Question What router to go with?

[random1986]

Hey all, so have a fairly limited budget but am looking at getting either of the routers below and am after some opinions and reasons as to which one.
1.
D-Link Taipan DSL-4320L Tri Band AC3200 ADSL2+/VDSL2 Wireless Modem Router

1. NetGear Nighthawk X4S D7800 Dual-Band Router
2. Linksys AC5400 Tri Band Wireless Router

This would be primarily for a PC using an ethernet connection 1 x smart TV streaming 4k on occasion, 1 x Desktop media pc for steaming / torrents etc, 1 x laptop, 1 x ipad and 2 x mobile phones. Of course not all would be streaming at once but could be potentially connected at the same time nonetheless. I also do a fair amount of file sharing between the PC connected to the ethernet port directly and the media PC and laptop.
Thanks!

 

[digitalgriffin]

I assume you mean the netgear R7800. There is no D7800

I bought 3 of them and they are rated a top buy. ROMs are still updated for security fixes. It's a good 4:4 router.

It supports HT160 which works with intel's wireless nics to get you over 1Gbps on 5GHz. It also supports DFS channels.

HOWEVER there is a reported glitch where WAN->LAN throughput will not exceed 340mbps on a single socket. (Likely a packet processing limitation)

Linksys makes nothing but junk now. They aren't updated and build quality is poor. A poor shadow of themselves from the Cisco days.

Edit: My bad. The D7800 does exists. I assume it's the same as the R7800 but with a built in modem.

 

[kanewolf]

If the D7800 is a modem/router combo, I wouldn't recommend it. Get a standalone modem approved by your ISP. Then you have a MUCH wider selection of routers, since they are just ethernet input only.

 

[bill001g]

Be sure you can use all the fancy features of these routers. Using them on DSL connections is like hooking a boat trailer to your race car.

 

[digitalgriffin]

Be sure you can use all the fancy features of these routers. Using them on DSL connections is like hooking a boat trailer to your race car.

While I tacitly agree with you, there are many factors in getting a router. Even though the WAN gateway may be ridiculously slow, there are still reasons to have a high speed network within the house. NAS/Streaming/Backup applications is one. My kids run PLEX on their tablets all the time. Plus there are other applications which allow you to store data to a Network store. (Steam for example, or HDHomeRun) I could also download youtube streams at high quality and save them locally from my favorite channels (I don't need to do this as I have a decent connection. But for someone who has a low speed connection, this is worth while) Also consumer routers do better with QOS when you have a slower connection. (Your total throughput will still go down, but management of said traffic isn't artificially limited due to router processor speeds unable to handle all the traffic)

 

[failboat]

what internet speeds do you have? anything wired will run 1Gbs locally. is your current setup in a good place wirelessly?