Suggestion for Wifi Router also capable of Snap VOIP

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gmball

568 posts

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#116776 9-May-2013 18:24

We recently had Snap UFB installed.

We have been having ongoing issues with our Fritzbox 7390 which we purchased via Snap, we don't believe there is anything necessarily wrong with the unit, its just not up to the standard we have previously been accustomed to from a wireless perspective.

We have a Imac desktop connected to the Fritzbox via LAN cable, and can easily max out the connection at all times of the day, 30Mbps/10Mbps, often around 29Mbps/9Mbps which is fantastic.

Its another story via Wireless, although only a single level home, there are a few walls between the Fritzbox and bedrooms / living room.
Wireless either completely drops or becomes non existent.

We have plugged our old Linksys router in via LAN cable connected to the Fritzbox and can achieve substantially improved wireless performance, only issue is the Linksys is Wireless G and not Wireless N.

We would like to be able to take full advantage of the full throughput of our new connection via wireless throughout the house.

We're not expecting LAN cable connect speeds, but any improvement from the 6Mbps we currently achieve via wireless using iphones/ipads/mac books etc.

Im hoping there might be a all in one solution that can replace both our old Linksys and our Fritzbox while still enabling us to utilise our Snap VOIP line, we currently have the Fritzbox connected to the Fibre ONT which then means all our phone sockets around the house have dialtone and can use our standard phones.

We bascially need a wireless solution with better wifi through put and compatible with Snap Voip.

Any suggestions from others who are using other devices, cost isnt a huge issue as we will look to onsell the Fritzbox and Linksys (together worth around $400) which we can put towards a more suitable device.

Thanks for any advice.

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#814700 9-May-2013 18:30

A $40 WiFi access point to fix your wireless coverage is a far better option than a new router.

Simple answer is there isn't anything out there that you can buy off the shelf that comes close to matching the Fritz!box for peformance and features. I also don't believe Snap support 3rd party hardware so you'd be 100% on your own configuring any such device with no guarantee of 100% compatability with their softswitch.

The wireless performance of the 7390 is great especially being dual band, but the coverage isn't that fantastic. In testing I've found a lot devices with reduced coverage these days, which from a technical perspective is how they're actually being designed and believe it or not it's a plus, not a minus.

The 2.4Ghz band in your average urban environment is pretty much useless these days with so much noise in the band.

gmball

568 posts

Ultimate Geek

#814702 9-May-2013 18:33

sbiddle: A $40 WiFi access point to fix your wireless coverage is a far better option than a new router.

Simple answer is there isn't anything out there that you can buy off the shelf that comes close to matching the Fritz!box for peformance and features. I also don't believe Snap support 3rd party hardware so you'd be 100% on your own configuring any such device with no guarantee of 100% compatability with their softswitch.

Wow, I was expecting to have to spend hundreds.

Are you able to elaborate, what is this device and where can I purchase one?

Thanks for a fantastic suggestion!

webwat

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#821551 18-May-2013 11:57

Are you using the 5Ghz channels for N wireless? That is likely to have less penetration through the walls even though its faster, so perhaps test it on the 2.4Ghz channels. Its a tradeoff between coverage and speed/congestion...

Time to find a new industry!

gmball

568 posts

Ultimate Geek

#821557 18-May-2013 12:18

webwat: Are you using the 5Ghz channels for N wireless? That is likely to have less penetration through the walls even though its faster, so perhaps test it on the 2.4Ghz channels. Its a tradeoff between coverage and speed/congestion...

We had both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz running dual band, but still very poor wireless throughput. Doing a little research it appears that the Fritzbox routers are severely limited with wireless range and throughput, but I have little option to replace it completely as I understand that this is the only VOIP router supported by Snap.

I have just purchased a Asus RT-N66U, while not the cheapest wireless router on the market, the reviews were all very positive and offered a lot of features.

I installed it 2 days ago, its connected to the Fritzbox via a cat6 gigabit cable, I can now achieve a steady 28 Mbps down / 9 Mbps up from anywhere in the house with full wireless signal.

Even jumped in the car and drove two streets over and still achieving 20+ Mbps down.

So have solved the wireless issue with what appears to be a very solid and highly rated router. Fortunately have the connection secured with encryption otherwise I think I would find half of my neighbourhood would also have access to my wireless connection.

Very happy with the Asus product.

Thanks for everyone who gave suggestions.

Oblivian

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#822329 20-May-2013 11:38

I was about to start my own thread relating to the Fritz and wireless distribution/AP recommendations...

It would appear the latest OS updates kill WDS as AVM consider it 10yrs old and going nowhere. So they now implement their own WPA2 point to point meshing. requiring 2 Fritz devices.

So the consensus is switch off the wifi on the Fritz hiding in its faraday cage in the garage and simply put out some hardwire APs around the place?

If so I'll head out to the local from my new place (GoWifi) and drop a Ubiquiti AP here and there. Hoping 1 high power one in the roof space will give me better than the Fritz in the garage and my RTA1024W in the kitchen as an extension does with no switching at present.

http://www.gowifi.co.nz/access-points-802.11/indoor-wireless-access-points/ubiquiti-airrouter-high-power-400mw-802.11n.html
http://www.gowifi.co.nz/ubiquiti-networks/ubiquiti-networks-radios/ubiquiti-unifi-802.11n-access-point.html

eXDee

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#822344 20-May-2013 12:00

In contrast to some above comments, i've found the fritzbox wifi coverage sufficient, not amazing, but sufficient. My issue has been performance in relation to its power saving modes, which really hinder it.

I've disabled wifi on the fritzbox and use my Asus RT-N16 as an access point which is far more reliable. I have a linksys e2000 in 2.4ghz mode as a secondary AP. Both give consistently higher wireless performance than the fritzbox, which is only let down when it decides to go into power saving modes.

surfisup1000

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#822346 20-May-2013 12:06

sbiddle:The wireless performance of the 7390 is great especially being dual band, but the coverage isn't that fantastic.
The 2.4Ghz band in your average urban environment is pretty much useless these days with so much noise in the band.

I have a laptop with Intel 5300 wifi card (2 aerial i think).

WIfi performance On my 7390...

On 2.4ghz I get 10MB/s transfer speed (wifi-n).

On 5ghz , I get up to 2MB/s transfer speed (typically 1.5MB/s).

This is with the laptop right next to the 7390.

If I replace the 7390 with my linksys E4200, I get around 20MB/s on wireless-N using the same laptop and same positioning.

I've played around with the 7390 channels etc (using auto/manual selection) but it cannot run any faster.

So I'm very disappointed in fritzbox 7390 wifi performance.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

eXDee

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#822363 20-May-2013 12:28

I have an open ticket with AVM support that i'm still waiting on a response to. Depending on their response, i'd be interested if others could provide feedback to them as well. I have a thread in the Snap forum about this and will keep you updated.