Another "which router should I get" post but I have details ;)

Mike Ratcliffe

Mike Ratcliffe

Mike Ratcliffe

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18 Jul 2018
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7
I am looking at upgrading my router (RT-AC66U) because:
  1. It is ancient.
  2. Some of the landlines in the house lose their signals due to range issues.
  3. My ac compatible devices can't see my wireless N network.
I was considering the NETGEAR R9000 Nighthawk X10 but saw posts where the RT-AC68U was recommended instead because link aggregation wasn't needed (I don't really need it). The thing is that all the posts I could find are either old or assume a small number of connected devices.

Oh... whatever I get needs to be wall mountable.

What would you recommend for my setup? Imagine I have an unlimited budget but don't go too wild.

Issues
Near the FTTP ONT there are ethernet ports on the wall that allow ethernet ports in each room of the house to be used. bremen1874 confirms that because there is only one wire going to each room it would be impractical to move the router to a more central location.

My info

House
Large new build with plasterboard walls.

Internet
300Mb FTTP via seethelight

Current Router
RT-AC66U running Advanced Tomato

Network setup

Switches
4 Netgear GS108 switches to connect the various wired devices:
  • 1 near the ONT to connect to each room of the house.
  • 1 In the front room for TV etc.
  • 1 in my office
  • 1 in the bedroom to connect a TV and Fire stick.
Wired (14 Devices)
  • 2 Freesat Boxes
  • 2 IP Cams
  • 2 TVs
  • 3D Print Server
  • Amazon Fire Box
  • Media Server containing a bunch of virtual devices
  • Mobile signal booster
  • PC
  • Playstation 3
  • Printer
  • Surround Sound System
Wireless N (13 Devices)
  • 2 Laptops
  • 2 Mobile Phones
  • 3 iPad 4s
  • 4 Android Tablets
  • Amazon Fire Stick
  • Nintendo Switch
Wireless G (8 Devices)
  • 1 Laptop
  • 1 Mobile Phone
  • 2 Kindles
  • 4 Landline Phones
Wireless G Notes
  1. Some of these devices are 802.11ac compatible but could never see the 5GHz channel despite Wireless Network Mode being set to Auto.
  2. Some of these devices are simply not close enough to the router to see 5GHz channel.
  3. They should all be capable of connecting to Wireless N or ac.
 
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Mike Ratcliffe said:
Issues
Near the FTTP ONT there are ethernet ports on the wall that allow ethernet ports in each room of the house to be used. This means I can't move the router to a more central location, at least I don't think I can.
Click to expand...

It depends on how it's wired. If you have two cables available that run from near the ONT to your more central location then it'd be possible (you'd need to buy a network switch as well).
 
That's a shame.

Another option is to not have wireless on the router connected to the ONT and have a more centrally located wireless access point instead.
 
Would you want a new router at the ONT with the RT-AC66U as a central access point, or the RT-AC66U at the ONT and something new as the access point?

Presumably you a various network switches in addition to what you mention in your opening post?
 
You could put a Mikrotik hEX PoE on the wall by your ONT, with the correct PSU it can output 802.3af/at standards-based PoE, and you can then strategically replace the network outlets in a couple of rooms with in-wall APs, powered over PoE.
 
bremen1874 said:
Would you want a new router at the ONT with the RT-AC66U as a central access point, or the RT-AC66U at the ONT and something new as the access point?
Click to expand...

I think using something new as the access point makes the most sense as the RT-AC66Us wireless capabilities are quite dated these days.

bremen1874 said:
Presumably you a various network switches in addition to what you mention in your opening post?
Click to expand...

Yep, 4 switches:
  • 1 near the ONT to connect to each room of the house.
  • 1 In the front room for TV etc.
  • 1 in my office
  • 1 in the bedroom to connect a TV and Fire stick.
Caged said:
You could put a Mikrotik hEX PoE on the wall by your ONT, with the correct PSU it can output 802.3af/at standards-based PoE, and you can then strategically replace the network outlets in a couple of rooms with in-wall APs, powered over PoE.
Click to expand...

That would solve the range issues I have been having. Of course, I could just plug access points into my switches.
 
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Mike Ratcliffe said:
That would solve the range issues I have been having. Of course, I could just plug access points into my switches.
Click to expand...

To be honest now I feel more confused because if I plug access points into my switches to increase the range is it still worth upgrading my router?

We have a laptop that should be ac compatible that could never see the network on my RT-AC66U regardless of the settings in tomato.
 
If your switches are unmanaged though you can run a couple of VLANs out to the APs (e.g. Ubiquiti UAP-AC-IW) for normal wifi, IoT wifi, guest wifi, and then present your normal network out of the ethernet port on the AP itself. So you don't need to replace switches but you can still sort of do VLANs, because the router and the APs do/would.
 
Caged said:
If your switches are unmanaged though you can run a couple of VLANs out to the APs (e.g. Ubiquiti UAP-AC-IW) for normal wifi, IoT wifi, guest wifi, and then present your normal network out of the ethernet port on the AP itself. So you don't need to replace switches but you can still sort of do VLANs, because the router and the APs do/would.
Click to expand...

So the access points would be doing the heavy lifting when it comes to my WLAN and would keep my IoT devices separate from my other devices... that is a great idea, I think I will do that.

I assume it would still make sense to upgrade the router itself?
 
You'd need the router and the APs to understand VLANs, I don't know the capabilities of the Tomato firmware on the device you have currently. The Ubiquiti APs can sort of do a segregated guest network but you really want to get everything back to a router where you can apply firewall rules between different LAN subnets to keep things segregated and control what services can get advertised across the networks etc.
 
Caged said:
You'd need the router and the APs to understand VLANs, I don't know the capabilities of the Tomato firmware on the device you have currently. The Ubiquiti APs can sort of do a segregated guest network but you really want to get everything back to a router where you can apply firewall rules between different LAN subnets to keep things segregated and control what services can get advertised across the networks etc.
Click to expand...

Yes, Tomato can handle VLANs without a problem... I assume I would need to buy managed switches to support VLANs.

the Ubiquiti UAP-AC-IW is a great piece of kit by the way... they could be very useful for me.
 
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