Spec Me A New Router

Valo · 25 Jun 2022 at 17:50

I’m looking to upgrade my existing Asus RT-AC66U (Wifi 5 - AC) to a new model with Wifi 6.

I have a TalkTalk Fibre 250 (g.Fast) service.

I’ve been considering the new Synology RT6600AX (https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/RT6600ax) as I’ve no long ago migrated my NAS to a new Synology and found the Synology DSM software/interface to be fully featured and easy to use, and by the looks of it the SRM software looks equally feature rich.

I really don’t need a Mesh setup are there any other good router options I should be considering?

ChrisD. · 25 Jun 2022 at 19:37

What do you need it to do?

RSR · 25 Jun 2022 at 19:52

UniFi range is pretty good other than advanced networking and firewall aside (On the GW side).

pfSense is very good (They also offer their own hardware) also is Untangle if you are a more advanced user.

However, it all really depends on feature requirements and buget.

Valo · 25 Jun 2022 at 21:13

ChrisD. said:
What do you need it to do?

Just looking for good all-round performance and reliability both with wired lan and wifi. I have a CAT5 home network and smart home devices (HomePods, Cameras etc) so reliable wifi is really important.

Budget would be £300 max

ChrisD. · 25 Jun 2022 at 21:30

pfSe

Valo said:
Just looking for good all-round performance and reliability both with wired lan and wifi. I have a CAT5 home network and smart home devices (HomePods, Cameras etc) so reliable wifi is really important.

Budget would be £300 max

If you want reliable Wi-Fi, and have no issues with the current network performance of your existing router, then buy an Access Point for £150 or so. Rather than that ghastly thing.

Avalon · 26 Jun 2022 at 01:11

Valo said:
Just looking for good all-round performance and reliability both with wired lan and wifi. I have a CAT5 home network and smart home devices (HomePods, Cameras etc) so reliable wifi is really important.

Budget would be £300 max

So that you can get better advice, how about telling us what *exactly* your current router is/isn't doing that you want to improve on by spending upto £300?

You see much as I hate, loathe and detest ASUS's PoS networking range, what you have is capable of NAT at near gigabit speed, it's wifi isn't too shabby either and frankly other than moving to AsusMerlin firmware or better yet DDWRT, it's functionally not that bad for a consumer router. Swapping it out for something else isn't going to make wired stuff any faster, wireless tends to be client limited, that 25Mbit 4K Netflix steam is still going to be 25Mbit even on a gigabit pipe. If the issue is coverage, then replacing an AC router with anything else isn't actually likely to change much, range wise they all broadcast inline with the maximum permitted power level so a centrally installed AP or wired mesh set-up would be a better choice, and speed wise anything important that is high bandwidth tends to be wired anyway. I mean to get decent wifi6 speeds you want to be in the same room ideally.

I'd just hate someone to pay good money to replace one consumer router that seems to be perfectly capable in everything other than possibly wifi with another router that will give similar results unless you're sat in the same room as it and happen to have a suitable mobile/tablet that generally are low bandwidth devices with very limited storage anyway and when a decent AP or mesh will generally give much better coverage/speed over a larger area.