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chuckula
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802.11AC router recommendations

Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:26 pm

The time for upgrading from my existing (rather old) wireless router may be approaching.
I'm interested to hear the experiences of gerbils who have gotten 802.11ac WiFi routers. I've read some online reviews about the newer Asus models and there appears to be a rather high failure rate on them. The Netgear R7000 looks like a tank but it seems to have a little better reliability from the reviews I've seen. Does anyone have any personal experiences to share with 802.11AC routers?
4770K @ 4.7 GHz; 32GB DDR3-2133; Officially RX-560... that's right AMD you shills!; 512GB 840 Pro (2x); Fractal Define XL-R2; NZXT Kraken-X60
--Many thanks to the TR Forum for advice in getting it built.
 
Voldenuit
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:53 pm

I've been running an ASUS RT-AC66R for several months and it's been solid as a rock. I've also heard good things about the Netgear R6300. These two routers run neck and neck in terms of features and performance.

For the newer models, I understand that the ASUS RT-AC68 and the Netgear D7000 are also very comparable to each other.

Just stay away from the D-Link DGL-5500, that one is a dog, from the reviews I've read.
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credible
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Sun Dec 29, 2013 8:15 pm

Mostly because the price caught my eye and I needed an upgrade I grabbed this one.

I have not even had it a day yet but I can't seem to get the 5Ghz wireless to work properly, it was not even recognized by any of our wireless devices, I played with a few settings and will play with it more tomorrow.

I am not overly concerned because everything else about the router is fantastic and for the price you can't go wrong, I'm sure a firmware update will come along soon enough, oddly enough, my wife came home and her Samsung Galaxy was able to see the network and connect, but it dropped soon after.

For me I would buy it again.

P.S.-Networking would certainly not be one of my strengths with computers but the web interface setup on this model made it a breeze for me.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_1046_1047&item_id=063780
 
LostCat
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:02 pm

I've always considered Netgear a bad idea, and it's served me well. Every time I hear about people having problems, it's Netgear.

I'm sure other people have differing opinions on that heh. :)
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Voldenuit
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:16 pm

credible wrote:
I have not even had it a day yet but I can't seem to get the 5Ghz wireless to work properly, it was not even recognized by any of our wireless devices, I played with a few settings and will play with it more tomorrow.


TIPS (assuming you haven't done so already):

1. Make sure the 5 GHz wireless network is configured on the router.

2. Rename the 5 GHz network with a different SSID than the 2.4 GHz network. If you don't, client devices are prone to 'bouncing' between the two networks, and will not report full 5 GHz speeds (300-450 Mbps or higher, depending on channel bonding).

3. Make sure your devices support the 5 GHz band. If, after performing step 2 above, it can't see the 5 GHz SSID at all, then it's very likely your device doesn't support the 5 GHz band.
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Aphasia
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Sun Dec 29, 2013 10:20 pm

Also, take a look at the resources of smallnetbuilder if you are interrested in learning more, they have a decent amount of testing and articles regarding mixing devices from different standards, how it should be setup, etc.

For the record, I just threw out my old netgear prosafe AP102 G-access point and have bought a Asus RT-N66U to replace it, gonna run it in pure AP mode and not use the router so I felt that the high price of the AC66 or AC68 was way to much considering the below articles and the fact I dont have any AC devices yet. When I finally get some AC devices, I bet I can still buy a new AC AP or AC router and have in AP mode for the difference between the Asus N router and the current AC models available.

Anyway, I'm actually unpacking the asus right now, so gonna be interresting to see how it works considering my day job involves running networks including wireless cisco ones based on LWAP and hundredss of access points. Although I wanted to get a nice Cisco at home, I cant justify the cost for having a laptop and an iPad on it every now and then.

802.11ac: A Survival Guide
http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1 ... index.html

A few Smallnetbuilder wireless resources
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless ... on-or-hype
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless ... l=&start=2
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless ... -revison-7
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless ... -a-bridges

Also look at the various reviews, seems Asus routers with external antennas has a very good coverage, which is why I went that route.
 
ztrand
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Mon Dec 30, 2013 3:45 am

depending on your feelings for Apple you might consider an Airport Extreme. It only has 3 ethernet ports but the Wi-Fi is excellent and I have never had a problem with it.

Before I have used d-link, netgear, and Asus (mostly their cheap-to-mid level gear) and often had problems with clients dropping the wi-fi, not getting dhcp correctly etc. I currently have my main desktop, my Synology NAS, and my home server wired to it, as well as around a dozen wireless clients (samsung tv, a bunch of phones, laptops and tablets) and I *never* have connectivity problems.
 
Hz so good
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Mon Dec 30, 2013 7:50 am

I used to work for a WISP way back when, and I got pretty familiar with wawy too many a/b/g/n APs and P-t-P and P-t-MP backhaul radios. I'd love to get any performance info on the new 802.11AC, if anybody is willing to be guinea pigs.

Specifically, what type of range to you get, do you notice if certain materials cause interference or reflections, what does the range fall off look like with various antenna types, what's your noise floor and recieve sensitivity. Any data you could throw my way would be appreciated. I'm still of the mind to wire the hell out of everything, but WiFi does have it's uses...
 
Aphasia
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Mon Dec 30, 2013 7:32 pm

Wish I had some AC devices that I look at too see how it goes. Right now I only have N devices.

The Asus RT-N66U has a really good range as far as 2.4Ghz goes, with 5Ghz while I have very little interference, I also have a pair of really thick concrete walls and a kitchen full of metal in between the AP and the living room so my iPad doesnt even see it at 5GHz, the lenovo laptop does on the other hand and gets around 25ish Mbps.

The annoying thing is while I get 100mbps+ in the same room on 2.4Ghz dual channel as well as 5Ghz, having dual channel active actually puts me down to 5mbps or so in the living room, while single channel (20Mhz) gives me a bit higher. So right now it's a question of probably gearing 2.4Ghz for pure living room use, and 5Ghz for workroom usage.
 
chuckula
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Mon Dec 30, 2013 7:42 pm

Thanks for the info everybody. I haven't quite made my mind up yet but this helps.

ztrand: If it weren't for the fact that the Airport Extreme is hard to setup from my OS (Linux), I'd probably get one since it looks very nice.

As for right now, I'm mostly down to an Asus, Netgear, or maybe a Buffalo as a longshot contender.
4770K @ 4.7 GHz; 32GB DDR3-2133; Officially RX-560... that's right AMD you shills!; 512GB 840 Pro (2x); Fractal Define XL-R2; NZXT Kraken-X60
--Many thanks to the TR Forum for advice in getting it built.
 
Voldenuit
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Sun Jan 05, 2014 5:04 am

Update: A friend recently returned his Netgear R6300 after being unable to get ac to work on it, and complaining of lack of support from Netgear. He replaced it with an ASUS RT-AC68, and says the ASUS worked without a hitch out of the box. Anectdotal, but take from it what you will.
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Voldenuit
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Sun Jan 05, 2014 5:07 am

Aphasia wrote:
Wish I had some AC devices that I look at too see how it goes. Right now I only have N devices.

The Asus RT-N66U has a really good range as far as 2.4Ghz goes, with 5Ghz while I have very little interference, I also have a pair of really thick concrete walls and a kitchen full of metal in between the AP and the living room so my iPad doesnt even see it at 5GHz, the lenovo laptop does on the other hand and gets around 25ish Mbps.


3 concrete walls between my RT-AC66 and the bedroom. 5 GHz signal goes from 300 Mbps to 270 on my X300, but the 2.4 GHz signal goes from 150 Mbps to 72. Work laptop gets 450 Mbps with it, but I don't bring my work laptop into the bedroom, haven't tested it there.
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Aphasia
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Re: 802.11AC router recommendations

Sun Jan 05, 2014 7:50 am

Yeah, there's something weird with the concrete in this building, although the walls are loadbearing, and thick and hard as heck. So that might be something to do with it. Because in lighter concrete I usually dont have a problem for 5Ghz, or rather, not as bad as here at home. At least the 2.4Ghz works just fine with the iPad after my switch, and that was my main point for the exercise.

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