[SOLVED] Help with router choice.

[thane108]

I'm on Spectrum (200 mbps) and have the Sagemcom Fast5260 router (came free).

I'm running 4 Sonos speakers (with Boost) 3 laptops, 2 phones, and an Ethernet wired gaming computer.

I'm having issues with Sonos dropping out - which I surmise is caused by overwhelming the wifi - and weak wifi on my back patio.

So I'm looking at purchasing a new router - and I'm willing to spend the $300 or so to solve the issues.

But, every highly reviewed router that I check out on Amazon has a large percentage negative ratings (8% to 15%) "1" ratings - they get trashed by lots of reviewers.

Makes me wary. Any suggestions for routers that can handle a heavy load with good long-range coverage would be appreciated.

I'm looking at the following, but am open to other suggestions:

Asus RT-AC68U - 8% 1
Netgear R9000 - 12% 1
Netgear RAX40 - 15% 1
Netgear R7000 - 11% 1
Netgear AC2600 - 9% 1

 

[davidgirgis]

Router and Access Point(s).

 

[bill001g]

The problem with any router reviews or even testing sites is it all means nothing since your house and how it is constructed is much more important. Someone with a solid concrete walls is going to have far different results that someone who has a house with a open floor plan. In addition the router is only 1/2 the connection. Most issues are a results of the end device not the router.

Even recommendation you see on this forum are not much better. People seldom tell why they recommend, like many amazon reviews you see worthless "works good for me"

So pretty much you are going to have to buy based on other factors. The only review things to really consider is if you see people complaining that the router failed or crashed or some other bad hard/software thing.

Coverage in general is the same on every router. Almost every router transmits at the full legal power. In addition internally many routers are exactly the same even when they have different names on the outside. Almost all wiif chips are main by companies like mediatek or broadcom but you will not find a router made by either.

Replacing a router to get better coverage seldom works. In most cases you need a second radio source. So if you want better outside coverage mount a AP or router running as a AP outside.

 

[thane108]

The problem with any router reviews or even testing sites is it all means nothing since your house and how it is constructed is much more important. Someone with a solid concrete walls is going to have far different results that someone who has a house with a open floor plan. In addition the router is only 1/2 the connection. Most issues are a results of the end device not the router.

Even recommendation you see on this forum are not much better. People seldom tell why they recommend, like many amazon reviews you see worthless "works good for me"

So pretty much you are going to have to buy based on other factors. The only review things to really consider is if you see people complaining that the router failed or crashed or some other bad hard/software thing.

Coverage in general is the same on every router. Almost every router transmits at the full legal power. In addition internally many routers are exactly the same even when they have different names on the outside. Almost all wiif chips are main by companies like mediatek or broadcom but you will not find a router made by either.

Replacing a router to get better coverage seldom works. In most cases you need a second radio source. So if you want better outside coverage mount a AP or router running as a AP outside.

Thanks - but please explain that if there are few differences between routers, some state different coverage areas and others state different maximum number of devices. Is that just PR?

 

[bill001g]

Mostly pr you will notice there they have no technical data at all to back it up just non technical words. Engineers talk db levels, signal noise ratios etc etc. This is like the lie that everyone knows ...."unlimited" or even "4G" on cell networks.

The key here to remember is the signal levels are limited by government. If you read the reports...which are massively confusing...they must submit to the FCC almost every router you find will have a output power in the 28-29 range. The legal maximum is 30.

Now there likely is some technical limit on the number of devices but that number is actually fairly useless. The number of users that you can run say running maximum rate bit torrent is far different than users who are running simple web browsers and not watch say youtube or something.

What generally will find is all routers from major manufacture that have similar data rates...ie numbers like 1200,1450,1700...will be more or less the same. Now this is mostly for 802.11ac stuff it is has been on the market for a long time. wifi6 stuff is still fairly new and there are still bugs they are fixing. Problem is this is changing so fast you can not find good data on what exact chipset are having issues. Then again I would not buy wifi6 since wifi6e is soon to market and will have much much more bandwidth.

 

[thane108]

Mostly pr you will notice there they have no technical data at all to back it up just non technical words. Engineers talk db levels, signal noise ratios etc etc. This is like the lie that everyone knows ...."unlimited" or even "4G" on cell networks.

The key here to remember is the signal levels are limited by government. If you read the reports...which are massively confusing...they must submit to the FCC almost every router you find will have a output power in the 28-29 range. The legal maximum is 30.

Now there likely is some technical limit on the number of devices but that number is actually fairly useless. The number of users that you can run say running maximum rate bit torrent is far different than users who are running simple web browsers and not watch say youtube or something.

What generally will find is all routers from major manufacture that have similar data rates...ie numbers like 1200,1450,1700...will be more or less the same. Now this is mostly for 802.11ac stuff it is has been on the market for a long time. wifi6 stuff is still fairly new and there are still bugs they are fixing. Problem is this is changing so fast you can not find good data on what exact chipset are having issues. Then again I would not buy wifi6 since wifi6e is soon to market and will have much much more bandwidth.

I received and installed my Netgear XR500 - and it makes a huge difference. Lag is reduced by about 15%, and signal strength on back lanai went from weak to strong, and Sonos is working without issues.

Bottom line, at least in my case, big difference between the new router and the one supplied by Spectrum.