Wireless router suggestions?

[liv2ski]

Yep, I searched and the threads are old. I have a 3 year Treadnet wireless modem that is starting to drop the 5ghz signal religiously and the signal boaster I bought from them is always needing to be reset, so what to do?

My home office is in the rear of the house and is about 40 feet away from my living room tv that I stream on. It would be nice if the new modem put out a strong enough signal to dump the signal boaster.

I am looking at buying a ASUS RT-AC88U Wireless-AC3100 Dual Band Gigabit Router, as it has great reviews. Thoughts, suggestions?

Thanks

[spindrift]

Been looking into this class of issue a bit lately. I have not played with one (yet). But the Amplifi and Eero systems seem to be shaping up. Amplifi meshpoints do not have ethernet ports. Eero's do. But unless you have the wiring, that does not matter. Seem like pretty nice setups for pushing strong signals around most challenging home environments.

[RShea]

You talk about both a Router- which is the best thing to provide wireless signal, as well as then mentioning a new modem that can put out strong enough signal to get rid of the signal booster. So is your internet modem also a router (if so then you really should not be configuring that as a router and then having a second router also. Best situation is you take and have a modem only from your internet provider, and then a router that you purchase and manage to provide multiple devices in the house connection- whether wired or wireless. Newest routers out there are the AC series of routers. Backwards compatible for older devices, and offer typically the best speed and signal for the wireless side. All that being said, AC3100 is really a pretty fast and high end router (wireless side) and many do not have fast enough internet connection to max out the 3167 Mbps (actually split between the dual bands at 1000 Mbps for the older 2.4 GHz band and 2167 Mbps for the 5 GHz) that it can serve up. It will be faster for local file transfer or streaming of music or video from a local media center PC or drive, but even fiber is probably going to be less than that speed. If it is in your budget, then it should be a good selection with 4 antenna it could offer extended signal coverage. That being said, the wireless signal booster if done right (positioning of it is key with it being close enough to the existing router, that it will get a good solid connection, but far enough away that it can extend the coverage further in area- but that all does depend on many factors including the materials used in the walls, the number of floors and levels and the position of the main modem and router.

If you do not need very fast internal lan speed transfers (all your streaming or the majority of the data is internet packets and not between the computers in your house) then you may want to look at an AC1900 router which would save you more than a few dollars over the
AC3100 you are looking at and mentioned.

[liv2ski]

^^^^ To be clear I have a wired cable router (I think is the correct term) provided by Spectrum that is plugged into a wireless modem. My Trendnet ac1900 is starting to drop the 5ghz signal all the time, so it may be time for a new modem.

Doing a speed test, my wireless download connection is about 20 Mbps when I am 20 feet away from the wireless modem. If using a wired LAN connection it is more like 90Mbps, so I would like a wireless modem that is a lot fast.

Should I stick with a ac1900 model as I use two lap tops and stream to my tv. No computer to computer connections in the house except for the laptops to a wireless printer.

Thanks for your time

[skaredshtles]

Come on man...

https://madeby.google.com/wifi/

Let us know how it goes.

[MESH]

What kind of data are you streaming from the laptop? Is this blu-ray or something like google cast.

[liv2ski]

What kind of data are you streaming from the laptop? Is this blu-ray or something like google cast.

The laptops are used for internet connections for work (uploading docs to the web) and surfing the net. It is the living room tv that I want to get a strong enough signal (40 feet away & two walls) that I can dump the lousy signal boaster I presently need to use.

[liv2ski]

Come on man...

https://madeby.google.com/wifi/

Let us know how it goes.

Not sure that fits my needs as the wireless modem in my office needs at least 4 LAN output lines for my laptop (when uploading) VOIP phone, printer and extra line out. Those appear to have 1 LAN line output. Put thanks for the suggestion

[XXX-er]

up here telus just sends us a pre-configured router which we plug in and start computing

they sent me a Action tech V1000H

and seem to just send you a new one no charge every few years or so

but i am sure we Pay for it somehow

[skaredshtles]

Not sure that fits my needs as the wireless modem in my office needs at least 4 LAN output lines for my laptop (when uploading) VOIP phone, printer and extra line out. Those appear to have 1 LAN line output. Put thanks for the suggestion

In a previous post didn't you say the printer was wireless?

And uploads to the web? You're going to be throttled by your internet connection speed, not the wireless speed...

What the heck is that "extra line out" for?

VOIP phone? People actually have those things nowadays?

[skaredshtles]

up here telus just sends us a pre-configured router which we plug in and start computing

they sent me a Action tech V1000H

and seem to just send you a new one no charge every few years or so

but i am sure we Pay for it somehow

There's no "modem rental" line-item on your bill?

[spindrift]

In all likelihood, you want just a modem connected to your ISP. Then that goes to a router + WAP or a combo router+WAP. Most units these days are a combo. Most seem to have 4 or so ethernet ports. But as long as there is one, you can but a small fast switch on and have all the ports you need. I've lost count of how many switches are scattered around my house.

Sometimes the ISPs provide an "all in one" modem/router/WAP that does all of that. Not a fan.

Again - if you can plug an Eero or Amplifi or similar into your modem and have those do all your local heavy lifting, life gets simple. Need more range - throw mesh points around. You do not need to be an IT specialist. You can use a phone app to monitor, configure, etc. As I said - I have not used these yet. But I have spoken with folks who are testing and playing. They see to be an easy yet fairly robust consumer solution. The one caveat is that at least for Eero, last I checked they did not support more IT-ish stuff. So things like managing ranges of dynamic vs hard wired IP addresses and really detailed port stuff was not there as of a couple months ago. But it does not sound like that is what you are about.

[XXX-er]

There's no "modem rental" line-item on your bill?

nope but we have some of the highest if not THE highest telco rates in the world so we pay for it

[liv2ski]

In a previous post didn't you say the printer was wireless?

And uploads to the web? You're going to be throttled by your internet connection speed, not the wireless speed...

What the heck is that "extra line out" for?

VOIP phone? People actually have those things nowadays?

So what I decided to do was to get a new wireless modem and mount it above a door way between the 3 main areas I need a strong wifi signal at. That way, it is maybe 15 feet from everything that needs a solid signal, so hopefully no more signal boaster is needed. I will run the LAN line from the cable modem in my rear office to it under the house (raised foundation) and up along the door trim in a cord cover.

The cable modem has 4 out LAN connections so I can run my VOIP phone (T Mobile cellular signal sucks in my house), printer if the wireless signal doesn't cut it and have two extra lines for my laptop when uploading docs to the internet.

Hopefully this works a hella lot better than want I have now.

[skaredshtles]

<snip>
The cable modem has 4 out LAN connections so I can run my VOIP phone (T Mobile cellular signal sucks in my house)

You should be able to do VOIP calls from your t-mobile phone with no cell signal at all...

And as I stated before - your upload speed is likely going to be throttled at the internet connection, not the wireless connection. Unless you, perhaps, have fiber to your house? That would be sweet...

[::: :::]

i need to extend my wifi with an access point connected by cat5/6

are there routers that are particularly suited to working as an access point?
any advice for the search?
price ranges?


when i look at reviews, they tend to focus on the router as the base wifi unit

(i don't want wifi extenders or the ones that use the power outlets in the house)

[spindrift]

i need to extend my wifi with an access point connected by cat5/6

are there routers that are particularly suited to working as an access point?
any advice for the search?
price ranges?


when i look at reviews, they tend to focus on the router as the base wifi unit

(i don't want wifi extenders or the ones that use the power outlets in the house)

But any form of extender will require power... Eero mesh points will run ethernet backhaul or wireless. Amplifi does not (and hangs right at the outlet). I forget about the other similar systems. Of course this means the whole shebang has to be part of one vendor's system...

Otherwise lots of WAPs can be put in bridge mode at the end of a chunk of cat 5... Just typically more management.

[::: :::]

But any form of extender will require power...

yes, plug the unit into power & connect the cat5/6 to the back

Eero mesh points will run ethernet backhaul or wireless. Amplifi does not (and hangs right at the outlet). I forget about the other similar systems. Of course this means the whole shebang has to be part of one vendor's system...

Otherwise lots of WAPs can be put in bridge mode at the end of a chunk of cat 5... Just typically more management.

captain, i'm just a dentist...not sure what this means^^^

my limited understanding is that the best way to extend wifi is to physically attach another router via cat5 as an access point.

Lesser solutions include:
1) the type that use your house's power wiring to make some sort of magical connection; and
2) the kind that use the wifi and sit just barely in range and then re-broadcast the signal

I understand these both limit the bandwidth in the extended area

after that, i know nothing

i'm guessing the bit about bridge mode may be what i'm looking for?

[skaredshtles]

yes, plug the unit into power & connect the cat5/6 to the back



captain, i'm just a dentist...not sure what this means^^^

my limited understanding is that the best way to extend wifi is to physically attach another router via cat5 as an access point.

Lesser solutions include:
1) the type that use your house's power wiring to make some sort of magical connection; and
2) the kind that use the wifi and sit just barely in range and then re-broadcast the signal

I understand these both limit the bandwidth in the extended area

after that, i know nothing

i'm guessing the bit about bridge mode may be what i'm looking for?

Come on, man... just get https://madeby.google.com/wifi/ and let us know how it works for you!

[::: :::]

2) the kind that use the wifi and sit just barely in range and then re-broadcast the signal

Come on, man... just get https://madeby.google.com/wifi/ and let us know how it works for you!

isn't that type 2?

[skaredshtles]

isn't that type 2?

Nope - you should get full speed at all access points.

[::: :::]

Come on, man... just get https://madeby.google.com/wifi/

why is that the thing to do?

[skaredshtles]

why is that the thing to do?

So the rest of us can learn from your experience if it does what it claims.

[::: :::]

well, in that case, sure!

[liv2ski]

I have to say, I for one do not want Google shit in my life, as I am sure those fuckers are watching your every move and selling the info. Same with those systems you talk to. I know they are listening to everything. Yup, Big Brother scares me.