Router lifespan

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OK as the title suggests I'm looking to find out what would be deemed as the avg lifespan of a vdsl2 modem router.
The reason I ask is I bought an Asus DSL-N66U a little under 3 years ago. However recently it has been dropping the WiFi signals in the house. I currently have 4 WiFi networks running from it, standard 1x 2.4 ghz 1x 5ghz and 2 guest networks at 2.4 ghz.
The reason for the 4 is 1 each for my kids which I can remove for bad behaviour and the standard and 5ghz ones for me and the Mrs to use.
When they do disconnect and it comes up network not in range all I have to do is log in to the router disable them and then 're enable them, but it's getting to the point I'm doing this every 3 to 4 days.
 

TJM

TJM

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My N66U snuffed its lid after four years but that was a complete and permanent failure. If your hardware just needs the occasional reboot, try a factory reset and/or setting the wireless channels manually? It's possible a new router nearby is choking the connection.
 
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my RT-N56U router lasted six years before something went wrong the lan ports stopped working, the wifi still works though I'm running it in AP mode.
 
Soldato
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Usual procedure: Flash latest firmware, factory reset, wireless survey to see what’s not being used (remember to allow for overlap). Something as simple as changing to a less congested channel can make a significant difference.
 
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Try changing channels manually.
I usually leave this to auto on the router settings but lately were having a lot of dropouts, sometimes it will be good for a few days sometimes it will drop within a few hours and even just a few minutes lately.
Tried wifi scanner to check for conflict and sure enough the channel the router was automatically using has 3 other neighbors router using it.
switch the channel which no ones using, or less conflict or worse case you can use a channel in which the other(not yours) routers has a weak signal.
Using 20Mhz bandwidth will halve your connection speed, but it means it will not overlap with the next channel above or below it.
Using 40Mhz means you can utilize the full speed of your wifi adapter but this will interfere with the nearest channel the router is using.

For windows you can use nirsoft WifiInfoView and for android Wifi Analyzer.
 
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I've never personally had any router fail on me. Even have an old Linksys 54g router which still works. I'd say as long as you aren't hammering data transfers 24/7 and the router has plenty of ventilation it should keep going until you upgrade. In my experience its been buggy firmware that's caused me to get rid earlier than intended.
 
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Wifi tends to break before anything else on a router, the chips can get very hot.

This has generally been my experience too, only a couple of weeks ago at work I had a Draytek 2860 WiFi fail. The router is working ok but WiFi no longer functions.
 
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Well I have since downloaded a WiFi analyser for my phone and found I was on the same channel for my 4 ssid,s as a neighbour. So I have went to the middle channel as there is another at the bottom of the channel list. I have also setup 5Ghz for the 2 guest networks as there is no other traffic there to speak of.
I will see how well that works as I really can't afford to be getting a new router, as the only brand I know of that has more than 1 guest network on 2 different frequencies is the Asus brand, which means £150 or more.
 
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Well I have since downloaded a WiFi analyser for my phone and found I was on the same channel for my 4 ssid,s as a neighbour. So I have went to the middle channel as there is another at the bottom of the channel list. I have also setup 5Ghz for the 2 guest networks as there is no other traffic there to speak of.
I will see how well that works as I really can't afford to be getting a new router, as the only brand I know of that has more than 1 guest network on 2 different frequencies is the Asus brand, which means £150 or more.

You want the 2.4 GHz on 1, 6 or 11.

Invest in a UniFi AP and disable WiFi on the router. The UniFi AP will do everything you need.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ubiq...long-range-indoor-access-point-nw-001-uq.html
 
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Ok rather than start a new thread i thought id resuurect this one.
As per my OP im still getting wifi dropping causing me to have to reset my router, this is now happening several times a day without warning.
i have come to the conclusion that this router is dieing, as its not dropping my net connection just the wifi whether that be the standard 2.4ghz or the 5ghz ssid's i have set up. It usually begins with dropping the four guest networks ive set up for my kids, these i use to reduce net access at various times and remove if they are being punished.
it then seems to drop the main ssid's ive setup for me and the Mrs, so it is replacment time i think.

What im looking for is some advice on a new router from Asus and how you guys think it compares to my current router ( without the current problems)

ASUS DSL-AC56U AC1200 V ASUS DSL-N66U N900

From what i can see of them the AC56u would be the upgraded version of the one i orginally purchased some years ago. It has one of the main features i wish which is the ability to setup several guest ssid's to control my kids access as well as being able to schedule access time from various devices.


Unless some one here can recommend a differrent brand/model for around £100 or less which has very similar abilities.
 
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I have an n66u that is still going after 6 years and 1 month - of all the things to fail the on/off switch died so I've had to fix it permanently in the on position.

Generally I find Asus hardware to be poor quality overall though their routers a little better mostly due to the efforts of Merlin. I had a lot of problems with the n66u intermittently deciding from time to time to go into a state of frequently dropping wifi until I put the Merlin firmware on it.
 
Soldato
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i have come to the conclusion that this router is dieing....

What im looking for is some advice on a new router from Asus and how you guys think it compares to my current router ( without the current problems)

Normally, if you buy something and it’s awful/fails and it has a known issue with failures involving interfaces dropping off, it’s customary to seriously consider not buying more of the same, unless you’re some sort of hardware sadist. Also ASUS just EoL’d a load of (arguably better) hardware than you’re considering, i’d seriously consider going Netgear if you want consumer grade, something that supports DDWRT, but i’d also prefer a decent dedicated AP centrally located and a conventional router.
 
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i’d seriously consider going Netgear if you want consumer grade, something that supports DDWRT, but i’d also prefer a decent dedicated AP centrally located and a conventional router.

I've got a DG834 still going strong after 11 years or something on another setup (only thing that holds that line stable) and several of my switches are Netgear managed ones that have been going solid for years but other than that don't have a lot of experience with them.
 
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To be fair, im looking for the Lazy soloution.
i want one unit and one login to deal with
i know that i really should be running a good Quality Modem, Plugged into a really good router+switch with a multi access point plugged into the switch
 
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You don't need all those SSIDs. Either use MAC filtering or set up the kids with static IPs and use a firewall rule to block/allow access as required. If our eldest is being naughty the 'drop from [child's name] to all' alias rule gets enabled; and suddenly his iPhone, tablet and PlayStation are no longer online. Simple as that. :p

If it really is just the wireless that's borked, grab a Unifi UAP AC Lite and plug it in to one of your LAN ports.
 
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Are you sure it's not just a case of weak node bringing the network down? Apply a minimum RSSI of about -75 to the WiFi and see if it gets better. (Caution, some clients with hit or miss signal will drop off totally but it will firm up a router problem or client problem).
 
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