Recommend me a wireless router

Author
Discussion

stuartmmcfc

Original Poster:

8,653 posts

191 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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We currently use a Bt home hub 6 but I'm not as happy with it as the old 3.
We use a lot of devices but what is probably most important is an effective access time restriction facility so I can not allow access on certain devices at certain times of the day (i.e. Bed time for kids,)and good range.
Thanks

Skier

485 posts

222 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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I don't know whether suitable for your needs but have a look at the Netgear Orbi. You can do what you wish with this but it may be a bit of overkill if you're not suffering from Wifi blackspots. I believe all Netgear's Parental Controls allow you to do what you wish.

I have no connection to Netgear but have just replaced a BT Smart Hub and Wifi extender with the Netgear Orbi and it's excellent. I don't have the requirement to use Parental Controls and so am no expert on their implementation.

Nuclear Biscuit

375 posts

200 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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Skier said:
I don't know whether suitable for your needs but have a look at the Netgear Orbi. You can do what you wish with this but it may be a bit of overkill if you're not suffering from Wifi blackspots. I believe all Netgear's Parental Controls allow you to do what you wish.

I have no connection to Netgear but have just replaced a BT Smart Hub and Wifi extender with the Netgear Orbi and it's excellent. I don't have the requirement to use Parental Controls and so am no expert on their implementation.
Does it have a modem incorporated or do you need a separate one?

P.Griffin

377 posts

113 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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I have exact same issues as my Belkin range extenders have failed (do not buy)

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/network-wif...


I just ordered the Trendnet Powerlines this morning on amazon. If you can wait until tomorrow, I'll let you know if they're any good.

P.S. I think the parental control is a software not hardware thing

Edited by P.Griffin on Thursday 27th April 11:36

outnumbered

4,067 posts

233 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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Ubiquiti Unifi APs do offer time-bounded access, but only if you have the controller software running permanently on a server of some sort, so you need to bear that in mind.


gr1340

975 posts

202 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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I ditched the smart hub back in November due to having to restart it at least once a day and got a TP-Link AC1600 which comes with VDSL/ADSL modem built in.

Set up is easy as has pre configured connections for BT, the ability to place time restrictions for individual devices and hasn't missed a beat in 6 months.

Only problem is that you will be lucky to get one for less than £90 at the moment. I got mine for £75 during a price drop in November so I was lucky:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-Connections-UK-A...

Price comparison:
https://uk.camelcamelcamel.com/Wireless-Connection...

Skier

485 posts

222 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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Nuclear Biscuit said:
Skier said:
I don't know whether suitable for your needs but have a look at the Netgear Orbi. You can do what you wish with this but it may be a bit of overkill if you're not suffering from Wifi blackspots. I believe all Netgear's Parental Controls allow you to do what you wish.

I have no connection to Netgear but have just replaced a BT Smart Hub and Wifi extender with the Netgear Orbi and it's excellent. I don't have the requirement to use Parental Controls and so am no expert on their implementation.
Does it have a modem incorporated or do you need a separate one?
The Netgear Orbi system requires a separate modem (I use a Draytek Vigor 130) though you could use the Smart Hub as a modem. I went for the Netgear Orbi system as it had two key features that I wanted whereas some others didn't:

1. The ability to configure the DHCP
2. The ability to establish a Guest network

jamoor

14,506 posts

214 months

Saturday 29th April 2017
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Indeed,

also check out the new google wifi devices.

motco

15,918 posts

245 months

Saturday 29th April 2017
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I have a Netgear wireless router and a TP-Link master unit connected by ethernet cable to the router signalling to three TP-Link extenders.
I have been having problems with my system. Outside I have a four camera cabled (POE) system with a NVR recording constantly on a 14 day cycle. Inside I have a fixed view IP camera and a pan-and-tilt IP camera. If I run all of them my network starts shutting down after a few hours, but if I drop off the P/T camera (higher definition than the fixed view one) it remains on-line pretty well reliably and drops off only occasionally. If I leave off both IP cameras or run them both but disconnect the NVR from the network, the system stays up. It seems that there's a data speed problem overloading the network. My monthly data usages are not too high so it's unlikely to be my provider objecting to data usage, so I can only assume it is data rate. One TP-Link is used for WiFi and the smart TV, another for the fixed view IP camera, and the third is for the NVR via ethernet cable. The P&T camera uses the first TP-Link that serves the TV as well. TP-Link customer service have been extremely helpful and with their help we have concluded that my puny Internet speed of c.6.7Mbps download and 0.37Mbps upload may be the culprit. That said, the network remains up with the phone line disconnected and all cameras are visible from within the LAN. Outside the network, of course, nothing is seen. That suggests it might be the router that's to blame. I am getting frustrated with the blind alleys I keep finding.