Best VDSL 802.11 ac Router

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Dave FromKent

Dave FromKent

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Mar 5, 2014
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Hi, I've got fibre to the cabinet & I'm looking to replace the rubbish Huawei modem & separate router with a single unit.

I think I have five needs.

Must have integrated VDSL modem capability
Must be capable of 802.11 ac
Must be one unit
Must have min four LAN outputs
Must have two USB

I'm ambivalent about voice/fax/DECT and anything else

So far, the only box that fits these criteria is the AVM Fritzbox 7490.

I have an excellent connection, despite a copper run of about 100 yards, which I'm,thinking of replacing with fibre. What I would like to ask is:

1. What alternatives are there to the Fritz 7490?

2. Am I really going to benefit from an 'ac' vdsl modem router or will an 'n' be sufficient? I feel that I'm not getting the bandwidth my connection is capable of.

Thanks very much.

Dave
 
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I may have gotten the wrong end of the stick but if you need a LAN port for your rig then it's wired, so it won't be using the ac wireless functionality anyway? Or have I completely missed the plot?

Assuming you're on the 80/20 product (I'm jealous, I get ADSL "Max," surely the most blatant piece of false advertising ever!) then both n or ac will be fast enough as far as internet streaming is concerned. For gaming both are more than fast enough and it will be latency that will be your priority. If you do a lot of HD streaming then you'll probably want the ac unit.

I appreciate your desire for neatness but I would still strongly recommend separate solutions from a performance perspective. If nothing else these units tend to get...
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shure

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May I ask why you need to have a one-box solution? The modem does a fairly simple task and the one supplied by Openreach (I'm guessing you're on that!) is normally fairly competent. The real difference is normally with the router side of things and you may find that separates gives you many more options.

I've recently bought an Asus RT-N66u router and it's absolutely superb. Dual band, much stronger signals throughout the house and consistently rated as one of the best and, importantly, fastest, consumer routers you can buy. Asus do a version which includes a modem but funnily enough it doesn't get as good ratings as the router-only version, which is why I asked.

Now I know you asked for an "ac" router but unless you have "ac" compatible equipment you'll have to buy a lot of adapters to go with it. But if you're set on that Asus also do an AC version, the RT-AC68u. Not cheap, though!

edit: forgot to add it also has four LAN ports, and two USB, as well as a built in print server
 
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Dave FromKent

Dave FromKent

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Thanks for this. You are addressing the points I have wrestled with.

So:
Yes I'm in UK, and I'm with TalkTalk which used the Openreach stuff. I don't rate it.
I need a single box solution because I am... well... just obsessive about neatness I guess!
Yes I have an AC WAN through the ASRock extreme9 ac mboard
I need min 4 LAN ports, (Legacy win xp pc, SkyHD catchup & a teamed double on my gaming rig, plus laptops)
Seems everyone in my family has several gadgets that need permanent & wide access to the router.
I need USB because I have a legacy A3 printer I want networked.

An 802.11n is far cheaper so perhaps a follow up question is to ask how much could I be missing out on having ac on my rig and n on the vdsl modem router?

If there is little or no improvement in performance and considering the Fritz box 7490 is £250; what is the best single box vdsl modem router at n speed? Fritz, Asus, Draytek and Netgear all do them.
 
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Someone Somewhere

Someone Somewhere

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How much you'll be missing out on depends on the sync speed of your DSL line. From the 100m/yards comment, a rough guess would be ~40-70Mb/s?

If so, a good dual-band N600 should be fine.

I've got a 7390 Fritz, but I'm not too impressed with the firmware. Not sure if this carries across to the UK ones, but apparently the newer firmware syncs significantly slower.
 
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shure

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I may have gotten the wrong end of the stick but if you need a LAN port for your rig then it's wired, so it won't be using the ac wireless functionality anyway? Or have I completely missed the plot?

Assuming you're on the 80/20 product (I'm jealous, I get ADSL "Max," surely the most blatant piece of false advertising ever!) then both n or ac will be fast enough as far as internet streaming is concerned. For gaming both are more than fast enough and it will be latency that will be your priority. If you do a lot of HD streaming then you'll probably want the ac unit.

I appreciate your desire for neatness but I would still strongly recommend separate solutions from a performance perspective. If nothing else these units tend to get really hot and the separates tend to have far better cooling as they have to pack less into the same space. My Asus RT-N66u stands on it's side and takes up surprisingly little desk space like that. It looks very neat, too. The 2nd generation Asus RT-AC68u has all the specification you need, including print server, ac dual band, two USB ports (including one USB 3.0), supports NVIDIA Gamestream (which you might find useful judging by your spec), and consistently tops the tests for the fastest wireless streaming of any router. If my own experience is anything to go by, it will have a stable and far reaching wireless signal, which for me was a revelation after my previous router. There's also the Linksys EA6900, which boasts some seriously impressive specs and got 10/10 on Trusted Reviews. It's relatively inexpensive, too.

But if you are dead set on a combined unit then the current Asus ac model only has a single USB port, which would rule that out. The DSL-N66u model has two USB 2.0 ports and is a very good performer - but it's not ac. The reviews I've read on the Fritzbox suggest its wireless performance is adequate, rather than stellar, but again depends on your usage demands. But I don't know of any other quality combined unit that offers everything the Fritzbox does (including two USB ports).
 
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Dave FromKent

Dave FromKent

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shure,
I've read similar about running hot. I'm paranoid about cooling! Windforce GPU cooler, four fans on the H100i, plus five case fans!! Nevertheless, I think I will go for a single unit and monitor it. If it blows up, I'll RMA.

Re: 'ac', I was looking at testing single LAN connections -v- teamed LAN (different setups -v- ac. I don't need it, I'm just being curious. The Fritz 7490 is a hundred quid extra, so as the telephone exchange is unlikely to move any closer to me (!) I'll stick with 'n'.

Someone somewhere,
I'm out in the sticks, which makes FTTC essential if you have any sort of aspiration to getting stuff to load before you die. I'm getting about 36mbps. The 7390 UK version is apparently different from the US or the European version, so firmware might be different.

On balance, I will probably take a combination of both advice and look closer at Asus DSL-N66U N900 or the FRITZ!Box 3390 or the FRITZ!Box 7390.

Thanks very much for the help.
 
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shure

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Yes, it looks good but only has a single USB port so doesn't quite match what you are asking for. If you can sacrifice the extra USB socket (I'd suggest a USB switch but that might clash with your desire for neatness!) then it would be well worth a look. It's Asus' first 2nd generation DSL modem router so is apparently even better at producing the maximum ac speeds attainable

 
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