200M : Cable router recommendations

[DC_FC79]

Im considering putting the SHub2 into modem only mode and buy a router, anyone have any recommendations ?

If it helps I have various devices connected wirelessly eg 2 tablets, 1 phone, 1 Xbox One, an Xbox 360 and PC connected wired.

Are Asus a decent brand ?

[Wallace]

I have an ASUS RT-AC88U router running Merlin FW.

Expensive kit, but rock solid. The best router I have ever owned/used.

[Hom3r]

+1 on the Asus.

I have the RT-N66U, still going strong.

Well worth the £250 I paid at the time.

[General Maximus]

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

Originally Posted by General Maximus

I would normally say £50-£60 for a semi-decent router which is going to perform well and not die on you. In any product range you obviously start off with the lower end of the range being the cheapest and you work your way up. Luckily for you atm there is an absolute corker of a router at a cracking price. Take a look at this.

I love it when you can get great stuff which doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Everyone loves to take the **** out of me for being a Linksys fan boy but that is because I started out 15 years ago with a Linksys/Cisco router which was great at the time and I never looked back. As technology has moved on over the last 15 years I updated my routers to keep up with the wireless and wan to lan throughput as I have always been on VM's highest tier. I have always had Linksys routers and each one has worked flawlessly and I have never had any dodgy lockups and needed to reboot. I have got a semi-demanding network in the house and I stream an awful lot of stuff between two nas servers and the tvs and we stream a lot of youtube content to the tv downstairs. I have got a networked laser printer in one room, Sky boxes in other rooms where we watch a lot of on demand stuff and that is without all the wireless from the tablets and phones. When you do a lot of stuff which all depends on one device (your main router) then you want something which has great wireless, great performance, great reliability and you know it isn't going to let you down.
Each one of my Linksys routers has ticked those boxes over the years and until they do something to screw it up I'll continue buying Linksys routers out of brand loyalty. I see too many people come on this forum complaining about wireless speed, wireless range, wan to lan throughput, routers locking up and loads of other stuff (way too many dns issues), all of which can and could be avoided if they just brought a decent router.
The EA6700 does about 900mbits want to lan and then you have got ac wireless as well. I think it will be a perfectly solid router for you with ample future proofing.

Most people who aren't into networking think £30 for a router is more than enough but it is literally a case of you get what you pay for. We can all think of better things to spend £65 on (or maybe not :p) but trust me when I say this is a worthy investment which will last you for years to come. Everybody should have a router which they can setup and have the peace of mind that it is going to do everything it should do without breaking a sweat.

I should point out that there are obviously other brands out there and there are some cracking Asus routers as well but for the price I think you'll struggle to find anything which can beat this. There were quite a few guys like yourself who had problems just before xmas and asked for router advice. Luckily they listened for the first time ever) and went with my advice and came back afterwards really pleased and said all their problems were solved.

If you do get a router (even if it isn't this one) come back and we'll talk about DNS.

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.

[GrimUpNorth]

+1 for Asus and Linksys. I'm a fan of Asus but currently using a Linksys EA8500. If I was buying again at this moment in time I'd go back to Asus due to some limitations in the stock firmware on the Linksys.

Cheers

Grim

[alanbjames]

I have the ASUS RT-AC87U and before that the RT-AC66U.

I can definitely recommend the ASUS brand for routers.

[adduxi]

Originally Posted by Wallace

I have an ASUS RT-AC88U router running Merlin FW.

Expensive kit, but rock solid. The best router I have ever owned/used.

Another +1 for ASUS and Merlin. Great combination

[DC_FC79]

Originally Posted by General Maximus

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.

General Maximus

I forgot to add about cost, I was thinking of maybe £100.

[General Maximus]

It is a bit of hit and miss then. As far as the Linksys' are concerned I would defo go for the EA6700 (it would be my first choice out of the entire range) but the equivalent Asus model is the AC66U and takes you out of your price range at £120 and if I was willing to pay that much I would prefer to spend the extra £10 and get the EA8500.

I take back what I have just said because when getting the link for the EA8500 I have just noticed Amazon have been naughty and put it up to £170 so it is now between the EA6700 and the AC66U.

[DC_FC79]

Im willing to spend a little bit more but would depend on the benefits of it.

What's the user interface like on Linksys routers ?

I actually like the look of the EA6700

Should have said there's various devices that will only connect to the 2.4Ghz so I'm guessing these routers mentioned are both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz ?

[tweetiepooh]

I have the Netgear R7000 as at the time it was on offer had had the best bang for buck. On some reviews was the fastest and best range too so being much cheaper than alternatives helped me choose.

I've used Belkin without issue also.

You will find adherents to different brands on here and the better brands are all good. It's good to read on reviews on places like Amazon to see if others with similar needs to you have problems with certain kit. So if BrandX is really good but has problems with a feature you need it maybe better to go BrandY that may be slightly less good but will do all you want well.

[ianch99]

Originally Posted by DC_FC79

Im willing to spend a little bit more but would depend on the benefits of it.

What's the user interface like on Linksys routers ?

I actually like the look of the EA6700

Should have said there's various devices that will only connect to the 2.4Ghz so I'm guessing these routers mentioned are both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz ?

Watch out for Amazon warehouse deals. I got a ASUS AC87U for £88. Basically brand new with opened packaging.

Here's a few current deals:

ASUS AC68U for £117 : https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...A2OAJ7377F756P

Netgear R7000 for £111 : https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...A2OAJ7377F756P

Linksys EA6900 for £94 : https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...A2OAJ7377F756P

[wakkaday]

sorry to jump on thread
i was going to ask the same

i have an external drive 2tb full of movies/tv shows etc
is it possible to connect this a router and view this via a plex server? will it work as network storage? and map on both my mac and windows sytems. i dont really want to access the storage via apps as such as i want to transfer/write files across mainly from desktop comps? is this possible..

thank you

[ianch99]

Originally Posted by wakkaday

sorry to jump on thread
i was going to ask the same

i have an external drive 2tb full of movies/tv shows etc
is it possible to connect this a router and view this via a plex server? will it work as network storage? and map on both my mac and windows sytems. i dont really want to access the storage via apps as such as i want to transfer/write files across mainly from desktop comps? is this possible..

thank you

Not sure you can get a Plex server running on these routers although saying that I did come across this (requires Merlin f/w):

Plex Media Server on AsusWRT Arm Routers

As for file transfer, with a USB3 disk attached, you should get speedy file transfer over SMB (Windows and Mac) and mabe AFP (Mac) - not sure about the last one. You can also get Time Machine backups to an ASUS external drive as well if you need this ..

I would be wary of overloading the router though ..

I know the ASUS comes with a basic DNLA media server which may suffice for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFFcxhmR8qQ

[wakkaday]

i have a plex server on shield tv. i just want to be able for other devices to see the usb storage, that will be primary use and then it will be streamed across. at the moment on the shield with a usb drive attached, it can only read not write... so i was thinking of a nas or a router option / just need standard folder acrss to drag and drop files and for my other dedicated devices to see the usb drive i.e. mac/windows laptop and shield tv of course

thanks