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New router advice

tudou
Grafter
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎05-04-2011

New router advice

Apologies if I come across as ignorant about networking, but that's because I am .
I've been running with the old Thomson TG585 v7 that Plusnet sent me many years ago.
At present, I have an ADSL connection (fiber will eventually be rolled out but who knows when - I'd still like to future-proof a new router by getting one that can handle fiber).
Download speeds are estimated at @ 7 Mbps down and upload is about 2 Mbps.
I have a couple of devices that can use b/g/n/ac and dual band sounds like that way to go now too. I do like to use Steam In-Home Streaming.
Looking for something under/around £100 - any suggestions?
4 REPLIES 4
Steve
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 6,853
Thanks: 336
Registered: ‎13-07-2009

Re: New router advice

Not ignorant at all to be honest and you might get a lot of peoples different views on routers but I always think that Netgear's are a good start. I use one and it's been rock solid. Not sure if you will get a fibre enabled one for under £100.00 though.
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
PitchBlack
Grafter
Posts: 301
Registered: ‎10-01-2014

Re: New router advice

I got this one a few weeks back ready for if / when I get fibre
http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-15_Archer-D5.html
Argos have them on sale at the moment for £65, I don't think I have dropped connection yet that wasn't my fault, it has a good Wi-Fi reach. My only gripe is that my old Belkin gave me a downstream attenuation of 29, this gives me 34, so I have dropped from 10.6 Mbps to 9.8Mbps.
Anyway something for you to think about.
tudou
Grafter
Posts: 32
Registered: ‎05-04-2011

Re: New router advice

Thanks - I was having a look at the TP-Link routers as they seems to be some of the best bang for buck. Asus routers generally seem to be close to the top of the pile but are a bit pricier and there's a lot of reported issues on them too.
nanotm
Pro
Posts: 5,756
Thanks: 156
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎11-02-2013

Re: New router advice

you can pick up older generation routers like the billion 7800n (b/g/n wifi) and that has the ability to operate in the EWAN environment when used with the BTOR fibre modem (although you loose an Ethernet port to do it)
if AC is the thing for you then they do a combined adsl2+/vdsl2+ modem/router for about £70 and have decent reviews, the best bet though really is to check online for the reviews of any given product, find out what chipset is in your exchange and buy a new modem router that's got the same chipset (this will give you a more stable connection) and obviously get something you are able to get help with via the companies community forums, some companies have easy to use forums others not so much and reviewing tech support ratings from consumer sites is always a good idea.
which router is best will depend more on you and your requirements than anything else, everyone has different views, personally I like the billion consumer kit because it has no lockdowns and everything can be done through the UI or through telnet depending on your preference, other companies prefer a more simplistic UI and require you to understand netcode to make more advanced changes /
just because your paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you