Spec me a WiFi router please

Dirk Diggler · 15 May 2022 at 20:00

I'm looking to plug in a Cat 6 cable to Virgin modem box which is upstairs, and run the cable downstairs to a device capable of distributing WiFi down there as the Virgin router WiFi is pish and doesn't reach the downstairs.

Any suggestions on which unit to buy? I've seen this on the usual large retailers site:

TP-Link AC1200 Wireless Dual Band Wi-Fi Router, Wi-Fi Speed Up to 867 Mbps/5 GHz + 300 Mbps/2.4 GHz, 4+1 Fast Ports, Single-Core CPU, Parental Control, Easy setup (Archer C50)

Turn · 15 May 2022 at 20:35

Archer C6 V3.2, should be around £35 atm, can also be flashed with OpenWRT if you wish.
I get around 500up/down on it.

Orcvader · 16 May 2022 at 10:23

Are you still planning to use the superhub to serve Wi-Fi upstairs? Ideally you want the router to support some sort of access point mode so it won't conflict with the SH. You usually can get away with turning off the router's DHCP server though and making sure it doesn't use the same IP as the superhub.

Having a quick look at the Archer C50 you're looking at, it does have an access point mode so shouldn't be too hard to set up. You can set it up with the same SSID and password as the SH, just make sure they're not using overlapping channels.

Dirk Diggler · 16 May 2022 at 11:54

I've bought the C6.

I'm not sure I fully understand your suggestion. Are you saying I should keep the VM superhub running as WiFi and then plug the C6 into it and just configure the C6 SSID and P/W the same as the VM unit and it'll be like a mesh system only hard wired?

Orcvader · 16 May 2022 at 12:03

Not exactly mesh, since they can't seamlessly hand over devices from one wireless point to the other.

If the C6 can cover all the areas you want, then feel free to put the SH in modem mode and have the C6 in router mode. If it can't reach the floor where the SH is currently is, then what I suggested would be able to cover one floor each, and it'll be up to the device to swap between the two.

Dirk Diggler · 16 May 2022 at 12:21

Understood.

I'll try the C6 by itself first, because as your say it might actually serve the house without issue. The VM units are pretty well known for being utter garbage for wi-fi.

Turn · 17 May 2022 at 06:05

Just FYI, that Archer C50 is a terrible choice cause although the marketing is fancy, once you read the spec, you quickly realize it only has 100Mbps ports.
Funny they still brand it as '300 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 867 Mbps on the 5 GHz band', well what use is that

Dirk Diggler · 17 May 2022 at 07:36

0007 said:
Just FYI, that Archer C50 is a terrible choice cause although the marketing is fancy, once you read the spec, you quickly realize it only has 100Mbps ports.
Funny they still brand it as '300 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 867 Mbps on the 5 GHz band', well what use is that

Thanks for the info; I ended up buying the C6