Wifi Connection Really Bad On One Floor?

In another location now. They have cable internet. The main modem is in the upper floor of our house and we have two floors. Lately, the internet has been extremely bad on the first floor. I went upstairs to reset the modem/router... by that i mean unplug it from the wall outlet... both of them for a minute or so, then plugged back in. Went back to first floor and wifi seems better. But now internet on the first floor is back to being really slow/bad. For many years, this was rarely the case.



We had the modem installed upstairs a while back as oppose to first floor. Netgear router and a cable modem. Nothing really has changed except the wifi downstairs is really bad recently. No issue at all upstairs.




What can i do here? Also is there a way to check for wifi connection on the first floor such as use a laptop and check how stable an internet connection is? I know there is speedtest but all that does is test how fast it is etc. LIke doing a test to check the internet for a certain amount of minutes to see if there is any wifi drop usage etc? I keep going to websites and loading them to see how fast it goes etc but almost always, you see the connecting... for a bit before either error or taking a while and it working. Thus the wifi is not reliable for some reason on the first floor?

 

Best bet is to run a wire to a new Access point (much better then mesh networking).

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Im not sure what you mean by new wire to a new access point...


You talking about connecting an ethernet cable from the router on the second floor to the first floor and connecting it to laptop to see if it works wired? I have to assume you dont mean this...


Also i was told this was an issue for a few weeks already... so i thought it couldn't be because suddenly we using a few extra devices etc.

 

No what I mean is Wire from router to a new Wireless access point.


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How would i do that? By new wireless access point, I need to buy something right?

 

yes you will need to buy a wireless access point.

https://www.ebuyer.com/744688-ubiquiti-unifi-ap-ac-lite-radio-access-point-uap-ac-lite

Something like that would do it.

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Okay. But what can i do right now to check it if any

 

Do you have a spare router with wireless?

If so you can set it up.

1) Disable DHCP
2) Assign it an IP in the same IP range and subnet as your current network
3) Setup the Wireless
4) Disable any firewall on the secondary router.

Then connect to it and see if it works, placing an RJ45 cable between the main network router and the secondary one should work without issues.

Off to bed but hopefully the above helps.

 

You may well have some channel conflicts. Perhaps you have a new neighbor with a really strong signal on the channel you are using. Get yourself a copy of inSSIDer (free, as long as you register), so you can see all of the wifi signals, strength and channels. If you put it on a laptop, you can move around the house to see what is happening. Once you know what other signals are competing, you can shift the channels for the router so that they are not in conflict with others. Keep in mind that 5 gHz is faster, but 2.4 gHz penetrates better.

 

@ Drew1

So, why did you move things upstairs from where things were working fine?

If you want better coverage adding an additional "radio" for better coverage is the answer unless you want to replace the Netgear all together. Either you're having a signal issue from someone nearby, the router is starting to fail, or something in the house is causing interference / blocking the signal from reaching the other floor.

AP = Access Point - additional piece of equipment that extends your existing wifi signal / name to another area of your building. It simply plugs into your "router" with an ethernet cable, you do a little bit of configuring to setup the WIFI and then you have better connectivity where you don't currently.

Router = wired connection to the ISP + AP built in for WIFI

Cable Modem <-> Router / WIFI <-> AP

For instance I wanted to go WFI6 and didn't buy into the whole getting an overpriced piece of plastic being offered from the typical off the shelf suppliers. I had already built my "router" and WIFI and just needed to switch out the WIFI side to provide more speed through 802.11AX. I took out the WIFI card I was using for the AP side of it and added a NWA201AX from Zyxel and that took care of the signal switch from AC to AX to provide better coverage / speed. The NWA201AX cost ~ $200 vs a full fledged AX router running $500-$600. For most the 210AX would be overkill as most consumer devices don't have a 2.5GE port to plug into on their ISP/ Router side to boost the max speeds above 1gbps. There's a slightly lower model the NWA110AX ~$150 that will suffice for coverage/speed.

There's a ton of options for an AP to provide better coverage and if you're not running 1gbps or higher then considering an AC based AP would be an option and those are in the $50-$100 range. It depends more on how you're going to use your WIFI and how your signals / interference look around your house. You need to scan the signals with a phone app at least to see what's going on so you can pick a channel that won't drop out on you causing a slow connection.

When picking a signal / channel... the lower the channel number the higher penetration / distance you'll see with it. For my case after scanning the WIFI around me I found channel 8 for 2.4ghz as best. On the 5ghze side it's a bit trickier depending on the options you choose to go with since you can choose 20/40/80/160mhz bandwidth options which bundle channels together for faster speeds and diversity. 20/40mhz channels have more flexibility on which ones you can choose to bundle together. The 80/160mhz bundles are a bit more limited to choices as 160mhz offer only 2 options due to limited bandwidth / DFS exclusions. With the 80mhz option you have a few more and still get sufficient speeds up to 1gbps.

 

Okay so made a mistake in my post. Apparently there are issues with the wifi even in the second floor where the modem/router is at. So does that mean its not the signal then?


The modem/router was always in the second floor. We never had it in the first floor. Before this issue, there was never a problem with the wifi reaching even down the basement etc.


But what is the reason why there are issues with wifi on the same floor then? I have no idea about the router channels... its a netgear router... that i configured years ago with no issue so i dont remember what I did exactly. I can tell you the exact model of the netgear router if you like.


The router and modem is put on a small low table... but its been like that for a while already.


The other issue is this. Im now there now so i cannot do all these tech savy things and need to tell them to do it.


So what would i tell them to do? Go to the netgear router wireless settings and change the channel?

 

You need to figure out what channels are in use around you to be able to figure out the best option for a manual channel assignment on each 2.4/5ghz band.

2 things come to mind if you didn't move the R/AP and this started to happen.

1. Someone else setup a device that's causing interference with yours and over powering the signal
2. The AP is dying and needs to be replaced

Go to your app store and search for "wifi signal" as an app and scan your signals. It's simple to do and will help you optimize things for the best strength / speed possible.

Optimal setup in my eyes is to get a dumb router w/o wifi and then pick a Access Point to connect to it instead of the bundled junk on the market. This does 2 things for you.... router ($$$) doesn't need to be replaced as WIFI options upgrade and you just need to replace the AP portion only as the router protocols haven't changed in decades.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Integrated-Lightening-Protection-TL-R605/dp/B08QTXNWZ1 - This would hook into the CM but, also if you get a better cable modem that allows bundling ports you can configure it to do the same for redundancy and exceed 1gbps if you want to use a higher speed plan. Mind you typical CM's would max @ 2gbps though there is a Netgear CM now that has a 2.5gbps port on it which would require an overpriced "router" with all of the bells and whistles ($600+) or build your own device using a spare PC or an ITX case + the hardware.

Take the above and hook up an AP to it for the WIFI side of it for ~$100-$150 for AX level speed / coverage.
https://www.amazon.com/EnGenius-EWS357AP-802-11ax-MU-MIMO-Wireless/dp/B07Q59N1VY/r - $100
https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wireless-Access-Point-WAX610/dp/B08D3693SV - $150

I built mine out with a NWA210AX which might be overkill
https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-802-11ax-Manageable-Standalone-NWA210AX/dp/B08HQQ4SPQ - $229
This won't be obsolete though for quite a long time if you're not needing to be bleeding edge for technology and provides a bump in stability if you have tons of devices connecting all of the time with the additional 5ghz radios (4x4 vs 2x2)

One step down inline with the NG above would be the NWA110AX
https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-802-11ax-Manageable-Standalone-NWA210AX/dp/B08BSK9SGD - $150

With the NWA210 you have the 2.5gbps port available for higher bandwidth if you need extra bandwidth within your own network to move files around between devices or a central wired PC/server. Anyway you can do this for ~$200 and divorce the 2 specific functions for more flexibility in the future and/or reuse the existing NG as an AP on a different floor that isn't used as often.

 

Well I"m not there now so I can't check the netgear router settings. Again I don't think the channels should be an issue. It never had issues for years... then suddenly an issue because of the channel?


But isn't the step to find out if its actually the wifi just by doing this?


Have them connect an ethernet cable to a laptop and see how the internet is?


Thus when you have issue with the wifi on phone or on your laptop, connect the ethernet cable to your laptop to see if it still has that issue for those few seconds?


The router is an old netgear router bought many years ago. I mean the lights and everything is on and looks fine etc.


I don't want to spend money on those things you mentioned yet as I want to determine what might possibly be the issue here. Again I never had any access point equipment or anything like that.

 

Ethernet rules out the WIFI being the issue but, it doesn't ix the issue.

I've had routers/wifi devices rated for gigabit on the ports and when hooking up to it directly for testing found that the throughput was only 1/4 of that on a gigabit plan.

If you're going to end up replacing the router then divorcing them into the setup I mentioned makes more sense in the future to isolate the expense of replacing one or the other. Also, the router has the ability to combine ports for redundancy / speed over 1gigabit or the ability to switch form port 1 to port 2 or 3 if the port dies w/o having to replace it to get back online. If the WIFI dies then you can replace the AP a lot cheaper than buying a new Netgear device again.

Another benefit of going with these options is they're enterprise grade AP's that are going to be more performant than stuff you pick up at best buy. I actually moved a file from my server the other day over wifi at 1.3gbps which never would have happened with cheaper gear. By running dual ports from my server/router to the cable modem I'm able to speed test through a VPN at close to 1.2gbps which is the speed cap for the gigabit plan w/o considering overprovisioning by the provider that is probably ~1.4gbps since they typically add 10-20% on top of advertised speeds.

 

Do you think if we connect ethernet cable to laptop... it will have issues or not?


So say we connect ethernet cable to laptop and there are zero issues with it... then it has to be the router then right?


But if we connect ethernet cable to laptop and there are issues with it... then it is either the modem, router or the wiring?


Again I dont know anything about those AP things you are mentioning.


The thing is i want to know if the issue is something simple first... before doing something that complicated.


Again the internet wifi has not have issues for years until recently. Again.. this issue is with wifi even on the same floor as the modem/router.

 

CM <> Laptop = rules out cabling / speed issues

CM <> Router <> Laptop = rules out speed / cabling issues with router

If you have speed issues with the router while WIRED then the issue is the Netgear

AP = WIFI it's just breaking the 2 pieces of the connection into 2 parts vs the all in one approach most consumer "routers" are sold. The AP is the RADIO side of your "router" and is configured in the same manner as the Netgear you have now but, the "routing" of your IP traffic would be handled by the "router" I mentioned above.

In essence you would end up with:

CM <> Router <> AP (WIFI)

You would still be able to use the additional ports on the router for wired connections as needed with the flexibility of using 1+ for the WAN (CM) and increase your bandwidth if supported or redundancy if one port/cable fails then the other takes over w/o a loss of service.

It's really not that complicated to setup as it's a couple of power wires, a couple of ethernet cables, and rebooting the cable modem to accept the new MAC of the new Router to issue an IP from the provider. Configuring each device / FW updates as needed should only take a few minutes.

 

Okay so looks like we are going to switch internet companies. Speed plan we got from optimum is 100mbps. Im not sure exactly what was the speed test i got when i did speed test but i believe it was at least 50mbps. It isn't the 20mbps that i mentioned earlier... i made mistake with that.


Now i mentioned our router is the netgear n600. But is it possible that because this router is really old, that this could cause the issue? Also this router is way too slow for internet nowadays? Also i checked and apparently it seem like this router doesn't even cover that much square foot? Someone posted its 100mbps... so that would mean if our internet was say 300mbps... then the router wouldn't even do 300 mbps right since its max is 100mbps? We will be switching to fios.


Since we will be switching internet companies, what do you suggest we do now? First thing would be buy a new better wireless router right? I mean if we use the same netgear n600 router with fios... then our speed would be max 100mbps wired and probably 90mbps on wifi right even though verizon fios plan would be 300mbps?

 

YES

Could be - I had one that had gig ports on it that only pushed 200mbps on a gig plan

N doesn't have much margin for speed when pushing beyond being close to it

That's what we call a BOTTLENECK

Now that you have given some more details on what you're using I would suggest getting a new router either way. If you want better performance than use my suggestion to split them into 2 devices. Otherwise pick an AX or AC device you're comfortable with.

See above

See above. N600 should be capable of 600mbps as the 600 is the speed indicator and N is the technology.

AC single clients should top out at 877mbps but in reality usually hover around 600mbps internally PC <> PC
AX will get you internal speeds PC <> PC up to 1.3gbps

I'm using the AX210 Intel cards for PC's and the NWA210AX for the Access Point connected to my "router" that I build that has a 5gbps connection that's limited to 2.5gbps per the port on the AP as a 5gbps AP or higher just doesn't make sense from a cost perspective.

Since you have cable and likely aren't switching to DSL as that would be even slower you could opt for the Netgear CM2000 @ $250 but, it sounds like you're hunting for something that's under 300mbps for an ISP so, that would be overkill for now. The mototola MB8600 @ $150 would be more suitable and get you a plan speed up to 1gbps and won't be obsolete for quite awhile and is actually what I'm currently using with 2 ports bundled for over provisioning beyond 1gbps. Also, this would save you $12-$15/mo for the rental you're paying for most likely.

If you switch to FIOS you can still bring your own equipment to hook up to the ONT they install by having a switch that can tag the VLAN info they use for their equipment. The hook up a router to that and then a WIFI AP. There's plenty of ways to play the ISP game and save some money in the long run. It's not overly complicated it just takes a bit of planning. I can't recall if VZ charges for equipment or not since I'm not in their service area and haven't looked at them in awhile.

Besides saving $$$ with your own equipment you have the ability to lock things down for better security / leaks. Most of the SP provided EQ is basic or a bridge that allows all traffic and then your "router" is your only defense and that's susceptible as well if it's not patched regularly. If you have a spare computer sitting around or can put one together and throw linux on it you have better performance and the ability to add monitoring / security to the device as well. If I didn't bundle all the features I have running on mine the cheapest option would have been to get a NUC or similar small PC and a couple of USB Network dongles and feed one side into the ISP device and the other side into a switch / AP (wifi).

NUC - $120 https://www.amazon.com/Beelink-T4-x5-Z8500-Computer-Ethernet/dp/B08D983Y42/
WIFI - is built into it as a client and could potentially use hostapd to turn it into an AP w/ software (depends on the chip being used / Intel doesn't work for this purpose)
2 x Dongles - $15ea https://www.amazon.com/Gigibit-Ethernet-Adapter-Portable-1000Mbps/dp/B089ZYB76D
4 port switch - $9 https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Unmanaged-GREENnet-TEG-S50g-Protection/dp/B081JP3RBN/
AP AX - ~$90 https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wireless-Access-Point-WAX214/dp/B08PQ3CRWK
~$250 + tax -- you have 100% control over your data / more secure / can apply whole house VPN / traffic monitoring / mitigation options
Linux download - FREE
Configuration - FREE


Netgear AX1800 - $70 https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-4-Stream-AX1800-Router-RAX20/dp/B07Z5JWRWJ/
The only downside to this or anything like it is that when it starts to die you're at the mercy of buying more plastic to replace it. If it completely dies you're stuck w/o any protection plugging into the ISP "modem" directly and exposed to a lot of garbage or even a ransom attack. With the PC / Dongles you would have your firewall configuration between you and the danger while shopping for a new access point.

The flexibility of putting together your own solution allows you some play in how you want things to perform and/or upgrades are significantly cheaper to swap out pieces rather than a unit off the shelf at walmart or best buy. Basic configuration in linux is only about 20-25 lines of configuration + changing some of the defaults from client to router capabilities like turning on NAT so the inside (LAN) and outside (WAN) can converse and you can reach websites. You can put in triggers to block all outside traffic coming in (as it should be) unless it originated a session from you to a site. If you want you can auto block "attackers" and never respond to them again. You can place "filters" on certain devices if you need to. I log quite a bit through some apps that let me see what's being used and from what device and have a couple of different graph options to look for spikes in traffic or DNS requests. I setup pihole as an app to block out all of the tracking / ads that consume bandwidth / surveillance. You can funnel all of your traffic through your favorite VPN as a secondary security measure and avoid your ISP tracking all of your traffic. You'll be able to setup your own DHCP / DNS / other services as needed and if you can to change which DNS servers you're using to resolve names it's a quick click in pihole to change them since your DHCP should be pointing devices to that for blocking junk anyway.

With pihole you can use pre configured lists of junk you want filtered out that can auto update every 24 hours or whenever the publisher updates them. Pihole will show your clients / count as you can see which device might be generating significantly more traffic than another which could indicate an infection or hijack. If you're using a streaming stick you can knock out the metrics spying through adding the domain to the block section to decrease targeted shows / advertising.

Of course the router companies offer select options that make you feel better but, are they still collecting your data and then selling it later?

 

Okay so the netgear n600 router we have... the max mbps is 600 mbps? Someone told me that this router is very old and is max 100mbps. And that is with ethernet. Thus when on wifi, its probably 90 mbps. But you say the n600 should be capable of 600mbps?



I checked amazon page for this product


https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-N600...ar+n600&qid=1623556068&sr=8-8#customerReviews


And even though in description it says 300+300 mbps, thus 600 mbps, if you read some of the reviews, type in keyword 600 mbps and 100 mbps, you see tons of reviewers saying you get max 100 mbps wired and around 25 mbps via wifi.


I remember when I did the speedtest when on wifi... i don't think it was any higher than 25 mbps at the most. It could have been 50 mbps... but i don't remember exactly. And since our cable internet is 100 mbps, wouldn't that mean this router indeed only has max 100 mbps then?




Those routers you linked are pretty expensive. Yea we are going to use our own router, we not going to rent from verizon fios as that is ridiculous to pay monthly fee.


Thoughts on these routers on amazon?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079JD7F7G/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R2AZLD2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

The WIFI speed is capable of 600mbps but, the hardwired ports are FE which caps them to 100mbps





https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-N600...eviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1&filterBy Keyword=gigabit&sortBy=recent

Definitively time for an upgrade either way since this thing is ancient in terms of technology. 100mbps / FE was obsoleted many years ago by gigabit



It's already been over 20 years since gigabit was released and gigabit resolved a lot of the nuances of prior technologies such as having to use a crossover cable to connect 2 PC's directly.

It's a good idea to stay a bit more current as with each new generation not only to things go faster but, they become more reliable / use less energy to power the packets down the cable as well.

Routers / Cable Modems for today tech hover around $100/ea or more depending on how future proof you want to be and not have to buy more of them in a shorter time period. The MB8600 should be good for 10 years at the pace that cable co's are upgrading to newer technologies. Ideally they would just wire buildings similar to FIOS and handoff Ethernet from their DEMARC where you simply plugin your "router" and go from there. The whole needing a CPE device to terminate the connection is old fashioned but, then again we're talking about ASYNC cable service similar to DSL where the download is significantly higher than the upload unless you opt for business class service which doesn't really use the COAX equipment to get back to the internet as it runs over fiber.

I had a Netgear R7800 for AC before making my own w/ AX. I was able to push 600-700mbps internally with it. TP-Link is decent enough though too just read the reviews to make sure they're not sending out a bad batch similar to any company like Netgear / Linksys / etc.

For $10 more you can go with the one I linked above and be AX capable for better performance overall if you slap a AX210 card into your laptop. Skip the AX201 as they're a bit buggy when it comes to speeds / consistency.

Netgear AX1800 - $70 https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-4-Stream-AX1800-Router-RAX20/dp/B07Z5JWRWJ/

Sure $150 for a cable modem seems like a big investment but, it only takes 10 months to recover the cost when you think about the monthly charge from the cable provider. Going with the $250 one from Netgear would be my upgrade path since I'm running 5gigabit ports on my "router" which still leaves room for the next upgrade when they start incorporating them into modems or jump to 10gigabit options to keep the price down. I've had my MB8600 for 3-4 years already (savings $10/mo - $300-400 // $15/mo - $450-$600) and it's been flawless other than provider outages or power outages. I find rebooting it every once in awhile helps when things feel a bit sluggish and switching VPN endpoints doesn't seem to do much.

Cheap and disposable equipment for the masses with very little customizability works for most but, if you want to take control of things leaking out to the internet going custom will get you there w/o spending thousands. Throwing all of your traffic through a VPN provider on top of proper configuration leads to some piece of mind, less spam, and reduced risk of your connection being hijacked or ransomed. I bought a 3-year through NordVPN for under $2/mo after rebates through rakuten ($20 off) + % back for buying it. Now that they're using "nordlynx" which uses wireguard instead of openvpn you can actually maintain your speeds close to actual wiespeed you're paying for whereas OVPN typically maxes out at 100mbps no matter the bandwidth being supplied due to the overhead of processing the packets to en/decrypt each one before send/receive.

 

So the netgear n600 router that i been using, it only gets max 100mbps via ethernet... and it will be a bit slower via wifi then right? Then why did it advertise 300mbps+300bmps then? I bought this router many years ago... might been 5 years or so... had no idea this router came out 10 years already.


I took a look at that netgear ax1800 that cost about 10 dollars more than the two routers i linked. But what is so good about this one? The reviews are good but it doesn't have anywhere as much reviews as the netgear and TP Link one i listed.


Well I don't need a cable modem... i need a router. Because they would be getting verizon fios. I believe we have to get our own router or pay for router rental which is ridiculous.


Well the thing is i saw these two routers i listed and seem to have very good reviews and many reviews. Again i had no idea my router was so old... that its max 100mbps etc.


I mean i see lot of routers that are $100 and $150 and up and i thought that isn't necessary because they wouldnt ever get that 1gb speed for internet. They only getting the 300mbps speed from verizon fios. So wouldn't getting a really expensive router that is $150+ just not necessary?


The ones i listed seem to be more than fast enough for the 300mbps from verizon fios.

 

So either of the two i posted would be more than sufficient right? If so, which one is better... the netgear or TP link? In terms of speed, both are up to 1750mpbs right? But why they say the tp link is 450mbps for 2.4ghz and 1300 mbps for 5ghz? Because if you are choosing either 2.4ghz or 5ghz, then aren't the max mbps you get going to be 1300 mbps and not 1750mbp? But why doesn't netgear router show an amount of mbps for 2.4ghz compared to 5ghz? Also in the tp link router, it says when comparing different tp link routers... this one is good for up to 300mbps. But other ones are good for up to 450mbps, or 1000mbps etc. So basically the TP Link is sort of like a budget router still? So they are saying if you got like 1000mbps speed... this tp link router wouldn't be good enough? Then again, it says if you are on 5ghz... its up to 1300mbps.

 

YES

If you're doing adhoc PC <> PC over wifi transfers it might be able to exceed the 100mbps limitation of the physical ports

Mostly the fact that it puts you in CURRENT technology with AX vs AC and will provide better results over AC

First off AC was released almost 10 years ago as well.



In addition to AX being another leap forward there's some behind the scenes improvements to how traffic is managed and forwarded across your network / through the router.


OKAY... beyond the 300mbps mental barrier here.... If say someone is hosting a media "server" to stream video within the house to a TV or tablet or whatever... Having the additional bandwidth internally keeps things flowing w/o buffering or interrupting the show/movie. While most video only takes ~25mbps if you're pushing 4K video you can easily hit 100mbps with higher bitrates associated with the video + audio (5.1/7.1).

As for AX I just picked the cheapest router that came up that wasn't a no name knockoff from china. As for the $100-$150 routers they may be more substantial in durability or offer "features" that are appealing but in reality don't do much. Sometimes those "features" cause more issues than not having them turned on at all. Some of them enable QOS and slow the rest of your traffic down in the process or lockup the router and cause it to reboot frequently. Some offer antivirus others offer x y z.

You make it sound like you don't actually spend time in this location? Why not have them pickup what they want and connect it to the FIOS box?

------------------------------------------

Ok... the whole 1000000000mbps stuff is mostly marketing of the internal speeds as you will bottleneck at the 1gbps port sped leaving the location onto the ISP backbone.

As you can see the graphic above shows the max physical data rate per technology... WIFI ONLY... still limited to the physical egress port speed and data only moves as fast as the slowest connection. The 2.4ghz band provides 150mbps / user. So, if the equipment on both sides allows for bundling and is dual transmit / dual receive you can get 300mbps out of it as a SU or 2 users get 150mbps/ea.

There are other settings on 2.4 you can tweak manually and aren't usually enabled out of the box such as bumping the spectrum to 40hz instead of default 20hz in effect doubling your speed.

for 5ghz it's an entirely different beast when it comes to speed/distance due to the higher spectrum it travels shorter distances but, enables a larger pipe for data to travel through. 2.4 max is 40hz and 5ghz can go up to 160hz which is 4X the bandwidth at the expense of distance from the router.

Another thing that plays into this trickery of marketing numbers / speed being advertised is the WIFI MODULE and the number of antennae you have hooked up to it. Laptops typically max out at 2 and cheap OEM's ship crap card with a single antenna most of the time. The newer AX technology takes those 2 antennae and works some magic to get a more stable connection and organizes the traffic better than AC did to speed things up.




Most of the benefits of AX are realized with the changes in how things get sliced up and pushed across the air. Smaller slices are easier to bundle together into a limited packet size. The methodology shift from AC to AX is potentially as big as going from N to AC. The reason I say potentially is because we're still not even seeing the full potential of AX being realized w/ WIFI6E / 6GHZ bands being produced and used yet. Freeing us from the 5GHZ band will be like having your private highway w/o RF leaks slowing you down.

Personally I held out on AX a bit longer than I normally would due to my setup and wanting to keep things internal on my hybrid "router / server" and was going to wait for a AX based internal card to be released but, that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon with Intel dominating the AX field and routers mostly being extremely high cost. The same is going to be an issue with 6E / 6GHZ for a little while and with the chip shortages going on with the pandemic it's likely going to be very costly to procure equipment anytime soon.

$10 isn't going to break the bank. Now if it was hundreds that's a different story for some.

 

Okay so you have this AX netgear router you are talking about right? I see the price now is $50 now.


The thing is how come there aren't that many reviews on it compared to the TP Link or Netgear router i posted though?


This is what confuses me. I mean the TP link one got so many good reviews and is amazon best seller. So isn't that a very good option? Also if say in the future, i get 1 gigabyte internet... would that $58 TP Link router be good enough? I mean it has to right since it advertises up to 450mbps for 2.4ghz and 1300mbps for 5ghz? Also speaking of that... anyone that has internet speed of like 1 gigabyte speed... almost all these people make sure to put their wifi on 5ghz as oppose to 2.4ghz right? Reason being since most routers... even the most expensive ones don't go higher than like 574mbps on 2.4ghz?



Look at these two TP Link routers that are more expensive.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H8ZLKKK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085288G3M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AWJMXP5IJRVY4&psc=1




These advertise up to 1.8ghz speed and say 574mbps on 2.4 ghz and 1200mbps on 5ghz.



So these two routers... would be much more faster than the two i linked earlier right? Then again, isn't this not necessary since the verizon fios would be 300mbps speed... and thus this isn't even necessary? Thus the TP link and Netgear ones i linked earlier would be more than enough? So if you use it on 2.4ghz... then its faster on the more expensive router. If using 5ghz, its faster on the cheaper routers?


But if in the future, let say i get 1000mbps internet speed from fios. Would the TP Link and Netgear i posted earlier but good enough? Or it wouldn't be able to take advantage of the full 1000mbps? It does say that TP Link the cheaper one i posted can do 450mbps for 2.4 ghz and 1300 mbps for 5ghz. If that is the case, how is this TP link not faster than the more expensive ones i linked then? I mean its faster 1300mbps>1200mbps on 5ghz... but slower 450mbps<574mpbs on 2.4ghz.

 

Just pick one.

 

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-4-Stream-AX1800-Router-RAX20/dp/B07Z5JWRWJ/

 

So you are saying the $60 TP link and netgear router is not current technology and modern then? Again im not that tech savy but the difference between those routers and the one you listed of netgear wifi 6 router means a big difference? Yea price difference is not much since its 10 dollars more... its just i see so many reviews from the other routers as oppose to the one you posted. But you do currently own this router right?


So the two $100 tp link routers i posted... that would be the best routers to have ... then the one you posted... and finally the $60 tp link or netgear router right? Are those $100 tp link routers wifi 6 as well?


Thus if i get the cheaper router, few years down the line, i would need to buy a new one? But if i get the one you linked or the $100 tp link routers, it would be good for many more years? Then again, aren't majority of users going to get something like the $60 tp link or netgear router compared to the much more expensive ones? Like i know how ppl say you don't need something like that as thats way more than you need etc. Like when i check the $60 tp link router on amazon, it does say its good for use up to 300mbps... then they list other tp link routers that would be good up to 450mbps, 600mbps, 1gig mbps etc. But could the $60 routers be good enough for 1gig internet if one was to upgrade to that in future? Again we going to get 300mbps only.

 

300mps is your link to the outside world

1gbps is your internal stuff - streaming / file transfers / backups

WIFI6 was released in the past couple of years vs WIFI5 (AC) almost 10 years as shown in the graphics

if it's a $10 difference for something more reliable why wouldn't you go with that?

You're spending way too much time not pulling the trigger as you could have had the router above for $10 cheaper but, now it went up to $10 more.

You asked for a recommendation and I gave you an alternative that's up to date and in the same price range. Set a price alert for a lower price on the WIFI6 above or bite the bullet and just snag one and be happier longer. Just because there may be more reviews for the other 2 because they're older models doesn't mean it's a better buy in the long run. Lots of people buy stuff on Amazon and don't bother leaving a review because it's not a priority. There's even the chance the seller's paid for reviews to bump their ranking in the display order. Based on the technical performance / personal use of WIFI6 with the correct AX210 WIFI card it's superior to the AC. Even w/o upgrading your WIFI card you'll see better handling of traffic.

 

Well the price of it now is 60 dollars. But when i read the reviews, the recent ones, its not good though? What has me confused is why is it some routers that are not wifi 6 cost even more than routers like this netgear one that is wifi 6? Also i mentioned the current router we have is netgear c600... and for some reason i don't want a netgear anymore for some reason


This is what im strongly leaning towards. Do you say okay to this?

TP-Link WiFi 6 Router AX1800 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX21) - 89+tax


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H8ZLKKK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

Like to update on this. Well apparently we are going to stick with optimum online.



As of now, still undecided on which router to buy. But im leaning towards the first link i post below because its wifi 6 and has very good reviews... mention it has many antennas and signal strength is very good from reviews. Again two floors and basement.



TP-Link WiFi 6 Router AX1800 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX21) - 89+tax


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H8ZLKKK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1




NETGEAR 4-Stream AX1800 WiFi 6 Router (RAX20-100NAS) - 60+tax


https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-4-St...keywords=netgear+ax1800&qid=1625724337&sr=8-4


Recommended by you because this is wifi 6 and very cheap. But reviews don't seem that good though?




TP-Link Wifi 6 AX1500 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX10) – 802.11ax Router, 70+tax


https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wire...4378&sprefix=tp+link+router+ax,aps,847&sr=8-1

Wifi 6 but cheaper version of my first choice? Review don't seem as good




TP-Link AC1900 Smart WiFi Router (Archer A8) -High Speed MU-MIMO Wireless Router - 80+tax

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AC19...keywords=tp+link+router&qid=1625722875&sr=8-9

More Expensive router than the two wifi 6 routers above but not wifi 6? Anyone know why this is priced so much higher than the wifi 6 routers above?



TP-Link WiFi 6 Router AX1800 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX20) – 802.11ax - 131+tax

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085288G3M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AWJMXP5IJRVY4&psc=1

Completely unnecessary?

 

The original two routers i looked at


TP-Link AC1750 Smart WiFi Router (Archer A7) -Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router - 58+tax

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079JD7F7G/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1


Price and value seem very good. But this isn't wifi 6. Also when i read reviews, i did read some people say signal isn't that good etc. So my first link in my previous post is much better in signal with the antenneas compared to this one? I guess this would be great to buy only if you are living in a one story home or an apartment?



NETGEAR Nighthawk Smart Wi-Fi Router, R6700 - AC1750 - 80+tax

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R2AZLD2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1


This is probably the worst router to buy out of the 7 choices i listed now? First off, the price went all the way up to 80 dollars plus tax now. Its not wifi 6 and its netgear? Because there are many wifi 6 routers i listed in my previous two posts which cost less than this even.


Again the main thing here is i want the signal to be strong ... from the second floor all the way to the basement.


So on these 7 routers i listed, would most here agree the TP-Link WiFi 6 Router AX1800 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX21) - 89+tax



is the best option here? Thanks.

 

Going with anything AX based will provide the benefits you're looking for. Not only does it extend the 2.4Ghz signal for penetrating walls / floors it also bumps the speed up from the AC levels.


TP-Link WiFi 6 Router AX1800 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX21) - 89+tax
NETGEAR 4-Stream AX1800 WiFi 6 Router (RAX20-100NAS) - 60+tax

TP-Link WiFi 6 Router AX1800 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX20) – 802.11ax - 131+tax
TP-Link Wifi 6 AX1500 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX10) – 802.11ax Router, 70+tax - If you don't need the USB option this would work fine.

TP-Link AC1900 Smart WiFi Router (Archer A8) -High Speed MU-MIMO Wireless Router - 80+tax
TP-Link AC1750 Smart WiFi Router (Archer A7) -Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router - 58+tax
NETGEAR Nighthawk Smart Wi-Fi Router, R6700 - AC1750 - 80+tax

Based on prices I would narrow it down to the 2 bolded options. Since it's Amazon if you don't like them you can return them within 30 days w/o any fees if you mark them defective even if they're not.

Side by side they're pretty much the same but, if you want to attach a USB drive to them the Netgear wins with a USB 3 port vs the TP with USB 2.

If you want to get even nerdier about things looking at the chips info can give more insight....
http://en.techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Qualcomm_Atheros#ax

Alternatively you could just go AP and hook it up to your existing router for WIFI that blows away the prepackaged list.

NETGEAR Wireless Access Point (WAX214) - $99.99 // AC adapter $129.99
NETGEAR Wireless Access Point (WAX610) - $149.99 .// AC adapter $159.99

As for the AC adapter option over POE you can find the adapters for ~$5-10 vs the markup you see with the WAX214 $30 more which is ridiculous. Both are also rated for AX1800 which is just the aggregate WIFI speed of all clients being used together WIFI to WIFI since the LAN port on them is only 1gbps. If you consider the WAX610 then stepping up to the Zyxel NWA110AX might be a justified contender as well as it's the same price.

I guess for you it comes down to price / performance / USB? More importantly penetration of walls / floors for reaching everywhere. The case for the AP's might get scratched off the list for the option of adding Antennae to extend the reach of the other options. Grabbing a couple of RP-SMA antennae with better reach is an option and fairly cheap ~$20 When I was using the QNAP AC card in my deployment I used these antennae / bases.


The bases gave me about a 6-8 foot spread of the 2 antennae. https://www.data-alliance.net/ When playing around with RF you can improve things or hinder them if not placed correctly as they can cancel each other out depending on the antenna patterns / placement. If you wanted to you could just get the bases and put the OE antenna onto them. Since the above routers have 4 antennae on them you could take 2 bases and get more reach but locating the antennae in different positions.

This all goes beyond the scope of picking a cheap but effective router but, it's an option if you're wanting coverage w/o paying for multiple routers to extend the signal penetration / coverage.

 

Okay those were 2 of the choices I was looking at most likely. The AX1500, you say its fine if you don't use the usb option. Can you explain what is meant by this? I don't know what use of the usb is for this. What surprised me was lot of bad reviews recent for this one though compared to the AX1800.


I think I will just go with the first option most likely AX1800. You are fine with that then right? So if it works, then great. If not, then maybe mesh or return it? But you agree do not get anything that is not AX right? Thing is i read other forums that wifi 6 isn't necessary and most of your current devices don't even have wifi 6 capabilities and thus not needed..

 

Some of the MFG's add a USB port to a router where you can connect devices to them for network use i.e. printer / HDD / etc.

not AC

Needed / Wanted is always a debate. I can speak from experience with AC/AX devices on my AP work better / smoother with AX over AC. Traffic management is better with AX and you'll see better speeds / penetration with AX.

AX1800 isn't the highest but, it's better than 1500. Like I said before if it's not strong enough you can add different Antennae fir better signal strength or at least bases to spread out the signal from the Router. If you really don't like it then return it and try something else. If neither of them work then think about going with a dedicated AP instead of a router as they are designed for WIFI in a business environment where there's more issues with signal.

Bottom line you can do it once and do it right or do it multiple times and waste your time. If it's a defect it might work with a replacement or find something different to replace it with.

 

Okay but how is the AX1800 better than 1500? You mention it has usb... then again we never use that and probably never will. But does it say the signal is much better? When looking through reviews, the recent ones... i see so many negative things about the 1500 compared to the AX1800.


I also looked at mesh wifi on amazon and saw these



https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Deco...ld=1&keywords=mesh+wifi&qid=1625954000&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Deco...ld=1&keywords=mesh+wifi&qid=1625954000&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Deco...d=1&keywords=mesh+wifi&qid=1625954000&sr=8-10


So the third option cost same as the AX1800. But these are the same it seems, just new upgraded versions each time.


Would you choose either of these easily over the AX1800?

 

I just thought about something else which I didn't consider. Back then, i would use my laptop/desktop wired with an ethernet to the cable modem/router as i never liked using wifi. Because the modem and router right now is in the second floor... does that mean if i buy the mesh wifi and thus have three mesh devices and put one on each floor... second floor, first floor and basement... if i wanted to use my laptop on the first floor or basement and connect it via ethernet... i can do this?


Asking this because i couldn't use wired internet no more since the modem and router is on the second floor and i would be on the first floor or basement only when i use the wif there.

Also i just thought about this now. But i dont think i ever did any firmware upgrade to the old netgear n600 router. Do you think doing that might improve the range or anything like that? Again we had it for years and i don't remember even doing any firmware upgrade or anything like that.

Okay so right now i will most likely get the AX1800. Now let say the signal isn't that good all the way to the basement. It should have no issue on the second floor since that is where it will be. And I don't think there would be much issue on the first floor.


Now we have two story house with basement and each floor is around 750 square feet, so its like 2250 square foot house.


Which wifi extender could i buy to make the issue better? The thing is this tp link router will cost 90 dollars plus tax. So if i get a wifi extender... i will most likely need only just one for the basement right and not necessary for first floor? So let say it cost 35 dollars or so... now you pay around 125 dollars plus tax at least.... but if you buy the 3 mesh wifi... that will cost how much? Because i see some deco TP ones that are reasonably priced. The deco 3 cost exact same as the tp link router.

 

Yes, some pods offer an Ethernet jack on the back. but, we were talking routers and not MESH

NO

The 1800 is speed not SQ FT.

Instead of messing around with pods just get a good AP and mount it on the ceiling on the 1st floor and be done with it. $100-$150 and keep it simple.

 

Someone told me the netgear ax1800 you recommended along with the tp link 1750 doesn't have high power fem which is improving signal coverage. Do you know anything about this? They said the tp link ax1800 does have this though.


What about getting one of those tp link deco mesh wifi system then? I see there is 3, 4, 5 and 6. The thing is the tp link ax1800 is 90+ tax. All these tp link deco is at least that amount... 90 dollars, 130 dollars, 150 dollars or 170 dollars.


The thing though i read is those mesh with tp link deco isn't good because there is no privacy? I read they record all websites you visit which isn't good for privacy. Do you have thoughts on this? That is the one thing with me not wanting to go with mesh. Also i read some articles that said mesh isn't that good if you want lot of speed? Some articles say if you want lot of speed, you want the regular router and not mesh?

 

So, you started this thread 5/14 and most of these questions have been answered.

Order a ROUTER from Amazon and if it doesn't work order another one to swap out and return the original choice for free.

If you wan to do things properly it might not be CHEAP.

Properly would mean a new router and probably adding an AP connected to it to extend coverage. An AP gives you 100% of the BW vs the pods which reduce BW by 50% as they use BW to communicate back to each other. This wouldn't be an issue if they supply 1gbps in BW which nets you 500mbps in WIFI BW. If you hardwire the pods they will give you 100% of BW.

For $250 or so you should be able to fix your coverage / speed issues.

 

Tis is what someone else tells me


All tp-link deco M3, M4, M5 and m9 seem to have an ethernet port problem that does not exceed 100 Mbps. So do not buy tp-link deco. Take the tp-link ax 1800 router + extenter to make a wifi mesh system. The triband is supposed to be better but according to the reviews there is no difference with non-triband system.


Yes, the TP-Link Wifi 6 AX1500 Smart WiFi Router (Archer AX10) is supposed to have less range.


The extender must be in the basement but if the signal is too weak the extender will not connect to the router then it will have to be put on the first floor and see the speed in the basement with the extender on the first floor. The waves will cross the ground with a high flow which comes from the extender.


The ethernet ports of the mesh system on the first floor and in the basement are there so as not to have a more or less fluctuating speed of the wifi.




Can others confirm here the TP Link Deco doesn't allow you to exceed 100 Mbps on wifi? If so that is ridiculous. So basically if you get a mesh system, you are sacrificing fast speeds for signal coverage right? But how come i don't see any talk of this on the amazon reviews for these tp link deco?



They suggested to get the AX1800 and one extender to be put in the basement and that is the best option. Do you agree with this? They say this is like a mesh network as well with the extender.


Is that why you never suggested a mesh wifi?

 

Right now your biggest impediment is your N router that caps you at 100mbps. This should be priority one since you're paying for 300mbps of service. You're basically paying 300% more per month than what you're able to use. which

MESH = band aid for poor coverage / lower speeds as it 1/2's the speed in most cases to provide backhaul to the base station

If you don't want to run Ethernet from one level to another your other option is power line adapters @ ~$45/set which would allow 1gbps over your household power lines back to the router.

If you used the PL adapter I would probably position a higher power AP on your main floor that you use WIFI on and then put the router in the basement to create a WFI sandwich for the 1st floor in between. Setting the WIFI channels opposing as in 36-52 on one floor and 100-?? on the other floor. Devices should pick up different options depending on strength for optimal speed and stability.

If you go back to my one recommendation on a simple router w/ 4-5 ports and no WIFI and then add 2 x AP's to it w/ the power line adapter you shouldn't have to buy any other networking gear for a very long time w/ very good coverage and speed.

#12

PL kit $45

 

Hey. Yea the old netgear n600 router has the max limit of 100mbps. We are actually paying for 200mbps now... not 300mbps, But yea we are playing double more per month that what we can use.


Your statement on mesh... you are saying you will lose half the speed that you get normally? So if you pay for 200mbps, you going to get half that only on wifi? But if wired, you will get pretty close to that... is that accurate? If that is the case, doesn't that mean mesh just isn't good then? I mean it solves the wifi coverage but you lose half the speed? On this other forum i posted this question on, almost everyone say get mesh and getting a wireless router and/or extender is stupid. They all seem to be for mesh because its a two story house and basement etc.

The thing is at the moment, nobody uses a wired ethernet connection on the second floor where the modem and router is at the moment. I mean sometime in the future maybe, but right now a wired ethernet connection isn't necessary.



So your suggest is buy that TP Link AX1800

Then also buy the TP-Link AV1000 Powerline Starter Kit ?



The thing is at the moment, nobody uses a wired ethernet connection on the second floor where the modem and router is at the moment. I mean sometime in the future maybe, but right now a wired ethernet connection isn't necessary.

 

The purpose of the starter kit is to have something for an additional AP or putting your N router into bridge mode as an AP.

MESH takes say your 1gbps port and cuts the bandwidth in 1/2. 1/2 is used for transmit / receive.

There's a small handful of pods that don't do this but, in most cases you need to hardwire them to get full internal LAN bandwidth.

MESH is a marketing term for adding additional WIFI points to an existing network. Taking the cheapest solutions for idiots yields the worst possible bandwidth due to how they operate. If you do things properly with an AP or reuse a router as an extension you get the full potential in the 2nd area of the space. In your case reusing the N router in AP mode would yield 100mbps in that area of the house due to the port limitation being 100mbps. If you got a 2nd newer WIFI AP / Router and connected it through the starter kit you could get 1gbps speed internally if you're hosting shared files on a PC somewhere on the network. If you're just concerned with basic connectivity using the N should suffice. The other option would be adding a gbps switch before plugging the N into the powerline adapter to allow for additional jacks for devices to plug into like TV / Stereo / Streaming / etc.

 

The modem and router is on the second floor. That is where optimum online installed it years ago. So we cannot move the modem/wireless router to another floor etc.


So get that TP Link AX1800 wireless router and put it on second floor. See how the signal is on the first floor and basement right? Because the signal might be strong enough all the way to the basement even without extender?



And if there is any signal issue in the basement, then buy the powerline starter kit you listed? I see there are two of them. So both of those would go on the first floor and basement? Again, i doubt there would be any signal issue on the first floor, but if any signal issue it would be in basement.



But what about the tp link extenders though? So those aren't needed? I'm still confused with the powerline thing you mention. Thats if you need ethernet connection though right?



https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Exte...ywords=tp+link+extender&qid=1626560150&sr=8-7

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AC12...ywords=tp+link+extender&qid=1626560150&sr=8-4

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AC75...ywords=tp+link+extender&qid=1626560150&sr=8-2


Covers Up to 1500 Sq.ft and 25 Devices, Up to 1200Mbp.


The thing with these wireless extenders... i see some cover that much square feet and some less less square feet and speed like up to

Covers Up to 1200 Sq.ft and 20 Devices, Up to 750Mbps Dual Band WiFi Range Extender,



I mean if i buy this, extender is going to be in the basement most likely and not the first floor right? But obviously pay more for the more expensive one that covers more square feet and speed even though the basement is only 750 square feet?


But if i buy one of these tp link extenders and put in basement, can i get wired ethernet connection from it though? Like if you connect ethernet cable from laptop in the basement to the tp link extender in the basement right next to each other?

 

Sure you can if you have a jack to plug it into. Figure out which one and remove any splitters for the best signal / speed on the CM.

If you move the CM to the 1st floor your WIFI might be strong enough with a single router instead of adding an additional or reusing the N.

No, there's a base unit that connects wherever you put the router. The additional one plugs in where you want a new "jack".

Not needed if you reuse the N for the basement if needed.

Depends on how the port is configured. it could allow a connection to the router for faster speeds or it could be configured as an uplink that will transmit as RF back tot he base node / router.

 

To keep it simple.....

Get the AX1800, power extender kit, and reuse the N router in AP mode. ~$150 least technical deployment from running cable / configuring multiple devices.

 

What do you mean if you have a jack to plug it into? The cable modem is on the second floor. The router is next to it. You connect an ethernet cable from the router to the modem right? The thing is im not at the house right now so i cannot see how it is. But i recall that is how its suppose to be? Thus modem and router are always next to each other?


What does CM mean? You use a lot of abbreviations and many times i dont know how that means...


Do you have any opinion on this tp link router? I asked this on another forum and someone said they have this and it works great on their three story house and 2400 square foot. I then checked the reviews and lot of people mention it has really good range... which to me is the most important thing here. Price is about the same as its like 5 dollars more. This uses wifi 5 but i dont care about that. Would you recommend this over the ax1800? That person tell me he puts this router in the far end of the basement and it reaches all the way up and there are walls as well.


TP Link AC2600

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AC26...efix=tp+link+wireless+router+,aps,1401&sr=8-3



What do you mean reuse the netgear router in ap mode? I dont plan to use that router anymore once i get a new one...


Also someone else mentioned to get two routers ... two cheap ones like the l750 and the l500 and buy two of them. Then put one on each floor and connect via ethernet. I have no idea how that is a good idea since you going to have a 50 foot ethernet cable at least going through the floors? You are completely against this right?


Thanks again for taking so much of your time to help me on this.

 

The powerline = JACK to plug into the router on the 2nd floor via your electrical outlet

CM = Cable Modem

TP-Link is an alright selection. Quit thinking about AC though.

Reconfigure the N router as a bridge / access point aka turn off the routing functions and plug it into the powerline jack

2 routers = above N

50ft ethernet = power line adapter using electrical wiring instead of running Ethernet

I'm not against running Ethernet but, it usually isn't cheap but, it is more proper than the power line adapter but, getting you to think beyond spending $100 for a router doesn't seem like something you would do.

CM -> New Router -> power line adapter -> N router in basement / first floor (depends on how often the basement is used)

Set the N router for 2.4ghz channel 1 and set the new one for channel 11 (primary channels are 1/6/11 and most default to 6) By setting 1 & 11 clients on the 1st floor will select the strongest signal and switch to the other if the signal becomes weak.

So, you'll have the full 200mbps available on 2nd floor and at most 100mbps from the basement due to the port only being 100mbps. 100mbps is sufficient for streaming / surfing anyway as your typical steam is under 25mbps anyway.

So, to summarize things....

1. pick a router that's AX to not have to do it again for a few years
2. get the power line adapter to send Ethernet over your electrical wiring vs spending $100's on running a cable or dual new routers
3. default the N router configuration and setup as a "bridge" or "access point" the terminology is interchangeable depending on the MFG
4. enjoy WIFI on all 3 floors

 

Hey. So you still want me to use my old netgear n600 on one of the routers?


I can't imagine using a 50 ft ethernet cable here. The thing is will the ethernet cable be going from one floor to another? Thus from second to first floor or basement? Because the ethernet cable will be on the floor and through different doors... that is something we definitely do here. But you are saying we avoid this but the power line adapter which is just connecting and plugging it to outlet in basement right?


I dont want to spend more than say $150 plus tax on this. So if i get a mesh system, i could get the deco m5 and that is good enough. But again im not sure about mesh because of security and because other people say avoid it. If i get the ax router thats around 90 plus tax. Put a powerline adapter or extender, price will be still under $150. What i would want is just a router that has strong signal all three floors.


I don't want to spend like 500 dollars on a mesh wifi system as i see some ppl recommended me this on a forum. I can pay that... but thats a lot.


But do you have any opinion on that tp link ac600 router though? Again someone recommended this who have very similar house and they say it has no issues with range. If you go on amazon and check review, i have never seen so many people commenting on how good the range is for this router. I do know its wifi 5 though. Someone told me dont worry about new technology like wifi 6 as that just isn't necessary...


So right now im just deciding between the AX1800 and the ac2600. But if i get that powerline adapter, would it be compatible with the ac2600? I will most likely just buy the router only first... see how the signal is like throughout the house... then if signal is bad in basement, buy the power adapter/extender. I mean its possible just the router might be good enough for the whole house? Because the ac2600 seems to have extremely good reviews on range. When i check the AX1800, i see no where as good range reviews like the ac2600.

 

AX Router - $75-$100
Power Line Adapter - $45
Reusing N Router - $0

Total = $120-$150