- Sep 4, 2011
- 25
- 1
- 18,530
Hi,
We have a Netgear X8 R8500 AC5300 router. It’s a little over 3.5 years old and starting to show signs of struggling (specifics below). I was previously thinking of waiting till fall and trying to invest in a Wi-Fi 6 (AX) router because the final specs of the new technology was supposed to be finalized/ratified by then but now I’m hearing that the new specifications won’t be ratified until sometime late in 2020. It feels a little early to be spending $400 on a router that isn’t guaranteed to work with the new spec (even if the manufactures do “guarantee” their WiFi 6 routers will work, how do you hold them to that when the return window is long since closed?). Having said that I know we have a fairly higher spec’d router and don’t really want to go backwards to something slower. And I don’t think that I can limp through with the router we have for another year or even 18 months (till WiFi 6 is ratified). I also think that I may see improvement with a router with SQM or something similar as my current internet service has a very lopsided up/down ratio (250/10). I hope to switch provider to a symmetrical gigabit but in the event that doesn’t work out, I think I need the SQM for bufferbloat. I did multiple test on DSLReports and got “D”s on the bufferbloat section.
What would you do? Would you look for a deal on a $150-200 router that you'd plan on using in 2 years? Would you try to keep rebooting/dealing with the current router? I’m not sure that’s practical or that it will make it that long. Would you take the risk on a WiFi 6 router now? I’ve heard that Netgear didn’t fully keep their promises on bringing features that were advertised but not included at launch online later but this was from online posts so I don’t have first hand info. I saw that Costco has a number of sales on routers that are possibilities - the TP-Link Archer C4000 is at $135, the Netgear X6S is $149, and their WiFi 6 AX8 is $220 (though not universally good reviews). I’m also intrigued with routers like the Asus AC88U (until the AX version will for sure have the final WF6 specs) because of the Asus-WRT interface and features (which should also give SQM), though it’s a dual not tri-band router. I’m trying to compare specs with what we have now and the processors are faster/powerful/more cores but the stated speed of the bands is slower. I don’t know how this works out in real world usage.
Here are some specific questions:
Are current AC routers like those mentioned going to perform faster or slower than what I have (given that the processor is better in the new ones but the stated speed capabilities are lower)? Our X8 is AC5300 and the others are AC3200, 4000, etc. Given the release date of our X8 router, it’s likely AC Wave 2.
Does having 3 bands actually help with speeds and stability w/a lot of devices connected being able to spread them across two 5ghz bands as compared to having just a 2.4ghz & 5ghz dual band in real world usage?
Will a WiFi 6 router have any benefits now (w/o WiFi6 clients)? I’ve read of people seeing improvements in their signal/speed of their AC devices on the new routers.
I’m seeing some mixed thing about Ubiquiti hardwear & the future development of their platform. I think it has SCM but speeds are slower than other routers. I’m wondering what you think about this too.
What routers would you be looking at, at this point? The $220 AX8? Asus or TP-Link WiFi 6 or AC? What other?
Any thoughts or advice would be super helpful. Thanks so much in advance!
Network & Other Info:
Internet: Cable Internet (Docsis 3.1 modem) 250mbps down/10 up (though we’re trying to switch to a different provider w/ symmetrical gigabit but it’s not a certainty)
Devices: Usually around 50 devices connected to the router at any given time including smartphones, tablets, computers, printer, scanner, IoT/home automaton, media server, 4K/HDR streaming media boxes, tv, voice assistants, etc. It’s much more when individual products are counted (ie we have over 30 smart lights connected to a bridge, which is then just seen as 1 device to the router. With this in mind, it’s over 100 devices, but likely less than 150).
We use wired Ethernet when possible, otherwise connected via WiFi.
We stream a lot of music, podcasts, & video (much in 4K/HDR), and often 2 streams at a time.
We do need to have access to devices from outside the network. The current X8 comes w/ one free dynamic DNS name for easy access in this situation w/o paying for a static IP.
Our apartment is a little over 800sf. Even in that small of a place w/ a router that says it will cover 5000 sf, we have no WiFi signal in the bathroom. It’s maybe 25ft from the router.
Router issues:
My iPhone won’t connect to our router most of the time while it connects immediately to other routers in the building (like Xfinity hotspot). Rebooting it sometimes works.
iPad is sluggish
Streaming video will break up and buffer
Sometimes router will just stop putting data through altogether (though the status lights continue like there isn’t any problem). Occasionally, it will be just the WiFi or the Wired data affected. This has happened multiple times while traveling for long periods which is a pain since we lose all access to our home server and can’t easily reboot/resolve.
The Nighthawk app can’t pull up any of the devices connected or complete a speedtest.
We have a Netgear X8 R8500 AC5300 router. It’s a little over 3.5 years old and starting to show signs of struggling (specifics below). I was previously thinking of waiting till fall and trying to invest in a Wi-Fi 6 (AX) router because the final specs of the new technology was supposed to be finalized/ratified by then but now I’m hearing that the new specifications won’t be ratified until sometime late in 2020. It feels a little early to be spending $400 on a router that isn’t guaranteed to work with the new spec (even if the manufactures do “guarantee” their WiFi 6 routers will work, how do you hold them to that when the return window is long since closed?). Having said that I know we have a fairly higher spec’d router and don’t really want to go backwards to something slower. And I don’t think that I can limp through with the router we have for another year or even 18 months (till WiFi 6 is ratified). I also think that I may see improvement with a router with SQM or something similar as my current internet service has a very lopsided up/down ratio (250/10). I hope to switch provider to a symmetrical gigabit but in the event that doesn’t work out, I think I need the SQM for bufferbloat. I did multiple test on DSLReports and got “D”s on the bufferbloat section.
What would you do? Would you look for a deal on a $150-200 router that you'd plan on using in 2 years? Would you try to keep rebooting/dealing with the current router? I’m not sure that’s practical or that it will make it that long. Would you take the risk on a WiFi 6 router now? I’ve heard that Netgear didn’t fully keep their promises on bringing features that were advertised but not included at launch online later but this was from online posts so I don’t have first hand info. I saw that Costco has a number of sales on routers that are possibilities - the TP-Link Archer C4000 is at $135, the Netgear X6S is $149, and their WiFi 6 AX8 is $220 (though not universally good reviews). I’m also intrigued with routers like the Asus AC88U (until the AX version will for sure have the final WF6 specs) because of the Asus-WRT interface and features (which should also give SQM), though it’s a dual not tri-band router. I’m trying to compare specs with what we have now and the processors are faster/powerful/more cores but the stated speed of the bands is slower. I don’t know how this works out in real world usage.
Here are some specific questions:
Are current AC routers like those mentioned going to perform faster or slower than what I have (given that the processor is better in the new ones but the stated speed capabilities are lower)? Our X8 is AC5300 and the others are AC3200, 4000, etc. Given the release date of our X8 router, it’s likely AC Wave 2.
Does having 3 bands actually help with speeds and stability w/a lot of devices connected being able to spread them across two 5ghz bands as compared to having just a 2.4ghz & 5ghz dual band in real world usage?
Will a WiFi 6 router have any benefits now (w/o WiFi6 clients)? I’ve read of people seeing improvements in their signal/speed of their AC devices on the new routers.
I’m seeing some mixed thing about Ubiquiti hardwear & the future development of their platform. I think it has SCM but speeds are slower than other routers. I’m wondering what you think about this too.
What routers would you be looking at, at this point? The $220 AX8? Asus or TP-Link WiFi 6 or AC? What other?
Any thoughts or advice would be super helpful. Thanks so much in advance!
Network & Other Info:
Internet: Cable Internet (Docsis 3.1 modem) 250mbps down/10 up (though we’re trying to switch to a different provider w/ symmetrical gigabit but it’s not a certainty)
Devices: Usually around 50 devices connected to the router at any given time including smartphones, tablets, computers, printer, scanner, IoT/home automaton, media server, 4K/HDR streaming media boxes, tv, voice assistants, etc. It’s much more when individual products are counted (ie we have over 30 smart lights connected to a bridge, which is then just seen as 1 device to the router. With this in mind, it’s over 100 devices, but likely less than 150).
We use wired Ethernet when possible, otherwise connected via WiFi.
We stream a lot of music, podcasts, & video (much in 4K/HDR), and often 2 streams at a time.
We do need to have access to devices from outside the network. The current X8 comes w/ one free dynamic DNS name for easy access in this situation w/o paying for a static IP.
Our apartment is a little over 800sf. Even in that small of a place w/ a router that says it will cover 5000 sf, we have no WiFi signal in the bathroom. It’s maybe 25ft from the router.
Router issues:
My iPhone won’t connect to our router most of the time while it connects immediately to other routers in the building (like Xfinity hotspot). Rebooting it sometimes works.
iPad is sluggish
Streaming video will break up and buffer
Sometimes router will just stop putting data through altogether (though the status lights continue like there isn’t any problem). Occasionally, it will be just the WiFi or the Wired data affected. This has happened multiple times while traveling for long periods which is a pain since we lose all access to our home server and can’t easily reboot/resolve.
The Nighthawk app can’t pull up any of the devices connected or complete a speedtest.
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