[SOLVED] Need advice on replacing my router.

[chaosmachine420]

I need advice on a new router that looks like can connect possibly 18 to 25 devices wirelessly which most are going to be connecting on the 5 ghz side only a few that can only use the 2.4 ghz range. I have been looking already and have found these the Linksys EA9400 along with Netgear Nighthawk X6 AC-3000 locally.

I would like to know if they will be the best for around the price of 250 dollars or is there anything better possibly going up to 275 dollars?

 

[bill001g]

The number of devices is not as important as how much traffic they run. A router could connect say 100 of those silly color changing lights or fancy thermostats. It would handle far less users running 4k netflix video.

A tri band router gives you a second 5g radio but you could of course use 2 less cost normal routers using the second one as a AP. It is actually a better option to use 2 devices if you can locate the second to a different part of the house using a ethernet cable.

A tri band router though is not magic. It does a fairly poor job of balancing the users between the 2 5g bands. The way it works best if you use different SSID for each 5g radio and the 2.4g radio. Then you could configure the devices to connect where you the human know the traffic is best rather than the router and the end devices deciding.

They have way to many products for me to keep up with. Just be careful about buying features you do not need. The tplink you link has 8 ethernet ports which will increase the costs. Adding a 8 port switch to a less expensive router tends to be cheaper. Also the number of antenna you can see make very little difference. A router really only needs 4 maximum and even then because most end device only have 2 the extra are not used.

Also be very careful about chasing bigger numbers. Many of these routers are supporting features that are none standard just to get bigger numbers. For example many router support Qam1024. This is actually part of the wifi6 data encoding but some manufactures put it on the 802.11ac devices early. They are not compatible with wifi6 devices and almost no end device supports qam1024 on 802.11ac. The feature is just something they can print on the box to make the number bigger when in real life it runs no better than a lessor device.

Just read the fine print. I suspect the least expensive tri band router you can find will be as good as the most expensive. Stay with major brand names though.

Still If I had you situation I still might consider 2 $75 routers using the second as a AP.