Best WIfi Router

[lolman86]

Dear people, this question is probably asked on this website a lot but whatever. The question I wanted to ask was which is the best wifi router to get for my family. I live with 4 people including me. I game a whole lot and the other stream/ watch and do other things to. I don't really have a budget i just want a good router that can handle my gaming and family's streaming. Please Help and Thanks.

 

[tsnor]

You want a router that supports 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac where the "ac" part is the important part. 'AC' is the mainstream best protocol for 5ghz wireless

You want a router that has "simultaneous dual band" with 5ghz and 2.4 ghz. 2.4 ghz talks to older devices and punches through walls better. 5ghz is faster. Simultaneous means the router can talk to both bands at the same time so older and farther devices can talk 2.4 while newer talk and closer devices talk 5 ghz

You can pick one from the following lists, or google "rest router 2017"
https://www.lifewire.com/best-wireless-routers-4038590
https://www.cnet.com/topics/networking/best-networking-devices/
https://10beasts.com/best-wireless-routers/

MAke sure reviews are good on amazon or newegg for any router you buy, some with good specs are terrible.

Good luck.

 

[Karadjgne]

There's 5ppl in my house, using an Asus RT-N66U 900 without issue on a/b/g/n. That includes the TV for Netflix, several apple products (bandwidth hogs) 2x pc's and a few androids. From everything I've experienced, it's more in the number that makes a fast router. You'll find plenty of cheap '300s' and some 600's, but on a/b/g/n the 900 is king. Of course the AC routers go 1300 etc.

I've had linksys, d-link, netgear and all were either out of compliance with the isp or just died after a year(ish). The Asus was twice as expensive, but after 6 years is still hassle free. I'll never buy budget brands again.

 

[nigelivey]

In reality most of the issues will depend on your actual bandwidth from your ISP. Streaming sites will do their best to use all available bandwidth! Please also be aware the figures stated above are maximum theoretic throughputs duplex (TX and RX) in effect you will lose some as overhead and then half it!

 

[samer.forums]

There's 5ppl in my house, using an Asus RT-N66U 900 without issue on a/b/g/n. That includes the TV for Netflix, several apple products (bandwidth hogs) 2x pc's and a few androids. From everything I've experienced, it's more in the number that makes a fast router. You'll find plenty of cheap '300s' and some 600's, but on a/b/g/n the 900 is king. Of course the AC routers go 1300 etc.

I've had linksys, d-link, netgear and all were either out of compliance with the isp or just died after a year(ish). The Asus was twice as expensive, but after 6 years is still hassle free. I'll never buy budget brands again.

How about the Range ? how good is ASUS for Signal strength and range ?

 

[nigelivey]

There's 5ppl in my house, using an Asus RT-N66U 900 without issue on a/b/g/n. That includes the TV for Netflix, several apple products (bandwidth hogs) 2x pc's and a few androids. From everything I've experienced, it's more in the number that makes a fast router. You'll find plenty of cheap '300s' and some 600's, but on a/b/g/n the 900 is king. Of course the AC routers go 1300 etc.

I've had linksys, d-link, netgear and all were either out of compliance with the isp or just died after a year(ish). The Asus was twice as expensive, but after 6 years is still hassle free. I'll never buy budget brands again.

How about the Range ? how good is ASUS for Signal strength and range ?

Range is dependent on interference and obstacles, the power is set at 1Watt depending what region you live in so isn't really a factor.

 

[nigelivey]

In a clear environment it is not a factor you can not change the power output it's set by law. If you thing differently you are believing the marketing hype. The only factor will be the antenna and power on your host machine not the base station. Wireless 101.

 

[nigelivey]

In a clear environment it is not a factor you can not change the power output it's set by law. If you thing differently you are believing the marketing hype. The only factor will be the antenna and power on your host machine not the base station. Wireless 101.

look for reviews about wifi range .. not all devices are the same.

samer.forums, I'm going to leave it here as you clearly are not listening. You can look at all the reviews you want, a fully powered AP is the same across the board.

 

[bill001g]

In a clear environment it is not a factor you can not change the power output it's set by law. If you thing differently you are believing the marketing hype. The only factor will be the antenna and power on your host machine not the base station. Wireless 101.

look for reviews about wifi range .. not all devices are the same.

samer.forums, I'm going to leave it here as you clearly are not listening. You can look at all the reviews you want, a fully powered AP is the same across the board.

Prove it. show me reviews that says all wifi routers have the same range.

The proof is pretty easy but you will not believe it because you don't want to. Most reviews are not truly scientific...especially idiot end consumers reviews. Even more professional reviewers test in the persons house who writes the articles. They have no way to control many variables that will affect wifi. Even if they controlled all the conditions there is no scientific way to infer that test results in one environment will transfer to the other.

So here is your proof but I am sure you want easy simple answers so you will not spend the time to read these reports.
To get a FCC license to sell your product you must submit test results that follow a extremely strictly defined testing method.

Here is a example router all you need is the fcc id.

https://fcc.io/TE7/C7V4

Now if all you want are reviews I can give you one...my router is best because it has really pointy antenna that work best when I stick them in my eye.

 

[Karadjgne]

My 3-antenna Asus sits inside the closet under the stairs in the middle of the house. This phone is set on the 5GHz band and I have no issues with signal strength outside, end if the driveway, in the garage, upstairs etc while the wife watches Netflix on the TV which is also on the 5GHz band. The rest of the house shares the 2.4GHz band. Basically range isn't an issue for me and my local wifi, but I'm sure someone wanting to try and jump the signal will have to come on my property to do so.

In the end, you basically get what you pay for. Cheap out and buy a budget 300 and you'll not get much out of it as it doesn't have the bandwidth capacity to handle multiple traffic, especially on bandwidth hogs like Apple products, iPhone etc. They don't reduce capable range as much as you just don't get crap out if them.

 

[nigelivey]

In a clear environment it is not a factor you can not change the power output it's set by law. If you thing differently you are believing the marketing hype. The only factor will be the antenna and power on your host machine not the base station. Wireless 101.

look for reviews about wifi range .. not all devices are the same.

samer.forums, I'm going to leave it here as you clearly are not listening. You can look at all the reviews you want, a fully powered AP is the same across the board.

Prove it. show me reviews that says all wifi routers have the same range.

The proof is pretty easy but you will not believe it because you don't want to. Most reviews are not truly scientific...especially idiot end consumers reviews. Even more professional reviewers test in the persons house who writes the articles. They have no way to control many variables that will affect wifi. Even if they controlled all the conditions there is no scientific way to infer that test results in one environment will transfer to the other.

So here is your proof but I am sure you want easy simple answers so you will not spend the time to read these reports.
To get a FCC license to sell your product you must submit test results that follow a extremely strictly defined testing method.

Here is a example router all you need is the fcc id.

https://fcc.io/TE7/C7V4

Now if all you want are reviews I can give you one...my router is best because it has really pointy antenna that work best when I stick them in my eye.

here is a tomshardware Range/Bandwidth chart as an examle

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-wifi-routers,review-2498.html

and here is CNET too , Bandwidth and range charts

http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/asus-rt-ac5300-performance-and-verdict-page-2

as you can see not all routers are the same at the same range .. some have strong signal and some dont.

you can see more reviews as you wish.

I think you want to re-read bill001g's post above, there is nothing scientific about the reviews you have posted, if you don't want to deal in facts and reality you are welcome to the fictional world these reviews belong in. Your understanding of RF power values, the different effects of antenna, SNR etc is lacking at best. But carry on, little bit of proper science below for you to look at. MODERATOR TO CLOSE THREAD I WOULD SUGGEST.

 

[nigelivey]

In a clear environment it is not a factor you can not change the power output it's set by law. If you thing differently you are believing the marketing hype. The only factor will be the antenna and power on your host machine not the base station. Wireless 101.

look for reviews about wifi range .. not all devices are the same.

samer.forums, I'm going to leave it here as you clearly are not listening. You can look at all the reviews you want, a fully powered AP is the same across the board.

Prove it. show me reviews that says all wifi routers have the same range.

The proof is pretty easy but you will not believe it because you don't want to. Most reviews are not truly scientific...especially idiot end consumers reviews. Even more professional reviewers test in the persons house who writes the articles. They have no way to control many variables that will affect wifi. Even if they controlled all the conditions there is no scientific way to infer that test results in one environment will transfer to the other.

So here is your proof but I am sure you want easy simple answers so you will not spend the time to read these reports.
To get a FCC license to sell your product you must submit test results that follow a extremely strictly defined testing method.

Here is a example router all you need is the fcc id.

https://fcc.io/TE7/C7V4

Now if all you want are reviews I can give you one...my router is best because it has really pointy antenna that work best when I stick them in my eye.

here is a tomshardware Range/Bandwidth chart as an examle

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-wifi-routers,review-2498.html

and here is CNET too , Bandwidth and range charts

http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/asus-rt-ac5300-performance-and-verdict-page-2

as you can see not all routers are the same at the same range .. some have strong signal and some dont.

you can see more reviews as you wish.

I think you want to re-read bill001g's post above, there is nothing scientific about the reviews you have posted, if you don't want to deal in facts and reality you are welcome to the fictional world these reviews belong in. Your understanding of RF power values, the different effects of antenna, SNR etc is lacking at best. But carry on, little bit of proper science below for you to look at. MODERATOR TO CLOSE THREAD I WOULD SUGGEST.

I showed you proof and you show me a formula ?

Formulas are paper works , the Design of the Router changes alot of things..

your Formula does not have a simulation numerical model of the effect of the Antenna design , nor the Material used , nor the chipset used , nor the firmware used and how good is the coding of the router....

your formula is lacking the REAL WORLD parameters.

no Engineer works like this.

and testing is for proving ANY scientific result in real life , actually testing > Formulas ... Formulas dont cover everything. when you test it and see different result you look for whats missing in your calculations , and there is also the ERROR ..

where is your ERROR formula that is related to the design of the router ? Nothing no ERROR formula.

From my previous post:

"In a clear environment it is not a factor you can not change the power output it's set by law. "

So unless your marketing reviews were conducted within a lead box, with no lighting I stand by my and bill001g's statement and you are just arguing with yourself now, slightly troll like. Science is science, those reviews you seem to be standing by are not conducted in clean room environments void of any mitigating factors. Did you even look at the defacto post by bill001g or are you now just trolling, none of them even talk about maximum range???? Stick to you comic book reviews you claim are proof, it doesn't alter the facts. They have proved that in the reviewers conditions one was better than the other, there is nothing empirical or scientific about it. Have a good day.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

@samer.forums & @nigelivey, I will only say this once. Knock off the off-topic bickering amongst yourselves and answer the question asked by the OP. Do NOT take the conversation off into the weeds as it has gone here. Any more of it and there will be sanctions levied.

 

[RealBeast]

@samer.forums & @nigelivey, I will only say this once. Knock off the off-topic bickering amongst yourselves and answer the question asked by the OP. Do NOT take the conversation off into the weeds as it has gone here. Any more of it and there will be sanctions levied.

This is the second thread in two days that samer.forums used the exact same nonsense graphics and disrupted a thread. Goodbye samer, we'll all miss your thread disruptions.

 

[tsnor]

@samer.forums & @nigelivey, I will only say this once. Knock off the off-topic bickering amongst yourselves and answer the question asked by the OP. Do NOT take the conversation off into the weeds as it has gone here. Any more of it and there will be sanctions levied.

This is the second thread in two days that samer.forums used the exact same nonsense graphics and disrupted a thread. Goodbye samer, we'll all miss your thread disruptions.

Guess you booted him. His posts are gone.

But seriously, he was technically correct in this thread, and his graphic were relevant. (I do wish people edited the posts they reply too, seeing pages of the same graphic many times was needless.)

If you ask your Toms Hardware technical experts they will agree that different routers handle range differently, and that some are better than others.

 

[Arivesa]

Your WiFi connection cannot improve of your actual net connection speed. Don't bark at the wrong tree.
New WiFi transfer protocolls are significantly faster, than anything you obtain from web, be it 4G or RJ 45 LAN.

 

[tsnor]

Your WiFi connection cannot improve of your actual net connection speed. Don't bark at the wrong tree.
New WiFi transfer protocolls are significantly faster, than anything you obtain from web, be it 4G or RJ 45 LAN.

Two limits, the ISP connection rate and the rate of the wireless connection in your house.

For people with lots of clutter between when the ISP connects and where the internet is used the wireless range is important. My wifi needs to get thru a refrigerator and a microwave and two walls and a fish tank to get to my server PC.

That is why they sell repeaters and why people buy them. And high gain antennae. And directional antennae.

For me, 5ghz is SLOWER than 2.4 even with 5 hz AC protocols in place (2.4 punches thru walls better than 5 ghz, and does better at long range) so for me "Don't bark at the wrong tree." is not really appropriate . For you it may well be that all your devices can connect in your dwelling at speeds faster than your ISP provides.