trying to find best wifi router for these needs…any ideas?
July 26th, 2016
we live in 1100 sq foot apt
use tablets and cell phones
use laptops
do not use games or play games
strictly google chrome and downloading 1-2gb files.
any ideas what will be fastest for browsing and downloads and cell phones?
thanks to all who help im trying to learn here and have done a lot of research just dont know where to turn with every option out there..
TIA
Is the apartment on one floor, are there many walls, and how thick are they (eg. double brick or just plasterboard).
Do you intend streaming HD videos across to devices ?
Fastest browsing etc using Wifi, you have to go the 11ac route – possibly expensive depending what you have to change.
Are the cell phones capable of 11ac ? or are they 11N and backwards?
I’m using a Netgear Nighthawk (R7000) at home at the moment, and the transfer speeds on 5GHz are almost on par with Ethernet – about 80-90% especially with beamforming. Saying that, I love testing gadgets at home. 1100 square foot is about the size of 2/3 the ground floor of our house, that is why I asked about walls etc, 11N 450 Meg may be the option for you.
thanks for the feedback
the devices we have are LG G2 phones (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), a Lenovo Horizon and Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro dont mind changing the wifi cards
do NOT intend on streaming HD Videos across devices
Apt is on one floor only. Walls are normal apartment walls nothing serious.
THANKS SO MUCH for the feedback…
I’d say a dual-band N router would do!
I recommend this one:
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WDR4300-Wireless-Gigabit-300Mbps/dp/B0088CJT4U/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1
Do keep in mind however that having a good router is not all it takes to have a good wireless signal!
Positioning is key. For best results, It should be placed in an open area at the center of the house (And not in a specific room) Clearly, This means you might have to re-locate your ISP provided modem/router too, Which could be an issue if you don’t have the required wall socket at the location (But a specialist can add it for you, For a fee!) Also, There are different ways to connect and configure a modem to a router and a router to a router! It all depends on which one you currently have. If in doubt, Google the particular model.
Here’s a basic how-to:
Modem>Router
—————–
Connect the modem to the router via Ethernet (Modem>WAN port of the router)
Use another Ethernet cable to connect the router directly to your laptop (Needed for initial configuration) Do keep in mind that router’s generally come only with a single Ethernet cable, So you may need to purchase an additional one if you don’t have any others! Anyways, You now need to determine the router’s IP address so you could access it’s configuration interface from your browser:
Step1: If you’re using Vista+, Click on the start menu and type cmd into the search box, Once found, Right click it and choose “Run as administrator”, If XP, Then press Winkey+R, type cmd and hit enter (Winkey is the key that has the Windows logo on it, Usually near Alt) Step2: Type the following command and hit enter:
ipconfig /all
default gateway = Router IP.
Step3: Open up your browser (Firefox/Chrome/Internet Explorer or whatever) Type in that IP address into it’s address bar and hit enter. You’ll now be displayed with a user/password prompt.
The default ones should be listed on that prompt (Usually it’s admin/admin or admin/1234) but if in doubt, Just refer to your router’s manual. From there you could configure the wireless settings and such (Better change the default admin password as well)
Router1 (ISP)>Router2 (New)
———————————
Access your ISP router’s configuration page (As already explained above) and disable the wireless. Also, While you’re running ipconfig, Write down the IP address (You’ll understand why in a bit!). Anyways, Now make the physical connection between the two (This is a slightly different situation so the connection is not the same as above, It’s Router1 (ISP)>Router2 (New) on the LAN port and not WAN!) Now as before, You’ll have to connect your laptop directly to the new router for the initial configuration. Since it’s a router>router connection and not a modem>router, There a few extra things to configure this time! You’ll have to disable DHCP and change the router’s IP address from 192.168.1.1 to something else (That’s in the same range as your ISP router) For example, If your main router uses the 192.168.1.1-255 range, Then have it set to 192.168.1.101, This is required so it wouldn’t clash with the default gateway of your main router, As well for the configuration page of the 2nd router to be accessible network-wide. By connecting both routers this way, The 2nd one (new) will work more like an access point than a router! It’d get it’s DHCP from the main one, And any port forwarding should be done from the main (ISP) router if needed. Good luck!
As Roberto has said wireless N will probably be good enough, however I would suggest getting one capable of 450 Meg (n4500) dual band, but the 300 Meg (or 300/450 as above) would do you also if you use the 5GHz band (less congestion in built up areas)
The Netgear N900 is pretty good, however can be expensive (around �100 new), shame as I have an old one in the cupboard, will have to put it on ebay, but I used that for ages and it was good, just wouldn’t reach a couple of top rooms very well.
I don’t know what your set up is at the moment, but cascading it (as Roberto has kindly provided the info above) is easy. If you can get a static IP from your internet provider, it may be possible to “bridge” your existing router/modem or use a simple modem instead. However, not sure what connection you already have )or are planning to get), eg. cable, adsl, adsl2+ Annex A/M,* forgot VDSL, etc.
If you have adsl2+ (Annex A or M) the first router MUST be connected to the phone line as near as possible using the shortest cable. You can then position the second, which provides the wireless signal in the best position – you can use any length ethernet cable, I would suggest using Cat6, (or 5e) which are relatively cheap.
Here’s an example of my set up at Home…
Static IP (adsl2+ Annex A) > Draytek Vigor 120 Modem (connected to phone line via socket with filtered faceplate) > Netgear R7000 11ac Router (centre of house) > 24 port gigabit managed switch > wired Ethernet connected all around house + wireless.
Good luck also, anyone here will always help