New router options

[kingston12]

I have had a Netgear Nighthawk R7000 router for a few years and it has been fine, but has suddenly started to lose connection every 8-10 hours.

A reset seems to sort it out, so I am thinking of scheduling a few reboots each day in the short term, but I think I will replace it unless I can sort it out properly. I have updated the firmware, but there is no improvement.

What is the best option at the moment? I was thinking of trying one of the mesh-based setups as I have a couple of powerline based wifi extenders hanging off of the R7000, but happy to keep those and just get a new central router if that is a better option.

[seadragon]

I have Google wifi but the Netgear Orbi seems to be the one to go for.

[devnull]

I have a Google WiFi mesh. Once you have a mesh system in place, you'll never want to go back to the clunkiness of powerline networks and WiFi repeaters.

[jamoor]

edgerouter x + unifi AP. I don't know how big your house is but usually one can cover it, if necessary run more than one.

Don't bother with any consumer grade rubbish. It's more expensive and worse quality.

[HootersGsy]

jamoor said:

edgerouter x + unifi AP. I don't know how big your house is but usually one can cover it, if necessary run more than one.

Don't bother with any consumer grade rubbish. It's more expensive and worse quality.

+1

This weekend I installed a UniFi setup with 3x access points, now have wifi all round the house and at decent speeds. It was a touch more expensive than your average home router though!

[curlyks2]

DrayTek Vigor, model to suit your requirements. Have a modem/router/AP from them and it happily covers the whole house and garden.

[ffc]

HootersGsy said:

+1

This weekend I installed a UniFi setup with 3x access points, now have wifi all round the house and at decent speeds. It was a touch more expensive than your average home router though!

It's excellent but you need to run cables and install a switch to run it, which makes it less convenient than mesh solutions.

[jamoor]

ffc said:

It's excellent but you need to run cables and install a switch to run it, which makes it less convenient than mesh solutions.

True, but if it's your house and you anticipate living there a while. It's worth doing. It also "futureproofs" as you can just swap out the router or APs as technology progresses.

[ffc]

jamoor said:

True, but if it's your house and you anticipate living there a while. It's worth doing. It also "futureproofs" as you can just swap out the router or APs as technology progresses.

I completely agree, wired is almost always better except it seems for TV's. My Samsung models have 100Mb ethernet ports and 802.11ac WiFi.

[HootersGsy]

ffc said:

It's excellent but you need to run cables and install a switch to run it, which makes it less convenient than mesh solutions.

True, but no mesh system goes through granite walls the joys of trying to use 21st century tech in a 19th century house

[w8pmc]

Another vote for NetGear Orbi.

[sgtBerbatov]

curlyks2 said:

DrayTek Vigor, model to suit your requirements. Have a modem/router/AP from them and it happily covers the whole house and garden.

+1 for this.

I also have a Billion BiPac 8800, 2+ years old and has never missed a beat.

If I was in the market for a new router, it would be either the DrayTek or Billion.

[kingston12]

Thanks all. I really need to start doing something about this now.

I'm still looking at the Ubiquiti stuff, but if I was to go for the Orbi, would people who are already using it recommend the 2 x RBK50 kit or the 3 x RBK40 in my situation?

I have only got a small flat, but it is long and narrow when the rear garden is taken into account. The full property size that I 'd like to cover is 75 feet long by about 25 feet wide. An additional problem is that I live in a built up area where other Wifi signals seem to block mine (2.4ghz was totally unusable until I got my current Netgear.

Edited to add: Reading the reviews of the Orbi, I notice that it is hub and spoke rather than true mesh, meaning (if I am reading it correctly) that each AP has to connect directly with the main router rather than all connecting together.

I am not sure if this will work quite so well for me because I plan to have the main router right at the front of the flat, one extender about 35 feet away (through two walls) and the other one a further 30 feet away (through another two walls).

Will the most distant extender be able to function if it is 65 feet away from the main router through four walls?

Edited by kingston12 on Thursday 1st February 11:17

[Bikerjon]

The BT wholehome mesh Wi-Fi will daisy-chain, but the wall thickness/construction plays a big part in this. 2 plasterboard walls are usually OK but brick/block/stone may require a different approach.

[w8pmc]

kingston12 said:

Thanks all. I really need to start doing something about this now.

I'm still looking at the Ubiquiti stuff, but if I was to go for the Orbi, would people who are already using it recommend the 2 x RBK50 kit or the 3 x RBK40 in my situation?

I have only got a small flat, but it is long and narrow when the rear garden is taken into account. The full property size that I 'd like to cover is 75 feet long by about 25 feet wide. An additional problem is that I live in a built up area where other Wifi signals seem to block mine (2.4ghz was totally unusable until I got my current Netgear.

Edited to add: Reading the reviews of the Orbi, I notice that it is hub and spoke rather than true mesh, meaning (if I am reading it correctly) that each AP has to connect directly with the main router rather than all connecting together.

I am not sure if this will work quite so well for me because I plan to have the main router right at the front of the flat, one extender about 35 feet away (through two walls) and the other one a further 30 feet away (through another two walls).

Will the most distant extender be able to function if it is 65 feet away from the main router through four walls?

Edited by kingston12 on Thursday 1st February 11:17

2 units should be sufficient. Not sure what 'packs' are available, but the 2 x RB50 should be more than enough to cover the area you require.

[kingston12]

w8pmc said:

2 units should be sufficient. Not sure what 'packs' are available, but the 2 x RB50 should be more than enough to cover the area you require.

Thanks. I'd literally just pressed the button on the three pack!

I think I'll set up two first and see if that provides coverage and if it does I'll sell the third unit. It appears that the single units sell for the best part of £200 and I only paid an extra £100, so I should be able to get the money back.

[8bit]

sgtBerbatov said:

curlyks2 said:

DrayTek Vigor, model to suit your requirements. Have a modem/router/AP from them and it happily covers the whole house and garden.

+1 for this.

I also have a Billion BiPac 8800, 2+ years old and has never missed a beat.

If I was in the market for a new router, it would be either the DrayTek or Billion.

Another vote for Draytek. I only have one though, my house isn't big enough to need a billion (I'll get my coat).

I had a succession of Netgear wifi routers prior to the Draytek, wifi reception was patchy at best. Get solid wifi anywhere in the house now and the garden and garage. I don't have any other APs or such like, just the Draytek. I won't touch Netgear again personally.

[kingston12]

8bit said:

Another vote for Draytek. I only have one though, my house isn't big enough to need a billion (I'll get my coat).

I had a succession of Netgear wifi routers prior to the Draytek, wifi reception was patchy at best. Get solid wifi anywhere in the house now and the garden and garage. I don't have any other APs or such like, just the Draytek. I won't touch Netgear again personally.

Apologies for the very-PH question, but how big is your house?!

I have got a Netgear R7000 as close to the middle of a single storey flat as possible. The flat measures about 45 feet x 25 feet and it stands no chance of reaching the end without an extender, let alone covering the 30 foot garden/back of garage as well.

I am going to give the Netgear Orbi a go, but if they don't cover this perfectly at the price I paid, I'll have to send them back. If the Draytek can cover it without extenders it sounds very attractive.

[8bit]

kingston12 said:

Apologies for the very-PH question, but how big is your house?!

I have got a Netgear R7000 as close to the middle of a single storey flat as possible. The flat measures about 45 feet x 25 feet and it stands no chance of reaching the end without an extender, let alone covering the 30 foot garden/back of garage as well.

I am going to give the Netgear Orbi a go, but if they don't cover this perfectly at the price I paid, I'll have to send them back. If the Draytek can cover it without extenders it sounds very attractive.

it's a 1930's granite semi-detached on two storeys. The router is downstairs, in a cupboard under the stairs along with the Cat6 patch panel, small server, SONOS bridge, a 1Gbps switch, the hoover and some spiders. The point being that it's in far from an ideal location as well. As for dimensions, I'd say the house is maybe 7m or so wide by 10m deep, with the kitchen extending a further 7m I think back from there.

Being brutally honest, I will say that if the main garage door is shut then the signal drops away but then it is separated from the house by a double layer of concrete blocks. It does work out in the garden but there are a couple of black spots. Everywhere within the house is fine on both floors; laptops, tablets, smartphones etc. get full or almost full signal everywhere indoors.

[jak77]

kingston12 said:

Reading the reviews of the Orbi, I notice that it is hub and spoke rather than true mesh, meaning (if I am reading it correctly) that each AP has to connect directly with the main router rather than all connecting together.

I believe this may have moved on following a firmware update late last year.

I've narrowed it down to Linksys Velop or Netgear Orbi and just waiting for a good deal to pull the trigger.