Is my router dying? If so, what is a good replacement?

[Godzillamax69]

I've had a Netgear R6250 router for a little over 2 years and it has worked great up until recently. The router emits a 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signal, but the 2.4 GHz signal suddenly lost its speed about 2-3 months ago. Before 2-3 months ago I could get 20 Mbps (my max FIOS speed) on the 2.4 GHz signal anywhere in my 2,500 sq foot 3 story home (router is on middle level, southeastern most corner of the house - and unfortunately I cannot move it, and running ethernet cables throughout my house at the time is not an option), but now I can only get that speed in the room where the router is located. Even stepping just outside the room and the 2.4 GHz signal drops to 1-2 Mbps. Throughout the house the 2.4 GHZ signal strength is strong, but the Mbps is just abysmal outside the room the router is in.

The odd thing is, I can get the weaker 5 GHz signal ("weaker" as in 2-3 out of 5 bars reception on a tablet or cell phone) throughout most my home but unlike the 2. GHz signal its speed stays strong at 20 Mbps. I've tried all the fixes for the weak 2.4 GHz signal I could find on Google from changing settings to scanning and changing channels to updating firmware, but nothing works to fix its slow speed. It's like the walls of the room the router is in are suddenly blocking the signal enough to drastically reduce its speed (house's internal walls are drywall, so nothing substantial like brick, etc.).

You might be wanting to suggest I simply use the 5 GHz signal (which I normally do), but unfortunately not all portable electronic radio devices are equal and some, like my Google Chromecast hooked to the TV in the living room, either cannot use a 5 GHz signal or simply cannot find it.

If my router is on its last legs and I need a new one, which one? My bugdet would be $100-$200, and I really don't need anything fancy, just something that puts out a strong signal that retains its Mbps from one end of my house to another. The only thing plugged into my router is my desktop PC and the FIOS modem. So I have no need for tons of USB ports, etc. Other devices on my wireless network are 3 cell phones, 2 tablets, and a Google chromecast.

Looking for some advice. Time to buy a new router? If so, which one reliably puts off a strong wireless signal that doesn't degrade your ISP speeds significantly?

 

[bill001g]

Generally when the radios fail in routers you get less signal strength. It ends to be the amplifier part that in effect wears out. If you strong signal level but poor throughput that is more likely interference. It could be either a device in your house or maybe your neighbors wifi causing the issue.

What I am saying is it may not help to replace the router.....it might be since all kinds of strange things happen when hardware fails.

You could likely get by with a router that claims 1200m speed since that matches most end devices. The routers with bigger numbers do you no good if your end devices do not have things like 3 and 4 antenna to take advantage of them. The netgear you have is not a bad router. You should more or less get the same radio coverage range from any of the larger brand names. They all pretty much transmit at the maximum legal power.

 

[Godzillamax69]

Generally when the radios fail in routers you get less signal strength. It ends to be the amplifier part that in effect wears out. If you strong signal level but poor throughput that is more likely interference. It could be either a device in your house or maybe your neighbors wifi causing the issue.

What I am saying is it may not help to replace the router.....it might be since all kinds of strange things happen when hardware fails.

You could likely get by with a router that claims 1200m speed since that matches most end devices. The routers with bigger numbers do you no good if your end devices do not have things like 3 and 4 antenna to take advantage of them. The netgear you have is not a bad router. You should more or less get the same radio coverage range from any of the larger brand names. They all pretty much transmit at the maximum legal power.

I't can't be interference from my neighbors since I live in the country and my closest neighbor is well over 100 yards away. And I don't know what else in my house could be causing the interference (is there a way to scan for this specifically?). Also, it's odd that this only recently started and I haven't purchased anything new with electronics in that time other than a new gas stove.

 

[bill001g]

There are apps that let you scan for devices. INSSIDER used to be my recommendation but they now charge and there are other free ones. Still none of these actually see anything other than routers sending out SSID they do not see end devices or actual interference. You would need a spectrum analyzer for that. Normally that would be outrageous but ubiquiti outdoor ap have a feature so it is possible for fairly cheap.

It just is kinda bad that you have to blindly spend money hoping to fix this problem.

 

[Paul Wagenseil]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from Godzillamax69 : "Is my router dying?"

I've had a Netgear R6250 router for a little over 2 years and it has worked great up until recently. The router emits a 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signal, but the 2.4 GHz signal suddenly lost its strength about 2-3 months ago. Before 2-3 months ago I could get 20 Mbps (my max FIOS speed) on the 2.4 GHz signal anywhere in my 2,500 sq foot 3 story home (router is on middle level, southeastern most corner of the house), but now I can only get that speed in the room where the router is located. Even stepping just outside the room and the 2.4 GHz signal drops to 1-2 Mbps.

The odd thing is, I can get the weaker 5 GHz signal (e.g. 2-3 out of 5 bars on a tablet or cell phone) throughout most my home and its speed stays strong at 20 Mbps. I've tried all the fixes I could find on Google from changing settings to scanning and changing channels to updating firmware, but nothing works to fix the 2.4 GHz speed. It's like the walls of the room the router is in are suddenly blocking the signal enough to drastically reduce its speed (house's internal walls are drywall, so nothing substantial like brick, etc.).

You might be wanting to suggest I simply use the 5 GHz signal (which I normally do), but unfortunately not all portable electronic radio devices are equal and some, like my Google Chromecast hooked to the TV in the living room, either cannot use a 5 GHz signal or simply cannot find it.

Looking for some advice. Time to buy a new router? If so, which one reliably puts off a strong wireless signal that doesn't degrade your ISP speeds significantly?

It sounds like there might be a new amount of interference in the 2.4-GHz band. Do you have new neighbors? Did you recently buy a new model of cordless landline phone? Or a new microwave oven? (My microwave kills 2.4 GHz in the same room while it's operating.) Was the phone or electric company recently working on the power/phone lines outside your house?

It's possible that there's something wrong with the 2.4-GHz radio on the router, but I've never heard of that happening before, and it seems funny that the 5-GHz radio wouldn't also be affected.

 

[Godzillamax69]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from Godzillamax69 : "Is my router dying?"

I've had a Netgear R6250 router for a little over 2 years and it has worked great up until recently. The router emits a 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signal, but the 2.4 GHz signal suddenly lost its strength about 2-3 months ago. Before 2-3 months ago I could get 20 Mbps (my max FIOS speed) on the 2.4 GHz signal anywhere in my 2,500 sq foot 3 story home (router is on middle level, southeastern most corner of the house), but now I can only get that speed in the room where the router is located. Even stepping just outside the room and the 2.4 GHz signal drops to 1-2 Mbps.

The odd thing is, I can get the weaker 5 GHz signal (e.g. 2-3 out of 5 bars on a tablet or cell phone) throughout most my home and its speed stays strong at 20 Mbps. I've tried all the fixes I could find on Google from changing settings to scanning and changing channels to updating firmware, but nothing works to fix the 2.4 GHz speed. It's like the walls of the room the router is in are suddenly blocking the signal enough to drastically reduce its speed (house's internal walls are drywall, so nothing substantial like brick, etc.).

You might be wanting to suggest I simply use the 5 GHz signal (which I normally do), but unfortunately not all portable electronic radio devices are equal and some, like my Google Chromecast hooked to the TV in the living room, either cannot use a 5 GHz signal or simply cannot find it.

Looking for some advice. Time to buy a new router? If so, which one reliably puts off a strong wireless signal that doesn't degrade your ISP speeds significantly?

It sounds like there might be a new amount of interference in the 2.4-GHz band. Do you have new neighbors? Did you recently buy a new model of cordless landline phone? Or a new microwave oven? (My microwave kills 2.4 GHz in the same room while it's operating.) Was the phone or electric company recently working on the power/phone lines outside your house?

It's possible that there's something wrong with the 2.4-GHz radio on the router, but I've never heard of that happening before, and it seems funny that the 5-GHz radio wouldn't also be affected.

Do you have new neighbors? No, and I live in the country so I don't have neighbors close enough where if they also have wifi set up it would interfere with mine.

Did you recently buy a new model of cordless landline phone? No, we don't even have a landline in our house.

Or a new microwave oven? Newp. Same one we have had for years, and same one when the 2.4 GHz signal worked great throughout the home.

Was the phone or electric company recently working on the power/phone lines outside your house? Not that I am aware of.

 

[NETGEAR_1]

Generally when the radios fail in routers you get less signal strength. It ends to be the amplifier part that in effect wears out. If you strong signal level but poor throughput that is more likely interference. It could be either a device in your house or maybe your neighbors wifi causing the issue.

What I am saying is it may not help to replace the router.....it might be since all kinds of strange things happen when hardware fails.

You could likely get by with a router that claims 1200m speed since that matches most end devices. The routers with bigger numbers do you no good if your end devices do not have things like 3 and 4 antenna to take advantage of them. The netgear you have is not a bad router. You should more or less get the same radio coverage range from any of the larger brand names. They all pretty much transmit at the maximum legal power.

I't can't be interference from my neighbors since I live in the country and my closest neighbor is well over 100 yards away. And I don't know what else in my house could be causing the interference (is there a way to scan for this specifically?). Also, it's odd that this only recently started and I haven't purchased anything new with electronics in that time other than a new gas stove.

 

[NETGEAR_1]

@Godzillamax - Please connect with NETGEAR via the general PR Inbox: pressrelations@netgear.com. We will need to put you in touch with a member of our support team to evaluate and diagnose what might be the cause of the challenges you have been experiencing with your router.