New to wireless networking, need help deciding on 802.11ac or 802.11n

jenniferny

Distinguished
Oct 12, 2007
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18,510
I have 1 cell phone that is 802.11g, and an e-Reader that is 802.11n. I will most likely NOT be adding any new wireless items in the next year or two because the whole house is wired with ethernet cabling.

Since I will not have any 802.11ac devices, and only one 802.11g and one 802.11n device, is it worth spending the money on a 802.11ac wireless router.

I am looking at the TP-Link WDR4300 ($59.99) for the wireless 'n' router, or the Archer C7 ($100) for the wireless 'ac' router, but am leaning toward the wireless 'n' router. If there are advantages with the C7 802.11ac router when using only 802.11g & 802.11n devices, what are they? I do not mind spending the extra money on an 'ac' wireless router as long as there are reasons for spending it.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!! I am lost right now with all the sales talk on wireless networking and need some cool headed advice from people that have no reason to sell me one over the other! Again thanks for reading!!
 

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
I would get an ASUS RT-N56U dual band N router. While a little more expensive it is a better router with better range than the WDR4300. I would not get an AC router if you will not use it, and for most people it is not a wise move because the adapters are not very good yet other than one ASUS PCIe model that has 3x3 MIMO.