Need some router suggestions

Jimbo18

I have fairly simple needs, I think. My current Linksys AC2600 seems to be having some issues and I am thinking of upgrading to a stronger one.

My house is only 1800 sq. feet, the router is upstairs, main TV is downstairs and two TVs in bedrooms using Roku, one android box, and smart tech on the TVs.

I have one Roku hooked up via ethernet, as well as my TV and the desktop computer. Two TVs, the android box, and one other Roku are via WiFi, as well as two cell phones. That's it.

My current router has worked well until lately but I am now getting very frequent notices on two of my TVs that the connection has been lost.

Would like to keep the budget below $250, and I don't think I need MESH, just something reliable. Any suggestions welcome.

tonyp063

TP-Link AX3200.

Less than your budget & if you have a Costco membership they've got $50 off on it now.
Been rock solid for us. WFH stuff & about twice as many devices than you have.

VR3

I was running a normal nighthawk router and it struggled in my house, 1500 sq ft.

I went to a nighthawk mesh system and it absolutely, unequivocally destroys it. I'm talking I have signal 200 plus feet outside of my house on all sides...well worth the additional cost. The hubs also have ethernet ports so you can hardwire gear if needed.

Ms63 is 250!

CGTIII

Stronger isn't better. WiFi is toxic. It's the same frequency as a microwave oven. It's bad for anyone.
Mesh is worse as it adds connectivity packets between the nodes, increasing traffic and toxicity.

To reduce exposure while retaining function, I use TP-Link WiFI Powerline adapters on Low or Medium power placed strategically around the home or business. AV500, AV600, and AV1000 modules all usually work well as long as the outlets have a common ground. Powerline WiFi sends the data through power lines, only using the WiFi between the (nearby) powerline module and the endpoint device (phone, tablet, Roku, whatever) and using much lower WiFi power if set to Low or Medium.

Repeaters/Extenders are also generally a bad idea because they are almost universally unreliable. I have personal experience with dozens from several brands. At a minimum they add latency and an additional point of failure. Also, folks hardly ever update the firmware in them, which is needed for security.

The more WiFi there is in a home or business, the more I recommend a BioElectric shield. They attenuate the harmfulness of radiation. I'm not trying to sell these to you folks myself but I really believe in them. I've worn one almost daily for 25 years and moved up to higher levels of their product each several years. Also have one in my GFs bedroom, as we're most vulnerable when sleeping. BioElectricShield.com

CottageChz

I like ASUS products, though I’ve heard Netgear and TP-Link are very solid as well. For $250 you should have a lot of options. I’m running an ASUS RT-AX68U and have been very satisfied.

ASUS also has a feature called AI mesh. It allows you to use multiple routers as a mesh system (wired or wireless). So if you buy a router now and upgrade 2 years down the line, your older router is still useful for something. Not sure if other brands offer that same functionality.

Jimbo18

Thanks for the suggestions. I do have a Costco membership and since the $50 off offer expires soon, I went ahead and ordered the TP-Link that tonyp063 recommended.

Jstas

CGTIII wrote: »

Stronger isn't better. WiFi is toxic. It's the same frequency as a microwave oven. It's bad for anyone.
Mesh is worse as it adds connectivity packets between the nodes, increasing traffic and toxicity.

To reduce exposure while retaining function, I use TP-Link WiFI Powerline adapters on Low or Medium power placed strategically around the home or business. AV500, AV600, and AV1000 modules all usually work well as long as the outlets have a common ground. Powerline WiFi sends the data through power lines, only using the WiFi between the (nearby) powerline module and the endpoint device (phone, tablet, Roku, whatever) and using much lower WiFi power if set to Low or Medium.

Repeaters/Extenders are also generally a bad idea because they are almost universally unreliable. I have personal experience with dozens from several brands. At a minimum they add latency and an additional point of failure. Also, folks hardly ever update the firmware in them, which is needed for security.

The more WiFi there is in a home or business, the more I recommend a BioElectric shield. They attenuate the harmfulness of radiation. I'm not trying to sell these to you folks myself but I really believe in them. I've worn one almost daily for 25 years and moved up to higher levels of their product each several years. Also have one in my GFs bedroom, as we're most vulnerable when sleeping. BioElectricShield.com

Sorry but this is a load of a baloney.

Microwave ovens operate in the range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz. Pretty much ALL radio communication devices from walkie talkies to broadcast TV signals operate within this range. It's around you all the time, even from cosmic rays hitting the planet from space.

Microwave radiation is not dangerous. It is non-ionizing radiation which means that microwave photons do not contain sufficient energy to ionize molecules or break chemical bonds, or cause DNA damage, as ionizing radiation such as x-rays or ultraviolet can. The reason microwave ovens work is because of the power of the magnetron, aka the transmitter, that beams that faraday cage called the oven full of high strength microwaves. 600-1200 watts worth. That's a ton of power for a microwave transmitter.

Because of all that power, the inside of the box is chock full of waves bouncing off of everything and hitting molecules. It's not strong enough to knock parts of atoms apart and create ions but it is strong enough that when a wave hits an atom, the atom vibrates from the impact. That vibration causes heat which cooks whatever is in there. You need more than 500 watts in a confined space to do that. A leaking microwave can cause issues with burns to you body both externally and internally which will cause inflammation and other issues that can make you real sick. But it's not because of the radiation making you radioactive. It can't. It's because of the heating effect of the microwaves from such high power causing actual burns, like you got 1st and 2nd degree burns on your internal organs. But if your metal box stays grounded and your door seals and window screen stay intact, microwave radiation will not leak from the enclosure, it physically can't.

And don't tell me that your microwave causes interference with stuff because of the microwaves. Typically they cause interference because of EM fields from poorly regulated or worn out power supplies and cheap fan motors. If the over was leaving radiation, it wouldn't cause interference and noise, at 600+ watts of broadcasting power, it'd stomp all over every other microwave signal in the house and you'd completely lose the signal, no crackling interference, just hard static.

The transmitters in your wifi routers, your cellphones and even your cordless land line phone are all less than 10 watts. Honestly, that's way high too. It's usually less that 2 watts with only the ones that claim super wide range, like 600 feet+, that are 5 watts or more. The rays coming from space have more intensity than that. Because they are non-ionizing they either pass right through you deflect off you.

As far as meshed wi-fi networks, if anything, they're "safer" because they don't need big power transmitters to cover the distance for a wide area wifi network. They are basically repeaters that have connection persistence. So the transmitters in each meshed access point don't need to be more than half a watt in strength to reach the next meshed ap's sphere of influence so the connected device can be passed off to the next meshed AP. That's far better than having a 5W base transmitter shouting your signal over a 250 foot radius just to get the range you want.

Given all that, your bioelectricsheild is snake oil and not doing a thing for you. If you've ever gotten a sunburn, that UV radiation that caused it did more damage to your body with that one sunburn than a lifetime of low power microwave radiation exposure.

CottageChz

Jimbo18 wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions. I do have a Costco membership and since the $50 off offer expires soon, I went ahead and ordered the TP-Link that tonyp063 recommended.

I have also seen that TP Link at Costco, seems like a great deal. And if you don’t like it they’ll have you covered with their return policy, I try to buy whatever I can there because of their return policy. Let us know what you think.

nooshinjohn

https://www.bioelectricshield.com/


WAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHA........ that site is hilarious! Talk about a bunch of expensive snake oil. I wonder if she’s married to the dude from Coconut Audio...

F1nut

pitdogg2

Ought to do it!
Lol

CGTIII

Jstas wrote: »

Sorry but this is a load of a baloney.

Microwave ovens operate in the range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz.

You're misinformed.
"Consumer ovens work around a nominal 2.45 gigahertz (GHz)—a wavelength of 12.2 centimetres (4.80 in) in the 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz ISM band—while large industrial/commercial ovens often use 915 megahertz (MHz)—32.8 centimetres (12.9 in)" - wikipedia
"Following international conventions, microwave ovens at home or in restaurants operate at frequencies of about 2.45 GHz, i.e. λ = 12." - www.sfu.ca
"Modern microwave ovens operate at the frequency 2,450 MHz." -
Microwave Ovens - Hyperphysics - http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu

mrbigbluelight

Hermitism

Jstas

I am not misinformed. Modern ovens work within a very narrow range on purpose. Mainly because of efficiencies and interference standards.

Microwave generation devices, aka Magnetrons, have been around since 1937. An engineer at Raytheon developed a cooking device and Raytheon patented it in October of 1945. That was the first microwave oven.

Early microwave ovens were not as regulated as they are now. In fact, they weren't very regulated all the way up to the late 80's which is when cellular and wireless technologies were becoming more wide-spread and popular. They weren't very shielded either and they could leak low levels of microwave radiation too. That meant that the ovens were capable of interfering with early wireless phones and your UHF and VHF TV channels. As more and more ovens started showing up in homes, the problems became more widespread requiring better regulation so that a TV manufacturer didn't have to worry about complex and expensive shield technology to block the noise from early microwave ovens but still allow the broadcasting bands they were programming on to reach market customers.

As microwave communications started using more of the microwave spectrum manufacturers of all kinds of devices were regulated into certain bands to limit interference and cross-talk. That doesn't mean that there aren't overlapping usages because your Bluetooth devices? They operate on the 2.4 GHz range too. So does a cordless phone and, believe it or not, some of your kids wireless video game controllers.

You can throw all the links you want at me and ignore 98% of my post, I don't care. See, I used to work on microwave based radar systems for a defense contractor. I'm well versed in this and I don't need to dig up links to support what I'm saying.

But I'm not going to let your tinfoil-hattery dissuade someone from considering a viable and safe option for their home networking needs because of your unfounded accusations that fly completely in the face of physics.

So nitpick on a single point that's barely relevant in a feeble attempt to discredit what I've said out of a litany of verifiable proof backed up by actual, tested and proven science. It doesn't matter.

You're wrong and a little glob of bronze does nothing for you because the only way for it to actually protect you is for it to emit a greater strength microwave signal modulated out of phase of all the other signals that are attacking you. That's called jamming and if you think the microwaves that are attacking you are bad then your little glob of bronze would be exponentially worse given the activity it would have to take part in to actually protect you and it's proximity to your person.


Side note: power line networking devices are cool and all and they can work really well. But, if you have old wiring, especially non-common ground stuff like old knob and tube or the 2 prong stuff from the 50's, 60's and 70's, you will likely get odd problems with it and poor communications on the network. So if you have a house built after, I dunno, 1975 and you have 3 prong outlets that are actually grounded properly, go for it. If you don't, better read up on it before you spend a boat load of money on stuff that may not work.

Lastly, since we want to have urination contests about who's informed and who isn't, here's a list of all the microwave bands, their assigned frequency ranges, the wavelength ranges and the usage for each band:

L band Frequency range: 1 to 2 GHz Wavelength range: 15 cm to 30 cm Uses: military telemetry, GPS, mobile phones (GSM), amateur radio

S band Frequency range: 2 to 4 GHz Wavelength range: 7.5 cm to 15 cm Uses: weather radar, surface ship radar, some communications satellites, microwave ovens, microwave devices/communications, radio astronomy, mobile phones, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, ZigBee, GPS, amateur radio

C band Frequency range: 4 to 8 GHz Wavelength range: 3.75 cm to 7.5 cm Uses: long-distance radio telecommunications

X band Frequency range: 8 to 12 GHz Wavelength range: 25 mm to 37.5 mm Uses: satellite communications, radar, terrestrial broadband, space communications, amateur radio, molecular rotational spectroscopy, law enforcement radar

Ku band Frequency range: 12 to 18 GHz Wavelength range: 16.7 mm to 25 mm Uses: satellite communications, molecular rotational spectroscopy

K band Frequency range: 18 to 26.5 GHz Wavelength range: 11.3 mm to 16.7 mm Uses: radar, satellite communications, astronomical observations, automotive radar, molecular rotational spectroscopy, law enforcement radar

Ka band Frequency range: 26.5 to 40 GHz Wavelength range: 5.0 mm to 11.3 mm Uses: satellite communications, molecular rotational spectroscopy, law enforcement radar systems, tight-band communications for security monitoring systems

Q band Frequency range: 33 to 50 GHz Wavelength range: 6.0 mm to 9.0 mm Uses: satellite communications, terrestrial microwave communications, radio astronomy, automotive radar, molecular rotational spectroscopy

U band Frequency range: 40 to 60 GHz Wavelength range: 5.0 mm to 7.5 mm Uses: earth to space communications so...classified

V band Frequency range: 50 to 75 GHz Wavelength range: 4.0 mm to 6.0 mm Uses: millimeter wave radar research, molecular rotational spectroscopy and other kinds of scientific research

W band Frequency range: 75 to 110 GHz Wavelength range: 2.7 mm to 4.0 mm Uses: satellite communications, millimeter-wave radar research, military radar targeting and tracking applications, and some non-military applications, automotive radar

F band Frequency range: 90 to 140 GHz Wavelength range: 2.1 mm to 3.3 mm Uses: SHF transmissions: Radio astronomy, microwave devices/communications, wireless LAN, most modern radars, communications satellites, satellite television broadcasting, DBS, amateur radio

D band Frequency range: 110 to 170 GHz Wavelength range: 1.8 mm to 2.7 mm Uses: EHF transmissions: Radio astronomy, high-frequency microwave radio relay, microwave remote sensing, amateur radio, directed-energy weapon, millimeter wave scanner

I'll stop thread dumping now.

CGTIII

@Jstas - Well, one doesn't know what one doesn't know, as the saying goes. Don't doubt that something is true just because you don't know about it. Just as most folks can't tell the difference between the sound of $500 cables and $5000 cables doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Perhaps I couldn't tell the difference but that doesn't mean that others can't. Likewise some folks are EMI sensitive and others aren't. Just because you aren't consciously affected doesn't mean no harm is being done. Glad you aren't.

@Jstas - Appreciate the guidelines on powerline adapters and wiring. Hope that'll help someone. The limitations you mention are part of why I said "usually work well."

All - I second the above recommendation for dd-wrt firmware on consumer-grade routers. I've used that almost exclusively for many years. You do have to research the most recent and stable version for a given router though and base your model (and submodel) purchase on the best firmware for hardware to suit your needs. All the manufacturers have had bad releases of firmware as well. Firmware updates are important whichever you choose. Also replace the router power adapter every couple of years for top reliability. Most aren't built to last, especially with common spikes, surges, and brownouts. Often when routers have issues, it's the power adapter. Routers need to be replaced every few years anyway though as, again, consumer grade ones generally aren't built to last longer than that, even if firmware updates are still available.

nooshinjohn

Jstas wrote: »

You're wrong and a little glob of bronze does nothing for you because the only way for it to actually protect you is for it to emit a greater strength microwave signal modulated out of phase of all the other signals that are attacking you. That's called jamming and if you think the microwaves that are attacking you are bad then your little glob of bronze would be exponentially worse given the activity it would have to take part in to actually protect you and it's proximity to your person..





.

Thank god that hunk of bronze also centers his aura and protects him from your hostile posts challenging his flower-power science.

txcoastal1

I've been happy with my Skil router for over 10 years

mrbigbluelight

You've been happy with your Skill router for 10 years but has it been happy ?
It looks like it could use a hug, when's the last time you gave it a hug ?

F1nut

My Porter-Cable has given me somewhere between 25 to 30 years of trouble free service.

Jimbo18

Got the new TP-Link router today and hooked it up. So far so good. The TV farthest from the router has excellent reception. As I said, I don't have that many electronics using WiFi and this has three bands so I can designate one for each occupied bedroom and the family room.

I know there are much better options, but this seems perfect for my needs. Thanks for the suggestions.

motorstereo

Today is new router day for me as just yesterday I found out I've been paying a $15.00 a month rental fee. It pays to check your bill closely as they kept that rental charge very well hidden. I cringe to think of how many months I've blindly paid that extra $ and more than likely would've continued had my provider not jacked the bill up $50 in one month.
Hopefully the local Walmart has a compatible nest and I'll more than likely forgo the tinfoil hat.

gp4jesus

Avoid Netgear routers. Good gear per their competitors.


Many powerful features. Their CS is a conflict in terms. Manuals omit critical data to setup the simple things.

I don’t know about the other companies, but NG’s CS won’t talk to users of unregistered equipment or second owner that is registered. Very long hold times. They want to know everything but the shoe size of your first born before they will allow you to ask a question.

Don’t expect the rep to know the answer. While trying to setup two routers as Repeaters, 5 calls to accidentally get a rep that did not know the “frustrate the customer” protocol. She answered the question QUICKLY & CORRECTLY!

You have 1 year to sort out problems. Then you hafta pay. User interface is very user-UNfriendly. Every time you make a change, your network goes down 30-45 seconds - an eternity in hell in this house. Another problem I don’t miss: every time the DSL network f*rts, a near-daily occurrence, we had to reboot the router.

To be fair I still use a NG Range extender. Fair brainless set up though real pain to reconfigure if you make a significant Wi-Fi network change.

Don’t buy Netgear routers.

motorstereo

^^^^^^Well I ended up with a Net Gear cs7000. It was the only one they had that was compatible according to the list I have from my provider. I'll keep that in mind about it being a hassle to set up and use and if I experience any of that then back it goes. Of course it had to be the most expensive one in the locked case to

motorstereo

Thankfully all went well hooking up my new Netgear modem router. Maybe a half hour of installation and isp tech support getting it set up and I have cable, wifi, and internet. Right now I have about double the speed I used to have but I'm betting that will change at some point. The best part though is $15.00 a month savings. It amazing how all these gotta have things that we never had years ago add up so quickly.

Jimbo18

Quick follow up in case anyone is interested. The router has worked perfectly from day one. Strong signal, reaches out about 50 feet from my front door and it is located upstairs near the back of the house. YMMV.

motorstereo

^^^^^^^^I'm glad to hear your new router is working well and knock on wood first so is mine. I'm also getting better coverage in addition to the lowered monthly bill.
Why didn't I do this a long time ago???