New wireless router help

I'm in need of ANOTHER router. I've had a Cisco linksys ea4500 but it crapped out yesterday. I chatted with linksys today and they said I bought it on march 30 2013. Wth???? Not even a year ago. So I'm thinking about trying a different brand bc the linksys one I had before the ea4500 didn't last but a year and a half. So our home is a little over 1600 sq ft all one level. We have 2 iPhones, a tablet, laptop, wireless printer, and an xbox 360 that my bother who is on the other side of US play xbox live about every Friday night. Which brand or routers would you suggest that I can Atleast have a little while and not break in a year

 

Depending on the price range I would look at the ac68u and then the ac56u by Asus. They are ac routers but that is where the tech is going. For the price and style the ac56u is one of the best.0

 

Even though I don't have anything that uses the AC is it still ok to use. Not sure what the iPhones use

 

I am using a cheap Linksys E1200 with a ubiquiti access point http://www.ubnt.com/unifi It takes a little bit of know how to set everything up, but once it is done it is a rock solid setup with plenty of wifi coverage.

 

It's will default to N mode. I would use the 5GHz wifi for most of the devices if you can. There are not many devices yet that will utilize AC standard but it is ramping up. If you want cheaper the n56u is the previous version and it is considered one of the best routers in Taiwan where most all routers are developed.

 

I've had two Linksys/Cisco wireless routers take a shit on me.
Both the same problem... they route fine on the 4 local ports, but the WiFi takes a dump.
Scanner can see the SSID, everything looks good on the menu, but when trying to connect, the notebook just sits there "Waiting for network"

Finally ditched Cisco and went with a Belkin.
I have it set to automatically reboot every Tuesday at 3:30am and I haven't had a single problem with it in nearly 2 years.

 

5ghz drops off quickly though. I set my phone to prioritize the 5ghz connection, but when I go upstairs it drops it and picks up the 2.4

So I just use the 5ghz side to fuck with my neighbor... who always seems to have a lot of people coming and going.
My 5ghz SSID is DEA.xxx where xxx is some random number.
Every couple of weeks, I change the "xxx" and the channel it's on.

 

Haha lol. Have you had this problem with both the linksys and Belkin router? Yes 5GHz attenuates more. I can see it drop off for the design of linksys and depending on the Belkin router it could be the same.

 

Neither of the Linksys/Cisco had 5g.

 

Here is a good third party test lab for routers. You can change the class but this one is with the ac56u.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/rankers/router/ranking/AC1200?rank=6

 

I have an old Netgear W300N usb & an even older school D-Link PCI wireless card & routers of mine are of no concern since I bounce off my neighbors router......

 

Netgear N3700v3 here, seems to work fine but the 5gig wifi range is worthless. It's signal is about 1/2 of 2.4 gig..

 

Yeah the whole 5ghz is bullshit, i mean the capability is there obviously, but it's worthless without the corresponding software/firmware to support it, plus the increased cost just to maintain that bandwidth....not cost effective, not going to happen until enough minions get onboard with it, even then smart money says 5 g IS obtainable, but not sustainable..just my $.02

 

Yeah I don't know how or have never looked into changing settings on the router. When I get a new router I just install cd, plug router in set up wifi network name and I'm done. What else do I need to do? I'm i burning up my own router doing this or do I need to change some settings

 

I have a Asus n66u...thing is great. Stock firmware is easy to use and provides plenty of options. Then you can use third party firmware if you wanted. Setup is also super easy.

I had a Buffalo wzr-hp-g300nh which worked good too. The gui was a bit meh on it and you couldnt do as much as you can with the asus. Still it worked just fine i just replaced it.


As for the ac....meh not worth the extra money of the "n" gear. Especially if you are just using your router for internet mostly. Plus hardly anything uses it and even though it is becoming more popular....majority of peoples divces will still be N or wont really need the ac to begin with.

 

I guess you have back luck with Linksys. I bought an E3000 to replace my WRT54G, only because I need a gigabit speeds. My BEFSR41 before that was rock solid too.

 

A few things you should do when setting up your router but you aren't "burning" your router by not doing this:

Download a Innsider or similar program. They are free usually and check your local surrounding Wfi signals and set your router to a channel that has either a weak signal or none. This will help with co channel/adjacent channel interference.

Check and update to the latest FW. Most companies GUI's now have a check FW upgrade button. It is always good to have the newest FW.

Location, make sure you pick a spot that is not blocked by a TV or sitting on top of a metal stand etc. Also having a router in a first floor of a house if you have a 2 story house tends to yield better results as a good router usually radiates upwards and not down.

Those are some simple things you can do to help increase your router performance regardless of what one you get.

 

http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/detail.jsp?skuId=1208844&pid=1218234872989

Anybody know is this a good router or it's on the low end? I saw it in the sales paper today and was wondering

 

If you don't need gigabit speeds, it seems alright.

 

What is gigabit speed. Is it enough for online gaming without lagging and a device or two at the same time