Recommendation needed for router upgrade

[simple_n_eazi]

Hi all
Need some expert recommendation on router upgrade. Currently on M1 1gb plan and using a cheapo free model given years ago. I wanted to buy a proper router now as my coverage is not good enough sometimes for streaming stuff like Netflix. Hit around 30mbps on average in my rooms. My apartment is standard 4room HDB.
Looking for a decent model that can satisfy these
- within $200
- provide good coverage for my house size
- able to set up vpn within router
- can support up to 10 devices max
I saw there were some discussions on models like Xiaomi Ax3600 and Ax6000. Price seem good for the specs. Not sure if that is suitable for me. I don't mind getting from China if it does not impact me greatly on their basic functionalities.
Thank you.

 

[giraffey]

What you are facing is wireless blind spots. Changing your wireless router could help, but it wont be night and day.

- move the wireless router to the center of the house
- place more wireless routers/APs or get a mesh system. Best if they are are connected via LAN (wired backhaul)

 

[simple_n_eazi]

What you are facing is wireless blind spots. Changing your wireless router could help, but it wont be night and day.

- move the wireless router to the center of the house
- place more wireless routers/APs or get a mesh system. Best if they are are connected via LAN (wired backhaul)

Oh. I tried to put it as centre as possible and the speed don't improve much. Prefer to get a more powerful one instead of mesh which I feel is messier to set up at different locations. By the way, thr router I'm using now is Prolink3801 lol.

 

[bert64]

Oh. I tried to put it as centre as possible and the speed don't improve much. Prefer to get a more powerful one instead of mesh which I feel is messier to set up at different locations. By the way, thr router I'm using now is Prolink3801 lol.

A more powerful router will just transmit with greater strength from the router side.. It won't cause your clients to transmit with any greater strength, so you're likely to see very negligible benefits at the expense of transmitting more noise which may cause detriment to your neighbours (who may in turn respond by deploying more powerful routers themselves, causing problems for you). You may find that clients can receive a strong signal, but the transmission back from your clients to the router is still weak so performance will still be poor.

You'll be much better off with multiple access points in different areas to provide better coverage with wired connections between them, even if you replace the main router the old one will likely be configurable in AP mode to function as a second access point in a bedroom etc.

A cheap/old access point that's in the same room will usually perform better than an expensive access point with obstacles (eg walls) in between.

Someone posted a fairly good (albeit long) explanation recently:
https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html

 

[xiaofan]

Hi all
Need some expert recommendation on router upgrade. Currently on M1 1gb plan and using a cheapo free model given years ago. I wanted to buy a proper router now as my coverage is not good enough sometimes for streaming stuff like Netflix. Hit around 30mbps on average in my rooms. My apartment is standard 4room HDB.
Looking for a decent model that can satisfy these
- within $200
- provide good coverage for my house size
- able to set up vpn within router
- can support up to 10 devices max
I saw there were some discussions on models like Xiaomi Ax3600 and Ax6000. Price seem good for the specs. Not sure if that is suitable for me. I don't mind getting from China if it does not impact me greatly on their basic functionalities.
Thank you.

Xiaomi AX3600 and AX6000 are good in terms of wireless coverage but not in terms of features. For example, the VPN settings are very basic with only PPTP and L2TP, no openvpn support. Most likely this does not meet your VPN requirement.

Asus RT-AX58U AX3000 may be a better bets. Local set is at S$199 now with promotion (usual price is S$229) with three year warranty. The Asus will have OpenVPN client/server support, along with PPTP and L2TP.

As for wireless coverage, you can refer to the other answers. Either the two Xiaomi or the Asus will be better for you compared to the low end Prolink AC1200. But whether it is good enough will depend on the placement and the floor plan and your requirement.

This router infographic is also good to read.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...ic-4/[infographic]-buying-router-6479650.html

 

[simple_n_eazi]

Xiaomi AX3600 and AX6000 are good in terms of wireless coverage but not in terms of features. For example, the VPN settings are very basic with only PPTP and L2TP, no openvpn support. Most likely this does not meet your VPN requirement.

Asus RT-AX58U AX3000 may be a better bets. Local set is at S$199 now with promotion (usual price is S$229) with three year warranty. The Asus will have OpenVPN client/server support, along with PPTP and L2TP.

As for wireless coverage, you can refer to the other answers. Either the two Xiaomi or the Asus will be better for you compared to the low end Prolink AC1200. But whether it is good enough will depend on the placement and the floor plan and your requirement.

This router infographic is also good to read.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...ic-4/[infographic]-buying-router-6479650.html

Thanks for the recommendation. I saw that taobao sells asus RT-82U and the price plus shipping probably close to local set RT-58U. Will it be advisable to get that instead for better specs? I'm ok with reading chinese. Just not sure if there may be other cons other than warranty.

 

[xiaofan]

Thanks for the recommendation. I saw that taobao sells asus RT-82U and the price plus shipping probably close to local set RT-58U. Will it be advisable to get that instead for better specs? I'm ok with reading chinese. Just not sure if there may be other cons other than warranty.

Other than the warranty, not other cons in reality. The FW is the same as the local set and you can switch to English. I am using the China set of the RT-AX82U myself and very happy about the wireless performance.

 

[jasonwsc]

No idea why you are not getting good coverage tbh. If you place it at the centre of the house near the ceiling then streaming Netflix should not be a problem at all.

I have the free Linksys EA8100 from Starhub and it was good enough for my 5 room HDB, can get like 100Mbps on 5GHz even at the furthest point. Ppl selling for less than $50 on Carousell.

Any decent 4x4 MU-MIMO AC router is good enough and much better than your current Prolink.

 

[cscs3]

No idea why you are not getting good coverage tbh. If you place it at the centre of the house near the ceiling then streaming Netflix should not be a problem at all.

I have the free Linksys EA8100 from Starhub and it was good enough for my 5 room HDB, can get like 100Mbps on 5GHz even at the furthest point. Ppl selling for less than $50 on Carousell.

Any decent 4x4 MU-MIMO AC router is good enough and much better than your current Prolink.

Support that, I believe all router has around the same transmit/receive power due to regulatory requirement. The rest is mostly depend on firmware implementation eg, dropping speed to improve coverage over long distance etc.

Most important the router placement. Around the center of the house, no blocking around router (eg, wall, metal part eg, fridge), not too high (eg ceiling).

 

[giraffey]

No idea why you are not getting good coverage tbh. If you place it at the centre of the house near the ceiling then streaming Netflix should not be a problem at all.

I have the free Linksys EA8100 from Starhub and it was good enough for my 5 room HDB, can get like 100Mbps on 5GHz even at the furthest point. Ppl selling for less than $50 on Carousell.

Any decent 4x4 MU-MIMO AC router is good enough and much better than your current Prolink.

hmm.. this will really depend on a number of factors and how center it is really placed. Different 5 rooms HDB units have different layouts, some are more optimal for wireless, some are not. For one, the location of the storeroom largely affects the placement. If it is in the center of the house, it is almost impossible to find a spot that covers the entire house. And when doors (type of door could also affect) are closed, it makes it worse.

 

[firesong]

There's a real need for expectations and wireless network understandings to mature so that people can at least know what they're doing with their wireless networks at home. There is no one single AP that can adequately cover a full HDB flat with all doors closed and still give true 5Ghz at minimum 400Mbps kind of bandwidth over the entire flat.

It's also not just about sending and receiving power. The firmware of the wireless access points, and how they handle the traffic and shape their tx/rx matters a lot more than just sending/receiving and the power behind it. Most of us would've realised the fallacy behind high powered routers and how they do not really solve wireless networking issues at home but instead create more problems than it legitimately solves.

There's a good reason why some access points brands are genuinely better than others, while many sold locally are just overhyped and marked up by vendors to sound better than they are.

When they have to resort to adding up their bandwidth numbers to artificially inflate their own figures, it's a good indicator there's more marketing behind it than a genuine desire to provide reliable service. Hint: Most cheap routers have pretty basic algorithms that are just reiterated and spammed repeatedly to get the data out. It's not efficient and will cause battery life drain for devices like laptops and other mobile devices. For devices perpetually plugged in, it does not really matter and the effects of inefficiency probably won't be felt - but these should ideally be wired anyway since they're at fixed locations.

It's about the correct placement of the right number of APs for the kind of coverage you expect at home.

Of course, if users don't really care about throughput as long as they have coverage, putting one AP right in the middle of the home might suffice to give you 11-54Mbps kind of speeds behind doors at the extreme ends of the home. This is because the 2.4Ghz frequency has higher penetrating power - secondary school physics gives us v=fλ. But why would one live in the past where 802.11g was the standard then?

 

[xiaofan]

Nice one. In the end, the factors to consider
1) correct number of AP

It is not easy for a wireless AP seldom can cover a 4/5 room flat with good 5GHz coverage everywhere, especially for old flats with thick walls. This may even be true even for prosumer ceiling APs like Unifi APs which have an advantage of being able to be put in a more centralized high location. But indeed it is possible for some "luckier" users.

2) coverage/speed expectations

This varies a lot. On one hand, mobile phone or tablet clients will usually be good with stable 50Mbps. On the other hand, you may really like to have 200Mbps or more when downloading stuff to your laptop.

3) cost willing to pay for the setup, including the potential cost to wire up the flat.

Again this varies a lot between different people. My suggestion is to pay toward the higher side of the budget within means. If you can afford an S$1000+ mobile Phone to be used for three years, then you should really allow to budget S$200+ for a good router which often last more than 4 years. And expectation should match the budget.

 

[simple_n_eazi]

Wa. There is really a lot of information to digest and learn. Appreciate all the expert information shared.
I think I will get a decent mid range Asus router to replace my very old prolink3801.
I will also consider adding AP around my house to improve connectivity coverage. My rooms all have lan port currently.
Any good AP to recommend? Preferably smaller profile as I don't want too many devices to scatter all around my house and look messy. Don't mind from china too as I should be getting the router from taobao.

 

[simple_n_eazi]

I think i may not a main factor for my weak router speed. Could be due to my router inside the db box compartment. However, m1 installed my Ont inside. Other than there I not sure where I can hook up the modem.
I tried to open the cabinet and the speed seems to improve more but I don't think keeping it open is a long term solution.
Any suggestion? Thanks.

 

[hongge]

The dbbox should have a LAN point connected to living room TV area if your HDB is not too old.

Connect the ont to the lan point inside dbbox, then from living room TV area LAN point connect to router

 

[simple_n_eazi]

The dbbox should have a LAN point connected to living room TV area if your HDB is not too old.

Connect the ont to the lan point inside dbbox, then from living room TV area LAN point connect to router

My dbbox got many lan ports connectors. So each one supposedly will link to each lan port at different rooms. In this case, means i will only choose one lan port to connect(eg. Living room ) and put my router in living room? Like that means all other lan ports won't be usable? (currently they are linked to my router in dbbox)

 

[hongge]

In that case, u need another AP in 1 of the room if u wish to use all the LAN points in the rooms connected to the main router in the DBbox.

 

[bert64]

Wa. There is really a lot of information to digest and learn. Appreciate all the expert information shared.
I think I will get a decent mid range Asus router to replace my very old prolink3801.
I will also consider adding AP around my house to improve connectivity coverage. My rooms all have lan port currently.
Any good AP to recommend? Preferably smaller profile as I don't want too many devices to scatter all around my house and look messy. Don't mind from china too as I should be getting the router from taobao.

If you have LAN ports in every room, the unifi access points are good if you're willing to pay for them (they're not the cheapest), as no matter how many physical access points you have you can manage them all centrally. You can get versions for wall or ceiling mounts depending on the location of your lan points. The best solution is to mount them on the ceiling, where they look fairly unobtrusive (like a light fitting or smoke alarm etc) and they're out of your typical line of sight unless you explicitly look up.

The ONT should be inside the db box, a wired router will do fine in there too, wireless access points should ideally be outside.

I suspect your LAN points connecting to each room are inside the db box, so you could leave your current router there connected to the LAN ports with wifi turned off, and connect access points to the other end of the points in whatever rooms you need.

 

[simple_n_eazi]

This is how it looks like now. I'm a noob in networking, could be doing something wrong.

So in this case, I just need to buy an AP and install somewhere centrally outside like living room? The unifi access points seem expensive if get many for each lan ports in each room. Any alternative single AP that provides good coverage?

 

[xonix]

There's no need to place AP for every room.
Just install in places where it's currently NOT covered by the router wifi signal.