Decent Router for a new network

nicknack35 · 2 Jun 2017 at 14:30

Hey all i know this must be another boring spec me thread lol sorry. But we are having KC lightstream fitted next week has its just been made available in our area the speed will be 100 down and 5 upload something with decent Wi Fi this will be hard wired to our HTPC in the bedroom and powrlines for the tv downstairs heard that ASUS routers are the best out the routers for openvpn £100 to £200 will be ok im not very knowledge able with all this network stuff

bremen1874 · 2 Jun 2017 at 15:40

Punctuation shortage in Hull?

Why replace the ISP provided router before trying it? Is there functionality you know to be missing that you'll need?

Knowing what the existing router is, and the reason it needs to be replaced can help a lot when trying to made recommendations.

BigT · 2 Jun 2017 at 16:38

Do follow @bremen1874 's advice and just see if the ISP provided router is OK. However I doubt it'll support an OpenVPN client (I'm assuming its a client and not a server you want?) which is on your wishlist. Certainly at the price range you're looking at then Asus routers will generally be able to do it out of the box and I've found are pretty decent. I think there are better solutions out there to solve the requirements of an OpenVPN client and decent wifi, by separating out routing and wireless, but I think given you say you're not very knowledgeable on networking then I don't think it is appropriate.

Also be aware that your new internet connection will be faster than the powerlines can cope with, even if they're advertised at thousands of Mbps. For this reason, if very fast speed at the TV end of things is going to become important to you (say Netflix UHD) then know that you may need to think about addressing that as a problem and the best way is to run an ethernet cable in any way you can. If you don't need the speed there and you've had no issues with the powerlines thus far then I think it's probably not something you have to address (although others here may well disagree)

Kill_Phil · 3 Jun 2017 at 16:59

Also being limited to KCOM I can safely say the basic router provided is a bit naff (zyxel model). I opted for a second hand Archer C8 for the bargain price of £30; whilst it doesn't support VPN I am getting really good wireless coverage/speeds. (see we can punctuate in Hull)

Avalon · 4 Jun 2017 at 22:30

You'll struggle to run a full speed vpn with meaningful encryption at a router that lacks hardware encryption capabilities. If it's simply to give private streaming/downloading, then consider running encryption on the HTPC if thats your goal.

Steve_bullockuk · 5 Jun 2017 at 12:07

Avalon said:
You'll struggle to run a full speed vpn with meaningful encryption at a router that lacks hardware encryption capabilities. If it's simply to give private streaming/downloading, then consider running encryption on the HTPC if thats your goal.

This.

There are a lot of these sorts of questions regards router-level VPN clients on here recently and the above point can't be hit home often enough. Don't expect miracles from a consumer-grade router.