[SOLVED] Which router to choose?

[Mage123]

Was looking for new wi-fi router. (500 Mbit/s internet connection) ~ Approx 8 devices are using same router at the same time.

Which model is best one from below? ( i was looking it to have MU-MIMO, and dual band 2.4/5 Ghz)

Model	Price
TP-Link Archer C6 AC1200	37 euro
TP-Link ARCHER A5	35 euro
Asus RT-AC57U Gigabit Router IPTV USB 3G/4G Dongle Support	52 euro
D-Link DIR-853	57 euro
Tenda AC10	35 euro

May be if i add extra 20 - 30 euros, i can have something better? Or may be its now worth to overpay/

Can anyone recommend anything?

 

[bill001g]

First no router is going to get even close to 500mbps on wifi.

Next be very careful some of the routers you have in the list have 10/100 lan and wan ports. You will be limited to 100mbps by these ports you need all the ports to be gigabit.

Although you have to look up each device to be sure in general routers with the same specs are using the same internal chipset. All router manufactures are buying their cpu and radio chips from the same 2-3 vendors. All that is really different is the user interface software and the physical box. The most important part the wifi radios and the firmware they run are likely identical so have the same performance.

Mu-mimo is mostly marketing hype it has very little impact on performance in real world installs. Your end devices must support it for it to be used anyway.

Which router you choose mostly depends on your end devices. Does little good to buy something that does say 4x4 mimo when you end device only has 1 or 2 antenna feeds. Most problems with coverage are also related to end devices since routers all pretty much transmit at the legal maximum power. End device to save on battery many times do not.

The critical thing with your internet connection I think is to be very sure you buy a router that has gigabit wan and lan ports. Even very inexpensive routers can run 500mbps on ethernet connected devices.

 

[Mage123]

First no router is going to get even close to 500mbps on wifi.

Next be very careful some of the routers you have in the list have 10/100 lan and wan ports. You will be limited to 100mbps by these ports you need all the ports to be gigabit.

Although you have to look up each device to be sure in general routers with the same specs are using the same internal chipset. All router manufactures are buying their cpu and radio chips from the same 2-3 vendors. All that is really different is the user interface software and the physical box. The most important part the wifi radios and the firmware they run are likely identical so have the same performance.

Mu-mimo is mostly marketing hype it has very little impact on performance in real world installs. Your end devices must support it for it to be used anyway.

Which router you choose mostly depends on your end devices. Does little good to buy something that does say 4x4 mimo when you end device only has 1 or 2 antenna feeds. Most problems with coverage are also related to end devices since routers all pretty much transmit at the legal maximum power. End device to save on battery many times do not.

The critical thing with your internet connection I think is to be very sure you buy a router that has gigabit wan and lan ports. Even very inexpensive routers can run 500mbps on ethernet connected devices.

So this one TP-Link Archer C6 AC1200, has Gigabit ports, and its overall inexpensive. Is it good?
Like this one "Asus RT-AC1750U" is 85 euros, its almost same specs as 40 euro ones?

 

[bill001g]

You will pay a premium for asus mostly for the name. Their software tends to have more features also. TPlink though is a solid company they just charge less. It is brands like belkin and buffalo etc that are "value" devices and have less support.

Part of the reason for the extra cost is the asus has more advanced wifi radio chips.

1200 means it runs 2x2 mimo. So it gets 300 on 2.4 and about 900 on 5g. So 1200 total even though you can't actually use both radios to talk to a single device.

1750 means 3x3 mimo so it get 450 on 2.4 and 1300 on 5g. The router uses 3 antenna and the radio is more complex. BUT if your end device does not also have 3 antenna it will drop back to 2x2 mimo and be the same speed as the other router.

 

[Mage123]

You will pay a premium for asus mostly for the name. Their software tends to have more features also. TPlink though is a solid company they just charge less. It is brands like belkin and buffalo etc that are "value" devices and have less support.

Part of the reason for the extra cost is the asus has more advanced wifi radio chips.

1200 means it runs 2x2 mimo. So it gets 300 on 2.4 and about 900 on 5g. So 1200 total even though you can't actually use both radios to talk to a single device.

1750 means 3x3 mimo so it get 450 on 2.4 and 1300 on 5g. The router uses 3 antenna and the radio is more complex. BUT if your end device does not also have 3 antenna it will drop back to 2x2 mimo and be the same speed as the other router.

Thanks this is really great explanation

But overall that budget TP-Link Archer C6 AC1200 is good? I can choose what devices will use 2.4g and what 5g on this TP link right?
As i understand it can utilize 500 Mbit/s on 5Ghz frequency.

 

[kanewolf]

Thanks this is really great explanation

But overall that budget TP-Link Archer C6 AC1200 is good? I can choose what devices will use 2.4g and what 5g on this TP link right?
As i understand it can utilize 500 Mbit/s on 5Ghz frequency.

The way you "choose" which devices are on 2.4 and which are on 5Ghz is by giving them unique SSIDs and then manually choosing which one to connect to at the device.
Even on 5Ghz you probably won't get 500Mbit throughput. IF (big if) you get a 900Mbit link speed then the max throughput you could get is 450Mbit. This is because WIFI is not full-duplex. A device (or the router) can only transmit OR receive at any one time. Not both. So time is spent waiting for no-traffic. And the amount of performance is dependent on your client as well as your router. So an older PC or laptop might not even have 5Ghz hardware.
If you want 500Mbit throughput, you have to use wired connections.

 

[Mage123]

The way you "choose" which devices are on 2.4 and which are on 5Ghz is by giving them unique SSIDs and then manually choosing which one to connect to at the device.
Even on 5Ghz you probably won't get 500Mbit throughput. IF (big if) you get a 900Mbit link speed then the max throughput you could get is 450Mbit. This is because WIFI is not full-duplex. A device (or the router) can only transmit OR receive at any one time. Not both. So time is spent waiting for no-traffic. And the amount of performance is dependent on your client as well as your router. So an older PC or laptop might not even have 5Ghz hardware.
If you want 500Mbit throughput, you have to use wired connections.

i didn't know that^.
Also why do some web sites still recommended as best wi-fi card for laptop old ( Intel 7260.HMWG.R Wireless Half Mini Card) its card from 2013? There are newer and more advanced cards.

 

[kanewolf]

i didn't know that^.
Also why do some web sites still recommended as best wi-fi card for laptop old ( Intel 7260.HMWG.R Wireless Half Mini Card) its card from 2013? There are newer and more advanced cards.

I don't know why. For a specific laptop, it may be because the manufacturer has a "whitelist" of approved devices and that is the best on the list of vendor approved.

 

[Mage123]

I don't know why. For a specific laptop, it may be because the manufacturer has a "whitelist" of approved devices and that is the best on the list of vendor approved.

Noted, thanks for help