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Posted

My router is a few years old, and lately the internet connection disconnects periodically, which means I have to run upstairs, unplug it, and plug it back in. There's no rhyme or reason for when it happens. I don't think it's the cable modem either, so since I don't know the first thing about how to fix it, what kind of router should I get? Best Buy has some that range from about 50 to 500 and a few that look like they came out of a Batman movie.

 

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

 

Posted

The cheap shit is ass, my dude.  Get something above $150 and has good review on amazon.  Google wifi, netgear orbi, old apple airport lineup (discontinued), or for standalone the more expensive Asus stuff is the best ive used.

 

all the cheap 50-100$ tplink, linksys, netgear, whatever shit ive used have all been trash

Posted

Here's a protip.  Instead of unplugging it, log into it and "accept" or "test" the settings.  That will restart it without you having to go anywhere.

Can use routerlogin.net or 192.168,1,1/admin

Posted
  On 12/5/2019 at 4:27 PM, 52-80 said:

The cheap shit is ass, my dude.  Get something above $150 and has good review on amazon.  Google wifi, netgear orbi, old apple airport lineup (discontinued), or for standalone the more expensive Asus stuff is the best ive used.

 

all the cheap 50-100$ tplink, linksys, netgear, whatever shit ive used have all been trash

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How so?  Do you avoid the eventual need to reboot them near-daily?  Better coverage?  Faster?

My old WNDR3400/N600 Netgear has been mostly fine, gives good coverage, and reports the full 40GB/s of our intergoogles.  But for several years now has needed the routine reboot.

Posted
  On 12/5/2019 at 5:53 PM, TwiceHorn said:

How so?  Do you avoid the eventual need to reboot them near-daily?  Better coverage?  Faster?

My old WNDR3400/N600 Netgear has been mostly fine, gives good coverage, and reports the full 40GB/s of our intergoogles.  But for several years now has needed the routine reboot.

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Exactly.  Remember back in the Windows 98, 2000, XP days when the computer ran mostly good, even perfect, for days or weeks....but then it'd lag and would need a manual reboot, if it didn't crash and reboot itself.  And today you just open and close your laptop without giving it a 2nd thought.

The Asus is the first set it and forget router I've had.  I could move terabytes of data across multiple devices and it wouldn't trip it off.

Being faster with stronger signal is just a consequence of newer standards, improved technology, and modern design.  But the stability and reliability is what I enjoy the most.

 

It's possible all devices today have equally advanced and work just as well, but I don't regret paying just a bit more, to not have to find out

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

That should read MB/s, not GB/s.

Have any specific recos?  I think mesh would be overkill, though we have a big house (not for much longer).

The ones over $150 seem to be loaded with features we don't (currently) need.  Two person household with occasional guest.  No gaming to speak of.  Rarely even multiple streams of anything and what of that we do is handled by the eight year old N600 adequately.

If your theory about improvements is correct (the w95/98 analogy seems plausible to me), it would seem that just getting a more modern one, a Nighthawk or Archer, might solve the restart problem, and you acknowledge that possibility.

Edited by TwiceHorn
Posted
  On 12/5/2019 at 4:27 PM, 52-80 said:

The cheap shit is ass, my dude.  Get something above $150 and has good review on amazon.  Google wifi, netgear orbi, old apple airport lineup (discontinued), or for standalone the more expensive Asus stuff is the best ive used.

 

all the cheap 50-100$ tplink, linksys, netgear, whatever shit ive used have all been trash

Expand  

Amen to this, my cheap Linksys has been a constant PITA.

Posted
  On 12/5/2019 at 6:52 PM, TwiceHorn said:

That should read MB/s, not GB/s.

Have any specific recos?  I think mesh would be overkill, though we have a big house (not for much longer).

The ones over $150 seem to be loaded with features we don't (currently) need.  Two person household with occasional guest.  No gaming to speak of.  Rarely even multiple streams of anything and what of that we do is handled by the eight year old N600 adequately.

If your theory about improvements is correct (the w95/98 analogy seems plausible to me), it would seem that just getting a more modern one, a Nighthawk or Archer, might solve the restart problem, and you acknowledge that possibility.

Expand  

Mesh is overkill if you dont have a large sq_ft you need to cover.  With a smaller footprint, a single beefy router providers higher top end for the dollar. 

802.11ax = Wifi 6 = unecessary as its not widely supported yet.  RT-AC68U is a good one for no frills

  • Like 1
Posted

Big ASUS fan.

Additionally, you can set up a mesh network with them through firmware updates if you ever want to. They also have a GUI sample online you can play with.

That’s all I will buy. And you can also set up up to nine different ssid’s. Ex:
2.4 home
5 home
2.4 media
2.4 security
5 kids
5 iot devices

Etc.


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Posted

Completely power down both modem and router for a few minutes. Unplug the cables. Dust the router and modem. Make sure their vents are not obstructed. After they've been plugged back in for some time, listen to see if the fans are still working (if they have them). Try a different cable between modem and router. (I recently doubled my speed and eliminated drops after replacing a bad cable.) If none of this works, have a tech come out to your house to see if the wiring to the house is still good.

I replaced that bad cable only after buying a new modem. That was my big mistake.

Anyway, my place is small enough and my internet slow enough (200 mb/s) that a dual-N router was fine. So I purchased a Netgear Nighthawk R6700. No heavy gaming online, but we have two adults and a teenager that may be streaming video and constantly browsing the internet with no bandwidth problems. After replacing the bad cable, it has been rock-solid.

Posted
  On 12/6/2019 at 4:38 PM, ChickenSandwich said:
Grabbed a TP-Link 
AC2300 MU-MIMO
Gigabit Router for $50. Think I got a great deal based on the reviews but havent hooked it up yet. 
Where did you find that?

Anyone have anything with av/threat protection built-in.
Posted (edited)

It was listed for $79.00 on EBAY as new in box and had the option for “or best offer”. I offered $50 and they accepted in 5 mins. 
 

I got the price from searching slickdeals and seeing Walmart previously has them for $54 new on shelf. 
 

*was a retailer not private seller

Edited by ChickenSandwich
  • 6 months later...
Posted

So what about the combo modem/router they give you? That is like 12 bucks a month, but I am better off using my own router, just for quality purposes, correct? 

I'm wondering if I should just get my own modem too, but will they "troubleshoot" that if something goes wrong with the service and it's my equipment? 

Posted
  On 6/27/2020 at 5:52 PM, BBQ2Bayou said:

So what about the combo modem/router they give you? That is like 12 bucks a month, but I am better off using my own router, just for quality purposes, correct? 

I'm wondering if I should just get my own modem too, but will they "troubleshoot" that if something goes wrong with the service and it's my equipment? 

Expand  

Get your own modem and a separate router.  They will tell you if you're getting a signal to the modem.  I think they'll tell you if the think the modem is an issue.  But if unplugging/replugging the power on the modem doesn't get you all blue lights, it's probably something on their end.  Just make sure the modem supports the speeds you're paying for.

Posted
  On 6/28/2020 at 1:21 AM, dcbc said:

Get your own modem and a separate router.  They will tell you if you're getting a signal to the modem.  I think they'll tell you if the think the modem is an issue.  But if unplugging/replugging the power on the modem doesn't get you all blue lights, it's probably something on their end.  Just make sure the modem supports the speeds you're paying for.

Expand  

That's what I ended up doing. They said I had to get the docsis 3.1 so I should be covered.

They probably lied to me because those are a lot more expensive than the 3.0 and wanted me to rent. 

Posted
  On 6/28/2020 at 2:39 AM, BBQ2Bayou said:

That's what I ended up doing. They said I had to get the docsis 3.1 so I should be covered.

They probably lied to me because those are a lot more expensive than the 3.0 and wanted me to rent. 

Expand  

Can't tell you a thing about that one.  I got an Arris Surfboard and it's been pretty solid.

Posted

 

  On 6/28/2020 at 2:39 AM, BBQ2Bayou said:

That's what I ended up doing. They said I had to get the docsis 3.1 so I should be covered.

They probably lied to me because those are a lot more expensive than the 3.0 and wanted me to rent. 

Expand  

Just an FYI.  The Surfboard SB6190 docsis 3.1 uses the PUMA 6 chipset which is absolute trash.  If you game with this modem, you're going to experience ping issues out the wazoo. 

I use the SB6183 and it works like a charm.

Posted
  On 6/29/2020 at 2:07 PM, pearlandhorn said:

 

Just an FYI.  The Surfboard SB6190 docsis 3.1 uses the PUMA 6 chipset which is absolute trash.  If you game with this modem, you're going to experience ping issues out the wazoo. 

I use the SB6183 and it works like a charm.

Expand  

Thanks. I don't know shit about chipsets. I read a bunch of reviews and saw the SB on there, but not sure which one. I ended up going with a NETGEAR CM1000.- 32 x 8 DOCSIS 3.1. 

A bunch of those 3.1 were out of stock. Is that a new OS, or whatever docsis is considered? I saw it was backward compatible, but don't know any other differences. 

 

Posted

Yes, 3.1 is newer. However, if you’re not using it as a gaming modem, you shouldn’t really have an issue. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a class action lawsuit going on regarding the PUMA 6 chipsets that will cause manufacturers to change it due to false advertising. I may be wrong though.

  • 9 months later...
Posted

I just switched over to a cheap mesh system.  I'm happy with it, but learned some things that I couldn't quite "glean" from reading reviews.  Here's kind of a buyer's guide on mesh systems.

 

  • 2 months later...
Posted

I have an Apple AirPort Time Capsule https://www.apple.com/ph/airport-time-capsule/specs/ that is several years old now but I absolutely love. I had owned multiple high-end routers, including Asus, Netgear, and Linksys, all of which gave me problems, but since switching to Apple in 2014 or so everything has just worked.

And it still works, but it's getting old now. Since I rely on it to back-up my Mac I'm wondering how long it will last, and alternatives to replace it.

I don't think there's any current product that is both an external wireless hard drive and router. At least I can't find one. I've had bad experiences with high-end routers in the past, and the problem is that I don't understand half of what I'm reading online. In addition, I hate to say it but I care about looks, and the vast majority of routers are ugly as shit to me.

Any recommendations?

 

  • Like 1
Posted
  On 6/30/2021 at 10:04 AM, Bookman said:
I have an Apple AirPort Time Capsule https://www.apple.com/ph/airport-time-capsule/specs/ that is several years old now but I absolutely love. I had owned multiple high-end routers, including Asus, Netgear, and Linksys, all of which gave me problems, but since switching to Apple in 2014 or so everything has just worked.
And it still works, but it's getting old now. Since I rely on it to back-up my Mac I'm wondering how long it will last, and alternatives to replace it.
I don't think there's any current product that is both an external wireless hard drive and router. At least I can't find one. I've had bad experiences with high-end routers in the past, and the problem is that I don't understand half of what I'm reading online. In addition, I hate to say it but I care about looks, and the vast majority of routers are ugly as shit to me.
Any recommendations?
 

https://www.asus.com/us/Networking-IoT-Servers/Whole-Home-Mesh-WiFi-System/ZenWiFi-WiFi-Systems/ASUS-ZenWiFi-ET8/

Add in a lifetime purchase of PCloud and call it a day.
Posted

Most conventional routers have a USB port and support storage attached, whether a thumb drive or a USB HDD/SDD.

I thought about doing that to back up my Mac, but never messed with it.  I think there's a little trigger work involved in getting such a drive "mated up" to Time Machine.

  • Like 1
Posted

I just noticed that says it "plugs directly into my wifi router." Not sure how that could work. There aren't any places on my router for that to plug into.

Posted
  On 7/9/2021 at 11:23 PM, Bookman said:

I got a G-Technologies G-Drive but I'm taking it back because it won't fucking stop blinking.

Expand  

Actually, I zeroed out the hard drive yesterday and it appears to be working just fine now.

  • Like 1
Posted

Thanks for the help. Pretty happy with everything right now.

Now that everything is up and working I'm going to start looking at some smart home stuff.

Posted
  On 7/12/2021 at 1:29 AM, Bookman said:
Thanks for the help. Pretty happy with everything right now.
Now that everything is up and working I'm going to start looking at some smart home stuff.

Start with a thermostat
Then get a rachio
  • Hook 'Em 1
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

Got some smart lights, a thermostat, and a doorbell. Will get a Rachio, and I guess it's time to start researching home security systems.

Doorbell is getting installed today. I got an ecobee and it's awesome so far.

Edited by Bookman
  • Like 1
Posted
  On 7/25/2021 at 4:14 PM, Bookman said:
Got some smart lights, a thermostat, and a doorbell. Will get a Rachio, and I guess it's time to start researching home security systems.
Doorbell is getting installed today. I got an ecobee and it's awesome so far.

Simplisafe sucks.
Posted
  On 7/28/2021 at 3:04 AM, Handcruser said:


Simplisafe sucks.

Expand  

Logitech's doorbell sucks too. Bought one and it simply wouldn't connect to Homekit. Exchanged it and that one wouldn't connect as well. Then I hired a Logitech pro and he was clueless.

I'm taking it back. Guess I'll get a Retatmo.

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