Recommend top spec router and AP

1etherer

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Hi All,

Its i2D again! :cool:

Can someone recommand the" top spec" routers and APs out right now on the market! no budget on price so let me know the best ones.. I dont do alot of research into home routers/APs and I know there will be a few people who already have.

Cheers :cool:
 
Stay the hell away from the R7000, firmware bugs out the ***, security issues regarding VPN, among dozens of other security issues, and unless you flash Merlin to the R7000, you will never get 1Gbit throughput from WAN to LAN ports, the SPI Firewall is up 24/7 and can't be disabled, even when you set the damned thing into AP mode. Even in router mode, chances of getting anything over 300Mbps on the router is slim to none unless you flash Merlin to it, and the router has issues keeping the settings for Merlin if you use any of the USB ports on it when power goes out.

Ubiquiti is one of the absolute best you can get as far as an access point goes from what a few of my friends in the IT department at other companies tells me. As for a high powered router... Build one, costs a bit more but you can build a powerhouse of a router and customize it far more than anything ASUS or Netgear will ever put out to the public, and it's cheaper than an enterprise solution. Lookup PFSense, and figure out what your internet speeds are, build the hardware to handle twice that speed, and learn how to use PFSense.

You want top spec, that's top spec, and it doesn't come at a cheap price.
 
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Stay the hell away from the R7000, firmware bugs out the ***, security issues regarding VPN, among dozens of other security issues, and unless you flash Merlin to the R7000, you will never get 1Gbit throughput from WAN to LAN ports, the SPI Firewall is up 24/7 and can't be disabled, even when you set the damned thing into AP mode. Even in router mode, chances of getting anything over 300Mbps on the router is slim to none unless you flash Merlin to it, and the router has issues keeping the settings for Merlin if you use any of the USB ports on it when power goes out.

Ubiquiti is one of the absolute best you can get as far as an access point goes from what a few of my friends in the IT department at other companies tells me. As for a high powered router... Build one, costs a bit more but you can build a powerhouse of a router and customize it far more than anything ASUS or Netgear will ever put out to the public, and it's cheaper than an enterprise solution. Lookup PFSense, and figure out what your internet speeds are, build the hardware to handle twice that speed, and learn how to use PFSense.

You want top spec, that's top spec, and it doesn't come at a cheap price.

Thanks for the advice, unfortunately my manager talks before he thinks and has gone and brought 2 Netgear nighthawk R8000's for next day delivery (not the R7000) its for someones large house that they have there office in.. He plans on putting 1 into AP mode..

Anyways thanks for the info! I should learn about the different routers/ APs.. :cool:
 
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Good luck, it's going to bite him in the ***.

Though, I don't see the point of you asking the question if your "boss" is the one doing the purchasing, let him screw his self over. IMO, Netgear is becoming the bottom of the barrel.

R8000 - AC3200 Nighthawk X6 - NETGEAR Forums

Yeah he tends to f things up all the time.. I wonder how he is an IT manager and has no clue about anything!! seriously.. lol
 
I can agree that enterprise equipment will provide a better experience (as far as functionality goes). Most home use folks don't need commercial grade equipment. Consumer grade equipment lasts at least a few years (the good ones) and it's usually time to upgrade at that point anyhow. It depends on what you need out of it, though. Here's my experiences:

Linksys - Stay away from them completely. Even before Belkin bought them, those units had issues with dropping clients left and right. Range is mediocre at best.

Belkin - See above statement. I like that the units have a setting to, effectively, reboot the router once every {insert recurrence time here}, but I've not seen this work very well and it still ends up needing power-cycles more often than not. I haven't seen any models that really impressed me on range or stability.

Netgear - Good solid router, but some select models have seen their issues as well. Stay away from certain models as mentioned above. The Nighthawks are over-priced for the performance. Any of the consumer level equipment of theirs will work great for an access point (I've used tons of the WNR2000 models as APs). Netgear's enterprise equipment works really well and I've never had a single issue with them.

Asus - Tons of features and, depending on the model, adjustable power level. I've had excellent experience with range on the signals as well. The GUI makes for an almost Apple-like simplified setup... an almost follow-the-bouncing-ball type experience. Their AP's also seem to hold up quite well.

TP-Link - I've not personally used these yet, but I believe the Archer C7 is going to be my next router at home. It's benchmarks have surpassed most other routers and the price is way lower than those of Asus and Netgear. The benchmarks include testing on range, throughput, etc. It DOES lack a few features, such as QoS and VPN. As long as you don't need those, this would also be a good choice.

Here's a link to check out what seems to be a pretty thorough review. Many of my peers agree with the reviews listed here: The Best Wi-Fi Router (for Most People) | The Wirecutter
 
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