The Router Recommendations Thread (Consumer)

They're very solid, not the best ones around in terms of performance (wirespeed) but they are very reliable. Good up to ~300mbit total WAN-traffic or so at least running OpenWRT. I've been playing around with a D-Link DIR-860L B1 right now and as far as overall performance goes it's very impressive (about 50% faster) although I have no idea how well wireless works (yet).
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/D-Link_DIR-860L_rev_B1
//Danne
 
They're very solid, not the best ones around in terms of performance (wirespeed) but they are very reliable. Good up to ~300mbit total WAN-traffic or so at least running OpenWRT. I've been playing around with a D-Link DIR-860L B1 right now and as far as overall performance goes it's very impressive (about 50% faster) although I have no idea how well wireless works (yet).
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/D-Link_DIR-860L_rev_B1
//Danne

By wirespeed are you referring to the total bandwidth the ISP provides? Thx again for the help! :)
 
I'm on my 2nd router from Comcast in the past 2 months and have had enough. I need to replace this thing with something stable. When I was living in Arkansas a few yrs back I was using a Linksys WRT54G and for the yrs I used it, was fast and stable... but this is 2015 and that model is too dated.

I do a TON of gaming online, by my computer is hardwired, also print via WiFi and I have a house full of Galaxy S5 users and we have Metro PCS for a carrier and they have WiFi Calling so whichever router I get needs to be extremely stable and reliable. Looking to spend whatever it takes to get the best for my purposes, be it spending $50 or $500, as long as it suits my needs and isn't breaking down every month.
 
You'll be fine most likely, if anything I'd say that MT7621A would be next "sane" step in terms of performance. The 11ac stuff from Atheros is pretty good too however the 11ac driver (11n is fine) leaves much to desire, performance-wise they're a step up from the WDR3600/WDR4300 but not as much as the Mediatek SoC.
//Danne
 
Does anyone know if the TP-LINK routers Traffic Statistics feature (to keep track of data usage) resets after router reboot on stock firmware?
 
Have a question about upgrading wifi and keeping Tomato for main router.

Current setup is an Asus N66u with Tomato. Firewall/static ip configured on this router. 75/75 Fios internet. Wifi is disabled.

Currently have two TPlink TL WDR4300 as AP on both sides of the house to provide coverage. Not pleased with it as it is not keeping up and dropped connections. Both running Gargoyle 1.71 firmware.

I just bought two Linksys EA8500 AC2600 Mu-MIMO routers. Is it going to be my best bet to keep the Asus N66u as my main router for configuration and setup the EA8500's as Wifi AP in two different locations? I know there isnt any alternate firmware for the linksys yet so I want to keep my main static ip/dhcp and port forwarding on what I'm used to. Im figuring this will be my best bet. A little bit of a waste of two EA8500s but I got a killer deal on them. Hopefully will increase my wifi coverage of the house.
 
Looking for a recommendation for new net setup.

I have a Arris SB6141 modem running off comcast 250MB plan (no fiber avail. booo).

I currently have a Netgear n300 (WNR2000v5). I was hoping, at the time, to be able to flash it and use one of the third-party firmware; however, last I checked none support it.

This router is not that great, and it definitely lacks in wireless coverage and my roommates have been complaining.

The house is 2800 sq. ft area so in this case I think I'd like to get:
  1. Router (For some reason I'm drawn too the Ubiquiti line of products)
  2. Switch (Probably need one)
  3. Wireless AP (x1 or x2)

I've read a bit that the Ubiquiti APs aren't "up to snuff" and that using any ol' AP might be better... but I really don't know what to look at in regards to APs, I've never had to deal with one.

Any help would be appreciated, otherwise I'll end up with my 8th linksys I suppose, ack.
 
I'd say go for the Mediatek MT7621A platform if possible, it's fairly cheap and fast enough to handle that kind of connection speed. If you have the D-Link DIR-860L HW rev B1 in US it's a nice box with OpenWRT however WIFI is a bit dodgy at the moment. Hook that up to a switch (PoE), grab two dual band 11n routers and you'll be fine. The WiTi board might be an option too but there's some delivery time...

1 x https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...Pn8gCFYN-cgodh04ATg&ei=m0kMVvmMGYP9yQOHnYHwBA

1 x www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833181321

2 x https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...Mn8gCFaWOcgodVyoOqg&ei=REYMVtL6HaWdygPX1LjQCg
 
Looking for a recommendation for new net setup.

I have a Arris SB6141 modem running off comcast 250MB plan (no fiber avail. booo).

I currently have a Netgear n300 (WNR2000v5). I was hoping, at the time, to be able to flash it and use one of the third-party firmware; however, last I checked none support it.

This router is not that great, and it definitely lacks in wireless coverage and my roommates have been complaining.

The house is 2800 sq. ft area so in this case I think I'd like to get:
  1. Router (For some reason I'm drawn too the Ubiquiti line of products)
  2. Switch (Probably need one)
  3. Wireless AP (x1 or x2)

I've read a bit that the Ubiquiti APs aren't "up to snuff" and that using any ol' AP might be better... but I really don't know what to look at in regards to APs, I've never had to deal with one.

Any help would be appreciated, otherwise I'll end up with my 8th linksys I suppose, ack.

I'm currently rocking an ERL and UAP. (Upgraded from an amazing Mikrotik RB2011UiAS-2HnD-IN, but got a good deal on the UBNT gear... plus we use it at work.)

Only drawback with the UAP is no 5 GHz in the base model. I just picked up a UAP-AC-LR to play with now.

Oh, and you'll have to use the UniFi Controller to manage the UAP's. The 4.x version is a huge improvement over the 3.x branch. I found an AMD Geode based system on eBay for cheap and have been using that as my UniFi Controller appliance.
 
The ERL is really slow if you use QoS which you probably want to use on a cable connection...
The access points by EnGenius are dual band and Atheros-based ones and are stock PoE compared to the UAPs which aren't unless you're going for the Pro-version.
 
The ERL is really slow if you use QoS which you probably want to use on a cable connection...
The access points by EnGenius are dual band and Atheros-based ones and are stock PoE compared to the UAPs which aren't unless you're going for the Pro-version.

ERL QOS can only accelerate ~70Mbps of total WAN throughput. So add your upload+download speed and that's your total WAN throughput.

90% of the time most people only need QOS on their upload anyhow.

I also believe that Ubiquiti addressed the non-std POE issue on their newest APs as well.

Feedback on the price/performance ration of the newest AC AP models from Ubiquiti are good....frighteningly good.
 
Hey guys. I'm looking for a new router for the house. The house is 2200sq ft. I was using an Arris Touchstone TG852, but the wifi in the house was horrible. I ended up buying a cable modem and it came with a free TP-LINK TL-WR940N. I've been using that, but it is pretty bad also.

Here is a beautiful drawing I did of my house and where the router is (pink circled area) and where it used to be and still go (black area)

http://imgur.com/RhmxBBf



My internet speed plan is 75/5.


In bedroom 2 and 3 I can get about 20/5 connection.
In the living room I get about 30/5.
In the Master bedroom I get about 10/5 connection.
In the back yard (behind living room) I get a 3/5 connection.
In the garage I get 10/5.

I think the router is working better tonight, because usually it's worse than the speeds I got tonight. Half the time it doesn't want to connect either. It's just my wife and I. I'm usually on my desktop that uses wired and she uses her ultrabook. She usually does her school test in the bedroom, but the wifi acts up so much at times she can't use her ultrabook, so she has to use my laptop to do them.

She used to stream movies in the bedroom, but the wifi was so bad that I ended up running an ethernet cord from the router to the Master bedroom, so that solved that problem.

My budget is I guess $250+-. I saw Netgear came out witha Nighthawk X8, but I guess that would be overkill, right? I'm sure it's a nice router, but it's not nice enough to make me spend $400. What about the Nighthawk X6? I know that is out of my budget, but do you think it'd solve my problems?


I'd appreciate any input given!
 
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I'd recommend using an EdgeRouter Lite or EdgeRouter X for your router, and then having two of the UniFi LR WAPs at opposing ends of the house. I have one per floor, and get fantastic coverage in my condo.
 
What I did in a similar situation to yours Smash, was went to BestBuy and bought one there, in case it didn't work very well I could return it easily and try another brand. Fortunately I got a really good working Asus AC68 unit that covers my whole house with really good WiFi. If you the ability to get to an electronics store, or a Fry's or something, try one out and see how it works. Either the Asus or the Netgear Night Hawk would be good starts.
 
I'd recommend using an EdgeRouter Lite or EdgeRouter X for your router, and then having two of the UniFi LR WAPs at opposing ends of the house. I have one per floor, and get fantastic coverage in my condo.

Hmm, I'll look into that a little more, but I'm kinda hoping just a router will fix my issue. Honestly, I think if I move my router back into the living room where it was, it'd help my issue with the bedroom wifi. Right now it has to pass an extra wall, and I'm sure that kinda weakens the signal. IDK, I think I'm gonna do what the other poster said first, and then try to move it to living room to see if that helps performance.


What I did in a similar situation to yours Smash, was went to BestBuy and bought one there, in case it didn't work very well I could return it easily and try another brand. Fortunately I got a really good working Asus AC68 unit that covers my whole house with really good WiFi. If you the ability to get to an electronics store, or a Fry's or something, try one out and see how it works. Either the Asus or the Netgear Night Hawk would be good starts.

That's actually not a bad idea. It's kinda hard for me to go to any store during the week, so Amazon usually gets my service. It's actually kinda cheaper for me to order off Amazon and just pay shipping fees back if I don't want the item anymore. I figure it's cheaper than me trying to find time to go to a store and having to use the gas to get there. I also don't have to deal with anyone if I want to return something. :)

I'm kinda thinking about just getting the X6 and seeing if that fixes the issue. If it doesn't, then I may move the router into the living room to see if that helps at all. The X8 still isn't out of the running because it has 6 lan ports. I know with a good router I can stream netflix/amazon, but I'd prefer them to be wired. Right now I have my desktop wired, bedroom tv wired, Sprint airave (for better house service) wired, living room tv wired, and soon will be buying a new TV that will need to be wired in my daughters room. We just had another daughter, so I plan on getting another tv down the road (2 years max) and will need it wired. The X8 would be the best router for me in that situation. Black Friday is coming up, so I'm thinking I should probably wait, or just buy something now, and if I get a good deal on something, just send it back and keep the new one, lol.
 
You can read my old posts in this very thread, but before the AC68 I used to use the DLink gamer routers thinking they were the best, but man, was I wrong. The wireless connections versus the old DLink and new AC68 aren't even comparable. We have four TV's in the house, and each one has either an FireStick or FireTV attached at minimum, (my primary has FireTV into HDMI#2 and a FireTV plugged into Pioneer receiver). At any rate, with all the wireless devices like cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc, it gets pretty crowded. I haven't had any issues though yet. But if I had to do things over, I might buy the X6/X8 unit next time.
 
I went ahead and ordered the Nighthawk X8. It'll be here by the time I get home from work tomorrow. :D
 
I know it's early, but holy moly do I love this router so far. In my daughter's room I was pulling 55mb down, in master bedroom 40mb down, outside in back yard 40mb down, and in front 40mb down. I gotta reposition the antanees a little better, but so far I am impressed. The X8 is HUGE! I don't mind the looks of it though, because it looks pretty nice. I just gotta reorganize my desk a little and make it blend in better. I'll come back and give an update on it after a few days, but so far it's night and day difference from my old TP-LINK TL-WR940N. I know it isn't fair to compare the too, but if the wifi stays working great in the house, then the wife won't complain I spent $428 on it. :D
 
Good morning. I am about to buy two of the new Chromecast to do some streaming on my TVs. But I highly doubt my current router will be able to keep up. It is a 12 year old Linksys WRT54g. Got it when I moved from dialup to DSL. I am out in the country and have CenturyLink so I dont have insane download speeds and won't for quite some time.

Currently the fastest internet I can get at my house is 25mb down. 2up. Which is what I have, but I am supposed to be able to move up to 50mb down in about six months. I desperately need a new router. The only things that are connected to the router are two cell phones, two tablets, a laptop, and my desktop which is connected via ethernet. And I will be adding two chromecast on TVs. Not all of that will be used at the same time though. Probably one chromecast, a tablet, and two phones.

I'd like to keep my budget under $100 and have this router last at least 5 years. Maybe $150 if it will last even longer. I dont need a lot of range either. My house is only 1300 square feet and the router is centrally located.

What would serve me best and be the most stable, trouble free router.
 
I'd like to keep my budget under $100 and have this router last at least 5 years. Maybe $150 if it will last even longer. I dont need a lot of range either. My house is only 1300 square feet and the router is centrally located.

What would serve me best and be the most stable, trouble free router.

Almost anything you try will be a massive upgrade for you. However, if you want 'stable', then you'll need either Ubiquiti or Mikrotik.

I went the way of Mikrotik and have a wifi version of the RB2011. Super stable, pretty easy to setup, and covers my entire house decently. (1400 sq feet)
 
However, if you want 'stable', then you'll need either Ubiquiti or Mikrotik.

You don't need those to be stable, my netgear R7000 is the best consumer router I have ever owned (though out of the previous poster's price range). I've only reset it 2 or 3 times in 2 years. Though I will agree finding a consumer router that is actually stable is a pain. I dread having to replace my R7000 in the future because the 4 routers I owned in between my wrt54g and my R7000 were all pieces of crap (and they were said to be the most stable routers at the time that they were 'good' routers).
 
Got tired of waiting for the new Ubiquiti AP's to come out so I got the basic Unifi UAP. The UAP and EdgeRouter Lite just work.Maybe overkill for most people, but no weird issues with the ERL. About $170 total from Amazon. I was looking at spending up to $350 on an AP too.

Coming from Netgear WNDR3700's that always had issues no matter what firmware (Stock, Gargoyle/OpenWRT, DD-WRT) was on them.
 
Would the Netgear R6250 be a good choice? There is a seller on eBay that has them refurbished for $64 shipped. And I guess my version of stable is much more forgiving than yalls. If I only have to reset it once every 2 or 3 months then I am fine with that. I have had other routers besides the WRT54G that I would have to reset weekly, if not every 2 or 3 days.
 
Hello,

I was kinda intrested in any recommendations for a router+firewall.
I think firewall would be sophos UTM home edition because i have experience with those.
But my connection is 100/100 and the router need to have vlan support + PPPoE support.

What i think :
Edgerouter POE ( because lite only has 3 ports and i need to have 1 box at that place )
linksys wrt1900ac ( not sure about this yet )

Let me know if you have any other ideas thanks!!!
 
Thought you guys may like to take a look at this - https://omnia.turris.cz/en/ - its a new router based on being open source (OpenWRT base), expandable, and overall looks like a pretty nice SOHO router platform. Some of its more notable features include a SFP port (nice for those on Fiber), a built in cryptography chip, 3 mPCI-Express (one of which can be used as mSATA), pin headers for all kinds of things, a SIM card slot, and more! Currently it is funding through IndieGoGo and they've met their requirement...with more than 45 days still to go! There will be multiple versions for sale, including just the plain bare board in case you want to create your own enclosure, pick antennas and other components etc.

There are still a few things we don't know, such as the exact miniPCI models that are powering the wireless (though we know they're 3x3 and very likely Atheros 802.11AC powered). I am hoping they'll get back to me to see if they can compete with the latest models from Asus and the like in terms of supporting MU-MIMO and other features if there is enough funding. Still, looks rather promising for those who are looking for a high end SOHO router that is open and capable of much more than the average kit.
 
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Thought you guys may like to take a look at this - https://omnia.turris.cz/en/ - its a new router based on being open source (OpenWRT base), expandable, and overall looks like a pretty nice SOHO router platform. Some of its more notable features include a SFP port (nice for those on Fiber), a built in cryptography chip, 3 mPCI-Express (one of which can be used as mSATA), pin headers for all kinds of things, a SIM card slot, and more! Currently it is funding through IndieGoGo and they've met their requirement...with more than 45 days still to go! There will be multiple versions for sale, including just the plain bare board in case you want to create your own enclosure, pick antennas and other components etc.

There are still a few things we don't know, such as the exact miniPCI models that are powering the wireless (though we know they're 3x3 and very likely Atheros 802.11AC powered). I am hoping they'll get back to me to see if they can compete with the latest models from Asus and the like in terms of supporting MU-MIMO and other features if there is enough funding. Still, looks rather promising for those who are looking for a high end SOHO router that is open and capable of much more than the average kit.

not bad i need to keep an eye out for that
 
Seems like not much new has come out in the AC router department that people like overall better than the likes of, say, the Asus 68/66u? Or has that changed at this rate? I know we've had a generation or two for stuff to mature since. Has anything solidified since that's newer that has caught peoples eyes from the big makers?

I keep looking at Netgear/D-link/Linksys/Asus's stuff but they keep seeming to need more time.
 
Even Smallnetbuilder is saying that the newest routers are pushing features that you really can not practically use.

Its not that the new models are bad, it's just that they arn't shipping with anything new and useful working.

Client end support just doesn't exist for 4x4 spatial streams and even working Mu-MIMO support is as rare as hen's teeth.

I'm guessing this is the 18 month lull before the storm of 802.11ad's release.

I'd like to see better QOS, 2.5Gbs or 5Gbs network ports and maybe IDS between now and then.

We'll see...
 
If money were no object, I would try the X8 from Netgear. If money were kind of an object, I would go with a 200 dollar Asus and if money was a real concern and tight, I would go with the TP Link C9 or C7 or something like that.
 
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