Good N or AC wireless router for 800 sq ft condo

[leftisthominid]

I currently have a WNR3500L router which is getting less and less reliable, and I've been meaning to replace for months.

I am looking for a good N or AC replacement, and I would probably max out around $75.
AC vs. AC is not a big deal for me, because other than my phone everything I have is N.


I am looking for something that:
-has a bandwidth monitor built-in like my current model, so I can figure out up-to-the-moment data usage (if it could track usage by MAC address that would be a plus).
-is not a D-Link. My parents have a D-Link, and I have a D-Link acting as a switch/access point, and the firmware is not the most user friendly
-has at least four gigabit ethernet ports.

Does anyone have any suggestions

 

[bill001g]

Pretty much any major brand router would meet most your requirements.

Bandwidth monitor is not a real common feature. Asus tends to have more features but you will need to look at their manual to be sure. The best options is to buy a device you can load third party firmware like dd-wrt on it. The third party firmware tends to have the most advanced features. To get detailed tracking though you will need a external machine to collect the data since a router can not store and produce reports without massive degrade of performance. Again you need to use third party firmware to be able to use feature like this.

 

[leftisthominid]

Except not all routers are reliable.

I am looking for specific model suggestions. My current router has a built-in bandwidth monitor. I am assuming that they are not that rare.

 

[Paul NZ]

The TP link modem I use isn't too bad the W8980.

Dual band / 4 GB ports. It's been pretty reliable so far.

I've got 2 printers, a windows phone, a 10.1 android tablet, 2 bluray players, an Xbox, 3 computers that connect to it

The computers, and the phone connect at 5 ghz the rest at 2.4

Pity about their drivers for their adapters tho lol

Is bandwidth monitor the same as bandwidth control? Wouldnt have a clue, but the W8980 has a bandwidth control option

 

[bill001g]

Trying to find reliable equipment in a consumer grade equipment is almost impossible. They change the internal parts even during a manufacturing run to keep the cost down Individuals opinions on how well something works for them is stupid to even consider....unless you see huge numbers complaining about exactly the same problems. Even the very best manufactures have equipment failures. Too many people write off a whole company because they get one bad product. These cheap consumer routers are not designed to last for years even though most do. They know in the consumer market people will upgrade routers just to brag to their friends they have the newest toys.

Pretty much you randomly pick and hope you do not get a hardware failure. Your only other option is to buy a commercial router like cisco or juniper. Those devices tend to still work perfectly fine even when they are so old the only value they have is the scrap metal. You will pay 3 to 4 times as much but the device will be running likely 10 years from now.