Wireless Router Suggestions

williambmac

williambmac

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I just upgraded my internet to 500Mbps. My cable company(Optimum) wants to send me their new UBEE wireless router/modem combo to accomodate the higher speed.

From what I read this thing is a POS, crashes constantly, poor signal strength, etc. I decided to pass and am looking at purchasing my own equiptment.

Optimum is also telling me that my current modem (Arris TM1602) isn't capable of of speeds over 300Mbps, although doing a speed test to my hard wired PC is netting 512Mbps.

I am going to roll the dice and keep my current modem, because there are very limited options when it comes to VoIP modems for my internet provider.

What I a looking for is a recommendation for a good wireless router that will support wifii speeds up to 500Mbps and have good signal strength for a 3 level 2200 square foot townhouse and will support 12 wireless devices.
I currenlty have a D-link dlr-868 wireless router that I'm assuming is POS.
The router and modem are on the 3rd floor of my townhouse, in the master bedroom on my computer desk.
I'm assuming it's the router because when doing a speed test on my sons gaming computer in the room next to me is only getting speeds of 87Mbps.
Trying to stream anything on the 2nd floor tv is a nightmare, buffering, dropping internet.

Also if any of you tech savvy individuals know how I can upgrade my modem and still keep my VoIP calling I would appreciate that also.
 
The modem I can’t help you much, but….EERO which connects to your modem and supplies the wireless part connects to each other and covers your whole house. My home is 2600 sq ft with a detached garage and my coverage is awesome. In fact I get WiFi over my entire two acres and on into the neighbors across the road. You can get a set of three which should give you good coverage on all three of your floors. I only subscribe to 75mbps, so you’ll have to look at the speed capabilities. I get almost 75mbps out in my detached garage 40ft away from the house.
 
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williambmac said:
Yes I read the thread but where half way through 2021 and there have been numerous new models that have come out.
Click to expand...
I think the latest models were netgear nighthawk. But each one has a model number that denotes square footage of coverage. I doubt they've changed that format.

I live in 900sqft. Bought 1750 model. Just barely enough coverage. So go big. Id more than double what u need.
 
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Moab said:
I think the latest models were netgear nighthawk. But each one has a model number that denotes square footage of coverage. I doubt they've changed that format.

I live in 900sqft. Bought 1750 model. Just barely enough coverage. So go big. Id more than double what u need.
Click to expand...
Definitely recommend the Nighthawk. I set one up for my parents and they get strong signal on all devices. I believe their home is about 2k sq. ft. and they get good signal within about 100-150 ft. outside the house.

In my experience, your bottleneck is always going to be the router. Honestly I get faster service at my parent's house on the nighthawk than the Xfinity router at my house, even though my advertised speed is about 10x faster than theirs.
 
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Cable companies usually charge for their modems anyway so good move. Found out I was paying $6/mo years ago for Comcast modem I promptly drop-kicked it back to them and bought my own Motorola.
 
Moab said:
But each one has a model number that denotes square footage of coverage.
Click to expand...
JFYI any coverage claim is going to be a big fat lie. That's just marketing. First, the max effective range of a Wi-Fi signal depends on what band you're using (2.4GHz vs 5GHz). Second, there are FAR too many variables involved for such a claim to be anywhere close to accurate - walls, ceilings, floors, other objects in the LoS, kinds of materials, interference from other devices, etc.

jeepins said:
Found out I was paying $6/mo years ago for Comcast modem I promptly drop-kicked it back to them and bought my own Motorola.
Click to expand...
Motorola makes fantastic modems. I declined the Cable Co POS and bought my own as well. Couldn't be happier.
 
ParadoxD said:
JFYI any coverage claim is going to be a big fat lie. That's just marketing. First, the max effective range of a Wi-Fi signal depends on what band you're using. Second, there are FAR too many variables involved for such a claim to be anywhere close to accurate - walls, ceilings, floors, other objects in the LoS, kinds of materials, interference from other devices, etc.


Motorola makes fantastic modems. I declined the Cable Co POS and bought my own as well. Couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...
I'm going to pick up a nighthawk router today. Unfortunately I am limited when it comes to a modem. I need a VoIP modem because my phone runs through it, and from my research it appears Optimum only supports Arris (which I have) or UBEE.
 
williambmac said:
Optimum only supports Arris (which I have) or UBEE.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Arris is Motorola, just the new brand name. The "SURFboard" modems are the ones you want.

Whatever you get for a router, the best you can do for range is place it up high in a centralized location in your home (central to where you want coverage, anyway). I have mine above my kitchen cabinets roughly in the middle of the house - obviously I had to run cat cable over there myself - but I get signal all around my house and down my wooded driveway even.
 
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ParadoxD said:
First, the max effective range of a Wi-Fi signal depends on what band you're using (2.4GHz vs 5GHz).
Click to expand...

No, it depends on the antennas and transmission power. I've run 2.4Ghz over 5 miles. I lived on a hill and had line of sight to the office building I worked in. Connected to their wifi with a Linksys router. All it takes is a high gain directional antenna.

The switch to 5Ghz was just to try and avoid the overloaded 2.4Ghz band.

I recently upgraded to a Nighthawk router because my old Ubiquity only had 100Mbps ports. But it's wifi range was vastly superior to the 5Ghz Nighthawk. I still had good signal at my neighbors house, now it drops if I walk into the kitchen.
 
WallyWest said:
No, it depends on the antennas and transmission power. I've run 2.4Ghz over 5 miles. I lived on a hill and had line of sight to the office building I worked in. Connected to their wifi with a Linksys router. All it takes is a high gain directional antenna.
Click to expand...
Yes, with a clear LoS and some high-gain antennas on there you can get some pretty impressive ranges. :)

In a typical setting though, you're going to get longer ranges on 2.4GHz because it has an easier time going through obstacles than 5GHz does.
 
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ParadoxD said:
JFYI any coverage claim is going to be a big fat lie. That's just marketing. First, the max effective range of a Wi-Fi signal depends on what band you're using (2.4GHz vs 5GHz). Second, there are FAR too many variables involved for such a claim to be anywhere close to accurate - walls, ceilings, floors, other objects in the LoS, kinds of materials, interference from other devices, etc.


Motorola makes fantastic modems. I declined the Cable Co POS and bought my own as well. Couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...

That's why i also said:

"I live in 900sqft. Bought 1750 model. Just barely enough coverage. So go big. Id more than double what u need."
 
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Tbh I thought the model number on most routers was the advertised throughput. i.e., AX4200 (up to 4.2Gbps), AX6000 (up to 6Gbps), etc. - but maybe that translates to longer ranges as well. At any rate, you can always grab some high-gain antennas off Amazon and get some added range out of whatever you get. :)
 
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williambmac said:
I just upgraded my internet to 500Mbps. My cable company(Optimum) wants to send me their new UBEE wireless router/modem combo to accomodate the higher speed.

From what I read this thing is a POS, crashes constantly, poor signal strength, etc. I decided to pass and am looking at purchasing my own equiptment.

Optimum is also telling me that my current modem (Arris TM1602) isn't capable of of speeds over 300Mbps, although doing a speed test to my hard wired PC is netting 512Mbps.

I am going to roll the dice and keep my current modem, because there are very limited options when it comes to VoIP modems for my internet provider.

What I a looking for is a recommendation for a good wireless router that will support wifii speeds up to 500Mbps and have good signal strength for a 3 level 2200 square foot townhouse and will support 12 wireless devices.
I currenlty have a D-link dlr-868 wireless router that I'm assuming is POS.
The router and modem are on the 3rd floor of my townhouse, in the master bedroom on my computer desk.
I'm assuming it's the router because when doing a speed test on my sons gaming computer in the room next to me is only getting speeds of 87Mbps.
Trying to stream anything on the 2nd floor tv is a nightmare 10.0 0 admin, buffering, dropping internet.

Also if any of you tech savvy individuals know how I can upgrade my modem and still keep my VoIP calling I would appreciate that also.
Click to expand...
Hi all,

So I'm looking to upgrade my wireless router and thought I'd reach out for some suggestions. Does anyone care to share what they're currently using and are happy with?

My current router is several years old - Netgear Nighthawk AC1750 and while I haven't had many wireless issues, I'm not always thrilled with my wireless speed tests and with distance learning approaching and two parents working full time from home at the moment, I'm thinking it might be time for an upgrade.

I'm considering just upgrading to a newer, faster traditional router but I'm also curious what experiences people have had with some of the mesh options - Nest Wifi or eero/eero pro?

For what it's worth, I'm in Southern Walk so we have the 1gig fios plan.
 
Smtwnwygrl said:
Hi all,

So I'm looking to upgrade my wireless router and thought I'd reach out for some suggestions. Does anyone care to share what they're currently using and are happy with?

My current router is several years old - Netgear Nighthawk AC1750 and while I haven't had many wireless issues, I'm not always thrilled with my wireless speed tests and with distance learning approaching and two parents working full time from home at the moment, I'm thinking it might be time for an upgrade.

I'm considering just upgrading to a newer, faster traditional router but I'm also curious what experiences people have had with some of the mesh options - Nest Wifi or eero/eero pro?

For what it's worth, I'm in Southern Walk so we have the 1gig fios plan.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I have the same Netgear 1750 router as you. I live in a very small 900 sq ft house. But it was built in the 40s in Socal. And iirc the walls use a metal mesh to hold up the stucco walls. As I think it was built before drywall. Or maybe its just a Socal thing. Idk. I just know the walls are hard like mortor.

But Netgear only gives slightly better coverage than the ATT wireless modem. That came with our fiber optic. My wife use to have issues in our bedroom with reception. And the bathroom was a dead zone. But the 1750 netgear router still gives low signals in those areas. I can't imagine the distance between the router and these areas is more than 20 to 25 ft?

So I blame the stucco walls. I did move the router to on top of a wire shelving unit about 7 ft high. But that didn't seem to improve things alot. I wish I could easily move it to the otherside of the wall it sits near. As that would be more centrally located. But I'd have drill a hole in the wall. And we rent.

The other issue I have is occasionally drop internet. And you have to manually go into your phone and restart the connection or switch to one two. One being 2g the other being 5g. But I see now quality didference between the two.

So am I correct about these walls? Or is it just a crappy router? The Netgear NightHawks were positively reviewed on here. Thats why I bought it. And I thought the 1750 sq ft of coverage would have been fine for our 900 sq ft home.
 
I recently put in a MESH system. TP Link Deco W7200. I have a 2 level 3,600 SF home and I have 1 unit upstairs and 2 downstairs. I have one we take outside on the patio as well. We only hook that one up with we need it.

I have 350Mbs service and get typically around 310 within 15' of each unit.

I don't game so the MESH system works perfectly. Cost was pretty good as well.
 
I need to do something as my main computer in my library is too far away from the AT&T provided router, and an extender only works when it wants to. With that said, many of the newer mesh and other advanced systems REQUIRE a smartphone for setup - which is COMPLETELY stupid. I have a house full of COMPUTERS, why is a stupid smartphone required for setup? Not all are like that for sure, but a few of them I've investigated sure are.
 
Zorba said:
I need to do something as my main computer in my library is too far away from the AT&T provided router, and an extender only works when it wants to. With that said, many of the newer mesh and other advanced systems REQUIRE a smartphone for setup - which is COMPLETELY stupid. I have a house full of COMPUTERS, why is a stupid smartphone required for setup? Not all are like that for sure, but a few of them I've investigated sure are.
Click to expand...

I enjoy my home wifi setup with Google nest mesh network. I have two routers and the coverage is excellent. And I enjoyed setting it up with my Google Pixel phone, took all of 5-10 mins and I haven't had to touch it since then🙂

i know you will never change, but I felt this was worth sharing to others that maybe considering one.
 
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