Need to replace a router, but with what?

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Chimera778

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Jun 26, 2014
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I currently have a Dlink dir-615 router that is supposed to be connected to a cable modem from comcast and should provide internet access for my laptop, 2 phones an ipad and a few other computers at various times. I think the router is no longer functioning correctly though. Wireless internet hasnt worked in weeks and wired internet to just a laptop isn't working reliably either. It seems to still connect a wireless network though because I can print wireless, and the network still shows up, it just has no internet access. I would really like to know if anyone here would have any thoughts on what is going on or how I can really see if the router is the issue.

My second issue is even if the router can be connected to the internet again, I still want more range and speed, so I want a new router. But I have NO idea where to start. N600, N900, ac1750, these are all numbers that appear often when I am looking at various models, but I really dont know what they mean. I would like something that is fast with the internet and downloads, but I have also began to stream more movies and entertainment and would like something that would be fast for that. Is that where dual band comes in? Which has more impact on my home speeds? Comcast's service or my home router? This is the one I have been looking at now. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320091. Does this look like a good one? I really didn't think that this decision would be so hard. Thanks for help!
 
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I have the router you identified in your link and I have to say I noticed much, much better wireless performance than with my previous model. It's not all about top speed capability, either. I have a very slow ADSL line, 8Mb max. But even with that I noticed big improvements after I bought the Asus. I have a much improved range throughout the house and previous black spots now get full coverage. When my son streams Youtube the rest of the family no longer has to give up trying to use their internet connection, while Skype now works without dropping every other frame and making the other party look like stop-go animation.

The best solution depends on your needs. Internet is more of a necessity than a luxury these days so my advice...
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Eximo

Eximo

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May 27, 2010
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If you have a standalone cable modem you should be able to plug a computer directly into it. If everything works as it should then your router does indeed have issues.

A new router will not change the speed provided by the internet, only the provider can do that. What you can improve is the speed at which your devices communicate to each other depending on the router you buy.

Wireless A (Actually can't remember the speed off the top of my head, can't really buy this anymore anyway)
Wireless B 11 Mbps
Wireless G 54 Mbps
Wireless N 300 Mbps (Dual band 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz)
Wireless AC 300+ Mbps (Dual Band, and even more Multi-Channel) (Consumer ones aren't usually crazy fast, but the most expensive ones can exceed 1 Gbps)

Only if you have multiple Wireless AC compliant devices is a Wireless AC router worth the money. N should be fine for the majority of devices.
 
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Chimera778

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Jun 26, 2014
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OK, ive unplugged the router and replugged it and unplugged it and replugged it, nothing helped. Then I plugged the internet cable directly from the modem to the computer and had no problems, it must be the router. Is it possible that this router (when it worked) was to slow for modern speeds and even if the new router doesnt increase the speed from the cable company, it will increase the speed just by being newer technology? Is it possible that the router has been a bottleneck in the system in regards to speed?

Also, any opinions on what new router to get? Around 100-150$.
 
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bill001g

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How fast is your internet, a faster router will still never exceed the speed you buy from the ISP.

The asus you list is a fairly popular router it can run dd-wrt if you do not like the factory load. Be sure to upgrade the firmware they have added a lot of features and all the routers share the same code base and many times they ship with older software loaded.

You likely do not need 802.11ac unless you are copy large files between machines in your house. Even then you are much better off running wired. No wireless even comes close to the rated speeds and it degrades very quickly when you run multiple machine at the same time.

Be very careful the router manufactures are doing their very best to confuse you. The way they get things like say 450m is to run 40mhz channels...runs max 150m. Then run 2 extra overlapping signals...ie mimo 3x3 and you 3x150m 450. The problem is if you use 2.4g it is very crowded and there is only 60mhz total for everyone. So 2 people can not both run 40mhz channels without overlapping. Many times you are better off running 20mhz channels which cuts your base speed to under 75m. MiMo is mostly smoke and mirrors. Sure in a lab situation you can get figure out how to get 3 perfect overlapping signals but in the real world where you have neighbors also interfering it does not do as good a job. It does increase the speed it is just not double or triple the speed. On top of this they add the 2.4g and 5g speeds together. A router can talk to 2 different users using the 2 different bands but a single PC can not use both bands. A dual speed nic only has a single radio and it must choose if it runs at 2.4 or 5 it can not do both at the same time. If you see a nic that add the values together that is a big lie. A router they can add because you technically can get the speed if you assume multiple PC.
 
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shure

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I have the router you identified in your link and I have to say I noticed much, much better wireless performance than with my previous model. It's not all about top speed capability, either. I have a very slow ADSL line, 8Mb max. But even with that I noticed big improvements after I bought the Asus. I have a much improved range throughout the house and previous black spots now get full coverage. When my son streams Youtube the rest of the family no longer has to give up trying to use their internet connection, while Skype now works without dropping every other frame and making the other party look like stop-go animation.

The best solution depends on your needs. Internet is more of a necessity than a luxury these days so my advice would be to go for the best you can afford. From the sounds of things you have a fair few PCs that need connectivity, even occasionally, so cheap won't always mean cheerful.

As others have said there's no point going for an 802.11ac router if none of your hardware can support it. It's useful if you do a lot of HD video streaming but otherwise a good "n" router will be just as capable. If you have reasonably modern equipment then dual band will be useful, as the 5Ghz band tends to be a lot less crowded and you should experience a lot less interference. I can recommend the Asus as it's performed flawlessly for me. They do an ac version - RT-ac68u - which is the first 2nd generation ac router and packs a serious punch. Inevitably, it's more expensive, though. Unless your equipment has ac compatible cards then it's not worth it. For range and stability the RT-N66u is hard to beat

 
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