Router Advice – Should I still get a GWN7000?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Router Advice – Should I still get a GWN7000?

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#254415 11-Aug-2019 12:51

Two years ago I asked Geekzone for help with our home modem and router (thread here) and ended up keeping our Spark provided Huawei HG659b and pairing it with a Grandstream GWN7610.

This worked well, with the Grandstream only skipping a beat a couple of times more recently – hopefully nothing to worry about. The range is still crap but I suspect that's down to our terrible house layout and poor positioning of the access point so I might get a longer Ethernet cable and position it further along the wall.

The problem is the HG659b which seems to last only 4-5 months before starting to give us really poor performance. On days where most of us are home and using it, we can experience more time down than up. Spark has been good about sending us new ones, but again they only last a few months before becoming incredibly frustrating again. I would rather buy something that is more capable.

In 2017 the advice if we wanted to really upgrade was to invest in a Grandstream GWN7000 router to pair with the 7610. I checked the Router Guide thread and it still seemed to be the way to go as of April this year, but I wondered whether after two years there might be some updated advice or newer models to go for instead?

So basically my goal is more up-time and a longer life product. Range extension advice would be great if there have been any advancements in the last two years. Of course, any help would be greatly appreciated.

sbiddle

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#2294130 11-Aug-2019 13:07

How many devices do you have connected? The HG659b is still a great router, but it sounds like you're hitting the device limit.

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#2294132 11-Aug-2019 13:13

Oh we probably are – I expect that and that's why I want to ensure I buy something more capable. :)

We're four fairly heavy users in terms of streaming, gaming and god knows what our flatmate gets up to in his room!

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#2294133 11-Aug-2019 13:16

Probably should change the title. The GWN7000 is not a modem, nor do you require a modem given you have UFB.

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#2294140 11-Aug-2019 13:39

Scott3:

Probably should change the title. The GWN7000 is not a modem, nor do you require a modem given you have UFB.

Thanks, wasn't thinking when I wrote that. Amended.

MCD

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#2294605 12-Aug-2019 10:28

I have the GWN7000, along with two of the AP's. The hardware itself seems to be good, solid and reliable.

However I can't recommend it, because the product support has proven to be terrible.

A firmware update in March broke PPPoE performance on gigabit connections, which was reported by myself and a number of other users in the thread here:

https://forums.grandstream.com/t/firmware-1-0-6-32-for-gwn7000-released-as-official/35025/23

Basically, upload and download are capped to around 300mbits.

There has been another firmware released as beta, but this does not address the above issue at all, after many months:

https://forums.grandstream.com/t/firmware-1-0-9-4-for-gwn7000-released-as-beta/37297/4

I currently have the choice of sticking with my current firmware, which has a known security vulnerability, or upgrading to one that will negate the point of having a gigabit capable router. For that reason, I can't recommend - unless gigabit internet performance isn't important to you.

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#2294621 12-Aug-2019 11:00

MCD:

I have the GWN7000, along with two of the AP's. The hardware itself seems to be good, solid and reliable.

However I can't recommend it, because the product support has proven to be terrible.

A firmware update in March broke PPPoE performance on gigabit connections, which was reported by myself and a number of other users in the thread here:

https://forums.grandstream.com/t/firmware-1-0-6-32-for-gwn7000-released-as-official/35025/23

Basically, upload and download are capped to around 300mbits.

There has been another firmware released as beta, but this does not address the above issue at all, after many months:

https://forums.grandstream.com/t/firmware-1-0-9-4-for-gwn7000-released-as-beta/37297/4

I currently have the choice of sticking with my current firmware, which has a known security vulnerability, or upgrading to one that will negate the point of having a gigabit capable router. For that reason, I can't recommend - unless gigabit internet performance isn't important to you.

Thank you very much for the response. That doesn't really sound ideal so unless they update it soon, I won't be buying the GWN7000 based on that alone. Are you able to tell me if the same firmware issue affects the APs? I have noticed we never get the same performance we used to, and it's certainly always below 300mbit these days.

I noticed yesterday that our GWN7610 seemed to be 'crashing' a lot. In this time it would show solid green lights and I was unable to login to it and see what was going on. WiFi was down, but we suspect this may have been because our router was having issues. Is it possible that the router being down would mean we can't login to the AP? In my mind that doesn't make sense and suggests there is a problem with the AP... right?

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#2294639 12-Aug-2019 11:19

I haven't noticed any issues with the AP's. That being said, I have to keep them on an earlier firmware to stay compatible with the router, so I would likely not be on the same version as you.

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#2294724 12-Aug-2019 12:16

MCD:

I haven't noticed any issues with the AP's. That being said, I have to keep them on an earlier firmware to stay compatible with the router, so I would likely not be on the same version as you.

Thanks. I'm not 100% sure but I think it was an issue we were having before I upgraded the firmware yesterday. I thought it was updating automatically but it wasn't (wrong link) and was still on the firmware it came with. So I think this is likely a hardware problem, not a firmware issue.

So now my question is: what's a good router to get that's similar to the GWN7000 but doesn't have support and reliability issues? Also – for now at least – it needs to work fine with our GWN7610 AP. All help appreciated.

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#2299450 14-Aug-2019 20:46

Does anyone have any recommendations for a router similar to the GWN7000?

toejam316

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#2299473 14-Aug-2019 21:07

If you're not afraid of getting into the nitty gritty, a Mikrotik RB750Gr3 could do the trick, or an Ubiquiti EdgeRouter 3 Lite would also do well.

If you want something a bit simpler, the Unifi USG might work, though it does want to be part of a Unifi Controller, which I believe michaelmurphy hosts.
The only thing to consider is that given your use case, these routers MIGHT be a bit more than you want to bite off.

Are you going to be using this for Gigabit? You might find yourself better off selling the 7610 and grabbing a Unifi UAP and a USG to keep things consistent, or a Ubiquiti AmpliFi Mesh setup.

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#2300924 17-Aug-2019 15:59

toejam316:

If you're not afraid of getting into the nitty gritty, a Mikrotik RB750Gr3 could do the trick, or an Ubiquiti EdgeRouter 3 Lite would also do well.

If you want something a bit simpler, the Unifi USG might work, though it does want to be part of a Unifi Controller, which I believe michaelmurphy hosts.
The only thing to consider is that given your use case, these routers MIGHT be a bit more than you want to bite off.

Are you going to be using this for Gigabit? You might find yourself better off selling the 7610 and grabbing a Unifi UAP and a USG to keep things consistent, or a Ubiquiti AmpliFi Mesh setup.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I think perhaps some of your suggestions are beyond my understanding, or beyond our requirements.

I liked the idea of the GWN7000 + 7610 AP because of its simplicity and overall value for money, but it seems Grandstream's (lack of) product support has ruined that. That and the Grandstream AP seems to be stuttering at just under two years old and has never really had very impressive range. I am happy to start over with a new set up.

The Ubiquiti AmpliFi sounds great but I am always suspicious of a product that comes in a 'gamer edition'. It's pricey too at $600 for the kit so I am a little skeptical. It feels like overpriced consumer kit to me, despite having good reviews.

The Ubiquiti option of a UAP and USG is going to run us over $400 which I'm not opposed to if it's sure to work. Will this option essentially work the same as the Grandstream combo we originally had lined up?

Regardless of price, which do you think is the better option?

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#2300993 17-Aug-2019 19:17

OVER: I liked the idea of the GWN7000 + 7610 AP because of its simplicity and overall value for money, but it seems Grandstream's (lack of) product support has ruined that. That and the Grandstream AP seems to be stuttering at just under two years old and has never really had very impressive range.

Interesting that you say that. I've found the range of the GWN7610 to be really good - one AP cover my entire 1/4 acre section quite easily and provides great signal throughout the house. But agree the obvious lack of interest in fixing up the speed issues they've created on the GWN7000 does make this a product to be avoided going forward (for those on over 300Gbps connections).