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Author Topic: What router for £150  (Read 3154 times)

thesmileyone

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What router for £150
« on: October 16, 2016, 10:54:40 AM »
So looking at sending my dsl-ac68u (currently configured as an rt-ac68u) back to Amazon as it is problem after problem.

Only issue is...what to replace with? I need the followinng.

Reliable wifi for 6+ devices.
Strong range.
Needs to work with ECI openreach modem.
Strong wifi security.
£150 or less.

Thank you.
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psychopomp1

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2016, 11:14:42 AM »
I assume you're after a standalone router as you want to connect it to an Openreach ECI modem. In that case go for a 4 stream Mu-Mimo router such as Linksys EA8500 or TP Link C2600. Both of these use Qualcomm Atheros (QCA) wifi radios & they are rock solid. I used to have an EA8500, was very happy with range & wifi speeds but upgraded to an Asus AC5300 as i wanted a 3 radio router. With the EA8500 you can install DD-WRT firmware on it for more customization (eg Openvpn) but the stock fw is very good as well. Whatever you do, don't buy the 1st generation 4 stream router the Asus AC87U as the Quantenna driver on this is very unstable.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Linksys-Max-Stream-MU-MIMO-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B00X3CDX8I

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-Archer-C2600-Technology-Dual-Core/dp/B014G00O3M
« Last Edit: October 16, 2016, 11:41:06 AM by psychopomp1 »
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Weaver

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2016, 11:42:49 AM »
What about the Asus AC5300?
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psychopomp1

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2016, 11:57:28 AM »
Quote from: Weaver on October 16, 2016, 11:42:49 AM
What about the Asus AC5300?

The Asus AC5300 is arguably the best router around (also looks damn sexy) but at £353 its outside OP's budget. Not too long ago it was £400 on Amazon!!  :lol:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-RT-AC5300-AiProtection-Accelerator-Aggregation/dp/B019HH3HSI
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Chunkers

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2016, 04:24:33 PM »
I had lots of trouble with my Asus AC-68U as a router but it works great as a WAP, no trouble at all.  Have you considered buying a really robust non-wireless router and just using the DSL-AC68U as WAP?

I know how you feel, though, I really like the UI of Asus stuff but my experiences with my AC68U have put me off the brand, I would probably go with something clunky but reliable that can run dd-wrt if I get fed up of the firmware.

Personally I really like have separate modem / WAP / router even thought its a bit messy because you can change / upgrade things individually without throwing out the whole setup just because you want to upgrade to the latest Carlos Fandango wireless standard.

Chunks
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skyeci

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2016, 05:14:26 PM »
Why not build your own pfsense (software is free) box as your firewall/router. You just need a fairly modern pc with 2 nics. You 68u can then be just your wap.. if you have a spare pc  lying around it might only cost you a network card...

Eci >pfsense box>68u wap
« Last Edit: October 16, 2016, 05:16:43 PM by skyeci »
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thesmileyone

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2016, 06:17:13 PM »
If I could get it to work with the Asus I would be highly tempted to use my old Netgear that ran fantastically for so long, but it doesn't support decent wifi security.
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ejs

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2016, 06:27:27 PM »
Which old Netgear, and what would you use it for?
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Geekofbroadband

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2016, 07:38:14 PM »
Definitely a Netgear R7800. But its currenlty at £174.99 on Amazon ;D
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Chunkers

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2016, 08:36:49 PM »
Quote from: thesmileyone on October 16, 2016, 06:17:13 PM
If I could get it to work with the Asus I would be highly tempted to use my old Netgear that ran fantastically for so long, but it doesn't support decent wifi security.
So just use the Netgear as your router bridged to your modem and the Asus as a  WAP?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

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ejs

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #10 on: October 16, 2016, 08:54:05 PM »
If it's so old that it doesn't support decent wifi security, assuming that refers to WPA2, then it must be really old and I can't think what use it would be, even if it could be used, it might not have enough CPU power to route traffic even at lower FTTC speeds.
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psychopomp1

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Re: What router for £150
« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2016, 05:06:28 AM »
Quote from: Geekofbroadband on October 16, 2016, 07:38:14 PM
Definitely a Netgear R7800. But its currenlty at £174.99 on Amazon ;D

+1

The Netgear R7800 is also a superb router, uses latest QCA Mu-Mimo radios and if the OP can afford 175 notes then he should go for it. However if the OP is willing to go back to an all-in-onesie router, then the Netgear D7800 should also be considered. Its the same as the R7800 but with the addition of a Lantiq xDSL chipset & is very stable (supports G.INP, vectoring). Its currently priced at an eye watering £249.99 but the price seems to yo-yo on Amazon, last week i saw it priced at £179.99 so well worth keeping an eye on it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NETGEAR-D7800-100UKS-Nighthawk-Connections-Infinity/dp/B01560JKAE
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