The router guide - what to look for and what is best.

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › The router guide - what to look for and what is best.

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#1597882 24-Jul-2016 22:47

Some price comparison:

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jnimmo

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#1597939 25-Jul-2016 09:37

Thanks appreciate it, will refer to this list when moving to house with fibre. I think I will choose an all in one device, as makes things easier for using with my 12V UPS, I'd probably need two otherwise.

Advanced Tomato looks quite nice, do you think that is the best custom firmware? Would love to go the Edgerouter route but as above, trying to keep it simple.

meesham

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#1598050 25-Jul-2016 10:56

jnimmo:

Advanced Tomato looks quite nice, do you think that is the best custom firmware?

It's based on Shibby's branch of TomatoUSB (http://tomato.groov.pl/), personally I prefer to stick with his version and have been running it for the past few years on an Asus RT-N66U without issue.

darylblake

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#1625266 7-Sep-2016 20:20

Wow this is an excellent little product.

https://www.gowifi.co.nz/routers/er-x.html

Its dual core 880Mhz MIPS, more powerful than the Edgerouter Lite and 1/2 the price.

Its got POE in, and a POE Passthrough. So if you want to combo it up with a unifi ac lite then yeh that setup would mean you get an amazing little router and can still pop your access point where you want for $99 + $175 + GST. All up $316.10 inc + shipping.

michaelmurfy

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#1625278 7-Sep-2016 20:42

@darylblake Only downside is no packet acceleration (which the ERL has) so it may struggle with higher speed connections. Also only has 256mb ram and storage unlike the ERL which has expandable memory (by means of a USB stick internally). I agree though it is quite a cool little router for its price and would be interested to see what can be pumped through it on a gigabit connection so please, connect it up to your Gigabit work connection and let me know :)

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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darylblake

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#1625381 8-Sep-2016 08:22

michaelmurfy:

@darylblake Only downside is no packet acceleration (which the ERL has) so it may struggle with higher speed connections. Also only has 256mb ram and storage unlike the ERL which has expandable memory (by means of a USB stick internally). I agree though it is quite a cool little router for its price and would be interested to see what can be pumped through it on a gigabit connection so please, connect it up to your Gigabit work connection and let me know :)

The X Nearly hits the wire speed, a guy here rekons it gets about 850Mbit. Depends on circumstances. Apparently the ERL can perform above 1gbps due to the extra memory and hardware acceleration. Either way for $99 its a great buy. It should be easier to configure than a mikrotik.

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MikeAqua

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#1625432 8-Sep-2016 09:27

Is OP saying the HG659 is well-performing device?

That hasn't been my experience. I've found it needs frequented reboots and the 5GHz connection is usually unreliable (even from the room he router is in).

The older Netgear unit we had before UFB just worked. I wish I hadn't given it away.

Mike

michaelmurfy

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#1625515 8-Sep-2016 11:17

MikeAqua:

Is OP saying the HG659 is well-performing device?

That hasn't been my experience. I've found it needs frequented reboots and the 5GHz connection is usually unreliable (even from the room he router is in).

The older Netgear unit we had before UFB just worked. I wish I hadn't given it away.

It is and also a good device for price. There are plenty of people on these forums that have had good experiences. There was a fault with 5GHz WiFi that was fixed with a firmware update that you may have been experiencing.

darylblake:

The X Nearly hits the wire speed, a guy here rekons it gets about 850Mbit. Depends on circumstances. Apparently the ERL can perform above 1gbps due to the extra memory and hardware acceleration. Either way for $99 its a great buy. It should be easier to configure than a mikrotik.

I should grab one and give it a go as they do sound pretty good now! I'll add it to the OP.

Jase2985

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#1625890 8-Sep-2016 17:06

MikeAqua:

Is OP saying the HG659 is well-performing device?

That hasn't been my experience. I've found it needs frequented reboots and the 5GHz connection is usually unreliable (even from the room he router is in).

The older Netgear unit we had before UFB just worked. I wish I hadn't given it away.

it is with the right firmware

Pcamp66

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#1626257 9-Sep-2016 08:43

Any recommendations for a reliable good UFB router for new 1G UFB products being launched on 1 October. I am on Bigpipe. Mainly concerned about range and secondly speed. All feedback welcome - be interested on feedback from Dunedin Gigatown users?

Cheers

Phil

MikeAqua

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#1626324 9-Sep-2016 09:15

Jase2985:

MikeAqua:

Is OP saying the HG659 is well-performing device?

That hasn't been my experience. I've found it needs frequented reboots and the 5GHz connection is usually unreliable (even from the room he router is in).

The older Netgear unit we had before UFB just worked. I wish I hadn't given it away.

it is with the right firmware

I have the latest firmware available from Spark. But maybe you are referring to changing something open source?

Mike

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gordonz

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#1631766 16-Sep-2016 13:52

Would anyone like to recommend an 8 port router for VOIP phones?

I have 5 VOIP phones (Yealink) that are working most of the time using a couple of Linksys WRT54 GL I had sitting around. These are fed from my Spark ADSL router.

I would like to upgrade to a 8 port router that would hopefully provide more consistent connection. Easy set up would be appreciated and thinking a budget around $300 would be great.

Any pointers/ recommendations greatly appreciated.

Research Scientist, BBC, Kingswood Warren, UK in a previous life (1970's).
Now Owner/Operator of a Luxury Resort www.adrift.co.nz

jnimmo

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#1631843 16-Sep-2016 16:34

gordonz:

Would anyone like to recommend an 8 port router for VOIP phones?

I have 5 VOIP phones (Yealink) that are working most of the time using a couple of Linksys WRT54 GL I had sitting around. These are fed from my Spark ADSL router.

I would like to upgrade to a 8 port router that would hopefully provide more consistent connection. Easy set up would be appreciated and thinking a budget around $300 would be great.

Any pointers/ recommendations greatly appreciated.

Do you mean an 8 port switch - i.e to connect the VoIP phones to the internet via your ADSL router? You would be hard pressed to find an 8 port router, the recommended ones above are typically around 4 ports, so probably better using a switch and router to give you more ports

As for a switch, you might like something like this https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-8-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-GS308P-100NAS/dp/B016XIU1HE/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1474000314&sr=1-12&keywords=poe+switch

which could power your VoIP phones for you over ethernet so you no longer need to have the power adapters.

gordonz

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#1631855 16-Sep-2016 17:20

Sorry, yes a switch is probably what I need and the ability to power the phones via the cable would be a definite plus. Thanks

Research Scientist, BBC, Kingswood Warren, UK in a previous life (1970's).
Now Owner/Operator of a Luxury Resort www.adrift.co.nz

sdavisnz

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#1631856 16-Sep-2016 17:21

@michealmurfy, are you saying that some routers with gigabit WAN are unsuitable to process gigabit fibre connection,

I assume you would have to connect to ethernet with a gigabit card or connect via 5ghz AC to achieve Gigabit, but what makes some devices suitable and some not? CPU processing power? Routing process?

Voice gives context

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