Router to use with Intel 7260 AC wi-fi card

I'm going to buy an Intel 7260 AC + Bluetooth 4.0 wifi card adapter for my notebook (Sager NP9130), and also would like to buy a good router to use with it.

I was considering maybe buying this model from linksys:

Linksys EA6900 - Smart Wi-fi dual-band

Would that be a good option? What other routers would you recommend?

 

Yes it's a very good router. Netgear N7000 is worth your consideration as well (see short description in the sticky)

 

Thank you downloads. I've followed your suggestion and looked into Netgear's N7000.

I've seen that the main improvement over its competitors is the USB's read/write speeds of a network shared hard-drive, right now this is a resource I don't use. So I'm curious as to what kind of data at home I would use this to share, and see how the increased speed would benefit me, so I can figure out if it is something I would like to use in the future and therefore would be worth paying more for now.

Does this affect the speed of file transfers from one device to another device connected to the network (other than the devices connected to the router's USB ports)?
What would be other common uses of this feature? Do newer TV sets connect to networks and play videos from there? Would the better speed improve the quality of it or my experience while watching it in some way?

I've also seen that the Linksys EA6900 performed better at longer distances with obstacles at least in the comparison I've consulted, and that to me is a huge factor as I need it to work well on several different parts of the house, and bad signal at places far from the router (with walls in between) is a problem I have in my house, specially considering that although my notebook will handle AC 5GHz connections all other devices in the house will still be using N connections. Based on this factor I'm leaning towards the Linksys... So, what recommendation you could give me on this?

 

Here is another one to look into. I'm using it currently and extremely happy with it: ASUS RT-AC68U Wireless-AC1900

 

AC3200 Routers By July?

AC3200 Routers By July? - SmallNetBuilder


Router Ranker - SmallNetBuilder


Higher Power Now Allowed For 5 GHz Wi-Fi - SmallNetBuilder

 

I went with the Netgear R7000 and it has been great -- it was on sale here in Canada at $174 so roughly the same price as a lot of lesser routers and about $100 less than the Linksys AC model

 

I'll wait for the AC3200 arrival so that these AC1750 and AC1900 routers get under $70. For me, their value isn't worth 7 times the price of my $25 Netgear WNDR3400v1 which has been performing superbly (300 Mbps all the time) and perfect stability at 5 GHz with 7260.

 

I have a US model WNDR3700v2(37AV) sitting in the closet in the original box(LNIB) that was a great performer after a few bad WNDR3700v1 were returned.

 

@isrnick

Considerign your needs you might as well go with the Linksys as what gives the Netgear an edge doesn't matter to you.

 

Thank you all.

Unfortunately waiting for AC3200 routers to arrive so that prices can drop isn't an option for me, as I only have the 15 days trip to the US (starting today) to buy it...

The ASUS RT-AC68U is more expensive than the Netgear R7000, and it seems to be a general consensus that the later one is better than the first, so between the two I'll take the second.

I've decided that I'll give preference to the Netgear R7000 after all, the Linksys EA6900 will be a second option in case I can't find the Netgear readily available in the stores, or if I need to cut down on the money spent to fit the budget, as I'm going to buy other things as well.

 

Linksys EA6700 HD Video Pro AC1750

Amazon.com: Linksys EA6700 HD Video Pro AC1750 Smart WiFi Wireless Router Dual-Band 2.4 + 5GHz 802.11ac: Computers & Accessories

Is that a good router as well for those of us who aren't willing to spend the hefty premium for the 6900?

 

It's not that bad but I prefer to spend $20 more on the ASUS RT-AC66U or Netgear R6300v2 for more customisation and 3rd party firmware support. ASUS has external adjustable antennas and great firmware support including Merlin Build, Tomato and DDWRT which to me is worth $20 more than EA6700.

 

When you mention those other things like "Merlin Build" and all that are those third party software and why do people use them when it comes to routers? Don't Linksys/Cisco (or I guess Belkin now) and Netgear provide their own firmware etc....

Just got the 7260 into my Envy and it's working just fine. Now it's just a matter of getting a great router and hooking it up to the FiOS Internet service!

 

@TheAtreidesHawk

I've been using a Netgear R7000 for a few months now that a bought from a deploying soldier.

At first it had a few minor issues that have since been fixed with new firmware.

The R7000 paired with an AC-7260 works very well for me on both bands from a non line of sight location 21' and 2 cement walls from the router.

Before the R7000 I was using a Netgear R6300v1 for 18 months or so and it also worked very well except for the USB ports.

The R7000 USB ports work well.

Attached to the R7000's USB 3.0 port I have a SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 flash drive for network files and a Samsung laser printer on the other USB port.The work very well on the R7000 but had problems on the R6300.

I have excellent Internet service that comes straight out of the wall to the router in this centrally wired high rise apartment building.

Speedtest usually shows about 95~100 Mbps up and down..

File transfers across the home network to and from the flash drive are usually between 16 MB/s and 24 MB/s

To and from this MSI GT780DX notebook and my desktop is normally in the 38 MB/s to 45 MB/s range.

In this family there can be 3 smartphones,2 tablets,a desktop and a notebook using the Internet via the R7000 simultaneously without issue.

Asus and Linksys make good routers but I have no recent experience with their newer models.

 

3rd party firmware offer features that are not on the stock firmware such as VPN over PPPoE, Torrent Client (no need for PC or Mac to seed or download torrents, download managers), Client Bridge mode (R7000 and stock ASUS firmware have this feature though). Lastly, overclocking ability. Basically more features. For Merlin Build, there are more bug fixes that the stock ASUS didn't catch.

I'm just saying that you can get all that features + external antenna (which in my experience gives farther range at the same transmit power) for $20 more. If it's not valuable to you, you can get the EA6700. I just prefer to have more features if I'm spending lots of money for a router.

 

Thanks for your thoughts and insight on the R7000. To be honest when I saw it I thought it was ugly as sin but the more I look at it the less unsightly it is. I'm still leaning towards the Linksys 6700.

Does anyone have any experience with the Linksys EA6900?