Suggest a router

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

ryanrulez4ever

Herald
Hi guys

Please suggest a good router for 4k HDR/Dolby vision streaming, Gaming, Best possible coverage throughout the house (30x40 single floor)

ISP : ACT fibernet 150mbps plan will be upgrading to Giga or reliance gigabit connection when it becomes affordable

The devices that shall be connecting are as below :
3 x Laptops (2 at same time) via WiFi
55" Oled tv via ethernet / WiFi
7 x Smartphones via WiFi
1 x CCTV DVR via ethernet
1 x Denon x1000 AVR

Budget - 10-15K max
 
I am not sure if Netgear R7000 has good range compared to others. I have this router. Earlier I used to keep this in one room. If I sit in another room parallel to the first room (separated by a brick wall), there was no 5 ghz coverage. 2.4 ghz was not good enough either. I had to move the router to another room and setup a wifi extender to work around it. Mine is a single floor 2 BHK house (probably less than 900 sqft, max 1000 sqft). Another time, I compared the signal strength (at my parents house) with another router that came with BSNL (that has only 1 antenna, around Rs. 1500). Both were showing more or less same signal strength in an Android wifi strength analyzer app! I paid Rs. 12,749 back in 2015!:mad:

www.tomsguide.com

Netgear R7000 Router Review

The Netgear R7000 combines excellent 5-GHz speed with Netgear's handy Genie software, but this router doesn't have the best range.
www.tomsguide.com www.tomsguide.com

Edit: Just noticed its still Rs. 9600 in Amazon. So Rs. 4999 is a good deal (except may be for the range). Note that if you are planning to use 2 R7000s (one as router and another as wifi extender), Netgear firmware doesn't allow using WPA2 in wifi! Only work around I know is DD WRT.
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
unni said:
Netgear firmware doesn't allow using WPA2 in wifi! Only work around I know is DD WRT.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about this? I have the R7000 I got 2 years ago and IIRC it does have option to enable WPA2 on wifi... even way cheaper routers have WPA2 available.
 
vishalrao said:
Are you sure about this? I have the R7000 I got 2 years ago and IIRC it does have option to enable WPA2 on wifi... even way cheaper routers have WPA2 available.
Click to expand...
Sorry for the confusion. R7000 as a standalone router supports WPA2. The issue is when you are using two R7000s- one as router and the second as a wifi repeater.

I have two R7000s. Due to range issues, I decided to use the second R7000 as a wifi repeater. In the official Netgear firmware, I have to disable WPA2 at least in the repeater. From what I understand, it is due to a limitation of the "wifi distribution system (WDS)" protocol that Netgear uses.

To use the wireless repeating function, your router cannot have security enabled and cannot use the auto channel feature.
Click to expand...
[Ref]

The above link also says:
Before you set up a wireless network with WDS, both access points must meet the following conditions:
  • Use the same SSID, wireless channel, and encryption mode.
Click to expand...

I think that means I may have to disable WPA2 on the primary router as well.

Even if I can keep WPA2 in primary and no security in repeater, I believe that means anyone can connect to the repeater (unless the WDS protocol uses the primary router for wifi authentication somehow). I didn't spend much time on investigating this. I flashed the second router with DD WRT which allowed me to configure the repeater with WPA2. I am not really comfortable using third party firmware, using it as only a temporary solution until I have some money to spent on a new router.

Two other discussions that talk about this:
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: vishalrao
unni said:
Sorry for the confusion. R7000 as a standalone router supports WPA2. The issue is when you are using two R7000s- one as router and the second as a wifi repeater.

I have two R7000s. Due to range issues, I decided to use the second R7000 as a wifi repeater. In the official Netgear firmware, I have to disable WPA2 at least in the repeater. From what I understand, it is due to a limitation of the "wifi distribution system (WDS)" protocol that Netgear uses.
Click to expand...

I use three of these in Wifi AP mode where all of them are connected to a cisco SG350-28P switch - I do not see any issues with security when doing this. All of them run the same ssid and have WPA2 enabled.

Maybe the issue exists only in repeater mode. Have you tried connecting both with a cable?
 
ryanrulez4ever said:
Could you help me find a tutorial mate, when i searched for it i got asus merlin, im sorry im noob to these
Click to expand...
It's same Asus Merlin = xwrt.
Try to stick with earlier firmware.
Screenshot_20190807-163151.jpeg
 
Chaos said:
Maybe the issue exists only in repeater mode. Have you tried connecting both with a cable?
Click to expand...
I believe the problem is only for repeater mode. I haven't tried connecting with a cable though since the main router is in a different room.
 
I recieved the router and flashed it with xwrt , from my previous router to this one I see that the pings in cs go have increased from under 20 to 40s,also I see that the entire house is covered now
 
  • Like
Reactions: chetansha
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom