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What is a good WIFI router?

THEFERMANATOR

THEFERMANATOR

FRANKENBURBAN
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I have been having nothing but problems with my wireless router from our cable company, and am looking for a good router that won't break the bank. We have 35MB internet service at home now, and if I set there modem to default settings I get brief spikes to 38MB or so, and then nothing, back up, and then nothing again. If I disable the WMM in it, I got 35MB of speed from it for the 1st hour, and have been getting no higher than 22MB from it since. The speed coming from the modem drops the longer I try to connect to it, and will eventually drop down to 1-3MB if I'm lucky. So it looks like the modem is kicking me off because I can watch the speed of it drop from 54MB in the status window down to 11 when I am having issues. What is wierd it only does this on my 2 windows based laptops, and our VIZIO TV. My phone and my wifes apple based products maintain roughly a 35MB connection speed. I had this problem with the last modem we had from them on our 15MB service, and found some settings in it that fixxed it, but those settings don't work on this new router. SO I'm throwing in the towel, and going to get my own wireless router to use so hopefully I can hopefully get the speeds I'm paying for.
 
You'd be hard-pressed to find a better product than the Apple Airport Extreme. However, that's $200. For $100 you can get the Airport Express. Those are top of the line, and crazy fast over wireless. If you're not looking to spend that much, though, I stick with Buffalo, Linksys and Netgear. You can find some good deals on Amazon. It's been my experience you get what you pay for. If you wanna splurge, go with the Airport Extreme. The Airport Express is your next best bet.
 
I've tried alot of them and none are as good as the Apple Airport Extreme.

I just got the newest model. Dual Band, newest 802.11AC network. My network speeds SHOULD be capped at 50 down / 30 up (from my provider), but with the new AE, I get 62 down / 33 up speeds. I also have the newest Airport Express on the other end of the house to to extend my wireless network coverage even more. Set everything up in about 15 minutes from my iPad, didn't even need to use the computer to set anything up.
 
What is the range on a good router? I have been thinking about asking the same question. Do they make something that will reach my tool shed? And go through the steel sheeting?
 
jrsavoie said:
What is the range on a good router? I have been thinking about asking the same question. Do they make something that will reach my tool shed? And go through the steel sheeting?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure. Most reviewers have it supporting 5K+ sqft homes. How far away is your shed?
 
Our last router was a LINKSYS WRT54GS, and I could use it out in my shop, and most of the yard. My shop is about 200 feet away fro mthe house, and is aluminum, and I had no problems using the WIFI out there. Unfortunately it just doesn't work at the higher speeds. It worked at 17MB with our 15MB internet, but it dropped to 15-16MB with our 35MB internet. It is only WIRELESS G capable at 54MB, but it should still run at half that of 27MB. For what I'm paying I should have good coverage throughout our whole house and have 35MB doing it.
 
The 54 Mbps rating on your WRT54GS is a theoretical throughput you'll never see in real life. It assumes there is no other RF interference and perfect line of sight. Setting your laptop right next to a 54 Mbps router will only get you 30-40 Mbps on a good day. Once you add some distance and a couple walls, you're doing great to get 17-18. The Airport Extreme uses an array of antennas that will measure the signal it receives from your laptop, triangulate its direction, and focus its transmissions in that direction. It can do that for all the devices connected to it. It's called Beamforming. It's also the latest iteration of 802.11ac which is the fastest wireless you'll find.
 
My house is about 4000sq/ft and no matter where I go inside the house, I'll stay on the 5GHz band, as soon as I go outside, it'll automatically switch me over to the 2.5GHz band, and I'll have coverage on my property which is just under 1 acre.
 
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Did you think about going wireless? If your android has a signal you can use it for any device. I can hotspot with either of our phones or the wireless WIFI unit we have. If your phone plan is up for renewal it's something to think about. Assuming some provider has a tower close enough.
 
That's not a terrible idea, especially with the way wireless data has advanced as of late. The only thing to watch out for is data caps and overage charges. Those can get nasty quick.
 
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