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Powerful router recommendation needed

davepoobond

davepoobond

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,639
www.squackle.com
Hey all, looking for a powerful WiFi router that can penetrate 2 walls. The most important thing is a Smart TV in the corner of a large room.

Total distance from the router is probably like 40 to 50 feet or so.

I usually just go with whatever new D-Link is available when I get a router, but I'm unsure if there is a better router with a lot of strength that'll give minimal problems. And I don't know what's good right now.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 

Keyboard

Guest
D-Link sucks.

Non-existent support.

Hardware changes within models numbers without revision numbers making third-party support unreliable.
 
FaceHugger

FaceHugger

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
13,949
USA
ASUS RT-AC88U, it's $30 off if you have Amazon Prime. I installed one for a friend, large house and wanted something that could also reach the backyard. I was told (forget by who) that it has very long range and is powerful overall. He placed it in the center of the house, it covers most of it and near a window and definitely covers most of his yard (it's a big yard).

You can also consider buying a cheap little repeater, find an angle out in a hallway or something where it repeats the signal just fine to the room you;re targeting.

Oh yea, and of course mesh if you want to deal with that.
 

willow

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10
Asus, Netgear, or TP-link.

Ignore other brands unless you're going with a mesh network.
 
sca

sca

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,470
I use the Tmobile Cellspot Router (a rebranded ASUS RT-AC68U) and it penetrates walls fine. If that isn't good enough, then I'd recommend one of the mesh router systems like the Netgear Orbi or Google Wifi
 
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kagete

kagete

Member
Oct 27, 2017
467
I have the Nighthawk at the 3rd floor of a townhome and it's pretty good. I can get WiFi until I leave my street when walking my dog. My rear ground floor smart light bulb always loses connection though, but that's like the bulb's fault.

Buy something nice around a hundred or less and any gaps you can fill in with mesh WiFi or a powerLine adapter if you need Ethernet reliability.
 
Lhadatt

Lhadatt

Member
Oct 27, 2017
60
Houston
I used to run an ASUS AC router, but I switched to a Ubiquiti AC Pro for my home WiFi. There's a bit more of a learning curve because it's business class equipment, but it's still relatively easy to manage. Pair it with a Cloud Key (standalone device that handles configuration/management) and you'll have a solid WiFi setup. They also offer a router (Security Gateway) if you want to migrate completely off your existing router.

https://www.ubnt.com/products/#unifi
 

Deleted member 1852

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,077
It's hard to beat the Netgear Nighthawk R7000 but I've been somewhat unhappy with their firmware updates as of late. But the signal cannot be beaten from what I've seen.
 
J-Wood

J-Wood

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,799
I just went with the Netgear Orbi mesh system for my new home. It's amazing. The base router in the basement, and the satellite on the second floor. 100% coverage in the entire house, including upstairs. Full download speed too.
 
Lump

Lump

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,041
My Airport Extreme gives me great Wi-Fi right now, and I'm probably not going to replace it until it dies or becomes obsolete in some unforeseen matter. If it were 2012-2014, it would be my recommendation.

But it's 2017 and if I were getting a Wi-Fi solution today, it would be the a Google Mesh 3-pack. I imagine that would last me an extremely long time.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MAW2294/?tag=era0f0-20
 

mmazurkiewicz

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 30, 2017
213
with these mesh systems, does each unit have to have an ethernet cable plugged in or just the one connected to the modem?
 
TAJ

TAJ

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
12,446
I gave up on WiFi and went with those power line Ethernet adapters. I love them, but I have unlimited mobile data and only need my home internet for other devices.
 

Deleted member 12790

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
24,537
How about instead looking up those home routing systems that use your home's electrical wiring to route your network? Those are cheap and if the home is new it'll perform way better than any wireless router. Even better, you can get a cheapo wireless router connect it to one of the wall socket stations if you still want wireless signal in that specific room.
 
Kitsunelaine

Kitsunelaine

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,382
If you can't find one to suit your needs you can buy two and use the second as a range extender.
 
Shirosaki

Shirosaki

Prophet of Truth
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
831
I actually just got an Apple AirPort Extreme cause I was having issues with my ASUS AC router that was a year old. The Apple one is very surprising. Looks stylish but there's 6 hidden antennas inside. Has a good range thru walls (I'm able to get WiFi connection when I enter my subdivision.) It's worth looking into.
 
Gripey

Gripey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
82
J-Wood said:
I just went with the Netgear Orbi mesh system for my new home. It's amazing. The base router in the basement, and the satellite on the second floor. 100% coverage in the entire house, including upstairs. Full download speed too.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I've been looking into the different mesh systems, and this one seems to be the standout of the bunch. Looking at the AC3000 setup. It's not cheap, but it'll be nice to get full speeds in the current upstairs dead-zones.
 
Shirosaki

Shirosaki

Prophet of Truth
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
831
Krejlooc said:
How about instead looking up those home routing systems that use your home's electrical wiring to route your network? Those are cheap and if the home is new it'll perform way better than any wireless router. Even better, you can get a cheapo wireless router connect it to one of the wall socket stations if you still want wireless signal in that specific room.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Power over Ethernet unfortunately doesn't always work. In bigger houses with more complicated switch work, I struggle to pull 40 Meg with Power over Ethernet. Before I upgraded to a new bigger house, I was able to get max speeds over it.

Wish they worked as well as they used to, but I guess understandable when square footage goes up and you have 8 million light switches/electrical sockets that are daisy chained.
 
louiedog

louiedog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,303
I recently bought a refurbished T-Mobile AC1900 cellspot router, which is a rebadged Asus RT-AC68u. It was $50 on Amazon and I flashed the original Asus firmware, turning it into a $140 router. It's excellent, though I haven't tried to use it at that distance through two walls. You could always get two and use the second to extend the network. It's a steal at that price.
 
EssBeeVee

EssBeeVee

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,764
Netgear orbi. Have and love it. Except that one moment the firmware they pushed went to shit
 
OP
OP
davepoobond

davepoobond

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,639
www.squackle.com
Krejlooc said:
How about instead looking up those home routing systems that use your home's electrical wiring to route your network? Those are cheap and if the home is new it'll perform way better than any wireless router. Even better, you can get a cheapo wireless router connect it to one of the wall socket stations if you still want wireless signal in that specific room.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

the home isnt particularly new, and definitely not the wiring, so im skeptical if that will help much in this situation.

I think Im going with this one. pretty sweet deal, 100 bucks off.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DXVK3KY/?tag=era0f0-20


the previous router has been fine, apparently, and it wasnt a mesh system, so a power boost should be sufficient... will definitely have to keep mesh wifi in mind for the future.
 
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LuigiV

LuigiV

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,686
Perth, Australia
2o223uB.png


This ones rated at 18 hp (13.5 kW). Is that powerful enough for your needs?
 
nexus

nexus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,655
Lhadatt said:
I used to run an ASUS AC router, but I switched to a Ubiquiti AC Pro for my home WiFi. There's a bit more of a learning curve because it's business class equipment, but it's still relatively easy to manage. Pair it with a Cloud Key (standalone device that handles configuration/management) and you'll have a solid WiFi setup. They also offer a router (Security Gateway) if you want to migrate completely off your existing router.

https://www.ubnt.com/products/#unifi
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I just bought an AC Lite, about to set it up tonight. I have an Archer c7 and it hasn't been bad to me but recently it's been dropping and giving me some issues with signal. I'm going to use the router part of it for now and turn off the wireless and see how that does. I'll probably eventually switch over fully but right now I just want to see how their AP works. Once I'm in a home I'll probably get more serious about wiring it something nice and permanent.
 

Deleted member 17092

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
20,360
FaceHugger said:
ASUS RT-AC88U, it's $30 off if you have Amazon Prime. I installed one for a friend, large house and wanted something that could also reach the backyard. I was told (forget by who) that it has very long range and is powerful overall. He placed it in the center of the house, it covers most of it and near a window and definitely covers most of his yard (it's a big yard).

You can also consider buying a cheap little repeater, find an angle out in a hallway or something where it repeats the signal just fine to the room you;re targeting.

Oh yea, and of course mesh if you want to deal with that.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This. If you have t-mobile call them and they'll give you one for free if you tell them your cell service is shit inside your house.
 
Ciphyde

Ciphyde

Member
Nov 22, 2017
347
Netgear Nighthawk, signal is crazy good. Bought a wifi extendered for no reason, no need for it
 
Conkerkid11

Conkerkid11

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
13,969
I have the Nighthawk R7000 with kongac firmware, because the official firmware from Netgear sucks and a neighbor was messing with my shit using the WPS feature that you can't disable without custom firmware.
 
xxracerxx

xxracerxx

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
31,222
International Iron Man said:
I have a TP-Link Archer C5400. I haven't had any problems with it whatsoever and it not only covers my house, but my neighbors as well.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I have the same router and it is the best router I have ever used. Killer Wi-fi signal all throughout the house (basement, main floor, upstairs). No downtime what-so-ever, unlike when I was using an old D-Link router.
 
SgtCobra

SgtCobra

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,865
I also recommend the Orbi, the thing is insanely effective. It's on the expensive side but a great investment nonetheless.
 
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