What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Upgraded from 10mbs to 30mbs about a year ago and that required a Superhub. Before the upgrade I used a modem provided by VM and my own Belkin router and wifi was fine in all rooms, but after upgrading I immediately noticed a significant drop in wifi performance upstairs in a normal mid-terrace house in East London. The two bedrooms above the livingroom with the Superhub still received a useable wifi signal (but weaker than before), but the third bedroom diagonally above only got a one-bar signal and that dropped after a couple of minutes so was useless.

During 2012 VM doubled the speed and I also changed the bundle so the speed delivered to the house is now 100mbs, but there is still no useable wifi in the third bedroom upstairs.
We have two desktop PCs downstairs with wired connections to the Superhub and these work extremely well.

I have experimented by moving the Superhub around in the living room within the constraints of the length of coaxcable and also changed the channels, but there was no improvement.

We need wifi in the third bedroom and family members will gradually change from laptops/netbooks to tablets and the smaller and more recent of these typically need better wifi than the Superhub provides upstairs.

Don't want to leave VM, so I am hoping to get better wifi by buying my own router for the Superhub in modem mode. I want the router to do as well as the Superhub for wired connections (at least 80mbs download speeds when measured), but don't expect the same for wifi (20-30mbs then would be ok).

So what do I buy? I have looked in the popular online stores and also googled for 'router for Superhub', 'alternative for Superhub' etc, but I still don't know what brand and model to buy.
Here are some suggestions given by online-store reviewers and advice found by the google search:

- anything will be better than the router built into the Superhub
(maybe true, but does not help me to choose)

- TP-Link TL-WR1043ND 300Mbps Wireless N Gigabit Cable Router (ca £40)
(however about 25% of 168 online reviewers gave it 1 or 2 stars and said it is unreliable and keeps dropping the signal too often - so may not be the improvement device)

- Asus RT-N56U Black Diamond Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router RT-N56U (ca £80)
(about 5% of 93 online-store reviewers gave 1 or 2 stars saying it just stopped working after a few months, did not keep a stable wifi signal, failed to connect using wire. However, about 80% of the reviewers gave 4 and 5 stars, so this is likely to perform better than the TP-Link above. Is this the one?)

- Cisco-Linksys Maximum Performance E4200 Dual-Band N Router (ca £95)
(about 22% of 53 reviewers gave 1 or 2 stars typically complaining about poor range and about 70% gave it 4 and 5 stars, so the stats for this is about the same as the TP-link above, but is twice as expensive)

There are many other brands and models too.
I would be very grateful for hints and help to choose this router. Maximum spend is £100, but of course the less the better provided chances are better than 50% say to improve on the Superhub inbuilt router.


Ken
P.S. While googling for this I saw some rumours about VM going to scrap the Superhub and replace it with something better. Any info about this?

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

I've got the Asus RT-N56U. A smashing bit of kit.

Cheers

Grim

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Its not being scrapped but eventually it will be replaced by a newer Superhub 2.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

what model is your Belkin router?

id advise getting the Asus RT-N66U. its a little over your £100. versatile beast > http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/87...ter-check.html

qas advises this as a cheap option http://www.ebuyer.com/386385-dual-ba...-wan-port-2t2r

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Tenda N60.

Same core platform as the E4200 for 1/4 the price.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Thanks for all info.

THE TENDA N60
The spec of the Tenda N60 is impressive (see end of this post). It is available at ebuyer.co.uk for £34 including postage, overclockers.co.uk for £53 and and amazon.co.uk (sold by QualityInks an amazon merchant) for £68. There are a few single-sentence reviews at ebuyer.co.uk, no reviews at overclockers and one 2-star review at amazon. This:

+++ start amazon review +++
Hard to recommend - firmware flawed and unit is very restrictive, 14 Jan 2013
By
TR (Northampton, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: TENDA N60 300MBPS W/L BB Router DUAL (Personal Computers)
Firmware prevents more than 16 MAC filtered addresses. Other settings were similarly restricted. Looks like the number of wireless clients is capped. If so, this should be disclosed.

There's no way to import/export client by list. Settings are not designed for bulk or quick input. For example, you have to tab five times to store a single MAC address - well-meant perhaps - but makes real-world input and revision incredibly long-winded and laborious.

Some of the entries and settings did not seem to store consistently.
Once we came across the client-cap we stopped investigating.
Summary: Not used due to client-capping and poor interface design.
Might work in Mr Lonesome's house...
+++ end amazon review ++++

I don't remember ever having to specify MAC addresses to a router - only IP addreses if the router is to be used as a firewall, but we don't need one.
What is the significance the 'client-capping' mentioned in the review by TR (Northampton). We are five in the household. If client-capping means the number of users then there would be no problem. On the Superhub (and other routers I have seen) one would select security mode and password once only and that is about it for all of us. Then each user would specify password for the connection via Ubuntu/Windows for desktops/laptops and via Android for phones and tablets and this would be 'remembered' by each OS, so I don't understand what the reviewer is concerned about.

newegg.com in US also sells the Tenda N60 (ca $40) and 6 reviewers is giving it 4 eggs out of 5. However, most of the reviewers report that the Tenda quickly gets very hot. That is alarming because we want to have Internet on tap 24 hours a day without having to worry about fire risks during the night.

qasdfdsaq:
Do you agree with TR's amazon review?
Did you notice the Tenda getting hot? Did the wifi distance range get significantly better with the Tenda? Are you still using the Tenda?

GrimUpNorth & thenry:
I got a basic Belkin router 2007 for use with the Virgin modem at 10mbs. I don't think it would have worked at speeds 30mbs and higher. Gave it away.

Did the Asus RT-N56U and Asus RT-N66U solve all your wifi problems? Especially wifi range problems if you had any?

Wifi range is important to us, more so than speed. We only need useable steady wifi in all rooms.


Ken
P.S.
Tenda N60 spec in plain text:
Hardware Features
Standards
2.4GHz: IEEE802.11n, IEEE802.11g, IEEE 802.11b;
5.0GHz: IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11a; IEEE802.3, IEEE802.3u, IEEE802.3ab
Interface 1*10/100M LAN/WAN (interchangeable) port
Antenna Internal high performance, omni-directional antenna
Button 1*Reset 1*Mode
Power Input: AC 100-240V～50/60Hz 0.3A;
Output: DC 12V1A.
Temperature Operating Humidity: 0℃ ~ 40℃;
Storage Temperature: -40℃ ~ 70℃.
Humidity Operating Humidity:10% ~ 90% RH non-condensing;
Storage Humidity: 5% ~ 90%RH non-condensing.

Dimensions (L*W*H) mm 171.6mm*111.2mm*25.5mm
LED USB, WAN, IPTV, LAN (1, 2, 3), 2.4GHz, 5GHz, WPS, Power/SYS
Transmission Media Twisted-pair, WiFi

Wireless Features
Wireless Speed 2.4G: 300Mbps;
5G: 300Mbps.
Frequency Works over both 2.GHz and 5GHz bands concurrently
Basic Features Wireless: Enable/Disable;
SSID Broadcast: Enable/Disable;
Band Option: 2.4GHz, 5GHz;
Channel-2.4GHz: 1-13;
Channel-5GHz: 149, 153, 157, 161, 165;
Network Mode-2.4GHz: 11b/g/n mixed (default mode),11b/g mixed, 11b, 11g;
Network Mode-5GHz: 11a/n mixed (default mode),11a;
Connection List.
Security Wireless MAC Address Filter (Wireless Access Control);
WEP,
WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK, WPA/WPA2;
Wireless Security: Enable/Disable;
WPS fast encryption.
Operating Mode Wireless Router Mode;
Wireless AP Mode;
WDS Mode.
Software Features
Internet Connection Type PPPoE;
Dynamic IP;
Static IP.
DHCP Server DHCP Server;
DHCP Client List;
DHCP Reservation.
Virtual Server Port Forwarding;
DMZ Host;
UPnP.
Security Client Filter;
MAC Filter;
URL Filter;
Access Control.
DDNS No-IP, dyndns
VPN Passthrough PPTP/L2TP Passthrough
Bandwidth Control Yes
Static Routing Yes
Logs Yes
VLAN No
Other features Flexible bandwidth control, P2P download control;
USB Sharable: storage & printing
IPTV service;
Guest Network;
MAC Clone;
Traffic Statistics;
Backup & Restore configurations
Firmware upgradeable via Web.
Others
Package Contents N60;
Power Adapter;
Quick Install Guide
Factory Defaul Settings IP Address: 192.168.0.1
Login User name/Password: admin/admin
Related Products W522U
N6
Certificates FCC, CE, RoHS, WEEE

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Just splashed out and got the Cisco Linksys EA6500 , it's a little on the expensive side, although i got it in a sale last week :) The wifi range is madness, and can walk about 70 feet from my house and still stream from youtube, it has a lot of good features on it

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

ASUS RT N56U does it for me. Reaches the opposite corner of the house upstairs/downstairs.

The 66 is an even stronger wireless router because of its external antennae - but I haven't yet tried that personally.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

The RT-N56U gives good wireless cverage. The 5GHz drops off at the bottom of the garden but then that's the nature of the beast. I get full speed with wireless (I'm on 100Mb) router is upstairs at the front of the house and main PC is downstairs in the conservatory at the back. I'm running a custom firmware for no other reason than I can. I'm using a USB-N53 in the main PC and it appears I'm the only person running a 5GHz network round here. I've got a couple of external drives plugged in and Jr can ftp in no problem. The only time I've reset was when I tidied up the wiring in the 'comms' cupboard.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Grim

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

I don't use routers with their stock firmware, so any limitations they come with don't apply to me.

That said one other person on this forum has got a Tenda N60 and hasn't had any real complaints I can recall.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Ebuyer for £30
http://www.ebuyer.com/386385-dual-ba...-wan-port-2t2r
and if qasdfdsaq saying can take 3rd part firmware ...you can not go wrong with it so have nothing really to loose because or the factory or the 3rd part firmware will work

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

It can take 3rd party firmware but as of yet there isn't any available. Not that it's hard to do, since there's plenty of builds available for other routers with identical hardware.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

I can recommend the Asus RT-N66U esp. when using the custom (but still Asus) firmware from http://www.lostrealm.ca/asuswrt-merlin/

Very stable and good wifi range ...

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2013/01/34.png

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

I've got the RT-N66U and highly recommend it. Wireless performance is phenomenal and where I used to drop signal in the bedroom (with the DIR-615 Virgin supplied), I now get full bars on my phone.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

"Full bars" unfortunately doesn't mean anything without specifying which phone, full bars on one phone could just as well equal 1 bar on another.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

This is true, but it does show that the wireless performance is better than the DIR-615 at least. Plus, it's not like you know the layout or the shape of my house, either.

For what it's worth, it's a Galaxy Nexus.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Well I suppose a direct comparison on the same phone helps, what did you have before? Incidentally I've recently found some inconsistencies between DIR-615's, with up to +/- 15dB differences between two otherwise identical routers, though I suppose leaving one out on the roof for 14 months without climate control didn't help...

I'm still quite intrigued by the these reports of "much better" wireless signal though, both the DIR-615 and the VM Superhub theoretically already transmit at the maximum legal limit, so either they're doing it really badly, or the "better signal" router is breaking the law. The latter probably wouldn't get certified for sale, so I'm really curious about what causes the former. FWIW both routers' radiation pattern is essentially (or can easily be made to be) isotropic in all directions so there shouldn't even be the possibility of "stronger signal" in one direction.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Well I may be wrong here, but for a start the Asus router has 3 external antennae whereas the D-link only has 2 and the SHUB has none. I'm also not sure what the configuration for each is, but the Asus has what I believe is the maximum number of arrays (3x3?) whereas the D-link does not. Not sure about the superhub, I would be surprised if it did as well. That doesn't really explain the range, though, so I'll stick with it being the antennae.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

The legal transmit power takes into account all the characteristics of the antennae as well, and counts the amount of signal coming out of the unit and over the air - so a better antenna means the radio chip has to actually reduce its output power so the effective total remains the same.

The DIR-615 has two antenna, and each one on its own is capable of hitting the regulatory limit, it has to halve its power when using both simultaneously, same applies to the Superhub. There is no "maximum" number of antenna but the maximum simultaneous streams in 802.11n is 4, but you could theoretically run 32 antennas if you felt like it (actually some people do).

More/better antennas can only increase signal in certain directions while making it worse in others, and while "more antennas is better" that tends to be because of better reliability and speed rather than more signal.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Whelp. Then I've got nothing.

It certainly is no placebo effect.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

I am itching to try the Tenda N60 (the spec really seems good), but I am worried about it overheating (as reported on newegg.com) and catch fire. I have seen two AVRs (automatic voltage regulators) and a power supply pop&fizzle with sparks and smoke at work (overseas), fortunately during daytime so we could deal with it. I may get the Tenda though and use it outside sleeping hours.

The Belkin router did not get hot, nor did the Superhub when left on 24 hours a day. What about the higher-end Linksys and ASUS routers, do they stay cool 24/7?

Ken

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Just get the Asus RT-N66U mate and be done with it. That should do you unless your looking to wait for the nee AC standard be non draft.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

That's why we have warranties and consumer protection laws :)

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

They are all giving you cancer and brain tumours while you sleep anyway :)

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Dunno about you but I don't tend to sleep with my head on top of my router... Though the cat sometimes does

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Does the cat fart, Qasi?

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Ah, but my wireless is off when I'm sleeping ..... ;)

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

When I was working at Virgin, there was a story that went around whereby one of our operators blamed wireless interference on the customer's dog - saying that his wagging tail was disrupting the airwaves.

I'd like to say that it was just a rumour and probably never happened, but having met some of the people that used to work there....

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Did the dog fart. Kshan?

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Quite possibly! If it didn't, it might have exploded by now.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Not sure which is worse, that, or this, which actually happened:

http://consumerist.com/2012/03/02/ca...-cat-pictures/

(One advantage of upright routers and internal antennae I suppose)

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

The N66U does get quite warm but not at a level to worry about ..

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

The N56U gets mildly warm on the vertical black surface and no noticeable heat emitted through the top vents.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

No issues with my N66U. It's not in a place where I feel it's getting warm, but it runs solidly.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Many thanks all for the router info...

Based on this and googling I want to get the ASUS-RT-N66U, but it is expensive and I would want to be reassured it can be installed/prepared from an Ubuntu PC before buying.

The PC runs Ubuntu 12.04 and is connected to the Superhub by wire. There are also netbooks, Android phones and tablets in the house, but no Windows PCs/laptops/netbooks.

Are the following the main install steps from the PC (guessing)?:

- using existing wired connection from Ubuntu PC to Superhub enter 192.168.0.1 on Firefox browser URL address line and set Superhub to operate in modem mode. The hub logo changes to violet colour. Leave Firefox. Remove hub-end of the ethernet cable (=cable 1) from the Superhub.

- connect ASUS router internet port to right-most ethernet port of Superhub with another ethernet cable.

- using cable 1 connect Ubuntu PC to an ethernet port on the ASUS router

- enter 192.168.0.1 ?? to Firefox to start ASUS router configuration

- do simplest possible, minimal install for ASUS router.

After this wired connection to/from PC and wifi for all other devices should work.

I also assume the same steps as above can be carried out wirelessly using Firefox or Chrome browser from the Android devices.

Ken

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

You are quite correct on everything you've said there, bar the IP address of the Asus router which is 192.168.1.1.

When you first boot the router, it goes into a special "setup mode", so when you connect (Via wired OR wireless) and navigate to the admin page, it takes you through the necessary steps to get it all set up quickly. I can't remember the exact steps, but it was more or less just to set up a password and account for the admin interface and to set up the name and passwords for the wireless networks. It's incredibly straightforward and quick. The interface works in Firefox, Chrome, IE and Chrome on Android (it doesn't have a special "mobile" version but it's still fully usable on Chrome for Android).

If you give your new wireless networks (There will be 2, one for 2.4Ghz and one for 5Ghz however it lets you use the same name/pass on both if you want) the same Name and password as your old network, all of your devices should automatically connect back to it.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

The router runs linux anyway. It'll probably work better from an Ubuntu machine than a Windows one. Even the Superhub runs linux

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

The web pages supplied have nothing to do with the OS that's running on the router.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

well technically....

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Hi, I have the Tenda N60 from eBuyer .. it's great .. currently lives upstairs under a bed .. no overheating issue , it bearly seems to get warm,
performance wise it's pretty much doubled my wireless speeds upstairs .. If I had the cash I would buy the ASUS-RT-N66U (but I do love my tech) and ironically I used to have a great Netgear WNDR3700/N600 which I sold after I hardwired the house assuming I would only need wireless for mobiles.

Unless you can splash the 100 quid for the Asus get the Tenda as has been stated some sites are selling this for almost 60.00 you could get the tenda try it for a few weeks if it's no good sell it on eBay got to be worth 20 quid all day long. ;)

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

You can get the Tenda for £29.99

---------- Post added at 15:06 ---------- Previous post was at 15:05 ----------

The web pages are supplied from a webserver running on that OS. You cannot serve web pages using a Windows webserver on a Linux OS.

So in the case of a router running linux, is not going to be Microsoft IIS (or anything similarly retarded)

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

I'm not debating that, I'm stating that the web pages themselves have nothing to do with the OS (or the webserver) that's supplying them. It doesn't matter if it's IIS, Apache or whatever, HTML is HTML and the browser itself will interpret it differently.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Rendering a web page involves more than just HTML. Your requests, input, sessions, settings, etc. are all handled by the web server, not the HTML. The HTML is also generated by the server more often than not.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

Yes, but the HTML (and other stuff that may be within the document) is interpreted by the browser and that's my point - it's perfectly possible for a non-Microsoft web server such as Apache to serve up pages that are only compatible with IE6 (as an example), while it's equally possible for IIS (Microsoft's web server, for those wondering what we're talking about) to supply documents that are incompatible with IE in some way. Basically what I'm saying is that how well a browser works with a site has less to do with the web server supplying it and more to do with the design of the site itself.

Re: What router do I get for a Superhub in modem mode?
 

I'll agree it is possible, it's just much less likely. The site "creator" would have to learn how to make things work on Linux first, and that generally weeds out folk who think Microsoft are the only thing in existence.