Router suggestions

Coiled03

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I finally told Comcast/Xfinity to **** off yesterday, and cut the cord. At the same time, I signed up for fiberoptic internet. As part of all this, I can no longer use the cable modem/router combination I was using because it uses co-ax cable, whereas the fiberoptic modem doesn't.

So, I'm going to have to buy a router, it looks like, and I need some suggestions. I'm looking for:

1) Coverage for a 4-bedroom, two story house with a basement; about 2500 ft^2 total, the vast majority in the upper two levels.
2) I'd like around 1500 Mbps though more would be better.
3) A USB port for a poor man's NAS. I'd prefer USB 3.0, but would settle for 2.0.
4) Parental controls built in. I like Circle for this, but I think there are other options.

Since I cut the cord, primary uses will be web browsing, and streaming TV/movies, if it matters.

The other option, I guess, is to just use the pods/extenders my ISP offers, and find another way to set up the NAS. I'm just not familiar with a way to do that without a router that's not much more expensive and complex.

Thanks!
 

hunterp

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I'm liking Asus routers at the moment. You can also buy more than one and create a mesh system to cover larger areas. I can't speak to parental control features.
 

Ohio Snake

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Router: Netgear Nighthawk Router Series. Add the matching mesh router for whole house coverage.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

L8APEX

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I and several other people have had great results with Netgear Nighthawks and Orbi routers.
 

Machdup1

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My home network has been running on a Ubiquiti USG, WAPs, and an HP Enterprise PoE switch for a while.
This.

Here is a great home setup:

Unify USG
Unify POE switch
(2) Unify PRO-AC AP’s
unifi cloud key
Small UPS

Be careful with your edge gateway/router selection as many are not designed to push full 1Gbps.

It sucks to pay for a high speed connection and your edge device bottlenecks your performance.
 

delvin.a

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This.

Here is a great home setup:

Unify USG
Unify POE switch
(2) Unify PRO-AC AP’s
unifi cloud key
Small UPS

Be careful with your edge gateway/router selection as many are not designed to push full 1Gbps.

It sucks to pay for a high speed connection and your edge device bottlenecks your performance.

I stumbled on the thread and now I’m an hour deep into learning what all that stuff is, I predict soon I’ll be many dollars deep into a new home setup. Thanks... I think? lol
 

CobraBob

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I went with the Eero Mesh routers and have been extremely happy, way faster than my old Comcast setup.
I HIGHLY recommend Eero, as well. I've had mine for about 2 years now and love the mesh setup. Solid product. Great support. I have a ton of stuff attached to it. Two TV streaming Netflix and Amazon Prime, iPad, two iPhones, PC, MacBook Pro 16, Nest security (5 devices), Oppo 4K disk player, Denon home theater receiver, Apple watch, and probably more. Solid strong signal all the time. I like that they push updates automatically. Pretty much install and forget they're there.

My last router was a Netgear top of the line unit. I didn't handle our WiFi load nearly as well as the Eero mesh system.
 

specracer

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FYI, WiFi 6 is JUST around the corner (actually its out, but not a ton of hardware with it yet, Eero and Ruckus come to mind)
 

Blown 89

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I stumbled on the thread and now I’m an hour deep into learning what all that stuff is, I predict soon I’ll be many dollars deep into a new home setup. Thanks... I think? lol
You will be glad you did. I measure my uptime in years now. Every problem I've ever had with wireless literally disappeared overnight.
 

IronSnake

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I've had solid success with the Nest Mesh setup from google. Our house despite being newer wasn't networked very well so i'm back fitting it.

The main wired router/node is upstairs, and then I have another wired node downstairs that is connected via Cat 5e. It acts as a "slave" node to the master node upstairs. Then I have an additional wireless node that pickups the downstairs router and extends the signal into the garage/backyard/porch. Basically a repeater.

It fixed most of my dropped wifi issues and I like how flexible it is. Whenever we move I can just set it up in the new house and have a strong network.
 

quad

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Ditch the consumer crap (Netgear, ASUS, Belkin, etc) and go with an enterprise setup. Consumer wifi routing is ****ing garbage.

Review: Ubiquiti UniFi made me realize how terrible consumer Wi-Fi gear is
Yep I have heard good things about Ubiquiti. I have a mix of Cisco and Asus routers in the house. I use the secondary routers as wireless access points. They have a hardwired connection back to the main router. The main router is wired into the ATT fiber modem / router. I have my wife's work computer plugged into a second router that ATT provided which is in turn plugged into the ATT fiber modem / router. I don't want her IT support staff to see my computers. That's why it is on a different network, but sharing the same internet access.
 

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