Best Wireless Router For Small Business

[punahou1]

Hi all,

I need to upgrade the wireless router for my small business and am looking for hardware suggestions. Currently we have an older Netgear N-150 which does not have the flexibility I need. Here is what we need to connect:
-A mix primarily of Macs with just a few PC's, Tablets and phones that just need to access the internet.
-Approximately 15-25 connected devices at any given time.
-The need to create a guest account and an internal employee account
-One wireless shared printer
-My ISP is currently providing 16 megs down and 2 megs up. In the next few weeks they will be giving me 50 megs down.
-All connections are wireless with the exception of three that can be wired.
-The office is less than 2,000 square feet so I really do not need to bridge anything to cover the office.
-Everyone needs internet access. All servers are through a cloud based service.

Again, I'm just looking for Wireless Router suggestions and preferably from those who have the hardware up and running. Thank you in advance!

 

[RealBeast]

What is your budget limit?

With that many connections (15-25) you really should not be looking at consumer routers/APs.

 

[punahou1]

What is your budget limit?

With that many connections (15-25) you really should not be looking at consumer routers/APs.

Hi there: I forgot to mention that I did not want to down the path of a consumer wireless router, but I won't be spending more than $800 unless I really have to.

 

[RealBeast]

Do you want to use 2.4GHz only or both 2.4 and 5 GHz for your wireless?

 

[punahou1]

Do you want to use 2.4GHz only or both 2.4 and 5 GHz for your wireless?

Hi RealBeast - Yes I would prefer dual band. I understand that this will help to increase throughput by segregating the 2.4 users. Many thanks for asking!

 

[RealBeast]

You said that the office is 2000 sq ft, what shape and what are the walls made of and how many are there?

 

[punahou1]

You said that the office is 2000 sq ft, what shape and what are the walls made of and how many are there?

Connectivity is not an issue here. The cheap, existing, N-150 currently covers way beyond the 2,000 square footage. (We have a square open space with no walls yet I can still connect to the N-150 from a neighboring business through 1 layer of cement filled hollow tile and one steel reinforced plaster wall..).

 

[RealBeast]

It's hard to make a recommendation of this cost to someone using an N-150 currently, but I really think that you need a business class router. While I really like the Cisco 1941W, I think that it is too expensive and more than you need. I would suggest that you look at the DELL SONICWALL 01-SSC-4892 TZ 205. It has all the features that you could need, will handle your current needs and allow for growth, has both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless, and is half the price of the Cisco.

Take a look at some information on it over at DELL'S WEBSITE and call their support to discuss any questions that you may have.

 

[smitbret]

For the closest thing to commercial, you should probably look into a Ubiquiti system.

Ubnt.com

Rock solid and with an open space concept, you could throw it together with a couple of AP's and stay under budget.