Need a new modem router

[burningpatch]

Hi there, I need a new modem router. I currently have the Netgear N300, which has done the job, except I THINK it is struggling a bit, but I may be wrong, so please feel free to correct me if I am thinking wrong. We have at any one time up to around 10 devices (Xbox, Playstation, multiple laptops, iPhones, iPads, etc.) connected which I think is a little hard for the modem to handle. On an added note, I think the range of the modem is starting to fatigue; 4 of those devices are at opposite ends of the house, roughly 12metres or more away from the modem, which I also think may be a problem. In an effort to resolve it, I was planning to buy the TP-Link Archer D7 AC1750 modem, but I would like clarification as to whether this purchase will resolve my issues.

Thanks in advance.

 

[boosted1g]

The C7 is a pretty decent router, although I have heard that the 2.4 does not work quite as far as other AC routers. It will absolutely help with resource issue as it will be a good step up in cpu/memory over your n300.

As far as helping range, if it does help range it likely will on wireless AC devices, but legacy N devices it wont help very much.
For your gaming consoles if running Ethernet is not an option then you might want to look at powerline Ethernet. At even 1 room away they will have less latency over wifi. Real world speed is abour 70-80 mbps which is likely better then devices 2-3 walls away are getting.

Now what leads you to believe it is the router struggling vs just being the internet connection?

 

[burningpatch]

Thanks for the response, that helped me alot. What leads me to believe it isn't a internet connection issues is that my speeds are still remaining stable, at around 27ping, 7d, 1u. They haven't declined, but what has declined, is my connectivity in the same place in the house, where at one stage I used to have a full connected in terms of the little bars, now, I get like 1-2/4 bars in the same place. This leads to random disconnecting at some points, not all that often, but somewhat frustrating when gaming, and all this disconnecting happens while other devices in the house, closer to the modem, remain connected and functioning fine.

 

[boosted1g]

I see.

Well first let me say the 'bars" in windows is about as accurate of a measurement as sticking your finger in your mouth and using the dampness to figure out the exact direction the wind is blowing.

If you download a program called ssider (search ssider free because the newest versions are not free anymore), or you can get wifi analyzer for android.
These programs will scan the RF environment in the wifi frequency bands and tell you what signal strength your network is, what channel it is, what the RF noise floor is, as well as the power and channel of all the other wifi networks in range.
With this tool you can go to the trouble areas and see if a neighbor's signal is on the same frequency channel and above -80 dbm which could be enough to cause issues.

If you have a large house (2000+ sqft OR 3 stories of any size) then you might want to distribute the wifi load throughout your house. If running Ethernet cable is not possible then use the powerline adapters as the backbone between routers. You will want to reconfigure the router as an access point, this will make it act as 1 large network instead of 2 separate ones. You can turn any router into an access point with a few configuration changes. You can make both have the same SSID network name, but most android devices and many windows laptops will be more unstable with this due to fluke spikes in the signal strength in WiFi signal.

 

[burningpatch]

http://postimg.org/image/os2rhjywn/
Here is a screenshot of what I am seeing from the ssider program. For your information, the other network which I covered up (neighbours) is over channels 1-7 (I think, if Im reading the graph correctly).

 

[boosted1g]

Wow, typically the channel will be 2-3 apart so they would use channel 1 and 3 or 1 & 4.
That neighbor is effectively using up 2 non-overlapping channels by himself.

Is these readings done at the far room?
64 dbm is not great but not bad if you are on the other end of the house.

Is the direct TV device you or a neighbor? Looks like an ad-hoc network (device to device, not device to router) connection. Might set your direct TV box(es) to turn off wireless if not using it, or set it to your wifi.

 

[burningpatch]

That device there is my wireless printer I believe. It is wirelessly connected to my internet network permanently. Not sure whether the connection showing up is the connection between the printer and the router, or my computer and the printer.

 

[burningpatch]

So here is what I was thinking. Leave the modem router as is in the study. Then, via two powerline adapters, and just a plain router, not a modem router, in my bedroom, plugged into the powerline adapter in my bedroom as an access point.
http://postimg.org/image/9n8qng9a7/

The only reason I was thinking of plugging a router into the powerline adapter is because I have a laptop, Xbox, Playstation, and iPhone in my room, and i dont know if there are powerline adapters with enough ethernet ports to support those above three devices. My iPhone doesn't struggle too much from the described range, but, I don't do an awful lot on it either.