Best router to replace the Technicolor for Fibre Optic?

[#1]

I wonder, are you using the same wireless channel number on the WD as the previous Technicolor ?
I'm testing a WD N750 in access point mode and I have not observed such degradation compared to your observations at that distance on 2.4GHz band using 20MHz bandwidth setting.  At 4m through a stud wall, fluctuating results up to 50mbps using speedtest.net (London/Fidonet server) is no problem on my laptop which has N300 wifi.   On 5GHz band with auto 20/40MHz setting, I get close to full ethernet wired speed, repeatable 62mbps at 7m as none of my neighbours have 5GHz wifi so there is no interference.

fwiw, it is possible to replace the mini-pcie wifi card fitted in a lot of laptops with a dual band card.  Some are easier to upgrade than others though and it's not for the feint hearted....   I've upgraded both my 3-5 years old laptops to intel dual band cards by opening a hatch door on the underside of the laptop to reveal the card.  The only laptops which may prove more difficult or may be impossible to upgrade are IBM/Lenovo/HP/Compaq as these marques use white lists in the BIOS from what I've read.

[#2]

The router was left on automatic channel select and has chosen channel 11. From memory, the Technicolor may have been on channel 1.
And unfortunately my laptop is a Lenovo Thinkpad. I've no issue with changing the internal cards (done that in the past on other devices) but the issue of the BIOS white listing means I'm going to give the USB dual band adaptor a test on Sunday.
In the meantime I'll try moving the channel to 1 and test later on tonight.

[#3]

Quote from: georgelnx

The fixed wire connection has improved slight from 73.25Mb to 73.52Mb.

Just to say, I wouldn't attach any significance to that (other than there's no obvious deterioration), you can get that variability from one test to another as it will depend on Network, Tester and other congestion at the instant.

[#4]

Tested when WD 750 using channel 1 shows no difference. Still in the 27Mb range.
But the speed when the laptop is moved away from the router does not suffer and comes in at 27Mb unlike the Technicolor which lost speed dramatically the further you moved away from it.
Will persevere with the WD, and try to find out the answer.

[#5]

Try changing it's orientation/position slightly.

[#6]

I wonder if your new WD router is faulty?   Perhaps one of the two 2.4GHz antennas is defective so you are perhaps only getting half the throughput if your laptop has N300 wifi.

[#7]

I purchased 1 of these routers as well.  With the plusnet supplied router I was getting 27mbps on wireless.
With this router its the same on 2.4ghz but vast improvement if you use 5ghz - currently around 46mbps.  I was getting about 47mbps wired with with the plusnet router.

[#8]

I have exchanged the WD N750 for a new one.
And the results:
2.4Ghz range still getting 27/28Mb.
While I was awaiting the exchange I swapped back to the Technicolor and the speed went back to 46Mb.
Bought a dual band USB Asus N53 adaptor and on the 5Ghz range, I'm now getting 73Mb so the same as the wired connections.
So the questions is, do I keep this router and usb adaptor, or send it all back?
There are lots of wireless devices around the house that cannot do 5Ghz so this will limit them unless I buy more usb adaptors. 

[#9]

What is the make and model of internal wireless adapter in your laptop?
Just  thought, but have you enabled 40Mhz mode on the TG582N, which I think can only be done via telnet?

[#10]

The Technicolor does not have the 40Mhz mode enabled.
I have tried the N750 with both 20MHz only and 20/40MHz Auto mode but to no avail (in fact the auto mode seems to reduce the speed to 23Mps).
My laptop internal wireless adaptor is an Atheros AR9285.
The slow wireless speed also affects a laptop with an Intel Wireless-N 1030 adaptor.
And I also have varied the orientation of the N750 from horizontal to vertical and again to no avail.
And finally, both devices have been ran with the original wireless device drivers which I then upgraded to the latest version to see if that made any difference. And the answer was no. That was done when I was using the first N750.

[#11]

If you are using Windows, what speed (link rate) does it report for the wifi ?

Just a thought, what 'Network mode' have you set on the N750 for the 2.4GHz band?
I am using 'Mixed 802.11 g+n' here and this is fine with my Intel 4965 (draft 300), and 6200 (N300) cards in Windows 7 and 8.
Perhaps try 'n' only. ( I'm wondering if your laptops are defaulting to G wireless speeds)

Edited:
This is a puzzler. The AR9285 is a 150mbps single antenna wifi solution.
http://www.qca.qualcomm.com/technology/technology.php?nav1=47&product=79
For 2.4GHz/20MHz, unless I'm mistaken, it would be limited to about 30-32mbps each way in 20MHz mode.....
I have a TPLink TL-WN781ND PCI card in my desktop PC with the same AR9285 chipset.  I noticed the other day speedtest.net won't exceed 30mbps through the WD N750.   But I have seen sporadic speedtest.net results of 40+mbps when it is connected to my previous Dlink N300 router (2.4GHz/20MHz) which has an RaLink wifi chipset, which I use as an access point.....

[#12]

Speed on Windows 7 is 65Mbps. (Also 65Mbps reported on Linux).
Network mode has been varied from b+g+n to g+n to n only without any effect.
The speed testing has been through the BT Wholesale speed checker with the speedtest.net site as a second opinion.
The 46Mbps reported by the speed tests via the Technicolor router has been consistent since I went to FTTP in February and the link speed was also 65Mbps.

I think I am going to live with this router for a while and see if the drop in the reported wifi speeds have an effect on actual real world usage.

[#13]

I'm a bit puzzled why your Intel 1030 card does not see faster speeds as it is a N300 1x2 single band card so Windows ought to report speeds (link rate) of 130mbps or better at close range.
It does look like not all wifi cards are equal and the N750 is perhaps a bit fussy. This could be a firmware issue but your guess would be as good as mine.
For your setup, it does look like the TG582N may be better option for your array of 2.4GHz devices for the moment.  If you do require 5GHz wifi, then perhaps use the N750 in Access Point mode with 5GHz wifi enabled only.