually you can expect to see 8-10MB/s

 

[FnordMan]

Thanks, I was actually looking at the WNDR3700. <snip>

Decent unit there, behind a v1 with stock firmware here.

If signal is an issue at all i'd recommend a Buffalo wzr-600dhp. Heck of a powerful signal on that guy (i've got one acting as an AP to cover an area of weak signal)

 

[DangerIsGo]

Decent unit there, behind a v1 with stock firmware here.

If signal is an issue at all i'd recommend a Buffalo wzr-600dhp. Heck of a powerful signal on that guy (i've got one acting as an AP to cover an area of weak signal)

Signal isnt really an issue with mine, its going in a studio apartment. EVerything is wide open and the consoles are pretty much near the access point. The only three things I care about are security (WPA2 of course), consistency (can't be having any dropped connections as I've seen on some reviews) and speed (as streaming SD movies should be an easy task and gaming too).

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

For good Wifi signal strength I am very happy with my Ubiquiti Unifi and Ubiquiti Unifi LR units. Nothing gets as good signal strength and transfer speeds for me.

These are - however - AP's and will need a separate router.

 

[FnordMan]

Signal isnt really an issue with mine, its going in a studio apartment. EVerything is wide open and the consoles are pretty much near the access point. The only three things I care about are security (WPA2 of course), consistency (can't be having any dropped connections as I've seen on some reviews) and speed (as streaming SD movies should be an easy task and gaming too).

The WNDR should be fine then. I've streamed HD H.264 content over .11n before on that guy.
Though I am in a relatively clean wifi environment. Aka: Consistency is more about how cluttered the wifi space is, if this is going to be an apartment then you may have better luck with 5Ghz given there's more channel space to choose from.

 

[TCM2]

Running TP-WDR4300 with OpenWrt as AP.

16:08:55 up 113 days, 2:08, load average: 0.01, 0.07, 0.05

Getting 10MB/s on a laptop with a single .11n stream. No walls, though. It's in the same room as all the clients.