The Router Recommendations Thread (Consumer)

Linksys E8400 works, but for the price it's not very competitive.

Cons:
Expensive with no MIMO support. About $20 more gets you MIMO and downloadble apps.
Needs reboot it about once a month.
UI is old and kludgy.

Pros:
Performance & Range (NON MIMO) is acceptable. 700 mbps on 5Ghz/300mbps on 2.4Ghz
Easy to setup
Bridge mode with my other linksys router worked flawlessly. Although there is considerable lag.

Why do I stick with linksys? Because my router is 5 years old and runs like a champ. It still get firmware updates for security flaws even though it's well past EOL. (Although these updates are few and far between).

 

Dont. Extenders have their own problems and dont work as well as expected in a lot of situations. Try a netgear Powerline adapter and use that to hook up an access point close to where you need it.

 

I have a TP-LINK TL-WR841N router, with 100mbps WAN and LAN ports. So far I am using it with 50mbps internet connection and it is able to provide full 50mbps speed through LAN and WiFi. Now I am planning to upgrade my internet connection to 100mbps and I am wondering, whether it would actually be able to deliver the full bandwidth or prove to be a bottleneck?

 

You probably will bottleneck every now and then. Because with 100mb you can sometimes have speed that surpass 100mb. Gigabit is standard now on every router. Why not buy a new router? You can find a cheap one that has gigabit and probably decent wifi.

 

We have no choice, we get given Tilgin HG 2302's and that's it. no options to change

 

Because I bought this router in Jan, when I upgraded from 16mbps DSL to 20mbps connection. Frankly speaking, I have no use for 100mbps. Just thinking of trying it out, because it is only US$4 more and I can change me internet speed each month thanks to prepaid plan.

 

I meant so your internal network can be on gigabit. It makes a huge difference especially if you have more than one computer on the same network.

 

I have one desktop that is connected through LAN, no NAS and rest of the devices are connected through Wi-Fi. So it is sort of hard to come with a justification for a new router so soon.

 

For a secure home router (think not easy to hack and bot), try the PepWave Surf Soho.

Review

Pros:
Frequent firmware updates (unlike most every consumer router out there that very rarely gets firmware updates or security updates)
Ability to store two firmware versions and toggle between them
Easy interface, with advanced networking features for the so-inclined
Solid speed results (not the fastest, but will fit needs for vast majority of people)
Antennas easily upgraded
Multiple vlan capability allows for segregating IOT and computer networks from each other
Abilty to create guest network allowing Internet only access, and walled off from internal networks
Supports VPN connections (great if you want to VPN back to a home server)
No WPS support (much more secure WiFi authentication)
Commitment to supporting the customers, robust support forums
Network usage reporting and site control features, includes rate limiting features
Use hotspot/LGE devices as network failover backup (in case your cable/FTH connection fails)


Cons:
Will only work on 2.4 or 5Ghz at a time, cannot handle both frequencies simultaneously
3 antennas makes upgrading these a bit more costly than some other models
Occasionally have to reset as router connections will stall (not a big issue - reboot needed about once per 2-3 months)
No WPS Support (not as user friendly for certain people - requires web console configuration during install)
Rate limiting generic across devices, cannot specifically limit bandwidth per device or group configuration
No USB file/printer sharing
Relatively expensive - security comes with a price!

 

My rt ac3200 is dieing so I have just bought an asus ac5300 but I am sick of only getting two years out of wifi routers before they start to have problems.

It really is begining to annoy me, I have had consumer and business routers previously and for some weird reason 2-3 years always happens to be their lifespan.

 

Dirty electrical maybe?

 

Nope. None of them want to put the 50 cents worth of aluminum heat sinks on the amp chips and a fan on the CPU. Only the super high end ones do that ($500+). And they do get hot.

You can go to small net builder and see how they are built.

 

My rt3200 is chugging along, Merlin firmware FTW!

 

Never really noticed how my wrt 1200 sits at 1% load but somehow manages 72°C.
That’s insane. If I somehow found a way to actually tax it, or if it was an outdoor ap, it’d be dead in no time. Time to put some heat sinks in it.

 

Thats exactly what I think, thats why I bought a laptop cooler and the router sits on that and it blows air right into the bottom vents of the 3200.

I got it working again after much trial and error, but now I have a ac5300 arriving tomorrow, so i dunno what am gunna do with that. I will probably use the 5300 as the main router and use the 3200 as an access point upstairs, hopefully if I can put it in a good spot I will get wifi indoors and outdoors, its either that or i tell the amazon delivery dude to Foff when he tries to deliver it.

 

My one sits at a constant 58-60oC, summertime or winter time its always either 58oc or 60oc, always, i think its lieing.

 

Netgear Nighthawk R6700
https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Nigh...qid=1523747152&sr=8-3&keywords=ac1750+netgear

Building a house, not looking to break the bank, I currently have a junky old netgear that seems to be fine.

This will be hooked up to 100mb cable with a wired network throughout the house (through a switch)

4 smart phones and a couple smart tv's. And 2-4 computers.

It says good for 12 devices, I don't need absolute perfect performance. House will be 1600 sq ft.

 

EdgeRouter X
https://www.ubnt.com/edgemax/edgerouter-x/

With my EERO Pro Mesh WIFI

 

Why use the Edgerouter and an EERO pro system?

 

EdgeRouter X is way more powerful / customizable than any router out there. Like how iOS and Android are. I could use Ubnt Access Points for WIFI, but I didn't want to deal with wiring the house to get them done, so I went with EERO and have had it for 2 years with no issues. But if you aren't familiar with routers, EdgeRouter is probably not the way for you to go and go with NetGear. Now EERO Pro Mesh has it's own router built in if you need a strong wifi system and router together. I've used it that way for a while. It's just limited on what you can do with it.

 

I guess, I have the EERO Pro system but I personally dont see the need to add an edgerouter to it. If I was going to do the edgerouter I would get the Ubiquiti APs. But I guess if it works for you then.

 

Well, EERO can't do this, or really any other router.

 

Yea I understand what the Edgerouters can do. I just find it odd to combine an EERO with one because typically the EERO is catered for consumer and the edgerouter prosumer.

 

And that’s why I use Open-Mesh for clients that need multiple AP’s. An AP can act as the router, the other AP’s can be wired or wireless ( it detects which connection to use automatically, no configuration necessary) and they have L7 analysis enabled by default.

Did I mention Open-Mesh is cheaper and has been around longer than eero? Not to mention they also make their own managed POE switches that are managed form the same interface.