Reliable router manufacturers

michty_me · 24 Aug 2018 at 17:10

I'm looking for a new router as my Netgear D7000 has been playing up the past few months.
Are any manufacturers deemed more reliable than others?
By reliable I guess that could be a good feature set, supported by regular updates, warranty replacements etc.

The Netgear was good to start with but felt quite basic settings wise.
My Billion had loads of features but found WiFi to be quite poor in my house.
Asus was just a shambles (I did have the DSL versions though)

MagicBoy · 24 Aug 2018 at 17:14

There's good routers, and then there's routers with "gaming" features and flashing lights. Which do you want?

Iron-man · 24 Aug 2018 at 17:38

I use a TP link for fibre which has been perfect and given me no problems

michty_me · 24 Aug 2018 at 17:39

I'll need something that can distribute a decent WiFi signal (2.4 & 5Ghz), have a half decent feature set and reliability really.
I'm away to pull some Cat5e through several rooms in my house.
I don't think I'll require something over complicated for my use. I guess going by your two descriptions, I would fall into the gaming with flashing light type router.

michty_me · 24 Aug 2018 at 17:46

Iron-man said:
I use a TP link for fibre which has been perfect and given me no problems

I've not tried any TP link equipment in a long time. I'll have a look on their website.

As a side note. I would probably be looking at spending less than £200.

V F · 24 Aug 2018 at 18:25

MagicBoy said:
There's good routers, and then there's routers with "gaming" features and flashing lights. Which do you want?

What? Gaming routers is actually a thing?

michty_me · 24 Aug 2018 at 20:26

MagicBoy said:
There's good routers, and then there's routers with "gaming" features and flashing lights. Which do you want?

I'm also open to hear what other good routers you may recommend. I'll be redoing my whole network when I run the cables anyway.

MagicBoy · 24 Aug 2018 at 22:58

V F said:
What? Gaming routers is actually a thing?

It gets worse ... there's gaming switches! :rolleyes:

Sin_Chase · 24 Aug 2018 at 23:27

Ubiquiti Edgerouter, add an AP if you need WiFi.

Years uptime, not weeks.

Done

michty_me · 25 Aug 2018 at 06:16

Sin_Chase said:
Ubiquiti Edgerouter, add an AP if you need WiFi.

Years uptime, not weeks.

Done

I've heard the name banded about a few forums. I've personally never heard of them until a couple of months ago but will look into them. They do seem to have a good name.

michty_me · 25 Aug 2018 at 12:56

I've been having a look at the Ubiquiti equipment. I have a feeling I would get lost in that setup very quickly.
Is there anything you would recommend for a novice and wouldn't require so much fiddling?

Sin_Chase · 25 Aug 2018 at 13:59

There is plenty of documentation, YouTube videos, forums etc. It may seem daunting but the Wizard setup will give you a working router pretty quickly.

I wouldn't be intimidated too much by it to be honest. For everything a home user needs you can configure via the GUI. Some more advanced stuff would require some CLI.

WJA96 · 25 Aug 2018 at 14:30

Completely different direction but the Mikrotik hAP AC is an excellent router/3x3 MiMo Access Point. It has quite literally every option you could ever want and it’s powerful enough to handle fast VPN connections etc. Or another alternative would be something like a Netgate SG-1000 with a Ubiquiti AP-AC-LR Access Point assuming you can mount it properly.

Don’t rule out the boring old BT Smart Hub 6. It’s a VERY good modem/router/2x2 AC access point. Very cheap on eBay as well.

michty_me · 25 Aug 2018 at 14:45

Sin_Chase said:
There is plenty of documentation, YouTube videos, forums etc. It may seem daunting but the Wizard setup will give you a working router pretty quickly.

I wouldn't be intimidated too much by it to be honest. For everything a home user needs you can configure via the GUI. Some more advanced stuff would require some CLI.

That's good to know. I'll maybe have a look at some of the YouTube videos and see how I feel after that.

WJA96 said:
Completely different direction but the Mikrotik hAP AC is an excellent router/3x3 MiMo Access Point. It has quite literally every option you could ever want and it’s powerful enough to handle fast VPN connections etc. Or another alternative would be something like a Netgate SG-1000 with a Ubiquiti AP-AC-LR Access Point assuming you can mount it properly.

Don’t rule out the boring old BT Smart Hub 6. It’s a VERY good modem/router/2x2 AC access point. Very cheap on eBay as well.

I've recently just put a Netgear D7000 into AP mode due to it locking up every few weeks and causing massive errors on the line. A Zyxel 1312-b10a is now doing the modems job.

I shall check out the items you have mentioned. Are these as complex as the ubiquiti mentioned above?

WJA96 · 25 Aug 2018 at 14:59

The Ubiquiti EdgeRouter isn’t complex at all. It has the same sort of layered complexity as all the ‘consumer’ routers do. You can just connect it up and it will work as a standard 192.168.1.x DHCP range router. Or you can delve a bit deeper. The Mikrotik is the same but just with even more layers.

The Netgate option is a pfSense appliance which is a router and a security appliance in a tiny box.

None of them a really complicated unless you want them to be.

Where people get mixed up with the Ubiquiti stuff is the Unifi line where they are centrally controlled from a software control program that runs when you need to configure the system or if you want to run some of the monitoring tools it offers. Everyone is so used to typing 192.168.1.1 into a web browser and configuring the router on a GUI that when you have to log into a program to access the GUI they get a bit “That’s too difficult”. It’s not, it’s just different. The EdgeRouter suggested above is a conventional ‘configure from a browser’ type device.

I would seriously look at the Mikrotik. It’s a REALLY good, fast, strong, access point. Not as cheap as the BT Smart Hub though.

WJA96 · 25 Aug 2018 at 15:08

Sin_Chase said:
I wouldn't be intimidated too much by it to be honest. For everything a home user needs you can configure via the GUI. Some more advanced stuff would require some CLI.

Are you getting confused between the EdgeRouter and the USG range?

I’ve never had to use the CLI to configure anything on an EdgeRouter. All the common options are exposed in the GUI. The USG can do everything the EdgeRouter can but because of the limitations of the controller many of those options are not in the GUI and you need to get into the CLI (multiple fixed IP addresses, some DHCP features, some VPN features etc.)

michty_me · 25 Aug 2018 at 15:27

WJA96 said:
The Ubiquiti EdgeRouter isn’t complex at all. It has the same sort of layered complexity as all the ‘consumer’ routers do. You can just connect it up and it will work as a standard 192.168.1.x DHCP range router. Or you can delve a bit deeper. The Mikrotik is the same but just with even more layers.

The Netgate option is a pfSense appliance which is a router and a security appliance in a tiny box.

None of them a really complicated unless you want them to be.

Where people get mixed up with the Ubiquiti stuff is the Unifi line where they are centrally controlled from a software control program that runs when you need to configure the system or if you want to run some of the monitoring tools it offers. Everyone is so used to typing 192.168.1.1 into a web browser and configuring the router on a GUI that when you have to log into a program to access the GUI they get a bit “That’s too difficult”. It’s not, it’s just different. The EdgeRouter suggested above is a conventional ‘configure from a browser’ type device.

I would seriously look at the Mikrotik. It’s a REALLY good, fast, strong, access point. Not as cheap as the BT Smart Hub though.

Interesting!! I've just watched some YouTube videos on the setup and going through the ubiquiti GUI and I actually would feel fairly confident getting it up and running. I'll have a look into pricing etc.

I'll be looking to run approx 8 Cat5e cables to a central point in my house where this will be situated.

WJA96 · 25 Aug 2018 at 15:37

michty_me said:
Interesting!! I've just watched some YouTube videos on the setup and going through the ubiquiti GUI and I actually would feel fairly confident getting it up and running. I'll have a look into pricing etc.

I'll be looking to run approx 8 Cat5e cables to a central point in my house where this will be situated.

So for 8 cables you’ll need a switch as well. And ideally a patch panel to save you wear on the cables when plug them in and unplug them.

michty_me · 25 Aug 2018 at 16:41

WJA96 said:
So for 8 cables you’ll need a switch as well. And ideally a patch panel to save you wear on the cables when plug them in and unplug them.

Perfect. I'll have a look on their website. I gather I can get all of this by Ubiquiti. I would probably keep all the equipment the same manufacturer just to be a little OCD.

Sin_Chase · 25 Aug 2018 at 21:02

WJA96 said:
Are you getting confused between the EdgeRouter and the USG range?

I’ve never had to use the CLI to configure anything on an EdgeRouter. All the common options are exposed in the GUI. The USG can do everything the EdgeRouter can but because of the limitations of the controller many of those options are not in the GUI and you need to get into the CLI (multiple fixed IP addresses, some DHCP features, some VPN features etc.)

Nope, I own an ERLite 3.

Can't do OpenVPN or some Dynamic DNS services which are not available in the GUI via the GUI for example.

I also have some advanced DNS configuration which needs the CLI also.

Some other advanced settings are not exposed via the GUI either.

You can do everything to get a working router via the Wizard and GUI, but some advanced things need CLI.