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Wireless Router recommendation please

cskenney

By cskenney,
in Networking

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cskenney

cskenney 153

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Please give me some ideas of an off the shelf router to consider.  I have been using a DIR-655 for quite some time and it is starting to fail.  WAF is low right now because she looses her connection.

 

I don't want to build my own router at this time.  Something I can plug in and use that has Wireless N, etc... you know...something that is somewhat modern.

 

I have the option of using a Zyxell router and adding a wireless AP but so far I haven't messed with the Zyxell and I would still need a recommendation on the wireless.

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GavinCampbell

As a tip, I installed a program called Xirrus Wifi Inspector (was recommended in another thread) on a laptop and put it in a spot where I wanted great signal.  I then played around on the router with

Jason

Great feedback. I am using my RT-N66U as a glorified access point and my Sophos UTM as my firewall and VPN server. Will eventually want to upgrade from 802.11n to 802.11ac.

ikon

All good points oj88, and all among the reasons why I recommend testing. For me, there really is no substitute to practical, real-world testing.

oj88

oj88 131

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Asus is like the king right now on wireless routers, along with Linksys. A lot of models from both manufacturers can be flashed with 3rd-party firmwares from DD-WRT, Tomato or OpenWRT... if you're into that thing.

 

That said, you can't go wrong with either. But personally, I'd go for Asus.

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schoondoggy

schoondoggy 878

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Fire up the ZyXel, I run a ZyWall 20.

For WAP I have had great luck with a EAP600 from EnGenius. Ubiquiti has great WAP's as well.

I have a two story house with a basement, the EAP600 is mounted on the second floor in the middle and covers the entire house.

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Jason

Jason 84

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I have an ASUS RT-N66U on a single floor and the range is moderate. Wouldn't count on it for a 2nd floor. Am in process of building a new house and will be loading up w 802.11n APs. Until AC takes hold.

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awraynor

awraynor 98

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I'm using an Asus RT-AC68R and have had no problems. I used the Merlin firmware which adds to the

stock firmware instead of completely replacing it. I bought it as a refurb for around $140 from NewEgg. 

 

I bought the Apple Airport Extreme Router from Dave at the meetup. I'll see how that does in comparison. 

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awraynor

awraynor 98

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Range isn't a problem at this time. Would there be any performance benefit to use one router for wireless duties and the other for

wired data on my server and two desktops? As mentioned above my current router is the Asus AC router.

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