Hi – I’ve gotten great advice one these forums before and hope someone can help me out again.
I’m a semi-literate computer person, but networking is a topic that I for some reason have a hard time getting my head around.
In my current set-up, I have a 200mbs-plan from a big cable company. About a year ago, I was having trouble getting reception in my basement (where I often work), so I shelled out about $375 for a Netgear Orbi router and extender (RBK50). It vastly improved matters.
Fast forward a year, and I’m about to move into a new house. The new place is about 1500 sq ft, but with an unfinished basement of about the same size – I may end up moving my home-office down there, so I need to get a good signal there, too.
I’m planning on switching to Verizon Fios… mainly because that’s what’s already at the house. I plan to upgrade to their 400mbs plan – as my kids are streaming more, while I’m working from home due to covid, etc. Down the line, I might want to update to a Gigabite connection, but not for a while.
But I just realized that Fios won’t work directly with my Orbi router! As far as I understand, I can use the router Verizon will provide and then hook up the Orbi in Access Point mode.
Which is fine… Except I’m against renting a medium-crappy router from Verizon on principle! I much prefer to buy my own.
I read good things about the Linksys EA7500 or the Netgear R8000 – both of which are approved for Fios use.
So my question is: Assuming I get one of the above routers, is there a point in me using the Orbi anymore at all – even in AP mode? The Orbi set is less than a year old (and was not super-cheap), and I’ve been happy with the set up. I hate for it to be wasted.
Am I wasting money by getting a fancy router – when I could just get a cheaper one and rely on the Orbi-as-AP to get a good signal throughout the house? If so, which cheaper router would you recommend?
Or the opposite situation, if I do get one of those fancier models, am I then “degrading” the signal by using the Orbi-as-AP – because it doesn’t have as strong a signal as say the R8000 does.
My ultimate goal is to just have a perfect connection wherever I am in the house. And not to have to buy all-new equipment in case I ever do upgrade to the gigabit connection.
Any advice is most appreciated. Thank you!
I’m a semi-literate computer person, but networking is a topic that I for some reason have a hard time getting my head around.
In my current set-up, I have a 200mbs-plan from a big cable company. About a year ago, I was having trouble getting reception in my basement (where I often work), so I shelled out about $375 for a Netgear Orbi router and extender (RBK50). It vastly improved matters.
Fast forward a year, and I’m about to move into a new house. The new place is about 1500 sq ft, but with an unfinished basement of about the same size – I may end up moving my home-office down there, so I need to get a good signal there, too.
I’m planning on switching to Verizon Fios… mainly because that’s what’s already at the house. I plan to upgrade to their 400mbs plan – as my kids are streaming more, while I’m working from home due to covid, etc. Down the line, I might want to update to a Gigabite connection, but not for a while.
But I just realized that Fios won’t work directly with my Orbi router! As far as I understand, I can use the router Verizon will provide and then hook up the Orbi in Access Point mode.
Which is fine… Except I’m against renting a medium-crappy router from Verizon on principle! I much prefer to buy my own.
I read good things about the Linksys EA7500 or the Netgear R8000 – both of which are approved for Fios use.
So my question is: Assuming I get one of the above routers, is there a point in me using the Orbi anymore at all – even in AP mode? The Orbi set is less than a year old (and was not super-cheap), and I’ve been happy with the set up. I hate for it to be wasted.
Am I wasting money by getting a fancy router – when I could just get a cheaper one and rely on the Orbi-as-AP to get a good signal throughout the house? If so, which cheaper router would you recommend?
Or the opposite situation, if I do get one of those fancier models, am I then “degrading” the signal by using the Orbi-as-AP – because it doesn’t have as strong a signal as say the R8000 does.
My ultimate goal is to just have a perfect connection wherever I am in the house. And not to have to buy all-new equipment in case I ever do upgrade to the gigabit connection.
Any advice is most appreciated. Thank you!
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