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PaRaD0xxR
@comcast.net

1 recommendation

PaRaD0xxR

Anon

[Equip] Router Recommendations

Hi, My old Netgear WNDR3700v2 has been giving my wifi clients issues for a while now, random loss of connectivity, and also does not seem to support IPv6 on my comcast service. I suppose it is time to upgrade/update to a newer router.

Any opinions on a good one? I have no AC clients atm. It would be nice to have good IPv6 connectivity, as well as USB ports (I like to keep a flash drive plugged in for short term file transfers on my LAN). I have Comcast Blast 105/10 service.

Price isn't a HUGE issue, but I don't need top of the line either. Something in the mid-price range.

Thanks!

Johkal
Cool Cat
MVM
join:2002-11-13
Pennsyltucky

Johkal

MVM

[Equip] Re: Router Recommendations

What is your max price you want to spend?

PaRaD0xxR
@comcast.net

PaRaD0xxR

Anon

Hmmm...I'd say maybe $175 ish? Less there is something that's rock solid that's not too much more...certainly $200 tops.

Darknessfall
Premium Member
join:2012-08-17

Darknessfall to PaRaD0xxR

Premium Member

to PaRaD0xxR
I would wait a little bit if you can deal with it for a little longer. There is a new batch of AC routers coming soon. What you see now will probably drop in price.

PaRaD0xxR
@comcast.net

PaRaD0xxR

Anon

Dunno how much longer I want to wait, wife is having fits with her laptop all day today, keeps dropping her off.
fcfc2
join:2014-05-17

fcfc2

Member

Hi,
I have had good luck with the Dlink 868L, it's 1750 AC, gives pretty good range and throughput. Best price now is around $130 if you shop around.

Darknessfall
Premium Member
join:2012-08-17
Motorola MG8725
Asus RT-N66

1 recommendation

Darknessfall to PaRaD0xxR

Premium Member

to PaRaD0xxR
Well, then here are some possible choices:

Lower end of the top end, cheapest:
»www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-A ··· rcher+C7

Mid range of the top end:
»www.amazon.com/dp/B00FB4 ··· F8&psc=1
Top of the top end:
»www.amazon.com/ASUS-RT-A ··· s=AC2400

It truly is a bad time to buy one. Many of the prices are at least $20-40 higher for normally for some reason. The TP-Link was around $80 and the Asus was about $160 or so not that long ago.

Make sure that your router is set to only channels 1,6, or 11 on 2.4 GHz with 20 MHz channel width. Also only use the upper channels on 5 GHz(149-161) with 161 preferred.

To be honest, I would just buy some cheap low end router to keep yourself ok until the prices drop and newer stuff comes out.
Robyn79
Premium Member
join:2014-12-09

1 edit

Robyn79 to PaRaD0xxR

Premium Member

to PaRaD0xxR
said by PaRaD0xxR :

Dunno how much longer I want to wait, wife is having fits with her laptop all day today, keeps dropping her off.

I had the same problems with my husband's computers at the other end of the house.

Another option to consider besides another wireless router is the possibility of a direct wired connection. We wound up with an unusual solution - using existing telephone cat 5 wiring to extend our wired network. Discussed here at more length than most people can tolerate :

»[Connectivity] Getting A Second Comcast Account/Modem

Still - for an average single story wood frame house with a crawl space/attic and no block walls - it's really not that hard running cable up/down walls - and through the attic/crawl space. And - even if you can't DIY - it can't be a hideously expensive job to get done in most parts of the US. You might perhaps look into it. If nothing else - it's a "once and done" solution. Robyn

P.S. We're getting 120+ mbps down on that cat5 telephone wiring. Our home handyman did the same thing with his old telephone wiring (the cheapest possible in a 50 year old house) and he's maxing out on his basic internet connection (3 mbps). I don't think anyone has ever tested what's possible on the various kinds of internal telephone wiring most of us already have in our houses.

PaRaD0xxR
@comcast.net

PaRaD0xxR to Darknessfall

Anon

to Darknessfall
I went ahead and ordered the ASUS (RT-AC68U) Wireless-AC1900 Dual-Band Gigabit Router as you posted. Couldn't help myself and picked same day delivery via Amazon. I'll post back here to report on its performance.
PaRaD0xxR

PaRaD0xxR

Anon

K, router setup...working....told my wife to let me know of any dropped wifi connections tonight. She's streaming Netflix without issue atm, only drop so far was right around the time I enabled IPv6, which seems to work as well. Hopefully she won't yell at me any minute that she got booted off the internet again!

Darknessfall
Premium Member
join:2012-08-17
Motorola MG8725
Asus RT-N66

Darknessfall

Premium Member

said by PaRaD0xxR :

K, router setup...working....told my wife to let me know of any dropped wifi connections tonight. She's streaming Netflix without issue atm, only drop so far was right around the time I enabled IPv6, which seems to work as well. Hopefully she won't yell at me any minute that she got booted off the internet again!

Did you make sure to take my suggestions above?
"Make sure that your router is set to only channels 1,6, or 11 on 2.4 GHz with 20 MHz channel width. Also only use the upper channels on 5 GHz(149-161) with 161 preferred."

PaRaD0xxR
@68.81.196.x

PaRaD0xxR

Anon

Yes Darknessfall, thanks! I'll keep you posted.

Jim721
join:2014-07-31
Belleville, MI

Jim721 to PaRaD0xxR

Member

to PaRaD0xxR
You will like that router. There are many options as far as firmware. I recommend Merlin builds. There are also ways to boost TX power if you so desire the options are endless. I can't decide between the AC68P or the newer AC87U. I know the 87U is a more powerful router but being new it's full of firmware bugs just like the 68U use to be. The AC68P is the same as the 68U but a more powerful processer. Ugg decisions, I will no doubt by Asus no matter what they have the best firmware support of all the big 3. Good Luck !!

PaRaD0xxR
@68.81.196.x

PaRaD0xxR

Anon

I haven't updated firmware, wasn't really planning on it for now. I usually subscribe to the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" crowd...and want to test it out of the box for now. No unexplainable dropped connections as, uptime only being 3 hours or so. Speed seems just fine, ipv6 up and active from Comcast.....any really critical updates with the most current firmware for this router? Or can I stick w/whatever came on it?

Devious
Premium Member
join:2002-08-22
Seattle, WA

Devious to PaRaD0xxR

Premium Member

to PaRaD0xxR

Re: [Equip] Router Recommendations

Asus just patched all their routers for the infosvr security issue.

The issue is only exploitable from the LAN but you may want to update to this patched firmware.

PaRaD0xxR
@68.81.196.x

1 recommendation

PaRaD0xxR

Anon

Update: After a few hiccups early on (which I think were all normal router restarts after changing settings), the router has been rock solid since last Sunday night. Maxing out my 105/10 tier, and no wifi drops as before with my old WNDR3700v2. I even got ipv6 working, tho after updating to the newest firmware, I disabled it to test some configurations, and have been afraid to re-enable it and mess up the stability

Speaking of that, are there really any benefits "right now" to bother enabling ipv6, besides just the coolness factor? Would I notice either way? In terms of speed, stability...any other reason?

Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

1 recommendation

Mike Wolf

Member

More and more websites are going IPv6 only and others are doing dual stack which has both an IPv4 and IPv6 address but will eventually be moving to IPv6 only over time. For speed I've found that since not as many people (still alot) are browsing the internet with IPv6 compared to IPv4 there could be an unnoticeable increase in responsiveness but that's debatable. I say "just enable it and leave it be, if a router is that unstable that changing one setting causes chaos then that's a cruddy router". Anyway this might answer your question more fully. »www.circleid.com/posts/i ··· estions/
drugrep
--
join:2000-08-10
Woodridge, IL

drugrep to PaRaD0xxR

Member

to PaRaD0xxR
I love my Linksys WRT1900AC, it's solid, but like previous poster said, new batch of routers about to come out, including probably a version 2 of the Linksys I have.

Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

Mike Wolf

Member

Really doubt there's going to be a version 2 since version 1 is still rock solid. The only reason they put out a new version of the EA9200 was because of performance issues with the original. Linksys much would rather build new routers then revisions of previously released routers.