So This is the WiFi Router I Ended Up Getting ...

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
what? $150 for refurbished wireless router? I thought those things as a rule costs $19.99 or worse $39.99 for the top of the line. May be I have not shopped for one in a long time?

I just got a refurb Netgear R7000 for $90. New one is $150, and that's not even latest and greatest tech. Top of the line new routers are $300-$400.

 

[Vikas]

Are they really better than $20 special? I mean I am still limited by incoming/outgoing pipe from the service provider. Or is this like paying lots of money for minor incremental advances?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Some of it is more robust hardware for stronger/more consistent signal and more speed on your local side to support faster file transfers within your local network, but wifi cards in your devices need to be capable of those higher speeds as well. And some of it is more networking geek stuff like being able to run open source firmware, set up VLANs, VPN, QoS, access control lists, advanced firewall, parental controls, etc. Some low end routers can support many of these things, too, but these higher end routers have more beefy HW to make sure it all can run smoothly without any hiccups.

If all the above sounds Greek to you and you don't have any signal strength/connection issues, then a $20 router is probably all you need.

I honestly have not studied the $400 home routers to see what additional things they can do.

 

[LoneRanger]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
do you have two level house and can it handle from one corner of the house on 1st floor to the other corner on the 2nd floor?


Yes and yes. One and a half story 2100 sq ft. Router located in upstairs guest bedroom, all clients downstairs except old 2.4Ghz wireless printer/copier/fax combo (Canon MX870). Slowest speed on 5Ghz is 175 Mbps when farthest away corner of 1st floor or outside on deck. Fastest speed 433 Mbps master bedroom 1st floor about directly underneath guest bedroom. I don't check 2.4Ghz speed because the printer is only client on that band and I have it set to 802.11G which the printer is, so the speed limit is set at 54 Mbps there.

My internet broadband subscription is 30 Mbps so those speeds cover me ... and then some. Note that if I had clients with dual antennas I would get the router's max rated 867 Mbps in the fast areas of the house, but the 433 is my Moto X phone which is single antenna.

No hiccups, no drops, between it and the Zoom 5370 cable modem I can pretty much forget about internet and wireless it just works.

There are three hardware revisions of the Archer C59, v1, v2, and v3. I have the v1 in European configuration. I had to slip an prong adapter over the round prongs on the AC power plug so it would plug into the north American slot type electric outlets. Other than that, it works perfectly on both bands. Europe blacks out I think two frequencies on 5Ghz band so technically I'm two short on available freq's in 5Ghz. Transmit power is same as north American FCC spec, believe Euro spec was brought down to parity for transmit power max in 2014 or 2015.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

2 years ago I was paying SUDDENLINK $13 a month to rent their modem/router. I wanted to buy it, but they would only rent it to me. So, I got on the interweb and learned about modems & routers. While in WM one day (2016 summer) they had a clearance table in electronics. On that table were several NIB Motorola SB-6121 modems. They were on clearance for $15 each. I bought it, and the ASUS router from AMAZON for $39.98. My internet speed is 25 Mbps, which is all I need. I would say by not renting anymore has paid for these 2 devices, and then some.

https://www.cnet.com/products/motorola-surfboard-sb6121/specs/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049YQVHE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1