Cable Forum - 200M ALternative Router

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ALternative Router

Hi all

I would like to switch off the Wi-Fi I on my Super hub 2 and buy an external router for Wi-Fi (this is due to Wi-Fi keeps dropping out)

Any recommendations of a good router to buy?

Many thanks for your time

Regards

Mike

Re: ALternative Router

There are fans and detractors of any brand you care to name. Good and bad experiences of each, good and bad points of each. You can pay more or less, have more or less control. It goes on. Some are better WiFi, some better throughput.

I think if you go with one of the main contenders : Netgear, Asus, Cisco/Linksys, TPLink and so on you are probably going to be fine. Work out a budget and (especially at high end) consult if you want a box that looks like that where you want to put it. (OK this is a form over function but some devices can look really odd). Most faster devices can also be quite big compared to a SHUB with external aerials, they need a bit of space.

Re: ALternative Router

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenry (Post 35865531)

Asus

+1 to this. An Asus RT-AC68U would be a good purchase. I currently have an Asus RT-AC88U but it's pretty overkill tbh. Very stable though with the Merlin firmware. All depends on your budget.

Re: ALternative Router

Still running the DLink that Virgin gave me about 6 or 7 years ago, steady as a rock.

Re: ALternative Router

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul M (Post 35865652)

Still running the DLink that Virgin gave me about 6 or 7 years ago, steady as a rock.

They were/are good little workhorses.

Re: ALternative Router

Quote:

Originally Posted by pip08456 (Post 35865679)

They were/are good little workhorses.

Even better if flashed with dd-wrt firmware!

www.dd-wrt.com ;)

Re: ALternative Router

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave_dph (Post 35865684)

Even better if flashed with dd-wrt firmware!

www.dd-wrt.com ;)

Mine had been flashed with that too.

I'm surprised @General Maximus hasn't dropped in on this.;)

Re: ALternative Router

Turn the radios off on the superhub and use a Ubiquiti unifi access point. They are monsters when it comes to range/speed and pretty easy to get going with the app or by downloading their software.

Re: ALternative Router

Quote:

Originally Posted by pip08456 (Post 35865697)

I'm surprised @General Maximus hasn't dropped in on this.;)

Me too, it has only been 1 day though so I am not too late. What I am even mote surprised about is that nobody has said screw the wifi, just put the shub in modem mode and use your new router to its full potential; setting your own dns servers is a god send.

I have had a good look for one of my Linksys fanboy speeches but can't find one and I am too tired to type one out atm. Read this and I'll make some updated recommendations at the bottom:

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus (Post 35849051)

Quite annoyingly I can't find one of my Linksys speeches so the following will have to do:

The EA6700 must have been on an offer at the time I made that post a few months ago because it is £95 now.
As with everything it is always a balance between features vs cost and although there are some routers which are £15 cheaper, making the jump to AC amongst other things is worth the extra for the sake of future proofing. You haven't talked about price range so as a rough guide I would have a look at these 4 and assess your needs:

Linksys EA4500 for £43 - dual band N900, 254mbits wan to lan throughput
Linksys EA6200 for £65 - dual band AC900, 932mbits wan to lan throughput
Linksys EA6700 for £95 - dual band AC1750, 892mbits want to lan throughput
Linksys EA8500 for £130 (fantastic price down from £230 and cheaper than the EA7500) - MU-MIMO AC2600, 702mbits wan to lan throughput

My final words of wisdom are this. Linksys are absolutely superb but Asus are also very very good. Whatever router you decided to get, I cannot emphasise enough that you should only get a Linksys or Asus. There are cheaper brands out there like Belkin and TP Link but in my book cheap = stress because they throw tantrums and don't do what they are supposed to. If you want a quality router with high performance and loads of features go for Linksys or Asus.

Just had a quick look and those prices are out of date now. I would still go for the EA6700 @£70 if I was buying one today.

Re: ALternative Router

Apple Airport Extreme is up there with the EA6700 (as my joint favourite router) but your talking £150+ which is pretty pricey for an AC1750! :shocked:

(I've currently got 2 Extremes.... one connected to the SuperHub3 and another extending my network so I get 300mb all over my house via wifi) :)

Re: ALternative Router

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimonB79 (Post 35865931)

He's talking £70 for the EA6700. Where do you get £150 from?

Re: ALternative Router

Quote:

Originally Posted by pip08456 (Post 35865955)

He's talking £70 for the EA6700. Where do you get £150 from?

The Apple extremes are £150 each ... there's nothing wrong with my post! ;)

Re: ALternative Router

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenry (Post 35865994)

you're* ;):D

:shocked: :dunce: :(

Re: ALternative Router

Don't worry. I got told off once by Craig. Talking of him I'm not sure where he is nowadays :(

Re: ALternative Router

I have the Asus RT-N66U, I personally would get the latest Asus replace for the Rt-N66U, and pay the premium price for it.

Re: ALternative Router

which would be this at £150 and the wan to lan throughput is 934mbits for comparison. Considering it is twice the price of the Linksys I know which one I would go for.

Re: ALternative Router

I would not pay that for a AC68U, you can get the AC87U, for £10 more, now that is a decent router.