Routers & Other Networking Stuff

lurker_sl said:

OK, so I have 50Mbps service from CableOne, and through an Ethernet cable, it's very close to that, sometimes better. But, using their Arris modem/router, I will be at 35Mbps tops to 4-5Mbps not 12 feet away. Upstairs I'll be at 1-4Mbps routinely with a poor signal strength. I have a Netgear extender (EX 2700) which does a great job of improving the signal strength but does nothing for the Mbps.

Question, if I buy my own Motorola modem and a router like the D-Link DIR-655 will Ivastlyimprove my internet situation?

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Well I went ahead and bought an SB6141 modem and an ASUS RT-AC68U router and that solved my problem. I don't need the extender and I get a strong signal everywhere in the house now.

whats a good home network router I was using a ASUS RT-AC66U, moving to a new place so I will need to get a new one. Since I am leaving the old in the other house.

So it seems that I was lucky for a really long time using my DIR-655 router with torrents. Deathwing, and maybe others had reported that it handled torrents very poorly, when you are trying to seed 10+ torrents at the same time.

Had a situation this weekend where I had to restart the computer, and the internet would literally just die whenever I would load up Deluge. Even gave it a while, knowing that it was trying to re-connect with all the torrents I'm seeding, about 20-30'ish of them. Some traffic would work, others wouldn't.

Only a router restart would restore full internet, and so now I'm looking into a new router, and more than likely going with an ASUS or Netgear. The 68U looks pretty sweet. Will have to get a new 802.11ac wireless adaptor for the desktop, but that's not an issue.

Harfle_sl said:

whats a good home network router I was using a ASUS RT-AC66U, moving to a new place so I will need to get a new one. Since I am leaving the old in the other house.

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Keep with it. Unless something changes drastically, I don't see myself ever going back to any Netgear/Linksys crap after having an Asus router. I just have the "N" version of the router you have, but it's been phenomenal for the 2+ years that I've owned it. I've maybe rebooted it 2-3 times in 2 years, and I tend to suspect my cable modem being the problem in those instances rather than the router.

I've had various D-link, Linksys and Netgear routers over the years, and they've never been as reliable as this Asus has been. Seems like they'd always get bogged down with torrents or whatever else I was doing and need fairly frequent resets to straighten them back out, but the Asus never does.

joeboo_sl said:

Keep with it. Unless something changes drastically, I don't see myself ever going back to any Netgear/Linksys crap after having an Asus router. I just have the "N" version of the router you have, but it's been phenomenal for the 2+ years that I've owned it. I've maybe rebooted it 2-3 times in 2 years, and I tend to suspect my cable modem being the problem in those instances rather than the router.

I've had various D-link, Linksys and Netgear routers over the years, and they've never been as reliable as this Asus has been. Seems like they'd always get bogged down with torrents or whatever else I was doing and need fairly frequent resets to straighten them back out, but the Asus never does.

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Everything said here, exactly. My Asus has been rock solid compared to all the Linksys' and Netgears I've owned over the years.

That solves that, will get an ASUS router.

What about TP link archer C8. I know everyone says Asus but this guy is cheeper by at least 20 -40$ depending on Deal?

I have an Asus RT-AC68U and I will never buy another brand of router ever again. The thing is blazing fast and can handle any load I can throw at it. The router is amazing.

Intrinsic_sl said:

If you didn't have any problems with that one it is fine. Been using one for a while with zero issues.

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Just is the current home router setup, so I will need to set another one up when I move out.

What are you guys thoughts on refurbished routers?

Kovaks_sl said:

What about TP link archer C8. I know everyone says Asus but this guy is cheeper by at least 20 -40$ depending on Deal?

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My TP-Link has also way outperformed the old Linksys standby I used to own. Very set and forget. I'm not that much of a power user, but I do have a fair amount of devices on my network.

Kovaks_sl said:

What are you guys thoughts on refurbished routers?

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I wouldn't bother for a product you'll probably use for 5 years and isn't always easy to diagnose that it's giving you problems.

Kovaks_sl said:

What are you guys thoughts on refurbished routers?

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In general, I've never had a problem with any refurb electronics. In general, if an item gets returned defective it goes through a LOT more testing than new products even do before it goes back out into circulation. They really don't want it to come back a 2nd time, that's a profit killer, even worse than a return on a new item, so they make sure refurbs work.

Now, "reconditioned" is just a used item that is cleaned up, i'd avoid those, but I have no issues with refurb as long as the savings are significant(I won't bother unless I'm saving 20% or more)

Ok, I'm trying to figure out what I need, Stupid Surfboard is crap, horrible connection and needs constant restart so I am looking at getting a new Router. Sounds like Asus is the way to go, and I like the AC66 but am not sure I need that and I wasn't wanting to spend that much. My Gaming and Media PC are wired so I don't care about wifi for it, other than that we have my shield tablet, our two phones (mine is a note 4 so can take advantage of beams), the 2 foscam IP cameras for baby monitoring (these run on 2.4 anyway), and all the TV's not connected to my media PC have Chromecasts for Netflix/Plex.

with that setup, should I go with the AC or would just the N version work for me.

thanks for the advice.

I'm not planning on upgrading to an AC router until I own a laptop, tablet, or media streaming device (a new Chromecast version, for example) that supports AC. My gaming PC is hardwired, that's where I do all my torrenting and gaming, so AC does nothing for that, and while my wife has a phone that supports AC but neither of us really stream any media on our phones while at home. That's all done on tablets or streaming devices on our TVs, and none of those are AC(yet)

Everything you stream over a phone or tablet is compressed enough that N can handle it fine anyway.

Kovaks_sl said:

Ok, I'm trying to figure out what I need, Stupid Surfboard is crap, horrible connection and needs constant restart so I am looking at getting a new Router. Sounds like Asus is the way to go, and I like the AC66 but am not sure I need that and I wasn't wanting to spend that much. My Gaming and Media PC are wired so I don't care about wifi for it, other than that we have my shield tablet, our two phones (mine is a note 4 so can take advantage of beams), the 2 foscam IP cameras for baby monitoring (these run on 2.4 anyway), and all the TV's not connected to my media PC have Chromecasts for Netflix/Plex.

with that setup, should I go with the AC or would just the N version work for me.

thanks for the advice.

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Are you on Comcast with the surfboard there is a known issue with them and docsis 3.0 I went to a zoom and never looked back.

Yep on Comcast with 3.0. and not willing to deal with their customer service and argue over firmware updates.

Intrinsic_sl said:

Is there a Surfboard that is just a router or are you complaining about your modem? Just asking in case there is any chance of miscommunication, since the surfboard will likely still be plugged in to your N66U. So if it is really crapping the bed as a modem you may not fix anything. Than again, I could be the confused one here.

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It is a modem router combo but the modem seems ok. No issues when wired. The WiFifrom the router is crap and on top of that not true duel band you can be either or but not both 2.4 and 5