Router?

ssal

ssal

Active Member
My ISP provides the router for free. It's a Sagemcom F@st5260.
I have been having wifi connection problem, The Wifi would drop off a few times a day. When I close the laptop and come back a few minutes later, I have to open the wifi connectioin manually. I ended up doing it a few times a day.
I don't have that kind of problem when I am using my laptop in my son's house.
I have had the router replaced a few times. Finally today, the rep at the ISP said to me . . . "This is really not the best router. It is free! But it's old. You may want to buy your own router."
OK. Not what a ISP should say but I thank him for his honesty.
So, I am in search for the right router. Here is my requirement . . .
1. Do want to bet the house on it. Looking for something below $150.
2. The devices in my house:
  • a. 2 iphones
  • b. 1 smart TV (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube)
  • c. 1 laptop.
3. It's a moderate house with under 3000 sq ft in two floors. Even the Sagemcom has no problem.
It's only me and my wife in the house. My children may visit and would log on to work.
I have 300 mbps internet speed subscribed.
Now, what would you recommend?
 
ssal

ssal

Active Member
I generally browsed what's available and seem there is a wide range of price variance.
What's the difference between a $300 and a $60 router for what I need?
 
ssal

ssal

Active Member
I see that the big difference is the speed of transfer. The TP-Link Archer A8, at $60, transfer up to 1900 Mb/s. The Synology RT6600 AX6600, at $300, is 6600 Mb/s.


The main selling point of high price ($300) and low price ($60) router seems to be in transfer speed.

The TP-Link Archer A8, at $60, transfer up to 1900 Mb/s. The Synology RT6600 AX6600, at $300, is 6600 Mb/s.

If that is the selling point, can the 300 Mb/s band width I subscribed take advantage of it? My layman perception is, the 1900 Mb/s threshold is much bigger than my subscribed bandwidth, 6600 is just an unnecessary overkill. Is it correct?

I got closed to 300 Mb/s with my wired desktop. My laptop, thru WiFi, got 30-50 Mb/s. If two devices are downloading together, it would use 60-100 Mb/s, right? So the 1600 should be able to handle 10 devices downloading together?

I'd just checked the speed of the Sagemcon router's speed. It's only 50 Mb/s. Is the speed limitation the culprit of all my problem? If so, I should get noticeable improvement with a router with 1900 Mb/s transfer rate?
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Your existing crappy router is the cause of the slow speed. I only recommended a couple higher priced ones because you sa8d you have a 3000sf house. The cheaper ones might not reach that far. How far away are you from the router usually? If using an AC router you should expect at least half the 300mb speed if you are close to it. An AX router should get you even closer to your max speed.
 
ssal

ssal

Active Member
johnb35 said:
Your existing crappy router is the cause of the slow speed. I only recommended a couple higher priced ones because you sa8d you have a 3000sf house. The cheaper ones might not reach that far. How far away are you from the router usually? If using an AC router you should expect at least half the 300mb speed if you are close to it. An AX router should get you even closer to your max speed.
Click to expand...
My router is at the far corner of the upstair bedroom (study). My laptop, and most of our activities is about 25 ft across and 10 ft down in our family room. Even with the Sagemcon, I don't have problem with the 2.4 Ghz. I also have an AC extender about 10 ft away. The 5 Ghz works well from the extender.

Do you think a "TP-Link Archer A8 AC1900 Wireless Dual-Band Gigabit Router" would work for my setup?
 
Darren

Darren

Moderator
Staff member
Router placement makes a massive difference in signal propagation. In the corner of an office probably isn't ideal in a larger multi story home, although being upstairs is good at least since WiFi radio waves travel out and down for the most part rather than up.
 
ssal

ssal

Active Member
Darren said:
Router placement makes a massive difference in signal propagation. In the corner of an office probably isn't ideal in a larger multi story home, although being upstairs is good at least since WiFi radio waves travel out and down for the most part rather than up.
Click to expand...
The upstairs corner bedroom was my active office 30 years ago. I have my desktop there where I do most of my serious work. Back then there was no wifi, so the location of the router never came into consideration. Even now, I do my banking and serious stuff there. My desktop is wired to the router.
 
ssal

ssal

Active Member
The TP-Link AC1900 works very well. I am now getting close to 100 Mb/s on my wifi devices. The app to set up is marvelously easy.

I am a happy camper. Not bad for a $55 investment.
 
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