Router suggestion_less than Rs. 2000

N

nikhilpoddar

Disciple
guys,

really confused as to which router to buy.. I am staying in a 2BHk flat.. Currently, i have Belkin Basic Router. But its range is pathetic. It is kept in one corner of the living room which is L Shaped .

I cannot get the range even if i move in the middle room. So guys please suggest best router with he best range within Rs. 2000
 
I had actually bought that tpwr841 router first before belkin basic model. But it was giving me some connectivity issues. SO changed it with Belkin. Any other good option ?
 
Why don't you put up a layout of your house indicating where router will be placed, where the clients will be and how many walls the signal has to go through. Are these walls 6 inch or 11 inch.

Without this nobody has a clue as to what 'range' you need or where the corners of your house are.
 
I compared these routers before buying
Asus RT-N13U B1, Cisco Linksys E900 and Asus RT-N10 LX
RT-N10LX had pathetic signal strength,
RT-N13U which I loaned from a friend had a lot of bells and whistles(It supports dongles too) but if you are looking at only good signal strength go with E900.
 
If you are from Mumbai - you could borrow my 740N after 2 days to check the range since I found the range for the 740N and the N13 quite similar.
 
Marcus Fenix said:
RT-N13U which I loaned from a friend had a lot of bells and whistles(It supports dongles too) but if you are looking at only good signal strength go with E900.
Click to expand...

I wonder how useful these usb supporting
routers are to smartphone users. They can
directly download files to their phone memory / cards or pen drives (with otg)
using torrent apps. just put it for download
overnight and its ready in the morning.
Makes your wallet happy :)
 
hrohit85 said:
I wonder how useful these usb supporting
routers are to smartphone users. They can
directly download files to their phone memory / cards or pen drives (with otg)
using torrent apps. just put it for download
overnight and its ready in the morning.
Makes your wallet happy :)
Click to expand...

I did not purchase the N13 for the dongle support, but purely for DD-WRT + USB download. Dongle support was just an after thought. Plus, dont forget media streaming/NAS.

If and when your phone battery dies out early OR the memory card shows issues OR some other heat related issues crop up, then you might feel it was not a very good idea.
 
blr_p said:
E900 vs N13

N13 is better for range.

E900 & E1200 use the same wifi chip

Though you're the second person i've read here that said the E900 was better than the N13.
Click to expand...

I was also planning to buy the N13(Everybody lusts after that one) but on hands on comparison I found the E900 to be better in terms of wifi signal strength.
I tested on my phone using wifi strength analyzer as the signal range was one of primary concerns for 720p video streaming.

@hrohit85 the dongle support is a good feature (at least for me) as if your primary connection goes down you can use a Photon+ or a 3g datacard on the N13.(tested Airtel 3g dongle from company on the N13)
 
Marcus Fenix said:
I was also planning to buy the N13(Everybody lusts after that one) but on hands on comparison I found the E900 to be better in terms of wifi signal strength.
I tested on my phone using wifi strength analyzer as the signal range was one of primary concerns for 720p video streaming.
Click to expand...
How much dBm difference did you notice between the two on your client ? How far was the client from the routers.

Price on flipkart actually has the N13 for cheaper than the E900. People look at the features, 3G/USB + print server and the decision is easy.
 
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blr_p said:
E900 vs N13
N13 is better for range.
Click to expand...
Like I said earlier, there's something off with the N13 benchmark. There's no way a router without dedicated RF power amps will match routers with them.

Recently I was looking for a basic Broadcom router for my bro. Ideally I would've gone with an Asus, but the only cheap Broadcom model they have is the RT-N12 version 1, which is old and there are reports of instability. The N13U was tempting, but QC seems to have taken a hit. Finally told him to pick up the E900 too. Although his use is just for basic surfing, I was expecting he would need another one to use as a repeater (note: stock firmware doesn't support repeater mode, you need tomato), but surprisingly it covers 2 floors easy. I think the E900 is finally a decent budget router from Linksys. Add in the fact that they're charging 1k more for the identical E1200 just for guest access/parental controls in the firmare, and the E900 is better value. The USB port missing though is a bit disappointing, and sadly the only Linksys router with USB is the comparatively expensive E3500 for ~8k.
 
Crazy_Eddy said:
Like I said earlier, there's something off with the N13 benchmark.
Click to expand...
Tim's changed the way he tests routers over the years. How big a change means understanding the ins & outs of his testing methodology. AFAICT its using the open air method so the results should be comparable. He's changed things yet again with AC routers. Now, he does not run around the house any more rather he sticks routers in a box and twiddles dials. I have yet to figure out how it matches real world experience.

See, thing that matters is throughput at the client, signal levels only tell half the story. Signal levels do not mean a little weaker signal cannot carry the same if not more data if either client or router chip is sensitive enough to tell the difference.

When i'm ready i'll create a thread to measure throughput so we can see better what these routers are doing. Otherwise i'm not sure what other method people are using to say this or that router has more range.

Crazy_Eddy said:
There's no way a router without dedicated RF power amps will match routers with them.
Click to expand...
Want to explain this some more ?

Crazy_Eddy said:
Recently I was looking for a basic Broadcom router for my bro. Ideally I would've gone with an Asus, but the only cheap Broadcom model they have is the RT-N12 version 1, which is old and there are reports of instability. The N13U was tempting, but QC seems to have taken a hit.
Click to expand...
Faulty router = RMA. Chipsets have not changed.

toxicdrift never really got back to us after that thread so i've no clue how well things worked if at all. Really wish people would come back and give feedback so threads reach some sort of conclusion. There's just too many open ended threads in this section for my liking. people open a thread, realise their situation is the same and after a few pages there is no real conclusion. Just recommendations, well so how good were those recommendations anyway ?

Crazy_Eddy said:
Finally told him to pick up the E900 too. Although his use is just for basic surfing, I was expecting he would need another one to use as a repeater (note: stock firmware doesn't support repeater mode, you need tomato), but surprisingly it covers 2 floors easy. I think the E900 is finally a decent budget router from Linksys. Add in the fact that they're charging 1k more for the identical E1200 just for guest access/parental controls in the firmare, and the E900 is better value. The USB port missing though is a bit disappointing, and sadly the only Linksys router with USB is the comparatively expensive E3500 for ~8k.
Click to expand...
But did you get to compare with N13 ?

E900 might do well, but how equivalent is it. The differences should be sharper further away.

Major utility for USB is the 3G functionality, and secondary storage. For almost the same price i find it hard to push the E900 over the N13.
 
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blr_p said:
Tim's changed the way he tests routers over the years. How big a change means understanding the ins & outs of his testing methodology. AFAICT its using the open air method so the results should be comparable.

See, thing that matters is throughput at the client, signal levels only tell half the story. Signal levels do not mean a little weaker signal cannot carry the same if not more data if either client or router chip is sensitive enough to tell the difference.
Click to expand...
No time now, but IIRC I had linked you to a Engenius router with the same chipset as the N13U and IINM the testing methodology used for both was the same. I agree higher signal strength does not always imply higher throughput, but unless Engenius badly mucked up their firmware, the differences for the same radio were too big to be reasonable.

Want to explain this some more ?
Click to expand...
There's a limit to RF amplification thats integrated onto a IC. Having dedicated RF power amps will show drastic differences in long range throughput, i.e. Location F in the smallnetbuilder charts. If you have time to scroll through location F results on the SNB charts you will notice the N13U hanging with the best routers - all of which will have dedicated RF power amps. The N13U is good, but not that good.

Faulty router = RMA. Chipsets have not changed.
Click to expand...
Not chipset changes, QC issues. 2 routers dying in quick succession points to some QC issues. Thats just my quick take. Maybe he was just extremely unlucky.


But did you get to compare with N13 ?

E900 might do well, but how equivalent is it. The differences should be sharper further away.
Click to expand...
No, I'm just adding the E900 did better than I expected, and despite what the charts say - which I consider erroneous - I'm betting the E900 would match or better the N13U easily.

Major utility for USB is the 3G functionality, and secondary storage. For almost the same price i find it hard to push the E900 over the N13.
Click to expand...
Indeed the average consumer would look at features and pick the more feature packed router. I was more inclined to pick a "wireless" router for its "wireless" performance. Horses for courses.
 
The wifi analyzer app that I used for comparison b/w the N13 and the E900 showed around -65 dBm for the E900 from a distance of around 25 ft with two walls in b/w whereas the N13 dropped to the vicinity of -80s.Might be an issue with the model of N13 that I used or else the boatload of people who use the N13 might have noticed this.
 
Marcus Fenix said:
The wifi analyzer app that I used for comparison b/w the N13 and the E900 showed around -65 dBm for the E900 from a distance of around 25 ft with two walls in b/w whereas the N13 dropped to the vicinity of -80s.Might be an issue with the model of N13 that I used or else the boatload of people who use the N13 might have noticed this.
Click to expand...
How thick are the walls ? 6 inch or 11 inch.
 
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