Router replacement time - Looking for recommendations

[CaNsA]

Hi Y'all.

I've been using a Netgear WNDR3700 v4 for the past 5years and it's been great, mostly thanks to DD-WRT.

Recently it has started rebooting sporadically and I've tried to nail down the issue to no avail.
Different DD-WRT builds, full 30/30/30 resets etc etc and yet the longest uptime I've had this week is 17hrs.

My ISP is VirginMedia 150mb, and I actually get that speed via ethernet which is nice.
Mid-terraced house, everyone has wifi here.
2 Laptops
2 phones
1 server
1 desktop
2 tivo boxes
2 smart televisions
3 sonos speakers.

I'm looking to replace and/or upgrade my wifi router, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

[bremen1874]

On paper at least, the WNDR3700 is worse than the SH3 (and its predecessor). Which version of the Virgin hub do you have?

If you want recommendations for a router you'll need to provide some sort of budget guidance.

 

[WJA96]

Well, if you’ve got that lot all off one WLAN then it’s never going to be especially quick.

Could you list what type of adapters are on the various devices? In particular is there anything 802.11b?

 

[MarkeR]

I was using an ASUS nt66u for Wi-Fi for years, like yourself it started to rally slow down and drop connections over Wi-Fi. I added a unifi lite ac access point for £75 and it was like having a new router all over again, plus the speed and the distance of the Wi-Fi both increased dramatically..
I’ve actually just plugged it in as a stop gap until I get my new unifi router and over WiFi I’m getting 280meg off of a 360meg virgin connection...

I would recommend that way first to anyone..

 

[WJA96]

I was using an ASUS nt66u for Wi-Fi for years, like yourself it started to rally slow down and drop connections over Wi-Fi. I added a unifi lite ac access point for £75 and it was like having a new router all over again, plus the speed and the distance of the Wi-Fi both increased dramatically.

The Unifi Access Points are great and the only real downside is they are quite sensitive to installation position. In many cases a poorly positioned Unifi AP will perform worse than a ‘normal’ home router.

My default suggestion these days is the Mikrotik RB4011iGS+5HacQ2HnD-IN which does everything and has the AC Wave2 chipset so you don’t muck-up the performance of all devices when you attach a slow device. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to set up properly, but it’s a monster of a router/access point.

 

[CaNsA]

Cheers for the replies.

After reading through them I realise that I should have given a bit more detail.

The super hubs just don't give me enough functionality.

I live in a mid-terraced house, the area is a very congested place with regards to wifi networks.
2 Laptops (wifi 5ghz)
2 phones (wifi 5ghz)
1 server (wired)
1 desktop (wired)
2 tivo boxes (wired)
2 smart televisions (wifi 2.4ghz)
3 sonos speakers. (wifi 2.4ghz)


Cheers

 

[bremen1874]

What functionality don’t the Virgin hubs offer?

The best router in the world isn’t going to fix local wireless congestion for you.

You haven’t really got a large number of devices.

Still no idea of budget? £50? £300?

 

[CaNsA]

What functionality don’t the Virgin hubs offer?

The best router in the world isn’t going to fix local wireless congestion for you.

You haven’t really got a large number of devices.

Still no idea of budget? £50? £300?

The congestion isn't a problem, but it's worth mentioning as it is clearly a factor to consider, so it doesnt need to be "fixed".
My budget is approx £250.
The features in DDWRT I utilise on occasion, to name a few:-
WOL
Syslogging
VNC Repeater
Router level adblocking

There is also the personal preference, I have never liked using ISP provided kit and I will actively avoid doing so if possible.

 

[Steampunk]

Check the PSU. Some older routers are prone to getting weird problems after 5+ years as the PSUs deteriorate.

 

[Avalon]

You have a choice, continue to use SoC based routers on whatever version of WRT you favour with whatever hardware is fashionable currently and replace as support moves on, or move to something like pfsense or even the x86 DDWRT build. Depending on your current set-up, you could virtualise your router with potentially zero outlay (caution: Remember host reboots take everything down and this is not considered best practice).

 

[CaNsA]

Cheers for the replies guys.

Who knew it would be so difficult to get recommendations for consumer grade wireless router.

 

[bledd]

Synology router.

 

[Ice Tea]

SmallNetBuilder doesn't seem to update it's top routers chart as regularly as it used to.

 

[Besty]

Hi Y'all.

I've been using a Netgear WNDR3700 v4 for the past 5years and it's been great, mostly thanks to DD-WRT.

Recently it has started rebooting sporadically and I've tried to nail down the issue to no avail.
Different DD-WRT builds, full 30/30/30 resets etc etc and yet the longest uptime I've had this week is 17hrs.

My ISP is VirginMedia 150mb, and I actually get that speed via ethernet which is nice.
Mid-terraced house, everyone has wifi here.
2 Laptops
2 phones
1 server
1 desktop
2 tivo boxes
2 smart televisions
3 sonos speakers.

I'm looking to replace and/or upgrade my wifi router, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Hi Bud, I run Asus WIFI equipment with a Merlin software build. I run VM broadband with 2 tv boxes and a similar amount of kit.

I had a look are your preferred router software (DD-WRT) and the Asus AC88U is on there. The AC88U is not as quick as the latest TP Link Archer 6000 and I cant see the 6000 on the DD-WRT supported list at this time but my older generation Asus AC3200 handles the traffic well and so the AC88U should be even better and has more ethernet ports (if you want them).

What I have found (also in a crowded block) is that not many people run the latest WIFI kit and hence, the newer WIFI channels are clear.