New WiFi Router - Giant improvement (eg., range)

[Lbm]

This morning I replaced my old wifi router with a Asus RT-AC68U. I have much better range in my house now. Highly recommended. Dual Band (2.4/5Ghz), supports 802.11ac, superb admin interface, some very cool features. You can plug a USB drive into it and use that drive for backups, or just as a PC-free networked drive.



Biggest problem with previous wifi router was lack of range. I had to add a klunky network extender in my kitchen to hit the back bedrooms. After some quick testing, won't need that anymore. In fact, I have almost full signal everywere outside my house, into the cul-de-sac!



The previous (now dead) router was from the cable co (Brighthouse) ,a Ubee cable modem with internal router and wifi. Range was horrible. The thing would completely lose its settngs every few weeks (SSID, etc). I exchanged it for a simple Motorola cable modem.



So, if you're looking for more range, or are just in the market, consider this one.

I just got the same router about a month ago. I swear I've been telling everyone it changed my life! I used an app called Wifi Sweetspots to test speed all around my house before and after and the difference was amazing. The signal would drop out on the back porch, but now it's as strong as it was at any spot in the house. I can sit out back and drink a beer and smoke a cigarette while I'm playing Minecraft with the kids and they no longer get kicked out of my world. Also, we noticed that our phone batteries appear to last longer because the wifi signal isn't constantly dropping out.

 

[Newsman]

I have to say, for $175, you darn well ought to expect freakin' miracles from it! No way I'd pay that much for one router

 

[Moose_MI]

I have to say, for $175, you darn well ought to expect freakin' miracles from it! No way I'd pay that much for one router

You would if you had to listen to a wife and 3 teenagers constantly complain....$175 is a bargain

 

[KPBrews]

I have to say, for $175, you darn well ought to expect freakin' miracles from it! No way I'd pay that much for one router

After you've replaced enough $40 routers that last a year or two at best, you start to see the value of a higher end router, as long as they last a good long while, especially if they deliver better performance.

 

[passedpawn]

I have to say, for $175, you darn well ought to expect freakin' miracles from it! No way I'd pay that much for one router

Haha, I understand! I've got 3 kids in college. The $$ blow through here like **** through a goose. This router is nothing compared to the rest of it. If it lasts a few years and continues to be a BOSS router, I'm happy.

I've been through more routers than I can remember. They all seem to be ****. This one might be too. We'll see.

I needed one that would cover my home. That's not a lot to ask I don't think, but until now it hasn't happened. This one does that.

 

[KPBrews]

Haha, I understand! I've got 3 kids in college. The $$ blow through here like **** through a goose. This router is nothing compared to the rest of it. If it lasts a few years and continues to be a BOSS router, I'm happy.

I've been through more routers than I can remember. They all seem to be ****. This one might be too. We'll see.

I needed one that would cover my home. That's not a lot to ask I don't think, but until now it hasn't happened. This one does that.

FWIW, I've been through the same thing more times than I can count (I do IT consulting). Apple's routers seem to be some of the only ones that stand the test of time, to date. They're priced in the same range as the high end Asus and Netgear routers. Great coverage and easy to administer... as long as you have an iPhone, iPad, or a Mac. (You can't administer the newer ones with a PC like you used to)

Clients end up paying me a lot more to come service/replace their cheap routers than they do if they just buy a good one in the first place.

Admittedly, I HAVE seen cheap routers last a good long time, too... but far more often, they last a year or two and then die, then it's another $40 router and another hour of paid consulting time to replace it, instead of installing the one Apple router and we're done for 5 years or more...

 

[CGVT]

I just added these to my house. So far they seem to work well-no degradation of speed and I no longer have dead spots in my house.

You techies will probably scoff, but they are plug and play, cheap as hell and work much better than the wifi extender that I had.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008F537KC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[KPBrews]

I just added these to my house. So far they seem to work well-no degradation of speed and I no longer have dead spots in my house.

You techies will probably scoff, but they are plug and play, cheap as hell and work much better than the wifi extender that I had.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008F537KC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Powerline network extenders? There's nothing wrong with those, as long as the electrical lines in your house are compatible. They're not as fast as a true, direct hard line, but that's not always feasible. They do add some overhead, but they're still faster than wireless so you're not likely to notice for most uses.

The thing to avoid is wifi repeaters. Those are the ones that cause serious speed degradation, of your wireless network. Each one you add halves your network bandwidth! (in other words, add one and you're at 50% of possible speed, add two and you're at 25%!)