Should I replace my wireless router?

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FauxFox

FauxFox

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Jul 17, 2013
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Hi forum goers!

My household now has Comcast Xfinity internet (25mb/s) and our router seems to be worse than the old one (AT&T U-Verse)! Don't get me wrong, when I do Speedtest.net all my speeds are 3-8x faster (although my ping is taking almost double the time [~90ms]) but my computer registers the signal as lower than I would normally get. And I'm right down the hall from the router!

My father and I were looking into getting a wireless repeater, but don't really see a good area to put it. So now we are looking at giving Comcast back their router, and purchasing one.

We are looking for a router at or under $100.

If anybody knows what the stock capabilities of these "branded" routers are, please tell me.

We are looking for a router that will give us longer range;
(Possibly) give us more of that 25mb/s over the air (Wireless AC?)

And that leads me to my next question...

What's the main difference between Wireless-N and Wireless-AC?

I know AC gives you much faster speeds, but is there any other reason?

ALSO

When a router says (example) 300Mbps. Does that mean it can transfer 300 mega bits per second? Because quite honestly, none of us have THAT kind of internet! :p

Thanks SO MUCH for all of your help!

 
Solution
O
Adding a repeater to a weak network is like putting racing tires on rusty car in hopes of it going faster. A good wireless N or AC would most likely cover your entire home, with good speeds, unless you live in a mansion. Do not get a repeater. Get your own router
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Someone Somewhere

Someone Somewhere

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Sep 23, 2012
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AC is newer, and you're unlikely to have any devices that support it.

That's the theoretical maximum - what you'd get if you were right next to it, with the router set to use 40Mhz channels, no interference, and your device had a 2x2 MIMO array.

The best way to see if you could get any improvement is to do a speedtest on ethernet, then do it on your laptop in various places. Ping is always a few miliseconds higher over WiFi though (anywhere up to about 10ms is normal).

You probably won't see a major difference unless you do a lot of internal transfers, e.g. DLNA music/video etc.
 
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oczdude8

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Oct 18, 2009
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if you using your wireless network for only internet, and not for home networking and NAS, then you wont benefit from increased network speeds. However, the new AC standard and a high tier N router would provide better RANGE then your stock router. If you are having connectivity issues in someplaces in your house, a good aftermarket router would be really useful.

If you are already getting your 25mb/s speeds where you need it, don't bother.

To be sure, if you are using windows 7, click on your wireless icon in the taskbar by the clock, and right click your network and click on status. Under connection, look at speed and if its atleast higher then 54mbps, you should be fine
 
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FauxFox

FauxFox

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Jul 17, 2013
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We would get this router so we aren't required to "lease it" from Comcast for $x per month... This would be our router for a LONG time.

I don't know what your talking about (theoretical maximum and such).

Ping (over wifi) used to be about 30ms and now it's like 90...

We are looking into putting ethernet in my room (I have a desktop)...but we are just throwing the idea around...








Quick note:
Thanks for all of your help! I'm not going to pick a solution as all of your ideas are a little bit different, and I like them all...:p

Thanks again! (feel free to keep posting on here. I'd love to hear/see more!)



 
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FauxFox

FauxFox

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Jul 17, 2013
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I guess we got a little off track here..

My question is, should we use the router we have and get a WiFi range extender?

Or will Wireless AC pretty much do the job and give me a "stronger" and "further" signal?
 
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oczdude8

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Oct 18, 2009
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Adding a repeater to a weak network is like putting racing tires on rusty car in hopes of it going faster. A good wireless N or AC would most likely cover your entire home, with good speeds, unless you live in a mansion. Do not get a repeater. Get your own router
 
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