Need advice about low to mid priced router

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PookieBear

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Jul 16, 2014
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Let me begin by stating that I am no tech expert at all. I am just an old lady needing some help--lol. I currently have internet through the phone company and am getting ready to switch to internet through the cable company. I currently get around 1.67 mbps and the cable is supposed to be around 60 mbps. We have 7 devices; a desktop, 2 laptops, an iPad, an iPod, a Roku and a Wiiu. Our router right now is a combo modem/router rented by the phone company and it has terrible range. It doesn't pick up very far and I currently have a beer can around the antenna and that helps somewhat--lol! I want to be able to pick up the internet in rooms besides the one that the router is in. It is a one story house and about medium sized. I went to a store and the guy working there told me that due to the amount of devices, I would need an AC1200 router. Also let me say that the only thing we really do in our house is surf the internet and stream SD movies from Netflix. There is no online gaming or anything that intensive. We obviously won't be using all devices at once, maybe two or three at the most. The only routers that the store had were a D-Link and a NetGear that were AC1200. I also saw a router at Amazon that is NetGear but it is only AC750 (model number R6050). It only has one review but it is positive--seems that it just came out. I am so very confused. I am been researching these things for three days straight and I just keep getting more overwhelmed.
Any help that anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. Like I stated, I don't know a lot about technology but I am willing to learn and will take any advice offered.
Last but not least, let me state that I don't want to spend $200 for a router. I would like to keep it less than $120 if at all possible. Thank you for your time.
 
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Spectre694

Spectre694

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PookieBear

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I would like to ask one more question about this router if you don't mind. I read a ton of reviews on it and a lot of them state that one of the disadvantages of this router is that it runs hot. If I purchase it and find that to be the case, can I put a laptop cooling fan underneath it or it something like that not recommended for a router? A lot of people stated that they opened the router up and installed stuff or drilled holes in it. Drilling holes in electronic things is just not something that I am gonna do--lol!

The router I have now is just sitting on the desk but it doesn't seem to be very warm at all. Would either the cooling pad idea or sitting it on a wire shelf type of thing work if the new one is hot? Thanks again.


 
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Spectre694

Spectre694

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It does run warm so I wouldn't put it in a cupboard or stack it with other equipment. It does come with a stand that holds it upright so those antenna are on the top of it. I just put it on that stand and left it by itself on the top of the shelf and I have had no issues with it. If you do have some problems a laptop cooling bad would work just fine but I think you should be fine so long as it is out in the open.
 
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bill001g

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I too have the n66u router and I never noticed a heat issue. Heat would just mean it would fail sooner...maybe. I have seen the complaints about the heat but I have not seen a lot about failure of this router.

There is another problem I suspect though that you are overlooking. You are still going to need a modem and for cable systems these tend to be rather expensive. There is not a lot of choice...pretty much everyone uses the motorola devices because they work the best. So you can buy just a modem and then buy a separate router. This is the best choice if money is not a problem. Otherwise you need to look at the options of cablemodem/gateways combo units.

Make sure you get docsis3 units it is likely required to get the 60m rate.
 
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PookieBear

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The cable company will provide a free modem so I will just be using that since money is definitely an issue for me! Since that is being provided, I am just in need of a router. I am glad to hear that there is not a lot of issues related to the heat. I guess I have some weird fear that the house is going to burn down because it gets too hot.

 
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Pooneil

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Just check the terms of that "free" modem to make sure it is really at no charge. It may be at no extra charge or it may be no extra charge during a trial or contract period after that it might be billed to you. Cable companies are notorious for modifying the terms of the agreement. The typical Compost (my local ISP) equipment is about $7 or $8 per month, buying one's own modem has a payback of less than a year.
 
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PookieBear

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This is what it says on their website:

"For new Charter Internet customers and customers switching to our New Package Pricing, we will no longer allow customer-owned modems on our network. In order to provide our customers powerful and reliable Internet service at a great value, we will provide modems included in Internet pricing under our New Package Pricing. Your modem will be provided and installed during your scheduled Internet setup installation appointment."

I know what happens when you assume :pt1cable:, but I am going to assume that I am not going to have to pay a monthly fee for the modem. Now, there was going to be a $5.00 rental fee per month for the router as well as a fee of $39.99 to install it and that's why I decided that I was going to buy my own.

It doesn't sound like I have an option of installing my own modem no matter what. You get a different answer each time you call them depending on who you speak to so I will dig around on the website a little more.
 
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