Asus RT-N12 vs TP-Link WR1043ND?

[AgentSmith88]

Hey guys, I need to buy a new router for my parents' network. They do not need something top of the line, the range of the router is the major concern. They have a Linksys WRT54GL now, so I hope the new one has a better range.

I have narrowed down the choices to Asus RT-N12 and TP-link WR1043ND? Which one should I buy? If you think there is a better choice in this price range than these two, I would appreciate your input.

 

[bill001g]

They appear very similar the tp-link i guess has gig ports which may or may not matter. Software wise you don't care since both can load third party firmware. In general the asus stock firmware is very nice though. Not sure why the tplink has 3 antenna is does not support 3x3 mimo since it only goes to 300 and 450.

Range is a matter of transmit power and all routers transmit at the legal maximum. The reason you see so much variation in the recommendations suspect is mostly because peoples houses vary so much. I would bet these 2 routers will have very similar range.

If you still have range issue you can replace the antenna on both these routers very inexpensively. It will make a difference but in general if you issue is the walls absorbing the signal the walls seem to always win.

 

[AgentSmith88]

They appear very similar the tp-link i guess has gig ports which may or may not matter. Software wise you don't care since both can load third party firmware. In general the asus stock firmware is very nice though. Not sure why the tplink has 3 antenna is does not support 3x3 mimo since it only goes to 300 and 450.

Range is a matter of transmit power and all routers transmit at the legal maximum. The reason you see so much variation in the recommendations suspect is mostly because peoples houses vary so much. I would bet these 2 routers will have very similar range.

If you still have range issue you can replace the antenna on both these routers very inexpensively. It will make a difference but in general if you issue is the walls absorbing the signal the walls seem to always win.

Thanks a lot for your extensive answer, bill001g! You actually covered even most of my future questions. I was going to ask about replacing the antennas, DD-WRT and stuff.

So, I cannot really go wrong with any of the two. Even if they have worse range that the old router, I can easily turn one of them into a repeater, although losing the N speeds because of the WRT54GL.

In this line of thought, may I ask for your opinion on powerline for home network? I have no real choice where to place my routers, and even if I use repeater/bridge, the closest place where I can put the second router gets only one bar and slow speed. I am hoping this might change with the new N router, but if it does not, would a powerline do the job?

 

[bill001g]

Powerline in general works very well.....BUT for some people it does not work at all. Almost impossible to predict. The simpler the path between the units over the power in the house the better it works. Best is to be on the same circuit breaker but it does work on many other combinations.