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Need a new router, maybe an access point too

S

SamuraiInBlack

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 10, 2003
Messages
5,774
As the title says, I'm in the market for a new router and possibly an access point.

Current ISP is Xfinity 1Gbps, might upgrade down the road but not immediate. The modem they supplied me with also functions as a router, but I have never trusted Xfinity's networking solutions, and I don't foresee myself starting. No cable box if that makes a difference.

Need something that is compatible with working from home and can support it, as my wife works from home. She will most likely be hooked up to the router. I bring this up because my current router started showing connectivity issues with her previous WFH gig (and previous modem had no internal router) but that may be because the current router is hitting 10 years old. We DID notice that swapping to the internal router on the modem had no issues.

Not looking for anything heavy, just something I can get up and running and configure decent security.

Edit: Forgot to add that this will have to support a bunch of devices. TV's, tablets, computers, and some game consoles. Doubt I will get smart appliances until it's impossible to avoid buying one.

Also considering an access point to add because the wifi on the other side of the house seems to struggle staying connected to the router. Not sure if it's just an old router issue.

Thanks!
 
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Darunion said:
Ill toss out my normal carrying-a-flag for Unifi, https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/cloud-gateways-wifi-integrated/products/ux7

Bit pricier at $200 than that linksys though.

Adding access points can be cheap if you are like me and buy them used off ebay. Often businesses get rid of previous gen ones at good prices.
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Price isn't really an issue for me as long as it's not like $500+ per piece of equipment. Primary concern is more stability and security, and I'd also like something that doesn't need a network engineering degree just to configure it.

I'm comfortable going a little advanced if it means I can make sure everything actually works as intended and I keep bad stuff from ever even seeing any device.
 
I may have my ASUS ExpertWiFi EBM68 AX7800 Tri-Band Business WiFi 6 System (2 Pack) that I've been using going for sale soon, if you're interested. They're AIMesh, so it's easy to connect and extend. I upgraded to a router with 10G and 2.5G ethernet ports, as I'm finally upgrading my internal network speeds.
 
I have Comcast. The big problem with their gear is they do a piss poor job of handling WiFi, particularly in homes large enuogh to need more than one access point. The worst problem for a smaller installation is you can't pick which frequencies your Xfinity Gateway uses. It gets a lot worse in larger homes where you need to use their "pods" for more coverage. They do at least support a wired backhaul now, but using pods prevents you from splitting off 2.4GHz and Xfinity gear has lots of compatibility problems with 2.4GHz only equipment in merged mode where 2.4GHz and 5GHz are on the same SSID. Then pods don't support fast roaming, so that makes things more clunky than it ought to be. Fast roaming is basically the network gear telling a client "you're closer to this other AP, you should switch".

The really annoying bit with Comcast, at least around here, is that it's cheaper to get unlimited renting their equipment than using your own. Last I checked "Complete" was $25/mo and included the gateway rental. Pods you have to buy. Unlimited with your own modem and gear was $30/mo.

Not sure what to tell you for gear. All my stuff is on the heavier side. Business class gear, lower end but still business class features and complexity, mostly MikroTik stuff except for the APs, custom firewall, multiple VLANs mapped to multiple SSIDs, wired backhauls, etc. I suppose if I were to do a consumer grade setup I'd start by looking at your home. Like how many WiFi APs do you need for good coverage? Can you run wired backhauls? That sort of thing. Sounds like you need 2+ APs since coverage is poor at the other end of the house, but can you run a cable without tearing drywall apart and racking up a massive bill? I have an unfinished basement so I can just pull cable in the basement then up into a wall to get to the 1st floor.
 
zandor said:
I have Comcast. The big problem with their gear is they do a piss poor job of handling WiFi, particularly in homes large enuogh to need more than one access point. The worst problem for a smaller installation is you can't pick which frequencies your Xfinity Gateway uses. It gets a lot worse in larger homes where you need to use their "pods" for more coverage. They do at least support a wired backhaul now, but using pods prevents you from splitting off 2.4GHz and Xfinity gear has lots of compatibility problems with 2.4GHz only equipment in merged mode where 2.4GHz and 5GHz are on the same SSID. Then pods don't support fast roaming, so that makes things more clunky than it ought to be. Fast roaming is basically the network gear telling a client "you're closer to this other AP, you should switch".
Click to expand...

This is exactly why I don't care for their modems doubling as routers. They're great for grandpa and grandma who only go online to check email and maybe look at Facebook to go see pics of their grandkids. They're terrible for anything else, or anyone needing something that grants better control and/or configurability. When they first started supplying them out here, their ability to act as a router was complete trash even compared to a cheap Buffalo router without DD-WRT back in the day. They have not improved much on this since those days, based on my current connection and modem.

zandor said:
The really annoying bit with Comcast, at least around here, is that it's cheaper to get unlimited renting their equipment than using your own. Last I checked "Complete" was $25/mo and included the gateway rental. Pods you have to buy. Unlimited with your own modem and gear was $30/mo.
Click to expand...

If I'm buying new hardware for my network, it's going to be for *my* network, not what Xfinity thinks I need for a network. The only reason I'm not buying a standalone router this go-around is because my area doesn't get top tier connectivity. We get just high enough for them to bother. But allegedly we have some local competition moving into the area, so maybe that will force them to make better offers, or better speeds.

zandor said:
Not sure what to tell you for gear. All my stuff is on the heavier side. Business class gear, lower end but still business class features and complexity, mostly MikroTik stuff except for the APs, custom firewall, multiple VLANs mapped to multiple SSIDs, wired backhauls, etc. I suppose if I were to do a consumer grade setup I'd start by looking at your home. Like how many WiFi APs do you need for good coverage? Can you run wired backhauls? That sort of thing. Sounds like you need 2+ APs since coverage is poor at the other end of the house, but can you run a cable without tearing drywall apart and racking up a massive bill? I have an unfinished basement so I can just pull cable in the basement then up into a wall to get to the 1st floor.
Click to expand...

Based on my current router signal strength I've been monitoring, I would probably only need one access point, though now that I think about it, I may end up just getting an extender instead and crossing my fingers. I really don't want to crawl under my house to run cable, which would be the most ideal as far as running cable goes. I'm at an age where my back hurts just thinking about it. That and I don't do well with creepy crawlies that like to call those kinds of places home, no matter what you do to keep them out.
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
They're terrible for anything else, or anyone needing something that grants better control and/or configurability. When they first started supplying them out here, their ability to act as a router was complete trash even compared to a cheap Buffalo router without DD-WRT back in the day.
Click to expand...

Man thay brings back memories! Running dd-wrt on a buffalo router!

Nowadays im team unifi all the way! Im running an ooooold af Outdoor+ access point to this day that has ran fine without a hard reset since purchase.
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
Based on my current router signal strength I've been monitoring, I would probably only need one access point, though now that I think about it, I may end up just getting an extender instead and crossing my fingers. I really don't want to crawl under my house to run cable, which would be the most ideal as far as running cable goes. I'm at an age where my back hurts just thinking about it. That and I don't do well with creepy crawlies that like to call those kinds of places home, no matter what you do to keep them out.
Click to expand...
If you're going with a wireless backhaul I'd suggest getting one of those mesh kits. The better ones have dedicated radios for communication between nodes and will support fast roaming. Range extenders connect to the router's main radio and don't really cooperate with it.

If you want something a little fancier some Netgear Orbi models support more than 2 wireless networks. Most consumer gear just has a main network and a guest network. That can be useful for security. My WFH setup has a separate VLAN and SSID for my employer provided gear. It's not allowed to talk to anything on my local network, so my work computer and work phone are walled off and can only connect to the Internet. Theoretically each other, but I've never had a reason to try to do that.
 
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