Tell me about a better router.

[tallyho8]

Most people know a lot more about routers than I do. All I know is they are working great or not working great. I have an old Netgear N900 router. It's the third one I've had, each time, one a little more expensive and barely any difference. My problem: My bedroom TV is 35' from my router with 4 walls in between. My TV frequently drops the signal and on some movies is slow downloading. When I put a range extender on it just seems to slow it down more.

If I google "best routers" I get many different web sites all recommending different routers, usually from $500 down. I can't see spending that much money on a router. I can go down a street and pick up a wifi signal on my cell phone when I am hundreds of feet from someones home but have trouble picking up the signal 50' outside my home.

Can I get a consensus on a better router that won't break the bank?

 

[/pine]

What type of Internet service do you have?...Cable?, DSL ? Fiber ?

 

[riptides]

I think you need a network extender for your router.

 

[BoylermanCT]

I recently upgraded to a Netgear Nighthawk AX-4800 from Best Buy. Our old router could not handle the high number of devices in the house. The new router solved all our dropped connections, and brought both our 2.4 and 5.0 networks to full speed. We get 100mbps cable service, and the old router could deliver 100 on 5.0 and about 70 on 2.4. Now both get over 100 and we don't have any more dropped connections. I bought the router on black Friday for around $100.

Go to speedtest.com and test the speed of your internet compared to what you are paying for. I know people who pay for 200 and 400mbps service and get less than 100. A faster router won't speed up slow speeds from your ISP.

 

[i7win7]

https://www.amazon.com/WAVLINK-Wire...wavlink+outdoor+router&qid=1613096572&sr=8-21

Have one of these outdoors on south side of house with cable going into ATT router. ATT router is in room on north side. Cell phone in same room as ATT router, it wants to connect to strongest signal - coming from outdoor router.

 

[tallyho8]

Cable

 

[/pine]

Just something to check...many DSL and cable modems have integrated router capabilities which means they have on board DHCP servers...If a stand alone router is installed it may also be running a DHCP server...one or the other DHCP servers should be disabled...otherwise it can cause issues very much like described in the op....!

 

[tallyho8]

I think you need a network extender for your router.

I have a Netgear extender. When I use it, the movies frequently stop to download as it seems to slow things down on my firestick.

 

[dlctcg]

Just something to check...many DSL and cable modems have integrated router capabilities which means they have on board DHCP servers...If a stand alone router is installed it may also be running a DHCP server...one or the other DHCP servers should be disabled...otherwise it can cause issues very much like described in the op....!

^^^ Agree with the above... Also make sure you check to see what channels you are using to broadcast your SSID's, you don't want to be on the same channels of nearby networks (if there are any). As far as router brands go... We use Luxul products for many of our clients with great results. Most of their Wi-Fi routers also have a built-in controller allowing you to add 2 more access points to them as needed (wired AP... not meshed).

 

[tallyho8]

I recently upgraded to a Netgear Nighthawk AX-4800 from Best Buy. Our old router could not handle the high number of devices in the house. The new router solved all our dropped connections, and brought both our 2.4 and 5.0 networks to full speed. We get 100mbps cable service, and the old router could deliver 100 on 5.0 and about 70 on 2.4. Now both get over 100 and we don't have any more dropped connections. I bought the router on black Friday for around $100.

Go to speedtest.com and test the speed of your internet compared to what you are paying for. I know people who pay for 200 and 400mbps service and get less than 100. A faster router won't speed up slow speeds from your ISP.

Here are my speeds from tests on Speedtest, Speedguide and Cox Cable which I have.