Modem Upgrade suggestions

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Camojoe

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Hi,

I am in the market for a modem upgrade. I currently have a Netgear DGN2200 that I want to replace.

What would people suggest as a good replacement/upgrade from this?

I am looking for something with very good strong WiFi - I have a XBOX on the other side of my house and signal strength to there is an issue. Otherwise I use several laptops, iphones, ipad etc. roaming throughout.

I do not game much online, but definitely want something that can handle movie (HD if possible) and music to my XBOX and ipad.

Reasons I want to replace :
- WiFi strength resulting in fairly poor video streaming - very good at times when I test, but when I settle down to watch something there is a 50/50 chance of all kinds of signal strength issue (extended buffering making movies unwatchable)
- DGN2200 drops wireless at times
- I get moderate connection with my XBOX to XBOX Live - Issues with NAT and I cant for some reasons change my UPnP settings anymore
- I struggle at times to get WPS to work

Camojoe
 
I'd suggest that you rather keep your modem and then just extend your wireless.

Rather use WPA2 encryption (with a long/strong password) than the one click WPS stuff.

Have a look at something like the following:
  1. Tenda N60 (600Mbps Dual Band Wireless N Router) @ R565.00 Excl VAT.
    Just take note that I cannot recommend this one if you don't know how to properly configure wireless networks, because the documentation with this is unit is apparently shocking, but the online user manual looked just fine to me :). So this unit got from excellent reviews to terrible ones just due to the configuration.
  2. Asus RT-N53, Dual-Band Wireless-N600 Router, 2.4GHz / 5GHz (802.11b/g/N) @ R1,077.00 Incl VAT.
    This one has no gigabit LAN or USB ports.
  3. Asus EA N66 N900 Gigabit Ethernet Dual-Band Wireless Access point / Range extender @ R1,366.00 Incl. VAT
    This one looks awesome, but it has no USB ports and it also costs quite a lot.
  4. TP-Link 750 (Dual band gigabit router with 2x USB 2) @ R949.00 Excl. VAT
    This one doesn't have the fastest speeds, but it should suffice for any kind of compressed 1080p streaming.

How are you streaming your videos?
Do you stream them from your PC (connected via LAN cable) or via your modem?
Is your home just a single floor?

You can look at Scoop Distributions, Uniterm Direct, Mira, Rebeltech, Wootware, Prophecy Shop for wireless AP's.
 
Last edited:
Thanks.

Using WPS on client devices as this is the only way they can connect (Printer and a universal netgear wireless adapter for my XBOX). Not entirely by choice - I would have preferred a more manual approach. Although pressing a WPS switch is pretty manual :D

I have been toying with the idea of just getting a higher/stronger speed wifi router (no modem) and hooking that to the DGN2200 and just switching the wireless of on the modem.

I stream from my PC (connected by cable to the router). Home is single floor but there is a mysterious deadspot between my study and the TV lounge - wireless signal is always weak there. Not even 10m between the two rooms and a lotof open space.
 
Pada said:
I'd suggest that you rather keep your modem and then just extend your wireless.

Rather use WPA2 encryption (with a long/strong password) than the one click WPS stuff.

Have a look at something like the following:
  1. Tenda N60 (600Mbps Dual Band Wireless N Router) @ R565.00 Excl VAT.
    Just take note that I cannot recommend this one if you don't know how to properly configure wireless networks, because the documentation with this is unit is apparently shocking, but the online user manual looked just fine to me :). So this unit got from excellent reviews to terrible ones just due to the configuration.
  2. Asus RT-N53, Dual-Band Wireless-N600 Router, 2.4GHz / 5GHz (802.11b/g/N) @ R1,077.00 Incl VAT.
    This one has no gigabit LAN or USB ports.
  3. Asus EA N66 N900 Gigabit Ethernet Dual-Band Wireless Access point / Range extender @ R1,366.00 Incl. VAT
    This one looks awesome, but it has no USB ports and it also costs quite a lot.
  4. TP-Link 750 (Dual band gigabit router with 2x USB 2) @ R949.00 Excl. VAT
    This one doesn't have the fastest speeds, but it should suffice for any kind of compressed 1080p streaming.

How are you streaming your videos?
Do you stream them from your PC (connected via LAN cable) or via your modem?
Is your home just a single floor?

You can look at Scoop Distributions, Uniterm Direct, Mira, Rebeltech, Wootware, Prophecy Shop for wireless AP's.
Click to expand...

Hi Mate

Did u find the Wifi on the 2200 particularly poor?

I do!
 
Hi,

Yes, I am not very happy with the WiFi. I have frequent drops - all WiFi devices lose connection for a few minutes, then it just re-appears for them to connect again.

I find the actual signal strength a bit weak as well.
 
Exactly what I an struggling with. The dropped connections to my devices is a complete nightmare. Using a Belkin atm and been testing an asus. Both seem good. Let me know if you want more info
 
Please don't get a TRENDnet. No where near as good as Netgear and needs rebooting all the time.
 
Have you guys tried upgrading the firmware on that Netgear modem?

Secondly, point the antenna's upward and then tilt them slightly sideways to get a better signal strength. The direction in which the omni-directional antennas point make a huge difference in terms of signal strength and transfer speeds.

Another thing to look at is to ensure that you're using an open channel and not one that is being used by your neighbour(s). I used the WiFi Analyzer application on my Android phone to get an open set of channels at my office and aunt's house, and it made a big difference too!

Unfortunately it seems like you cannot just replace the DGN2200's antenna's with higher gain antennas. This is usually the thing to do when you have a poor signal.
Ofcourse you can always try the tinfoil trick to boost/narrow the signal ;)
Just take note that this will not stop the router from dropping all its wireless connections...

Also, when it is dropping its wireless connections like you guys said - check its temperature too, because that is often the cause. Some routers allow you to change the WiFi output power. If yours can and it is getting pretty hot, then I'd suggest that you reduce the output power. Having a higher WiFi output power does not imply a better signal and speed, because more power = more noise in most cases.
 
Last edited:
Hi,

I am running the latest firmware on my router - one of the first things I checked. At times it does run fairly hot - I have not noticed the wireless signal dropping in conjunction with high heat often enough to point to that as the dropping issue - I will look into that.

I seem to be the only person running a wifi network around here - I have never detected anything else around so am not too concerned about that.

I have a high gain antenna from a friend but yeah... It cannot be fitted on the DGN2200 so that idea was alo shot down early on. I will look at the power output - I think I pushed that to max due to my poor signal performance.
 
The problem with a high power output is that you basically need an equally high power output from the client, otherwise there is almost no benefit.
Using higher gain antenna's are mutually beneficial, unless perhaps you have a multiple floor building...
 
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